It seems that businesses are using ebooks more and more to build their online presence.
An ebook is something a person can download from a website. The book is usually a collection of information the person can use for something they want to do.
If you’ve looked around for online marketing information you’ve probably seen ebooks for things like:
- How To Get More From Your Facebook Marketing
The books usually come with research, instruction and insider information on how to accomplish the goal.
But ebooks aren’t just for marketing agencies. Any company, including a travel company, can use an ebook to its benefit.
The Benefits Of Creating Ebooks
Benefits for creating ebooks include:
- Increased website traffic
- Obtaining customer email addresses
- Social media content
- Saving time in sales process
- And more
To get people to visit your website you need to give them a reason. They might find you while doing a website search related to the basic content on your homepage. But with an ebook you give your potential customers more information to find.
What’s nice about ebooks is that sites often deliver them via email as a .pdf file. In order to receive the book, the visitor needs to provide their email address. This gives the business permission to market to the person.
Most companies want more social media shares. Ebooks are great for getting those shares. You can promote the ebook. The people that find it useful will share it with their colleagues. And you can also takeout snippets from the book to use as social media content.
These are the biggest benefits of creating ebooks and I’m sure you can think of even more ideas.
How To Create Ebooks
A good place to start when creating an ebook is to find a common customer question. In the earlier example, the question by businesses was how to improve their Facebook marketing efforts. The creator of the ebook will research and use their experience to answer the question.
Ebooks are typically 1,000 to 5,000 words, but there are no set rules. You can go outside the lines. Most ebooks also require some design by a professional designer to make them appealing from a visual standpoint.
A good way to work on the content is to start with the question and create an outline for the content. Lay out the main points you want to include. Get those points in the right order to the ebook flows well and from there you can work on filling in the details for each section.
A final key point about ebooks is to make sure the information is actionable. You can tell people why they should do something and that’s good, but people really feel like they get value when they know what they should do next.
In the Facebook marketing example, the ebook might start with research and stats regarding Facebook and businesses while the rest of the ebook would contain action items telling businesses exactly the steps they should take to have success on Facebook.
Ebook Ideas For Hotels, B&Bs And Lodging Businesses
With actionable insight in mind let’s get into a few ideas for ebooks that your travel business can create.
Here are some ideas for lodging businesses:
- How To Pack For Your Trip To [Location]
- 10 Must-See Things For Families In [Location]
- The Best Times To Visit Major Destinations In [Location]
Ebook Ideas For Tours And Destinations
And some ideas for tours and destinations:
- 10 Incredible Sites You’ll See While River Rafting At [Your Business]
- The Complete History Of [Your Destination]
- 10 Crazy Facts About [Your Destination] That You Won’t Believe
Ebook Ideas For Conferences And Events
And finally, some ideas for conferences and events:
- The 10 Best Restaurants In [Your City]
- Where To Stay During Your Visit To [Your City]
- 10 Great Ideas For Killing An Afternoon In [Your City]
Final Thoughts
Ebooks are a great tool for travel businesses. Identify the questions your customers typically ask you. You’re probably answering them already. Simply take that knowledge you have and create an ebook. Work with a designer to make it look nice and put it on your site. You’ll start getting more traffic, more social media engagement and more email addresses for your marketing newsletter.
