How to Write an eBook as Lead Magnet to Promote Your Online Course

eBooks are the electronic version of printed books. You have probably already seen countless creators offering eBooks for free as downloadable digital products.

When you see this, they are probably offering the eBook as a lead magnet to collect email addresses of potential future clients.

This strategy has many benefits, so you should really consider writing an eBook and offering it to your audience for free, or at a low price.

You might think that writing an eBook requires a lot of time and effort, or that you need to be an experienced writer to do so. However, the world of eBooks is much more flexible and less restricted compared to writing an actual book and publishing the printed version.

In this article, we will explain the benefits of offering an eBook as a lead magnet to promote your online course, and how to do it in five simple steps.

Benefits of eBooks as a Lead Magnet

eBooks are one of the most popular lead magnets and - if done well - can be extremely beneficial for you and your customers.

If you decide to use your eBook as a lead magnet, you are offering your leads something more valuable and informative compared to other digital products as a simple checklist or infographic.

Check out this article from our blog to learn all about lead magnets: How to Create a Great Lead Magnet That Converts to Promote Your Online Course

Here are the main benefits of offering an eBook as a lead magnet:

• Establish your authority as an expert: as eBooks are more substantial and valuable lead magnets, they can help you establish your authority as an expert in your field to the eyes of potential customers.
• Attract potential clients: attracting potential students for your online course and collecting their information is the main purpose of a lead magnet - together with proving initial value to prospects and introducing them to your brand.
• Easily accessible: compared to printed books, eBooks are easier to produce and distribute. Your visitors can download them with the click of a button and access the content instantly.
• Interactive: you can add images, video, infographics, checklists and more interactive tools to your eBook, making it an engaging way to promote your online course.
• Free to create: you don't have to spend any money to write an eBook. The only investment you will need is time to research and write out your content.

How to Write an eBook

#1: Choose the Topic of Your eBook

When picking the ideal topic for your eBook, you should focus on your audience and their pain points.

Many times creators make the mistake of writing about a topic that interests them, but not their audience.

If your audience cannot relate and resonate with the topic, your eBook will most likely not be a success. So think about who your audience is. What do they want to learn more about? What are their biggest pain points? Can you recognize their problems and find out potential solutions for them?

If you think about it this way, it will be easier to narrow down possible topics for your eBook that your audience wants to know more about.

If you are creating an eBook as an addition to your online course, it should not be hard to come up with a topic that you are knowledgeable about and can help your audience at the same time.

#2: Structure the Outline of Your eBook

Outlining the content of your eBook will make the writing process much easier! In fact, structuring your chapters before you start writing is an essential part of creating an eBook that follows a clear path.

Especially when it comes to informative content, you need a clear outline to help your readers process the information.

The goal of your eBook is to solve your ideal customers' problems; so you should make it easy on them by creating well-organized, straightforward content.

So before you start writing, construct a visual outline of your eBook. This will not only help you save time but will also facilitate the writing process as you go.

Your outline should include the following:

• Introduction
• Chapters (and possible subchapters)
• Potential calls-to-action (CTA)

Ideally, the chapters of your eBook should bring your readers from point A to B, and guide them in the process of solving a specific problem.

#3: Customize the Branding and Style of the eBook

It is important that your eBook matches your brand in terms of style and visuals. Make sure that the pages in the eBook fit the style and branding of your business and online course.

Add your logo, match your branding colors and images, and even write in a consistent way with the way you teach in your online course lessons. This helps readers get immersed in your brand experience and make an easier transition from your lead magnet to your paid online course.

Other than branding elements, it is also important to add visuals to your eBook.

Try to break up extensive blocks of text with images or infographics to make your eBook more digestible and easier to read.

Visuals can also be used to complement your content and provide more information to the reader. Images, graphs, infographics and even videos are all great ways to illustrate ideas that might be hard to communicate using only text.

#4: Add Call to Actions (CTAs)

The goal of your eBook should be to introduce potential customers to your brand and main product offerings. This is why you need to add clear call to actions throughout the content.

You want to make sure that your readers are not only downloading and reading the eBook without taking any further actions, so offer them clear directions on how to proceed in their buyer journey.

The call to actions should help readers solve even more pain points and achieve even more solutions than the one offered in your eBook. In other words, your eBook should help readers understand the full value of your main offering (in this case your online course), and should help convince your audience to take the next step.

#5: Promote Your eBook

Once you have completed the writing and styling of your eBook, is time to add it to your site and start promoting it.

You can create a dedicated landing page to promote it, or simply add a section in your website where potential customers can download it and leave their emails.

All you need for this step is a website and an email autoresponder software. Heights Platform lets you create landing pages around your online course business, and you can even sell eBooks as digital products and create a dedicated sales page for them.

Other ways to promote an eBook as lead magnet include sharing it on social media, running paid ads, adding pop-ups on your site etc...

If you are looking for marketing ideas for your eBook, digital product or online course, check out this article from our blog: A Complete Guide on How to Promote Your Online Course and Boost Sales

Conclusion

If done well, eBooks used as a lead magnet can be a great idea if you wish to attract new potential clients, and offer them a high initial value to introduce them to your online course.

You don't have to be an experienced writer to build an eBook lead magnet, however, there are a few simple rules to follow if you want to create an engaging, valuable eBook. Start by finding your topic among the biggest pain points of your audience, then outline its structure and strat writing the chapters of your eBook.

Remember to keep the style and layout aligned with your branding, and add visual elements to promote engagement.

Once you are done, start promoting the eBook and collecting leads! After potential customers download your eBook, don't forget to add them to your mailing list and start promoting your online course with email marketing.