Go evergreen with content marketing eBooks

It feels like eBooks have been around for aeons. Yet the idea only really took off in the 2000s, when Amazon launched the Kindle and began allowing authors to sell or give away their unpublished masterpieces online.

One side effect of this was to give content marketers an extra distribution channel. Now B2B content marketing eBooks have become a major source of information for customers looking to make a purchase decision.

According to figures from DemandGen, eBooks rank third on the list of content types most likely to be shared with another colleague. Only blogs and infographics come higher. In terms of buying research, 68 per cent of respondents said they would use eBooks.

There are other good reasons to think about using eBooks. From the marketers perspective, they are an excellent way to gain email signup.

Glassdoor Dummies guide

One good example comes from recruitment company Glassdoor. It has produced a series of eBooks for employers and candidates alike. A standout among these is Employer Branding for Dummies.

The books were co-produced with Dummies guide publisher Wiley and follow the same format. Each contains around 60 pages. Reference to Glassdoor is fairly minimal, barring the introduction.

It’s a bold plan and likely to work well. The Dummies layout, which is recognisable to most people, should create a feeling of trust. Just as long as there’s not too much sell.

EBooks have been seen as the dirty end of book publishing. This is thanks perhaps to the lady flogging a poor imitation of Harry Potter or the middle-aged guy selling his mafia novel with a twist. Maybe the easy route to publishing has something to do with it.

There is still talk about creating evergreen content. A good well-researched eBook could fulfil this need.

Go evergreen with content marketing eBooks is part of Content24, the blog for London content marketing agency FirstWord.