Looking to generate more leads and get potential clients to see you as a top figure in your field? Giving away an eBook could be one of the smartest marketing moves.
Writing an eBook is a great way to position yourself as an authority and leading expert in your niche. It also lets you provide your audience with lots of value. And the more you speak to their problems and present your solutions, the more trust you build.
An eBook gives readers insight into your knowledge, background, and services. Therefore, it can help persuade your ideal clients to seek you out and work with you. It’s one of the strongest tools you have in your marketing arsenal.
However, turning your eBook into an effective lead magnet takes work. You can’t reap the benefits mentioned above unless you publish a value-packed eBook that your audience will love.
Publishing is the easy part. Structuring and actually writing your eBook is where things can get tricky. To ensure you can get the most out of your eBook, there are some guidelines you should follow.
This article goes over six tips that can optimise your creative process and help you put forth the eBook that your audience deserves.
Here’s what you need to know before using an eBook as a lead magnet in your marketing strategy.
Six Tips for Creating a Successful eBook
Tip #1 – Make Sure It Solves a Problem
When you start a business, you do it to solve a problem. You see something that the market needs or you identify an issue or need in your audience. Then, you provide the solution.
Creating an eBook as a successful lead magnet is no different. For your eBook to work, build trust, and position you as an expert, it has to solve a problem.
If you’re thinking about what topics to write about, look to your audience for inspiration. What are their biggest fears? What challenges do your ideal clients face? Can you find something specific that you can cover while offering tons of value to your readers?
If the problem isn’t specific or relatable enough to your audience, your eBook will have little effect on its readers.
It’s also essential that the book doesn’t keep anything away from the readers. For example, if you commit to providing a solution or step-by-step tutorial on fixing something, you shouldn’t hold back any information.
Solve the issue or answer the question. Let the knowledge you display in your eBook convince your audience to seek your help. Avoid presenting half a solution and luring people to buy the other half.
Here’s an extra tip: You don’t have to create an eBook lead magnet around your USP or main product. That’s a common mistake many new business owners and authors commit. In fact, it’s often what causes eBooks to fail as lead magnets.
Many people fear that they’ll give away their secrets and solve people’s problems for free by creating their eBook. But remember that there’s lots of value you can give your target audience, aside from your offering.
Tip #2 – Do Your Research
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. More often than not, the difference between a compelling book and a bad one is the research.
Without proper research and preparation, you won’t know what topic will engage your readers. Also, failing to get this part right might cause you to offer unnecessary or even bad information.
Research can help uncover important statistics and studies that could validate your eBook. And the good news is that doing market research is a lot easier than you think.
Take, for example, your website or blog. You can start your search there and identify the hottest topics and things that interest your audience the most.
Consider sending out a survey, asking for feedback, or maybe even creating a poll. Talk to your current and past clients about what they’d like to read. Find out what topic they want you to cover if you’re running out of ideas.
Keep in mind that writing an eBook requires financial and time investments. If it isn’t compelling, it won’t function as a lead magnet. That means you won’t bring more clients into your pipeline, and you end up wasting time and money.
Doing your research will play a big role in preventing this from happening.
Tip #3 – Provide Lots of Value
Value is in the eye of the beholder. It doesn’t matter if you think your eBook’s content offers valuable information or actions. It’s your audience who has to recognise that it has value.
Your audience has to get something in return.
And this should be the easy part. If you’re already producing high-quality content consistently, then you already know where your audience’s interests lie. Furthermore, if you do your research properly before writing, you should have a general idea of what to say.
Something else that can help you here is writing about a topic you’ve previously covered.
For example, if you have a couple of successful articles or posts on niche subjects, you can use your eBook as an opportunity to delve deeper into some of those issues. Give your audience even more information and clarity on a particular topic.
This strategy can also cut down your work time since you’re simply repurposing some of your old content. You already know that your clients and followers consider it valuable, so you can be confident it will add value to the book.
Although lead magnet eBooks work great when written in a conversational style, avoid beating around the bush. It’s critical that you stay mission-oriented and don’t bore your readers. Even if you’re to provide lots of value, failing to engage the reader won’t help you generate more leads.
Tip #4 – Create an Eye-Grabbing Title
The eBook’s content is what convinces people to work with you. However, everyone’s first interaction with your material happens when they read the title.
Titles can offer a glimpse behind the curtain. They can inform potential readers about what to expect in a book. At the same time, this is the first element of your eBook that draws attention and drives engagement.
If it’s not catchy or doesn’t immediately speak to a particular issue that your audience has, it might not convince them to download your eBook.
For example, imagine that your business focuses on optimising marketing strategies for your clients. An informative and to-the-point title could be “How to Create Effective Lead Magnets”, or something along those lines.
Granted, that doesn’t sound all that catchy. But it’s an attention-grabbing title for audiences who want to learn about lead magnets.
Other tricks you can use include using numbers and powerful words that can make your title edgier.
Tip #5 – Maintain the Right Structure
While it’s vital to envision your eBook as a lead magnet, don’t forget that it’s still a book. Thus, readers expect a familiar format or structure. Make sure to include those elements and follow the correct structure.
Use a table of contents to guide your audience. Also, give your eBook an introduction to explain what the readers should expect and to get them interested. An origin story about the book or the idea behind it can work towards that end. However, keep it short as everyone is interested in the content and not a dragged-out introduction.
At the end of the book, you can add an About the Author section. That’s also where you can place a call to action and contact information so that the reader has a clear, actionable step to follow.
When writing your book, don’t forget to break things down. Plan multiple chapters that break up the information into smaller and more digestible pieces.
Also, remember to space out your text to make it more appealing. This means that you should use headers, smaller paragraphs, add lists, and other elements to make it an easier read. Of course, once you decide on a format, ensure that it’s consistent throughout your eBook.
Tip #6 – Don’t Forget About Design
Again, your content is the eBook’s most valuable element. However, it’s not always enough to keep someone engaged and focus on the knowledge you share. Other things need your attention, too, and the design is one of them.
Just because it’s a lead magnet doesn’t mean that your eBook can look great. Therefore, unless you need to insert many graphs and images to make your point, avoid abusing the use of colours. If you have to use colours on some occasions, it’s a good idea to insert your branding colour scheme.
Some fonts always work better than others, so avoid experimenting with fonts. Try to use classic favourites for articles and eBooks – Arial, Verdana, and Calibri are popular and very legible choices.
If you have limited experience with graphic design or do not have the time, enlist a professional’s assistance. After all, your eBook will need a cover, too. And much like the title, it’s one of the first things that people see and it can drive or lower their interest.
Remember that people read on a wide range of devices – laptops, computers, tablets, e-readers, phones, etc. If you’re using your eBook as a lead magnet, you should give it a multi-platform format.
You’ll find that most, if not all eBooks that serve this purpose come in a PDF file format. It’s easy to download and open on any device.
Start Generating More Qualified Leads
Here’s the thing about using an eBook as a lead magnet: It’s clearly a powerful tool when done right. But it also has the added benefit of generating more qualified leads.
Once your eBook convinces someone to look you up and work with you, their journey through your sales funnel shortens. Therefore, you can supercharge your business growth if you publish an excellent eBook.
To do that, pay attention to the title, design, and structure. Do your research to find interesting topics and repurpose your best content to give your audience the highest return for their time investment.
If you’re interested in publishing your eBook but you’re unsure if it’s ready, we can help. Automation Agency’s Concierge Service can work on your book design and ensure that it’s polished, has all the marks of a successful lead magnet, and is ready to be published.