Do you need to build an email list or drum up new sales? Lead magnets can catapult your content marketing results in a variety of ways. However, not all lead magnets are equal in terms of effectiveness. In terms of lead magnets, ebook writing is popular for bringing leads to your business and enhancing your overall content marketing strategy.
If you plan to use an ebook as a lead magnet, you’ll want to learn the best practices of ebook writing. Furthermore, you’ll need to understand the foundation of what makes a great lead magnet in the first place.
In this blog, we’ll help you catapult your content marketing results with ebook writing. But first, let’s dive into the idea of a lead magnet and how it will help your business grow.
What is a Lead Magnet?
A lead magnet is a freely available piece of content that a website visitor can download in exchange for their email address or contact information.
In some instances, a lead magnet might be a free product sample, such as:
- An ebook
- PowerPoint file
- Case Study / White paper
- Video
- Checklist
The goal is to entice readers to learn more about your brand, services, or products. And, hopefully, to sign up to receive other offers and information from you. Think of it as a tool that is beneficial for you as well as your audience.
The Four “U”s of a Great Lead Magnet
What makes a good lead magnet? There are a few elements that are a must when it comes to crafting lead magnets:
Usefulness
A great lead magnet should be extremely useful to your prospect. A lot of businesses are guilty of creating lead magnets that don’t provide value to their prospects. This leads to frustration and you may find that customers unsubscribe to your email list as a result.
Uniqueness
It’s important to create a lead magnet that you won’t easily find elsewhere. Your lead magnet should provide uniqueness in some way, such as new research or insight. It may also compile an interesting mix of content that your audience will find valuable.
User friendly
Make it easy to access and download your lead magnet. There’s nothing worse than signing up for a lead magnet and never receiving it.
Before you put your lead magnet out into the world, be sure that you have a good plan for making it user-friendly. A PDF is quick and easy to download, and it’s also compatible with different operating systems and even devices. This is why making an ebook into a PDF is such a smart strategy.
Up to Quality Standards
Your ebook should showcase top-level quality for writing as well as design elements. Building trust is difficult for many brands, and this is your chance to get customers to view you as an authority.
What is an Ebook?
In terms of lead generation, an ebook is a resource that’s packed full of valuable information for your customers.
Ebooks can be made up of a huge range of different content, but most are similar in that they will contain some or all of the following:
- A Cover Image (Front Cover)
- An Introduction
- A Table of Contents
- High quality content
- Closing paragraph
- A call to action
The ebook can also be on a range of topics related to your business, but it’s wise to be selective and strategic about the topic (more on this later).
Another aspect to consider is that ebook lead magnets don’t have to be limited to just text. You’ll find some lead generation ebooks with custom photos and flow charts. You can even write an ebook that’s formatted similarly to a web page with videos and images.
How Many Pages Should an Ebook Be?
There is no hard and fast rule on how many pages an ebook should be. However, my advice is to make your ebook a minimum of five pages, including the cover page. Remember that you aren’t writing a novel—the point is to deliver great content that leaves your customers wanting more.
How do You Write an Ebook as a Lead Magnet?
There are several approaches you can take to ebook writing for lead magnets. You can write it from scratch or you can use existing content to write the book.
With ebook writing using existing content, you can take the blogs on your website and combine them into one ebook. You’ll likely need to structure the blogs to achieve proper flow. Using old blogs isn’t exactly a copy-and-paste approach to ebook writing, but it gets you started.
Next, you have the option of writing the ebook from scratch. You may need to do this if you have a brand new idea to use as an ebook. This is also an option for ebook writing when you are looking to achieve top-quality content.
The Four “E”s of Excellent Ebook Writing
To get you started in the right direction of ebook writing, the content should include several elements for best results. Stick to the following guidelines when it comes to wow-factor ebook writing:
Engaging
Think of how you can engage your readers throughout the ebook. You can do this with your ebook writing by asking questions, writing in a conversational tone, and addressing pain points.
Easy to Read
No one wants to download an ebook and find it difficult to read. Make sure that you deeply understand your audience so you can craft your best copy possible. A B2B ebook is going to sound a lot different than B2C!
Enticing CTA
You don’t want to forget your CTA while you’re working on ebook writing. Your call-to-action serves as a vessel to get readers to their final destination. Think about what you want your readers to do after they complete your ebook.
End with an Edit
No ebook writing is complete without a final edit. This is when you go through the ebook with a fine-tooth comb, ensuring that the copy is impeccable.
How to Choose a Topic for Your Ebook
You might think that ebook writing sounds like a great idea until you realize you don’t have a topic in mind. The good news is that there are many topic opportunities for ebooks if you know where to look!
Here are some ways that you can come up with a magnetic topic for your ebook:
- Research on SEO software programs such as SEMRush. This gives you an insight on popular keywords and topics that you may overlook. What you think your audience wants to read about might not be the correct topic at all, so keyword research is a smart place to stop.
- Analyze Google Trends. This is a free resource where you can track many different keywords, and you can also track this information on a local level if necessary.
- Explore questions people are asking online. You can source questions from places including social media, Quora, and Answer the Public.
How to Repurpose Your Ebook for More Content Marketing Opportunities
The great thing about ebooks is that you can get a significant amount of mileage out of them. There are many ways to repurpose and market your ebooks for different types of content. Below are some of my ways to repurpose ebooks for content marketing:
- Turn small sections into an email series
- Use blips to create social media posts
- Create spinoff topics for new blogs
- Repurpose the ebook into a checklist
- Complement the ebook with a video
Consider the following tips in the video below for repurposing blog posts into an ebook:
Get Ebook Writing to Grow Your Business
If you want to get more email subscribers and leads, we can help with ebook writing. We’ll supply great ebook writing and we can also design ebooks for you! Please learn more about our lead magnets and get in touch with us today about your ebook project.
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