Do you need to increase traffic to your website? Try writing and publishing an ebook.

Ebooks are infotainment methods for content marketing. An ebook can help dilute complex industry knowledge to make it digestible for mass audiences. They are easy to write, produce, publish, and market on the internet. The hard part, though, is getting people to read them.

Businesses use catchy titles, infographics, and compelling content for B2B or B2C users. The goal is to get as many consumers as possible to share, download, and read the Ebook.

When a consumer reads an ebook, three things happen:

• They gain topic-specific knowledge, tactics, and expert tips.
• The business gets to tell and sell its story, products, and services to the reader.
• The reader becomes a potential customer for the business by sharing personal contact information.

57% of consumers consider good ebooks an effective content marketing strategy. They can improve lead generation if potential customers read and share the ebooks. They can even increase a business’s perceived status. Sharing knowledge can make consumers view businesses as reliable industry experts.

An interactive, intelligent, and creative ebook adds value to the consumer’s experience. There is a catch, though – all of this is only possible if the ebook is a well-written and compelling read.

Before you start writing, always see how you can make your ebook and its content meaningful for a large audience by addressing a widespread problem.

So what are some exciting ways to write an ebook that’ll attract your audience to click, download, and read them? Here are some:

1. How-To Guides

How-to guides are an effective, popular content marketing technique. They follow a simple pattern:

• They identify a potential problem for the customer
• They then provide detailed and valuable solutions to the problem.

Businesses can produce how-to guides on fixing appliances, taking photographs, improving marketing strategies. Even so, make sure to feature solutions that only your business can provide.

A good guide will follow three cardinal rules: practicality, universality, and relevance. A how-to guide must give advice that is practical, doable, and realistic. The content should also be relevant to your services and promote your business.

2. Workbooks

One of the purposes of an ebook is to establish a business as an industry expert. Creating workbooks for an industry topic can be an excellent way to develop authority in the digital realm.

A compelling workbook will use industry resources, infographics, and exercises. You want to help a customer learn solutions on their own. Use the workbook as a creative, interactive way to challenge and educate.

A marketing business, for instance, can create a workbook on content marketing. It can use statistics and marketing studies to establish expertise. The exercises, however, should be engaging and interactive. You can use narratives to teach techniques or challenge the reader to create social media slogans.

3. Illustrated eBooks

Narratives, graphics, and illustrations are great tools for engagement, especially for younger audiences. Stories help engage consumers emotionally. They can be compelling for audiences at every age.

A well-illustrated narrative about your business story can earn you potential customers. You can even use storytelling and anecdotes to support knowledge claims. Graphics can be a massive plus in creating infotainment content, especially in B2B marketing, making information more palatable.

Similarly, illustrated stories can also be a valuable asset for businesses geared towards children. For example, a children’s clothing and accessory brand can publish storybooks on their e-commerce website. This way, the brand can engage with kids and simultaneously generate customer information from parents who are the decision-makers in the buying process.

4. Compiled Set of Resources

You do not always have to put an inordinate amount of effort into ebooks. Businesses can compile already-available resources into a visually-appealing ebook.

Businesses often use content marketing techniques like blogging to improve search engine optimization. Use blogs or social media posts to compile an ebook of your content and promote your expertise further.

You can compile industry-specific news into a short ebook to update competitors, consumers, and industry partners. Another option is to compile a list of testimonials from industry associates. These options will present the reader with a reliable set of expert knowledge.

5. Seasonal Ebooks

A business does not need to churn out ebooks every week. Construct a content schedule that targets specific dates and events, and publish ebooks at optimal moments. Seasonal ebooks are great for businesses that do not have in-house marketing teams or resources.

Mark your calendars for important dates and brainstorm possible ebooks. The new year can be a great time to compile an ebook for industry developments or year-long reviews.

Holidays like Valentine’s Day can be an opportunity to write flower arrangement workbooks. Your seasonal ebooks can even be about actual seasons. If summer is around the corner, plan and write an ebook on DIY summer crafts.

6. X De-mystified

You can also write an ebook to clear audiences’ confusion about a specific topic or phenomenon. You can use your vantage point in the industry to clear misconceptions and advocate best practices.

This ebook format can work well for taboo topics, such as mental health and sexually transmitted diseases. However, it would be best to remember that you are addressing non-specialists, so approach their preconceived notions accordingly. The most successful ebooks in this category make an audience comfortable with the topic and clearly distinguish between facts and myths.

7. Toolkits

Toolkits compile a whole host of resources and present them to the reader in an engaging way. Multi-tool or single-tool resources are great for knowledge translation about a topic. They are systematic and use aggregated lists, evidence, external links, and infographics.

It will help if you use toolkits as comprehensive guides for your audience. A toolkit can, for instance, be about content marketing as a whole. It can use video links, blogs, illustrations, and case studies to present the topic.  A toolkit requires a lot of work from the reader as well as the writer. It is essential to conduct extensive research to aggregate and compile a list of reliable, informative resources.

You can cover as much of the topic as you like, but it is essential to consider engagement.  Use catch-all phrases like the “Ultimate Toolkit” to gain more traction and use a conversational, interactive style to guide the reader through the ebook.

8. X Days to do Y

Audiences respond more to handbooks that have a time frame. An ebook with a title like “20 Days to Learn JavaScript” has a specific time frame promised.

Numerical persuasion models in content marketing make readers respond instantly to numbers. The Content Marketing Institute reports that numbered titles, lists, and instructions can increase webpage traffic and content engagement significantly. Setting a time frame uses the psychological power of numbers to attract readers.

The number-of-days format can also be an excellent way to break down the ebook into sections. Multi-step content and instructions can be easier to digest and follow for readers, allowing them to read or learn at a personalized pace. They will also feel accomplished after each step is complete, reinforcing your brand’s psychological associations and content.

Final Takeaway

As a business owner or content creator, it is up to you to use any kind of ebook for marketing and lead generation. However, before you begin, remember to think about your audience and their knowledge base. Remember that the function of ebooks is infotainment. A lousy ebook will bore and confuse audiences. Therefore, avoid using jargon that gate-keeps the knowledge you intend to dish-out. A good ebook will engage, support, educate, and entertain the reader. And only a good ebook can help you generate leads.