The Ultimate eBook on Producing eBooks - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Planning your eBook

Preparation prevents poor performance! And the same is true for eBooks.

From planning your strategy on how you’re using eBooks to planning the content, contributors and resources you need for the project…

So, how would we go about planning an eBook campaign?

First things first, we’ve got to align on our eBook mindset. 

eBook philosophy

As we alluded to in the beginning of this eBook, we believe that if we are to continue using this kind of content - there needs to be a shift in the way we view and deliver eBooks. 

Pumping out completely gated eBooks every other month isn’t likely to thrill and excite your potential future customers. 

And likely isn’t maximising the impact that you could have with eBook activity. 

Instead, here’s how we’d propose eBooks should be treated moving forwards. 

What's the goal?

Understandably, for many this will remain a lead gathering activity. The MQL model is still alive and well for many - especially in larger organisations where the entire structure has been built around this process. 

So for you guys - we get that this next couple of paragraphs might feel like a pipe dream for the moment. 

But what if we were to start looking at the goal of an eBook a little differently?

Tom Bangay, Senior Director of Content and Community at Juro, said:

“In the early days, I feel we used eBooks because we didn’t have a huge amount of choice. Who were we going to sell our product to? Why not try the people who downloaded our content.” 

“And to be honest, anything we did in those days, to a certain extent, was going to work. We went from having no brand recognition to some - so it was a win.”

“But this approach doesn’t really scale well.”

What Tom is getting at here is that we know that buyer behaviour has changed. We can’t push buyers down a neat funnel and expect them to buy at the end. Neither marketers nor salespeople can get buyers to buy before they have a need or are ready to come to you. 

So why do we follow an outdated process of collecting leads to hammer with sales calls to buy… when we could take those leads (which are really just contacts!) and instead get them into a value loop instead?

In other words, if you could gather the contact details (or not!) of the people who engage with your content and instead redirect them into places where they can have further positive experiences with your brand, getting value from your content and expertise…

When they decide they’re ready and in-market for a product like yours, you’re far more likely to be on the shortlist. 

Tom added:

“Our approach changed. We don’t need to convert these people right away. We have them in a group and I email them every week. The focus now is to give them the things that they want. Let’s make them really happy and increase brand sentiment.”

“Now, if they ever need the thing that we sell, the chances of us being on the list of vendors they look at is super high.”

“Use it to nurture people and make yourself front of mind when they’re ready to buy.”

Alternatively, for those who are and will continue to collect leads because that’s what the business requires, what if the focus was to turn from the volume of leads to the quality of the leads.

Fran Langham, Global Head of Demand Gen at Cognism, said:

“It makes more sense to focus on the ‘who’ rather than the ‘how many’.” 

“Nine times out of ten, you might get 1,000 eBook downloads, but because you’re making the targeting and messaging so broad to reach as many people as possible - you’re actually shooting yourself in the foot.”

“When you dig into who those 1,000 people are, a huge proportion of them might not be who you’re looking to attract.”

Whereas if you were to optimise for bringing in a specific persona, your messaging can get much more specific and tailored, offering more value and ultimately attracting the attention of the people you want to bring into your orbit.

They don’t have to be in a downloadable PDF format. 

PDFs are pretty limiting when it comes to what you can include and embed in them. And realistically, what’s the appeal in having them be downloadable, anyway - so they can sit going stale on someone’s desktop?

Here are some alternative formats you could use:

• Digital magazines
• Gated or ungated webpages
• Audio eBooks
• Video guide

Consider this. People are happy reading blogs natively on your website, so why not create a more interactive format there? 

Liam Bartholomew, VP of Marketing at Cognism, said:

“There are lots of formats that you can gate - if you’re committed to gating your eBook. You can gate a page on your website, hide it from search. Or you could also have it rank for SEO and collect leads that way.”

This opens up a lot more possibilities in terms of formats you can add in. Web pages will support video, audio bites, even games if you want. Plus it’s much easier to track performance! Not to mention, it’s also updatable.

As long as you make them easy enough to navigate and consume - they likely won’t miss having an additional PDF clogging their hard drives.

Putting the reader first

Think for a second about how you like to consume content. And the journey you’d ideally take to find and engage with information you need. 

Is it really to download an eBook, providing your contact details - only to find it doesn’t really answer the question you were hoping to answer, then to be contacted by the sales team of this company that you had zero interest in buying from?

Instead, might you prefer to get a sneak peek into the content - see the value-packed insights you can expect, have a variety of formats - all in one convenient package. Followed up by a well-rounded, thought through on-demand nurture or follow-up process?

Instead of doing activity that serves a means to an end, instead, put the person you want to engage (and ultimately impress) at the forefront of decision-making. 

So what would your buyer persona want to engage with?

Tom said:

“At Juro, our buyer personas liked reading. They were lawyers and they tended to enjoy written content, especially if you can get authoritative brands involved.”

But not every buyer persona will be into written content. If you’re not sure what format your buyer persona prefers, why not just ask? 

Make your eBook content work harder

If we are going to commit to using eBooks, then let’s actually commit. There’s so much we can do with this massive content asset - beyond gating it for leads. 

For example, you could release your eBook chapters one at a time as you write them.

We have been adding our chapters here! Once one chapter is ready, then release it as a blog and start getting some engagement from your audience. This doesn’t stop you from releasing the eBook at a later date, but it means that you’re consistently delivering valuable content without 3-6 months of nothing or 3-6 months of you still pushing last year’s.

Then there’s the distribution plan; how can we push this beyond the usual ‘download this eBook’ ads? Could this content be more beneficial in thought leadership, establishing your brand as a credible source of information and expertise, encouraging affinity and trust so that your ICP wants to come to you? Rather than stuck behind a gate that a much smaller percentage will ever see?

Could you ask external B2B influencers or brand champions to share with their network?

And finally, there are so many options for repurposing the content afterwards! 

Could you use the basis of the eBook to get one of your internal subject matter experts to record to post incrementally on social channels? Could you break it into small chunks to use as newsletter content? Or could you get experts from the industry to join you for a podcast episode to discuss certain elements or chapters?

What content is ‘eBook worthy’?

Whether you’re planning on gating your eBook or not - but especially if you are - the content has to live up to, or exceed your prospects’ expectations. Otherwise, they’re not likely to have a positive experience with your brand. Nor are they likely to be thrilled by the subsequent call from your sales team. Or maybe any follow-up from your company. 

Which means making sure your content actually delivers value to the people you hope to attract. 

Liam said:

“You can’t just be repurposing SEO blogs as eBooks, if you’re gating content - and realistically even if you’re not - it becomes all about quality. You want someone to think ‘Oh, I really want to see this’.”

Fran added:

“You have to move away from just pushing your product. You can have a dotted line back into your product where appropriate, but your eBook should be about a wider issue your ICP is facing. This is an opportunity to provide value and be memorable’’

“If you want to talk about your product, you can put your eBook readers into a remarketing audience and then drip feed them content about your product there.”

Jamie Skeels, Senior Demand Gen Manager at Cognism outlines some rules to live by when it comes to your eBook content:

Liam said:

“The easiest way to make your eBook unique is to work with subject matter experts (SMEs).”

To maximise eBook success, it’s far better to spend the necessary time and effort to produce something truly valuable for the intended audience. Which might mean producing fewer eBooks throughout the year. 

Liam added:

“eBooks can’t be your only activity. If you’re doing them well, then they take some time. And that means you have to have other activities running alongside.” 

Some of that time you might have spent working on your next big eBook release could now go towards properly analysing the success of the previous. Learning from what happened last time will better inform your next project.

Liam said:

“Plus, if you’re doing less of them, but the ones you produce are always really high quality, it’s much easier to get a buzz going around them. They can become highly anticipated.”

“Don’t just produce an eBook for the sake of producing an eBook. You should produce an eBook because it’s the best format for what you’re trying to achieve.”

Getting organised

Okay, so you know what you want to do; you’ve decided on a content format and a topic to write your eBook about. 

But to get the best out of your eBook, you have some things to get in place. 

Liam said:

“eBooks need to be better planned than they have been traditionally. You need to have all of your SMEs booked and ready to go, and know exactly what kinds of formats you’re going to be using so that then your SMEs can be contributing to them.”

Here’s a list of some things you need to have in place before you get started:

1. Subject matter experts

1. Who is best to speak to the subjects within your eBook? Are they internal or external?
2. Are they a well-known SME in the space? Would your ICP recognise them?
3. Have you contacted them to find out if they’d be open to working with you, and in what capacity?
4. What exactly do you need from them? Have you given them a clear brief? 

2. Resources

1. If you’re going to test a new format, who do you need to involve from the team? E.g. web developer, videographer, content proofreader etc.
2. Has everyone got a detailed brief of what their parts require?
3. Have you secured budget?
4. Have you planned what you need in terms of equipment - do you need microphones, cameras, or editing equipment?

3. Formats

1. Are you using video or voice notes? If so, who’s recording them? And about what sections?
2. Are you creating new content, not just an amalgamation of other content you’re repurposing?
3. Are you using independent studies or research? Who’s conducting the research? How do you make sure it’s accurate, interesting and relevant?

4. Distribution

1. If you’re doing a research study or report, are you going to send it to a PR agency or independent media company to report on?
2. Are there any other third parties you need to involve in distribution? For example B2B influencers?
3. Which channels are you sharing your eBook promotions on?
4. What is the intended journey for the reader?

Deciding how much to gate

At this stage, when you’re about ready to start writing your eBook, it would be a good time to figure out your game plan for gating content. Because you have a few options. 

 Liam threw another idea into the ring:

“You could have your eBook as a series. Give away the first one ungated, but get them to sign up for alerts for the next in the series when it comes out.”

Ultimately, it comes down to what you’re trying to achieve with your eBook. Is it establishing yourself as a thought leader with credible content? Or is it to hand over names and contact details to sales?

Either way, you want to prioritise getting the right people into your orbit. And delight them once they are. 

Tom said:

“If you’re gating your eBook, you need to ensure that what comes after the gate is good enough.”

Otherwise, your efforts are likely wasted on a disappointed first impression of your brand, suggesting your services would likely not deliver on their promises either. 

Tom added: 

“And if you’re making a change, hold your nerve. Whenever you choose to stop doing something, it’s going to fall off a cliff. Things take time. But the results should be worth it.”