How to Increase Ebook Downloads

So you’ve created a beautiful ebook.

Now what?

It’s time to get people clickity-clicking on your offering.

You know that’s harder than it sounds. Because there’s a lot of forethought that goes into making an ebook downloadable, just like any other marketing asset.

The good news: half the work is done. Your ebook is relevant, a joy to read and designed to perfection (that’s if you’ve read our article on How to Make an Ebook).

The last step involves:

Copywriting - Convert with compelling copy
Advert design - Dazzle with thoughtful design
Distribution channels - Distribute intelligently

These tools and techniques will help you get the right eyes on your offer, increasing your ebook free downloads.

Keep reading to ensure your ebook gets the attention it deserves so you can meet your marketing goals.

Convert with compelling copy

Legendary copywriter, Robert Collier, whose book The Secret of the Ages (1926) sold over 300,000 copies, had some very wise words for you:

“Always enter the conversation already taking place in the customer’s mind.”

That right there is the key to conversion copywriting. Telepathy.

Just kidding. You don’t need superpowers to write a copy that converts.

It’s about always having your audience research front of mind. Which should be easy, since you created your ebook with this mindset … right? Anxious laugh.

Armed with knowing exactly what your readers want, you can write copy that drives ebook downloads. But that isn’t where the work ends. Here are six conversion copywriting tips to make your ebook offer pack a punch:

6 conversion copywriting tips to increase ebook downloads

1. Focus on the outcome of the benefit

Communicate how your ebook will help readers achieve their goals, rather than focusing on all the things it features. This will make your words carry more weight. Because you’re connecting with readers on an emotional level, generating excitement and enthusiasm around your offering.

2. Use contractions

Write like a human by using contractions, such as changing ‘you will’ to ‘you’ll’ and ‘we are’ to ‘we’re’. It’ll make your copy more direct, persuasive and faster to read.

3. Include numbers in your title

Like “6 Ways to Eat Cake With Your Hands”. Ebook titles containing numbers tell the reader that you’ve broken up your information in a reader-friendly format. And if there’s one thing your readers want, it’s an easy, speedy read.

4. Use powerful verbs

Replacing adverbs like ‘very’ and ‘really’ with stronger verbs gives your language more power and clarity while cutting down unnecessary words. For example, it’s better to say exhausted over really tired and fantastic over very good.

5. Write to one person

Your readers should feel like you're talking to them directly. Otherwise, your message might come across as impersonal. Using second-person pronouns (‘You’ instead of ‘They’) closes the gap between you and your readers for a more intimate and emotive experience.

6. Show, don’t tell

Don’t just explain what your ebook does. Show your readers how it will change their lives. For example, instead of saying, “Read 100 expert interviews on technology as a revenue booster,” say, “Make more money and grow your business: 100 tech experts teach you how”.

I’ll stop there since I could easily write an ebook on conversion copywriting (now there’s an idea …).

While I work on that, discover more copywriting tips inside these fantastic books:

The Copywriter’s Handbook by Bob Bly

Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath

Everybody Writes by Ann Handley

Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins

Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

Dazzle with thoughtful design

Getting your words right is just one piece of the puzzle. Design has to pull its weight too.

First thing is consistency. It will be jarring for your visitors if your advertisement or landing page doesn’t match your ebook design. Keep your colours, images and typeface consistent for continuity and brand awareness.

Consider colour psychology. Colour acts as an emotional cue, helping you evoke specific feelings.

For example, the colour yellow is attention-grabbing. However, it can also be abrasive when overused. In fact, babies tend to cry more in yellow rooms.

Understanding different audience factors, such as past experiences and cultural associations, will help you pick the most effective colours. Plus, A/B testing may reveal how different colours in your landing page and ebook design impact clicks.

Directional cues, like arrows pointing towards call-to-action buttons, encourage visitors to press that ebook free download button. You can also draw attention using more subtle directional cues like below.

Image: KIN

See how the models in the picture are all looking at the laptop? Which has been conveniently placed behind the call-to-action buttons. So sneaky, so effective.

Information hierarchy also guides visitors’ actions, making them naturally progress towards your ebook download button. You can display your information in the following order to create an action-driven user journey:

Attention - get their attention

Interest - pique their interest

Desire - offer benefits and proof

Action - ask for a response

Data and technology agency, Celerity, does this masterfully on its ebook landing page:

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Celerity grabs its readers’ attention with a bold headline (although we do think this could be stronger). Then it piques their interest with a cool fact. This is followed by an explanation of the benefits on offer, and finally, a call to action. Follow this format for a compelling narrative that draws the reader in and gets them clicking.

Celerity grabs its readers’ attention with a bold headline (although we do think this could be stronger). Then it piques their interest with a cool fact. This is followed by an explanation of the benefits on offer, and finally, a call to action. Follow this format for a compelling narrative that draws the reader in and gets them clicking.

Distribute intelligently

Will you share your ebook on LinkedIn or Twitter? Will you send it to your email subscribers? Do you need to create a landing page? Can you afford paid advertising?

Feeling overwhelmed? Me too.

Let’s simplify things. Write down:

Who your audience is
Where your audience is
What your budget is
What your goal is

If you don’t have the answers to the first two questions, analyse your data. For example, figure out which social media site gets you the highest levels of engagement to understand where your audience is.

With paid advertising, you can build audience lists for highly-targeted marketing and easily control how much you spend per campaign.

Know that you don’t have to stick to one channel to advertise your ebook. Companies that use multichannel marketing experience 3x higher effectiveness rates than those that use non-integrated campaigns (Heinz Marketing).

How frequently should you advertise your ebook?

Research suggests that it takes three or more exposures to an advertising message before visitors take action.

If you have a small budget and want to use paid advertising to reach specific audiences, three exposures is a good benchmark to build awareness around your ebook offer.

Just make sure that you’re marketing to the same group of people, otherwise frequency becomes irrelevant. Consistent messaging and audience lists will help you achieve this.

Also, consider how your ebook might fit into a wider marketing campaign. You could market it alongside other relevant content, further increasing audience awareness. For example, you could feature your ebook free download offer at the end of a How-To video on a similar topic.

The ROI of your previous marketing campaigns will help inform frequency too.

Focus on your most successful campaigns. How many times did you advertise your offer? Use this information to guide your ebook campaign.

How are you getting on?

We’ve been on one hell of a journey together, haven’t we? In our ebook series you’ve discovered:

And last but not least, how to increase your ebook downloads!

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Now the Incredibble team wants to see the fruits of your labour. Have you transformed into the master of all ebook creators? Share your experience on Instagram, Linkedin or email. We’re excited to hear from you!