Blog Photo Explained: As most of my readers know I lived in Mexico for a while and LOVED it! The culture is amazing there. Here’s my silly tail wearing a traditional hat from near the region I lived in… Tierra Caliente. This is an area located in the states of Michoacán, Guerrero and Mexico. While it’s considered a hot area (both climate and danger levels) of Mexico it’s gorgeous, holds a ton of history, and so so so much culture! Try the mezcal… You might not remember much of the experience, but it’s well worth it! 😂
If there’s one thing that’s constant in the digital marketing space, it’s change. Things are always changing, and you’ll need to keep up with the latest trends to stay competitive and get more sales.
Up until now, PDFs have been the standard format for delivering ebooks, reports, etc. While PDFs are great, there’s a relatively new ‘player’ in town and it’s skyrocketing in popularity.
That player is none other than flipbooks… and it’s the latest trend in presenting content to your audience.
Flipbooks have been around for years, but recently, they’ve gained increased traction and ubiquity due to advancements in AI technology and other new features.
If we searched for the term “flipbooks” on Google trends, we’d notice that the trend is evergreen and rising in popularity.
Whether you are a fan of flipbooks or not, the undeniable truth is that many people enjoy using them. By not leveraging the power of flipbooks, you’ll inevitably be left behind and be doing yourself and your customers a disservice.
You’re definitely going to want to jump on the flipbook bandwagon… but first… let’s see why these books are so popular!
10 Reasons Flipbooks Are So Popular
1. Engaging user experience
Reading a flipbook is far more fun and visual than reading a boring old PDF. With a flipbook, you can see the pages turning, and if you have your sound enabled, you can even hear the ‘swoosh’ sound of the page turning. Despite being in digital format, it seems almost tactile in nature. Reading a flipbook and makes us feel like we’re reading a traditional book. There’s also no need to keep scrolling down to read more. It’s far easier to consume content in a flipbook format. The interactive navigation will also allow the reader to get to specific pages of the book/report without needing to scroll up to find the contents table and so on. It’s fast and convenient.
If you stopped to think about it, even books displayed on Kindle devices operate similarly to flipbooks. The pages flip without needing the reader to expend effort scrolling. This makes for a better user experience.
2. Mobile friendly
Flipbooks look great on mobile devices too. Reading PDFs on a mobile device can be difficult because of the way the content is displayed. The words may be too small and once again, the reader will need to scroll. But flipbooks are optimized for mobile devices and create an awesome reading experience.
3. Embeddable on websites
One fantastic benefit of flipbooks is that you can embed them on your website. Visitors can read your book without ever leaving your site. This will increase your site’s retention rate.
Forget the old way of getting the reader to download a PDF, then opening it and so on. With flipbooks, all the reader needs to do is click on a link and voila! The book opens right in front of them… on the same page. Easy peasy.
4. A better way to generate leads
As mentioned earlier, one click is all it takes. When generating leads with an opt-in page and a freebie report, instead of sending the reader a PDF download, just have a link to your flipbook online.
Once again, it’s hassle free. Your new subscriber can just bookmark the page and return to it whenever they wish to read it.
5. Easy to update/revise
The problem with PDFs is that once they’re downloaded by your readers, it’s almost impossible to revise or update them. Even if you re-upload the latest version, there will be still be old PDF copies of your book/report floating around for the rest of eternity.
Maybe a slight exaggeration. But you get the point. 😉
With flipbooks, you can edit them online (any time you wish) and the changes will be reflected instantly. Your books will always be relevant, up-to-date, and accurate.
6. Integrates with other media formats
Another fantastic advantage of flipbooks is that you can embed YouTube/Vimeo videos in them. Readers will be able to watch videos within their books.
Can you imagine how cool that is?
Even Harry Potter never had it this good! 😂
Flipbooks are convenient, aesthetically pleasing, and have extremely cool features that will help people consume content in different modalities. They’re highly versatile!
7. Analytics
Like management consultant, Peter Drucker, once said, “What gets measured, gets managed.”
Flipbooks provide you with analytics and data that’s priceless for your marketing. You’ll be able to see how many people viewed your flipbook within a specific time period. Even your reader retention rate will be displayed and it’ll give you an accurate idea of how many people complete reading your book… and how many stop halfway.
If you notice that most readers drop off at a certain page in your flipbook, you can edit the content to make it more interesting so that they keep reading.
You’ll even be able to see if anyone printed out your flipbook. This data which is almost on a granular level will help you to target your audience better and tailor the content to suit their needs.
8. Shareability
Flipbooks can be protected or they can be set to public. If set to public, these books are highly shareable.
Imagine this scenario where your reader John wishes to share your ebook with his wife, Stephanie. If it was a traditional PDF, he’d have to attach it to an email and send it to her. She’d then have to open the email, download the PDF, then find it and open it before she can start reading. In most cases, Steph would not bother with the inconvenience and prefer to just turn on the TV and watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians. However, with a flipbook, John just needs to text message or email the URL to Stephanie, and with JUST ONE CLICK, she’ll be devouring the engaging content in your flipbook.
Congrats! You’ve just earned a new fan! Sorry, Kim. 😂
The accessibility and shareability of flipbooks may even make them go “viral” and reach a wider audience than you ever expected.
By now, you’re probably realizing just how powerful flipbooks can be. But there’s more!
9. Great for customization and branding
Since flipbooks are essentially web pages, there are a lot more options to customize and brand these books to make them more pleasing to the eye. You could also use your brand colors so that the books are in congruence with your official website and so on.
10. Better affiliate opportunities
Having affiliate links in flipbooks is better than having links in a PDF. With a PDF, when someone clicks on a link, the PDF software may throw up a pop up asking if the reader wishes to allow the link to open. This can discourage some readers and they may close the pop up.
With a flipbook, the moment they click a link, a page will open in a new tab showing them the offer you’re promoting and so on. This will not only make it easier for the reader, but it’ll improve conversions and boost your sales.
It’s a win-win for both you and the reader.
What to Look for When Choosing Your Flipbook Software
There are several popular flipbook software tools out there. One of the best that I found is Easy Flipbook. It’s reliable and has 1000+ satisfied users.
There are other flipbook software brands out there… but not all are made equal.
Here’s what you need to look out for when choosing a flipbook software.
Easy to use – A good flipbook software will have a user-friendly interface and be almost intuitive to use. With Easy Flipbook, you’ll be proficiently creating flipbooks like a pro within 15 minutes. Awesome!
Tutorials must be provided – While the flipbook software may be simple to use, you want to ensure that the vendor has also provided tutorials to guide you. At the very least, there should be a helpdesk to answer any queries that you may have.
One-time or recurring fee – Some flipbook software like Easy Flipbook have a one-time fee. That makes them highly cost-effective. Beginner marketers on a tight budget will prefer this brands that they only need to pay for once.
Other flipbook brands may have a monthly fee. There are pros and cons to both.
With a one-time fee, you’ll save money in the long run but the downside is that the tool may not be updated and the vendor may neglect the product after a while.
With a monthly fee flipbook, you can rest assured that the tool will be constantly updated. However, you’ll have to pay every month and the monthly costs can add up.
My suggestion is that you pay one-time for Easy Flipbook and call it a day. The vendor is reliable and the tool is new. It’s here to stay. 🎉
Are the flipbooks hosted for you? – Ideally, you’ll want to host your flipbooks on your own website server. Never build your house on rented land. Having your flipbooks on someone else’s server can be risky. If their site goes down, so will your flipbooks. While Easy Flipbook is kind enough to offer free hosting for your books (ideal for marketers on a shoestring budget who have no web hosting), ultimately, you want the books on your web server.
Speed – The tool must allow you to generate flipbooks fast! You don’t want to be spending hours just to create 1 flipbook. Easy Flipbook will create a flipbook in minutes for you.
Shareable… but includes built-in security options – You must be able to share your flipbooks with others… but the software must also have the option to protect your content, if you only want paying customers to access it.
Analytics – As mentioned earlier, having analytics and data is key to improving the quality of your flipbooks. The software you use must have this analytics feature.
It MUST support video! – People love watching videos online. Being able to embed videos in your flipbook will not only make it easier for you to create instructional content, but the videos will also hold your readers’ attention and increase your book’s reader retention rate.
These are just a few of the most important features you’ll need in your flipbook software.
I found all of them in Easy Flipbook… which is why we’re such huge fans of the software. It’s truly one of the best around.
Should you get a flipbook creation tool?
If you’ve read this far, you already know the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
Here are a few ways you can use flipbooks:
To deliver your lead magnets
To deliver the ebooks you sell
To add your tutorial videos
To offer a flipbook creation service on freelancer sites like Fiverr
To showcase for your customer testimonials
To personalize and rebrand PLR ebooks/articles you have
To be used as a component/module in your product bundle to boost sales
And much more!
You’re only limited by your creativity.
You can’t go wrong with flipbooks and most marketers will be able to leverage them in their business one way or another.
Ride this trend and use this engaging and fun format to hook your readers and make them enjoy your content. Flipbooks will make you look more professional and increase your credibility.
Start using them today!
Click here to get my #1 recommendation for creating flipbooks… Easy Flipbook!
