Ebooks can be a great tool for businesses to build an email list and generate leads. The Content Marketing Institute states that these lead magnets will be more effective in getting your visitors to take action (like providing their email address) than any other form of marketing because they provide valuable information. Why do some ebooks fail to deliver on their promises, while others succeed? What should you do to create an ebook that will be successful?
Discover what you need to include in your marketing ebook to get those vital leads.
1. Solve a problem that your audience faces regularly
This is a very obvious point, but I will make it because many ebooks miss the first and most important point: the subject of your ebook should be something that the people you are targeting want to read.
Ask yourself, when brainstorming topics, what is the biggest problem that your audience faces? What are the most important goals for your audience? What is top of mind? If your book does not address a problem or offer a solution, people will not bother to give you their email address and name in exchange for downloading your book.
2. Titles should be clear, specific, and useful
You need to come up with an interesting title for your ebook. This is what will catch your audience’s attention and get them interested. Do not worry about being creative. Titles that are too clever or rely on clever wordplay can be confusing to the audience. Simple, clear titles are the best.
What are the winning titles’ characteristics? You can find out about each one by:
- Clearly communicates a promise.
- Appeals directly to the self-interest of the audience.
- It arouses curiosity or gives the reader useful information.
- It is a language that addresses a particular audience.
You can achieve success by incorporating these features in the title of your eBook.
3. Read the content
White papers are more serious than e-books. Your reader will expect a quick, easy read and not a long, dry academic paper or formal brochure.
Use short sentences in plain English to make your content more readable. Use the same voice as your target audience and avoid jargon, unless they are already familiar. For example, if you are writing for accountants, it is probably fine to mention P&Ls and CapEx without explanation.
Incorporate a conversational style into your writing. You should come across not only as a professional but also as approachable. Ask yourself if your sentence or phrase would sound the same in a face-to-face meeting with a customer. If your writing skills aren’t up to par, hire a professional eBook author – preferably someone who is trained to write eBooks.
4. Design appealing designs
It’s not only about the words you use or your writing style. Your content’s layout is also important. Make your ebook “eye-friendly”. Readers today appreciate the use of white space, subheadings and bullet points, as well as short paragraphs.
The following design elements can make an ebook look more impressive.
- Covers with bold, striking images
- Brand colours can reinforce brand identity
- The headlines are large and summarise the text.
- Easy-to-understand graphs that make data easier to understand
- Uncluttered, high-quality images
- Break up long text blocks with visual elements like pull-out quotes
Column Five Media offers 75 examples of beautifully designed ebooks. Check them out to get some inspiration.
5. Search engine optimise your eBook
You can’t ignore SEO just because you are publishing your ebook in PDF.
Google will index, crawl, and rank your book as if it were a website. Because of its richer content, your ebook is likely to get more traffic from search engines.
You can use these keywords to create a lead magnet that will be a great asset for your business. Search for multi-word phrases with natural-sounding words that are not too competitive but still attract significant searches.
Think like your customers, and not like your sales reps or engineers, when you are researching keywords. What are the words that your customers use? What words do they use to ask questions? Keyword Research can be difficult and time-consuming. Since this is an important part of the success of your ebook, you may want to hire an SEO specialist to help.
You need to use your keywords strategically in your ebook once you’ve created a list. Search Engine Journal has an excellent article on how to make PDFs search engine-friendly. Make sure that the person who is writing your ebook knows these SEO requirements. Consider hiring an SEO copywriter if they do not.
6. Write it in more detail than a blog (but not a book)
Don’t let anyone down. Anyone who has gone through the opt-in process to obtain an ebook is expecting a great read. Here’s your chance to show off your knowledge. Your credibility will be damaged by a thin ebook that does not deliver what it promises.
The main reason to offer an ebook is to generate leads, but the reasons don’t stop there. Companies publish ebooks for many other reasons, including strengthening their brand, demonstrating trustworthiness, and positioning themselves as resourceful companies.
This means that your ebook should be more substantial than the average blog. You don’t, however, want to write a 100-page book. You are producing an informational booklet, not a volume for scholars.
There is no set rule for the average ebook size. I’ve seen a trend (particularly in marketing) to have more pages with fewer words per page. This is done to maintain both the reading pace and the engagement.
The average word count for most informative ebooks would be between 3,000 and 5,000 words. It doesn’t matter how many words are written, as long as the final product is readable.
7. Add a call-to-action at the end
You must tell your readers what they should do after reading your ebook. You may think it’s obvious, but you need to reconsider. Even the most enthusiastic reader will need to be guided on the next steps. You can tell them to sign up for your free trial, schedule a visit by a representative or review a particular product on your site.
Make your call to action specific. Instead of ‘Please call us at …’, write something more persuasive, such as ‘Call now for a 15-minute free consultation with one of our accounting software experts.’
Don’t forget your contact information (believe it or not, some people forget).
8. Create a printable, downloadable format
It’s not hard to understand why most marketers prefer to publish their ebooks in PDF. The Portable Document Format is:
- Create in-house easily and quickly with standard software.
- Open on any device (including smartphones) without affecting the integrity of the content.
- Compressed into a small file size that can be shared without reducing the image quality
- Integrated with various types of content, such as images, audio files, animations and hyperlinks, to create an interactive and appealing document
- Searchable documents are produced to make them accessible to both humans and search engines.
Documents produced in PDF format look professional and can be easily downloaded and shared. The PDF format is widely recognised and accepted worldwide, making it a de facto international standard for exchanging information and documents.
9. Create a landing page that encourages opt-in
A landing page is a crucial part of any promotional campaign. It’s not worth spending weeks or hours creating an ebook if it’s not promoted properly.
Why do you need a landing page for your website? Unbounce’s landing page experts say: “You need a landing page that explains to readers why your ebook should be read.“
There’s always a hurdle that makes us rethink our decision to download an ebook. Does it cost anything? Is it going to teach me anything new? What’s the catch?
You want your website visitors to overcome the final hurdle and click ‘download.‘ This requires a landing page that is well-written and well-designed. Most effective landing pages have:
- Headlines and subheadings that grab attention
- The shortest possible copy to describe the book
- Bulleted text or short paragraphs
- A design that is uncluttered and colourful with an appropriate image
- The call to action button is highly visible and essential.
Do not forget the word “free”. This is a powerful word that assures your visitors they will not have to pay anything for your ebook. You can also add a link to your logo on the homepage to make it easy for our visitors.
10. Take the reader’s details
Most companies place a form on the landing page for their ebooks to collect some basic information from the reader. The prospect is usually asked to fill out a form on the landing page of their ebooks. After entering a few details, such as name and email address, the reader will be able to download the ebook for free.
This will trigger one or more automated emails to the prospect’s inbox. The messages can be (and should be tailored according to both the ebook topic and the reader’s details. This is a great way to create a large email list, and it’s also one of the main reasons why ebooks are so popular among all kinds of businesses.
