10 Up-to-Date Ebook Marketing Strategies with Real-Life Examples (2024)

Ebooks are valuable marketing gems. According to research by the Pew Research Center, 33% of people love to read ebooks. On top of that, 67% of people rely on ebooks to research and make B2B purchase decisions.

Ebook marketing has the potential to shoot your brand into the spotlight, captivate your audience, attract leads and grow sales. However, those leads, downloads and revenues won’t come cheap. You need to deploy watertight ebook marketing strategies to succeed in an already competitive ebook market.

In this article, we’ll share 15 up-to-date ebook marketing strategies plus real-life examples to inspire and guide you on your marketing journey.

Before we get to it, here’s a short selection of 8 customizable lead form templates you can easily edit and publish with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

• What is Ebook Marketing?
• 15 Marketing Strategies to Try Today

What is Ebook Marketing?

Ebook marketing refers to the different ways you can create, distribute and sell an ebook or collection of ebooks. Ebook marketing is an effective strategy for authors, publishers and businesses to reach readers, create buzz and boost sales for their brands.

You can separate the idea of ebook marketing into two categories; ebooks for marketing as part of a company’s content marketing structure and ebook marketing for writers—in any industry or genre.

To support a content marketing structure, the first group uses ebooks as top and middle-of-the-funnel tactics to reel in new clients or offer constant value to loyal clients. The second, ebook marketing for writers, is more about making money by writing and publishing ebooks. Some techniques overlap, while others only work for one or the other.

The strategies in this guide are mainly geared towards using ebooks as a marketing technique but can still be helpful to writers looking to promote their ebooks.

What is The Value of Using Ebooks for Marketing?

It’s common to see a company or thought leader using ebooks as part of their brand awareness and growth marketing tactics. According to research conducted by Hubspot in 2019, of 173 marketers working full-time on lead generation, ebooks are the most popular lead magnet, with 27.7% of marketers using them regularly.

In digital marketing, ebooks are vital to capture leads, grow audiences, improve brand awareness, increase thought leadership and grow brand loyalty and equity over time. Many companies use free ebooks as lead magnets to capture emails on a landing page.

Professionals and industry experts create ebooks to sell on Amazon and other promotional platforms. Making an ebook is an excellent step towards increasing brand growth for a company or a professional individual.

15 Ebook Marketing Strategies to Try Today

Marketing an ebook is simple if you follow a three-phase process from pre-launch to post-launch. Here are 15 ebook marketing strategies to create, promote, and distribute your ebooks.

You can jump to each section using the links below:

• Pre-Ebook Launch Marketing Strategies
• Ebook Launch Marketing Strategies
• Post-Ebook Launch Marketing Strategies

To make sure your ebooks are also beautifully designed, follow the steps in this checklist:

Pre-Ebook Launch Marketing Strategies

Before your ebook launch, try several techniques and strategies for making an ebook that transcends the norm.

1. Make Ebooks That Your Audience Wants

Whenever the conversation starts about creating new content, always return to the number one factor that should drive your marketing strategies: the audience. To be successful with ebook marketing, you must create ebooks about topics your audiences want to know about.

Here are two ways you can create unique content that your audience will love no matter what:

• Collaborate with brands in your industry or in an industry that complements it. Come up with an idea for an ebook covering topics you’re all experts at. Make a chapter for each collaborator or have them give tips on specific techniques. Tag each other on social media to build hype and promote it after the launch.
• Create fantastic content for your audience with free copies of research-based ebooks about your industry or niche. For example, Hubspot creates a yearly State of Marketing Report with a unique landing page and design. They create new versions of the report every year and distribute them as a free, downloadable ebook.

2. Turn Your Ebook Into an Interactive Experience

Why make a regular PDF ebook when you can create an interactive experience in ebook format? Interactive ebooks are more engaging and memorable. You don’t need to download them or figure out ways to send them to your readers. Another benefit of interactive ebooks made with Visme is the embedding feature. Embed the ebook on a page on your website and keep readers on your site for longer.

With Visme, you can create shareable interactive ebooks through a live link. When your readers click on the link, they’re taken to your ebook, where they can learn about the topic you’re sharing with the help of interactive features like popups, hotspots, animation and video.

When creating interactive ebooks, promote them as such. Share how you used unique interactivity features to make a more engaging ebook.

3. Build a Landing Page for Your Ebook

A landing page can do wonders for your ebook. Ebook marketing landing pages are particularly helpful for SEO, lead generation and brand awareness.

But that’s not all. Creating landing pages for ebooks supports the content creation pillars of your brand and provides more opportunities for internal backlinking.

A landing page for a free lead magnet ebook includes the following elements:

• A design with eye-catching visuals and catchy copy that attracts attention
• An above-the-fold CTA with a signup form and button. A mockup of your ebook will look great here.
• A convincing introduction as to why the reader needs the ebook. Use pain point and resolution copywriting techniques to attract their attention.
• A summary of what’s covered in the ebook. Share the table of contents or a simple outline and give insight into what’s included in each section.
• A conclusion that shares what the reader will gain from reading this ebook and another form and CTA in case they don’t want to scroll back up.

The landing page below is from an ebook we published when we reached 4 million users. It looks like it’s time for a new ebook since now we have over 20 million users!

Another way to amp up your lead generation strategy is to use attention-grabbing forms on your landing page paired with an ebook.

Create beautiful lead forms that drive conversions in minutes!Sign up. It’s free

Rather than using traditional signup forms, Visme forms help you generate three times form completion, a 67% reduction in abandonment and a 50% reduction in the cost of acquiring a lead. Read more in this case study.

4. Share Sneak Peeks, Behind-The-Scenes Content and TidBits From the Ebook

While building the ebook and its promotional material, take the opportunity to share sneak peeks of the process. Create posts with photos of the ebook on a screen and the editor showing a thumbs up in front of it—or anything else your imagination comes up with. Share with the brand community on social media, via emails or on your website.

Use the ebook content to build hype and anticipation for the launch. Here are some ideas:

Create visual graphics with quotes from the ebook, one-page posts, carousels, stories, reels, and TikTok.
Read an ebook excerpt in an audio narration over an interesting short video.
If using expert quotes that aren’t yours, share them and tag the author.

Watch our TikTok video to learn how to create an ebook in just a few minutes.

@vismeapp Visme’s easy ebook creator helps me turn blogs into #ebooks in minutes. I can make it interactive and clickable, and even track views and analytics! Publishing your own ebook is a great #marketing tactic for your business or blog. With the Visme ebook maker, you can create a multi-page ebook ready to share online or sell on Amazon. Use one of Visme’s templates to set up your content along with images and illustrations. Download your ebook as a PDF or publish online and share as a link! #CapCut #ebooktiktok #ebookdesign #marketingtools #leadmagnet #documentdesign #Visme ♬ original sound - Speed Audios .:・°☆

Ebook Launch Marketing Strategies

By launch day, have a collection of marketing material ready to share and promote your ebook.

Here are some strategies that will help launch your ebook successfully.

5. Mockups in Promotional Visuals

Promotional visuals are non-negotiable. You need them, so why not make the most of them? Use mockups to showcase your ebook in a setting that resonates with your ideal reader. Add the ebook cover image to an iPad mockup. Use attractive or subtle backgrounds, design elements and photos to create scroll-stopping promotional graphics.

With Visme, you can create promotional mockups for your ebook launch and mockups for plenty of other content types like mobile apps, bulletin boards, and clothing apparel. The Visme mockup generator is easy to use and place into any project; presentations, documents, videos, and more.

The image below is from an Instagram post by a French gourmet food website. They used mockups to promote four of their ebooks together on Instagram.

With Visme, you can create promotional mockups for your ebook launch and mockups for plenty of other content types like mobile apps, bulletin boards, and clothing apparel. The Visme mockup generator is easy to use and place into any project; presentations, documents, videos, and more.

Here's a mockup template to inspire you to start creating mockups for ebooks.

Still trying to decide if Visme is the right tool to create all that content? Check out what Kavyansh, a social media coordinator, had to say about using Visme to create content with their team, “Visme is easy and intuitive to use. Plus, I get to be creative without coding. My team has been able to revitalize, modernize, and develop quality content for our website, blogs, and social media channels.”

6. Create Social Media Posts And Ads

Promote your eBook with social media posts or ads targeted to your ideal or recurring audience. Posting about your e-book is free and ideal for smaller businesses or solopreneurs just growing their audience.

If you’re a more established brand with a heftier budget, invest in ads for social media channels where most of your audience spends their time. You'll know the best location to place ads if you’re already active on social media. But if you’re new to social media marketing, you must conduct market research and deduce where your audience is.

For example, if your ebook contains business content, your best social media channel location is LinkedIn or Twitter. If it’s inspiring or motivational content, Instagram or Facebook are better suited for hosting that type of content.

When you create a comprehensive social media plan, include your ebook as part of the strategy to get leads or create brand awareness. The example below is a Twitter post that promotes a JavaScript cheat sheet ebook with a nice-looking image and a special deal for the first 24 hours.

7. Offer Ebook Downloads Through a QR Code

Inspire potential readers to get your ebook by scanning a QR code. You can create three codes, one with the Visme link to the interactive ebook, another one with a link to a direct download and one that directs them to the ebook’s landing page. Use each for different situations.

The magic of QR code marketing is that you can incorporate it into many content types.

For example, you can:

• Put a QR code on a banner ad online.
• Add a QR code to a poster and put it on bulletin boards locally.
• Send out emails and offer a download or link to the digital version.
• Insert a QR code inside proposals to share your expertise with potential clients.

The example below shows a promotion from a publisher that explains how their print books have QR codes to download the digital e-book version.

8. Sell or Distribute Your Ebook on Amazon and Other Sites

Selling ebooks is easier and more effective when you use a site like Amazon. Apart from Amazon, there are hundreds of sites where you can sell and promote your ebook. Many sites are niched and only cater to specific topics like fiction or scientific research.

To price your ebook, look at what other authors and brands are charging for ebooks in your industry. Note that most ebooks sell for between 3 and 8 dollars. Much more expensive ebooks are rare. If you want to keep your ebook super accessible, sell it for as low as 99 cents or even give it for free on special occasions.

9. Host a Webinar For the Ebook Launch

Digital media has no bounds, and content combinations generally do well. For example, schedule and promote an online webinar to promote your ebook launch. Host it shortly before launch or on launch day. Make it even more attractive by launching it during the webinar and offering all attendees a first look of the ebook.

In the example below, MyWorkpapers announces a webinar to launch their new ebook and share product updates.

Create the webinar slides and promotional material inside your Visme dashboard. If you created the ebook with Visme, all the assets are available, and you can repurpose them into new webinar content. During the webinar, present your Visme slides easily in presentation mode. Before the date, use presenter mode to create promotional videos to share on social media.

10. Write and Share a Press Release

Spread the word even wider with a press release sent out in emails to magazines, publications, and other journalistic platforms. Tell them all the good things about your ebook and why it’s worth downloading. Share an interesting outline showcasing the topics and invite anyone to visit the Visme site and get the ebook.

A press release in a Google Doc or inside an email is nothing to call home about. Try sending a visual press release that catches their attention when they open that email. Visme has a number of press release templates to help you get started immediately.

Post-Ebook Launch Marketing Strategies

Once your ebook launches, it enters the honeymoon period and slows down over time. Straight after launch, continue sending emails and regularly discussing it on social media. Keep people visiting that landing page. After a while, SEO kicks in and downloads are coming from more directions.

11. Offer Free Chapters in Exchange for an Email

Free ebooks in exchange for an email are commonplace. But you can tap into this technique with your paid ebook too. Instead of offering the entire book in exchange for an email, offer only one or two chapters.

If the reader enjoys your chapter and gets value from it, they may consider buying it. Make it easy for them with a button to the landing page or an embedded form if your ebook is interactive.

Another technique you can execute with free chapters is to send them to your email list. Entice them with a sneak peek at the content that will get them wanting more. Make the purchase button visible so they can purchase or take the desired action when they finish reading.

12. Keep Sharing About the eBook On Social Media

Don’t stop promoting the ebook after the launch; you still have many opportunities to share. Tap into content repurposing techniques and use the ebook to create TikTok videos, Instagram carousels, discussion videos and more.

When Ventroduce launched its ebook on ProductHunt, it received a great response. Taking advantage of the positive results, Ventroduce created a thank you post on LinkedIn that included the link to the eBook.

13. Build An Ebook Library

When you have more than two ebooks, you have an ebook library. Add to the individual ongoing promotion and content repurposing happening with the ebooks and start promoting the library itself.

If your ebooks are free, the library can also be accessible. The Gutenberg Foundation has amazing free ebook libraries for anyone to read.

Visme also has a free library of ebooks covering a wide range of topics, including presentations, marketing, designs, visual communications and more.

If your ebooks are inexpensive, create a membership or subscription fee to read and download any of the books at any time, including any upcoming ones.

14. Write a Blog Post About the Ebook

Another great way to share your ebook is to publish a blog post on your website or Medium account where you introduce the ebook to your readers. Tell the story of why you wrote the ebook and your vision of how it will help your readers in their work or lives.

Include photos and images of the process, the challenges you faced while creating it and how you overcame them. Finally, invite the reader to read the book after leaving their email in an embedded form. Design creative forms for websites, emails and digital documents easily with Visme.

15. Add Visual CTAs In Blog Articles

Create visual CTAs with mockups or other visual elements to inspire readers to check out your ebook. This technique works better when the ebook content and the article are related. For example, in the same content pillar of the content marketing strategy.

Visual CTAs are versatile; make them however you want. Try boxes with catchy copy and one direct download button, or try a multi-field form with an email or membership sign-up. However you make it, use the brand guidelines and ebook visuals in unison to create a cohesive composition that fits well visually inside your blog.

You’ve seen these in our blog posts; here’s one to jog your memory.

Easily Create & Market Your Ebook Like Never Before with Visme

“If you build it, they will come.” Wouldn’t it be great if movie logic was applied to eBook marketing? But it doesn’t work that way. You need to build a marketing strategy, or your ebook will flop. In this guide, you learned 15 creative ebook marketing techniques to take your ebook to the next level.

Here’s one more. With live interactive ebooks made with Visme, you can track views and opens of your ebook. You can also add a password-protected entry or a signup form to gain access.

Creating ebooks with Visme is easy and effortless. With the intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can customize professionally designed templates in minutes. You have access to over a million stock videos and images, thousands of unique animated design elements and an AI image generator to create images that you can’t find anywhere else.

Do you have an ebook idea? Get in touch with your marketing team and build something together. Using a Visme workspace collaboratively, you can create an interactive ebook and all the marketing material you need to promote it far and wide.

The sharing options include live links and HMTL5 for interactive ebooks, PDF downloads to print or send via email. plus the option to send the ebook to cloud storage for safekeeping.

Get started with Visme, today.