Downloadable ebooks are one of the crucial efficient advertising and marketing methods round. They entice certified leads, they showcase your experience, and they are often geared for any stage of your funnel.
The one catch is, it must be good. And it’s important to create it.
That’s proper. It’s a must to extract the data in your head and put it down on (digital) paper. I’ve created lots of of ebooks at this level, and let me inform you: this takes time, however it’s properly value it. And when you get the cling of it, it’s rinse, repeat, and reap the advantages.
Learn on for my five-step course of to write down an e book that each gratifies you and grows your corporation.
Contents
Find out how to write an e book in 5 steps
Observe these 5 steps to write down an e book that educates and provides worth in your viewers, and that generates leads for your corporation.
1. Decide your subject
First, off, you have to give you a compelling subject. It doesn’t need to be one thing novel or mind-blowing; it simply must be attention-grabbing and related to your audience. This may make sure you get the precise folks downloading it.
Listed here are some ideas for figuring out a subject in your e book:
- Key phrases. Use a keyword tool to search out phrases and phrases your viewers is trying up on-line. Be certain they’re broad sufficient for adequate quantity whereas not being too broad the place you gained’t entice your goal clients.
- Standard weblog posts. Check out your content performance metrics and see which subjects resonate together with your viewers essentially the most. Repurposing weblog posts into ebooks is likely one of the oldest, and finest, tips of the commerce.
- Trending subjects. Scroll by means of your social feeds, do some trade report investigation, speak to your clients, or take a look at Exploding Topics. Discover out if there’s something new and notable you could cowl or use to place a twist on an evergreen subject.
- Ideation instruments. Why not strive AI to get some concepts? This is likely one of the some ways you’ll be able to use AI for small business marketing.
Professional tip: Write weblog posts with the intention of repurposing them into ebooks. You’ll be able to flip a single submit into an e book or mix a number of into one longer e book. This can be a huge time-saver!
📕 Uncover extra methods to generate leads past ebooks with our free, definitive guide to lead generation!
2. Plan your content material
After getting your e book subject, now it’s time to plan out the content material and the copy.
Right here’s how:
- Determine the most effective format. Will this e book be a how-to, a listicle, a newbie’s information, or a report? There are extra codecs than simply these, and whichever one you select is ok. Simply establish it forward of time so you’ll be able to define it accordingly.
- Determine themes and messaging: Earlier than you begin outlining, take a minute to contemplate which model messages and key value propositions about your services or products you need this information to help. This isn’t the identical as the subject of the information. The subject is the principle focus, however you’ll be able to educate on that subject in a approach that organically showcases your experience, and trustworthiness, and reinforces the worth of your services or products.
- Provide you with your title. After getting your subject and key messaging factors, give you a title in your e book. It’s possible you’ll tweak it in a while down the road, however you have to have the core in place, as one thing by which to anchor your content material. For recommendations on compelling titles, take a look at these headline examples and tips.
- Define the content material. In case you’re not repurposing a weblog submit, create your define. Outlining the entire e book first will allow you to preserve a cohesive story from begin to end.
Professional tip: Don’t veer away from the e book title’s promise. It occurs to the most effective of us. We begin writing, we get carried away, and subsequent factor you realize the ultimate piece is a one too many steps faraway from the unique title. For this reason outlining is crucial. It should maintain you on monitor to ship what your e book guarantees!
Click here to make a copy of a handy template for writing your book!
3. Populate the content material
The subsequent step in writing your e book is to, properly, write it! In case you’re repurposing already present content material, this shall be straightforward. In case you’re writing from scratch, be certain it’s:
- Concise and clear. Simply because it’s an “e book” doesn’t imply it must be a e book. As with every copywriting, maintain it freed from “fluff” and filler phrases and get proper to the purpose.
- Actionable. Don’t simply present the “what” or “why”—present the “how,” too! That is the place your e book will show its true worth.
- Digestible. Break complicated ideas down into less complicated ones and use quick paragraphs, lists, sections, and headings to make the data straightforward to soak up.
- Visuals. Nobody needs a block of textual content! On the naked minimal, add inventory pictures, however ideally, your pictures illustrate ideas and supply examples of the encircling textual content.
Professional tip: You’ll be able to reference case research and examples of your individual product/providers in your e book, however maintain it to a minimal. Including worth by means of academic content material shall be simpler in selling your corporation than straight pitching it.
4. Add the design touches
Now it’s time so as to add the ending touches that may make your e book distinctive to your brand’s style. Don’t fear, you don’t should be a designer to realize these!
- Give it a sophisticated look. Professionalize your e book with a desk of contents, an introduction, a conclusion, and a footer (or header) on each web page with the e book title, web page numbers, and your brand.
- Create an eye catching cowl. For inspiration, browse Canva’s ebook cover template library, scroll round on LinkedIn, and even do a Google Picture search.
- Add callouts. Use callouts to deliver consideration to key factors all through the e book. These could possibly be supporting stats, hyperlinks to further sources, or an essential level you wish to reinforce.
- Create a CTA web page on the finish. The final web page of your e book ought to embody a description of your business with a CTA, akin to to name for a seek the advice of, e book a demo, begin a free trial, and many others.
Professional tip: Whereas Canva and Adobe are nice sources for creating ebooks, you too can use Google Slides! It’s tremendous straightforward, and you may even change the size to be portrait-style. HubSpot has some templates you should use.
5. Promote and distribute
And at last, it’s time to publish, distribute, and promote your e book. In case you’re trying to generate leads with this content, you’ll wish to gate it behind a kind. This implies you’ll have to add the e book to your CRM, create a touchdown web page for it with a kind, after which have that kind set off a thanks web page and/or supply electronic mail.
As soon as your workflow is in place, listed here are some channels you should use to advertise and distribute:
- Search: Create an Search engine optimisation-optimized touchdown web page so it will possibly get discovered on natural search, or write a supporting weblog submit with some “teaser” info and a hyperlink to the information. You could possibly additionally create a Google Ad for it.
It’s true…gated content material seems in paid outcomes on a regular basis now!
- Social: Promote your ebooks throughout social media, whether or not by means of paid or natural posting. The posts can promote the e book or comprise snippets of knowledge or pictures from the e book.
- E-mail: Ship an electronic mail to your database with a hyperlink to the touchdown web page. Use our email copywriting tips to maximise opens and clicks.
- Influencers: You probably have a symbiotic relationship with any influencers, attain out to them and ask them to advertise the e book for you. Even higher, you may do a cobranded e book with them, or get their quotes/commentary, they usually might naturally put it on the market to their viewers.
- Web site: Create call-to-action buttons in your web site—notably your weblog—within the type of facet bars, nano bars, in-line CTAs, and extra. This can be a nice strategy to enhance engagement together with your web site and conversion.
Professional tip: Repurpose your e book! Flip it right into a webinar. Use it for advertisements. Create social posts with details from the information. Break it up into weblog posts. Not solely does this make for extra content material, however you’ll be able to refer again to the e book in each bit, driving extra site visitors and downloads. (P.S. Even when the e book is already repurposed from present weblog posts, I discover that the completed product is at all times totally different sufficient from the originals the place it could possibly be a brand new piece of content material.)
💡 Make sure you convey the worth of your e book utilizing our free guide to unique value propositions!
E book examples
Listed here are some nice e book examples to mannequin after.
1. Intercom’s How Customer Service Metrics Are Evolving in the Age of AI is a superb instance of a data-centric report, with digestible visuals and robust branding.
2. Shopify’s Ultimate Guide to Launching Your Own Online Bookstore (2024) is an ungated e book, which makes for an awesome piece of SEO content.
3. Mailchimp’s How to Turn Clustomers into Customers with Personalization not solely has a novel title and crowd pleasing cowl, however the touchdown web page is optimized for Search engine optimisation.
4. LocaliQ’s Best Call to Action Phrases Ever (& Why They Work) is one among our favorites due to the enjoyable animal theme. Plus, folks love examples!
5. Hatch’s Preparing Your Outbound Contact Center for the AI Revolution is a pleasant mixture of thought management and knowledge, however most of all, I’m sharing it as a result of we made it utilizing Google Slides!
E book template
Need assistance getting began writing your e book? Copy and paste this useful Google sheet e book template to make writing a breeze!
Click here to make a copy of this ebook template!
Write your e book now
With these steps, professional ideas, and examples, you now have the whole lot you have to write an e book that satisfies your viewers and your advertising and marketing objectives. I’m excited so that you can put pen to paper (er, fingers to keyboard) and expertise the facility of helpful content material. And one remaining tip: Don’t neglect to often audit your content to maintain your e book library contemporary and get essentially the most mileage out of every one!
