Do you ACTUALLY read ebooks?
Traditional content marketing advice says to get your visitors into your blog and then capture them as a lead using a free ebook or some other sort of download...
Interested in how many people actually read ebooks, would sign up to a newsletter to get one, and what then makes those ebooks useful or worthwhile to you?
They're so much effort to create - and I'm realising I don't actually know what people think about them!
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I don't read ebooks, I devour them. I've been reading ebooks exclusively since 2010.
I evaluate free ebooks the same way I do for paid ones. But in my experience the ebooks given away as newsletter lead magnets have limited depth and value.
Ah yeah, ok maybe vague in my question about ebook - I'm meaning the types you get as lead magnets. And agree with you - do you have any examples of REALLY good ones?
I can't remember a single example of a good lead magnet, be it an ebook or other content. I'd say I subscribe to newsletters despite the lead magnets.
haha! Honestly I'm so glad I posted about this, it's really made me rethink what I think to be true about content funnels.
Not sure about others, but I've downloaded a ton of e-books over the years and never read them. In many cases, I never even opened them more than once.
I think e-books as a content marketing pitch is very 2008-ish. Sure, it might work well in any day and age. It all depends on the user persona you're targeting. But there are so many better ways to market do content now. Ex - Audio is booming.
If the end goal is to make someone sign up for a newsletter, there's a bunch of things you can try. Would love to share some ideas. Mind sharing more about who the ideal audience member is?
I like the idea of using some kind of audio content for newsletter captures. Feels much more modern and also easier for most people to consume as it is a somewhat more passive consumption.
Really helpful thank you! Yeah our audience is other IH types, early stage SaaS founders, developers and SaaS marketers.
Audio is a cool idea, would you still gate that to get the lead?
I personally don't read e-books. I prefer real books for fiction and audio for informative / business / personal development-books.
If its an e book as a result of a signup for an email - I don't read it.
I will read an e book if I specifically set out to read it. If it was a by product of an action that I wanted to take - you can bet that its going straight into the trash.
An ebook is useful to me if it solves a problem I specifically went looking for.
Interesting thank you! And do you specifically search for 'ebook about x topic' - or how do you come across them?
Thanks for asking :)
I typically search for 'x topic' and someone will have an ebook going over said thing. My end goal isnt necessarily to find an ebook - but to solve what I am looking for.
An e book just happens to be a great medium.
An ebook doesn't have to be this huge 50 or 100 page docs. It can be as short as 3 pages, as long as it delivers what it promises.
What matters most is you help your target audience solve their problem/pain points. Actually if you can go straight to the point and deliver what you promise in as concise as possible (i.e. very few pages), the better. People are busy and they want to know how to solve their problem quickly.
If you're afraid of misleading people with the term "ebook" and you only deliver a 3 page pdf, you can rename the ebook to "pdf report" or just "pdf".
Like your point on renaming! I sometimes wonder if we should use something more practical sounding, like a worksheet or workbook.
Yes you definitely can. And it's more enticing than just a pdf.
Not really. I walk around listening to audiobooks.
I have tried reading ebooks but got so bored.
I've been trying hard to read one because it was gifted to me a while back, but I very much prefer the physical book. It's just easier to get into a habit of reading before bed and then turning the light out instead of staring at the screen for an extra hour before I try to sleep.
I wish I liked ebooks. They're way more convenient. I can fall asleep to audiobooks, though.
Hi,
I don’t specifically search for e-book but when I found one, I read it and keep if it valuable other time.
Yes, I keep them too! Have a whole folder of them, but not sure how often I actually read them...
I thought about this exactly when we were putting together our ebook. And I totally get the 'value obsession.' I ended up writing and laying it out for like a month and spent over $2k. At the end of the day, I got a perfect piece for my sales funnel.
So, yeah, folks read ebooks that give value. However, I won't say that blog > ebook is the perfect funnel. It depends on the primary traffic channel you're after. If it's organic, okay. If you're paying for CPM/CPA — gosh no, a well-built landing page will work better.
IF you're in b2b and have evidence that you need 6+ touches before registration, there is sense in the paid ads > ebook funnel.
Thank you! Yeah agree and then it feels like a trade off on time right, everyone has limited time and do I spend that making the landing page better - knowing that not everyone who reaches it will be ready to sign up yet, or do I make the ebooks better/newer/more prominent...
the time management here is about the step of your product funnel that requires attention within a certain time span. like, you might be ok with acquisition, but users are either not activating well, are subjected to churn, etc.
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IF you do it well and if you truly provide value with your e-book (just take a look at Hubspot or Cognism, their ebooks are value bombs) - then people will download them, read them, and love your brand more because of it or decide to buy from you.
One of my clients today sold a course sub because of an ebook he shared as ungated content on Linkedin.
But, as with everything, so with ebooks - people often create worthless PDFs, prospects get disappointed and that's why this tactic has a bad rep.
Thanks for the recs - will download them and take a look!
That's exactly my worry, I feel like either we have to do it REALLY well, or it's just annoying...and then is it worth the time/effort/cash it takes to make a really great one.
Do you feel likee there are any decent alternative options?
The worth of investment depends on your business goals.
Plunking down a huge amount of resources to craft a good ebook while in the early phase of your business is probably not a good choice.
Why? You need clients and quick acquisitions, so paid ads and good content/blogs/social media strategy are what I'd go for in most cases.
Ebooks are perfect if you're aiming to grow up to the next phase as it's evergreen content and provides long-term value AND it positions you as an expert in the field.
You can milk it for months to get new email subs, high-quality leads, and buyers.
As to alternatives:
Make sure to save every piece of content and repurpose it. Eg, if you do a webinar, record it, chop it down into many pieces and share it on social media...
But also make sure to make a landing page where people can get a full recording.
Amazing, thank you for sharing!
Good ebooks have great value. The problem is that most just aren't that good. I've been let down more often than not, so I ignore most of those offers these days.
As you mention, they are a lot of work to do right. So if you do decide to go that route, it should be for more than just an opt-in bribe. It should be something that will help establish your authority, build trust, etc., and provide real value to the reader.
If all you are trying to do is incentivize opt-ins, then I would start off with something simpler like a one-page checklist or cheat sheet. Then you could try to test out more involved options such as reports, benchmark studies, quizzes, etc. later.
With any opt-in offer I think the keys are to provide immediate value and to make it easy. Also, the more it aligns with your newsletter, the better. It does no good to get a bunch of people opting in for a freebie who won't read or engage with you after.
Such a good idea with the one page download - almost like a growth experiment testing whether the audience even wants to download stuff in the first place.
Thanks!
My pleasure. Best of luck.
I definitely read ebooks. Obviously, I look for useful, high-quality content that is well-written and well-structured. Regarding the ebooks vs. blog posts, I think ebooks can be more valuable because there is more room to dive in-depth. Also, I like having a digital copy (e.g. PDF/epub) for reference/archival purposes, just in case the website goes away. So even if the entire book is published as a series of web pages, I'd be happy to give my email address for the exact same content packaged as a PDF or ePub.
Yeah me too, a lot of the reason I download them is to create my own little library to refer back to...but then I also realise that practically speaking I so rarely do look at them.
If you look at an ebook again even just once, it’s worth it!
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