Ebooks are a brilliant way to tell your brand’s story
Ebooks are a very popular content marketing format. They are typically educational and informational but not as technical as a whitepaper. Hubspot actually defined ebooks as “the hip sibling of the whitepaper.” With vibrant visuals, ebook design is important to supporting the message. It’s not just the visuals, layout is vital as well. Breaking up content into blocks, bullets and subheaders also matters.
The goal of most ebooks is to create awareness about a problem or challenge and lead readers to find the solution, often offered by the brand behind the ebook. There are a lot of opportunities to generate leads so your ebook design needs to be compelling and memorable. We’re sharing the must-haves for ebook design.
Format the ebook design in landscape rather than portrait.
A landscape ebook is easy to swipe on tablets or smartphones. You can’t ignore that users are continuing to use mobile devices and going away from desktop. Users now prefer to swipe versus scroll. A landscape design also makes your content unique, as most all other brands still use the traditional portrait design.
Choose a theme.
Even if you are writing about the most complex subject, you can still make it interesting. You can still tell a story. To make the topic more digestible and create cohesion with graphics, develop a theme. Call your ebook a survival guide, or enhance your content with a navigational theme. Metaphors are a great way to develop a more interesting ebook that resonates with readers.
Don’t be so literal with imagery.
Use imagery that tells your story but don’t use expected images. Think more creatively. For instance, if your ebook is about a intangible idea, service or problem, consider different ways to portray this. Can you use imagery that illustrates a region or industry. For example, if you were creating an ebook specific to the needs of a state, pick imagery that’s specific to the state not necessarily the topic.
Arrange text in different ways.
An ebook is not text heavy. It’s use is to tell a story with words and imagery. So, play with various ways to place text. Avoid large blocks or paragraphs. Use headers and subheaders freely. And, it’s never a bad idea to use bullets or other ways to shorten text so it can be easily scanned.
End with a call to action that makes sense and stands out.
At the end of any ebook, you need to make your call to action memorable. Yes, that has a lot to do with words, but design matters as well. White space is recommended in your close so that whatever action you want them to take, like request information, schedule a demo or ask for a quote, is clear. In choosin the right call to action, think about what makes sense for the next step. Don’t push them toward an offer that’s not aligned with where they are on the buyer journey. Different font treatments, colors and buttons are critical to moving the reader down the path to conversion.
Keep the landing page for your ebook simple.
The best design you can create for an ebook landing page is one that is uncomplicated. Include an image of the cover of the ebook, a brief synopsis and quick form (if it’s gated content). Simple doesn’t mean unsophisticated. Simple means clear and concise.
Start using ebooks in your content marketing plan.
Ebook design is just as important as your topic and content. Without a strategic design, your ebook may be ignored. Take the time to design your ebook with care. Sidestep any highly complex designs that will just distract. Clean design is your friend. Of course, you also need to stay within your brand guidelines, but don’t play it safe. Do something different to stand out! If you’d like to create ebooks for your brand, we can help. We offer ebook topic ideas, content creation, design and publication on landing pages. Learn more about how we can help you create interesting and highly convertible ebooks.
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