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What is the Difference Between an eBook and a White Paper?

4 MIN READ

Content marketing is more than just a blog article targeting your audience. White papers and eBooks are two popular options to offer your audience relevant and digestible information, while generating leads. We will provide you with the purpose of each, and you can determine which is best for your brand!

What is an eBook?

eBooks are somewhat of a new trend in the world of literature. But the concept of creating an electronic version of a book has been dated back to the early 1930s.

An eBook is simply an electronic book, displayed on devices such as an e-reader, a smartphone, or a computer. While some eBooks are created as an electronic version of a printed book, others can be created as its own individual print form. Anyone with a smartphone can easily browse the Internet for their favorite book title and immediately download it to their device.

How do you create an eBook?

Creating an eBook can be a useful way of getting your content in front of an audience and generating leads. Because of how versatile it is, it is significantly easier to pass its information along from one person to another. Consider these steps for creating a professional and effective eBook:

  1. Research what content your target audience wants to read, to generate the most attention and leads.
  2. Outline all of the chapters you want to include and start writing your 1st draft.
  3. Proof everything! Read it once yourself and have a second pair of eyes do so as well.
  4. Design your cover and incorporate all graphics and images into your text.
  5. Convert the eBook either into a PDF or ePub file for easy distribution.
  6. Upload to your brand’s website and promote your new book!

Tips for Designing an eBook

  • Choose an eBook template that is appropriate for your content or create one with a text-editing software.
  • An eBook has chapters, subheadings, images, etc. Make sure to have clear sub-divisions of topics and images to create an “easy flow.”
  • Use the concept of an inverted pyramid.
  • Place your logo on the cover.
  • Include your email and a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your eBook.

Branding Considerations and Ultimate Goal

Incorporating an eBook into your marketing strategy is a great tool to generate leads and distribute your brand’s message quickly and efficiently. According to studies in 2017, 95% of B2B companies have considered content produced by other B2B brands to be trustworthy and reliable.

One of the most important branding considerations is that an eBook can be a great way to produce relevant content in an engaging and informative manner. Brands are able to tell a story that will set themselves apart from their competitors and establish trust and authority in their respective industry. Another benefit is that eBooks can be optimized to be viewed on a variety of digital platforms. By adapting your eBook to be viewable on all available platforms, you increase your exposure and customer experience. eBooks can also generate and increase traffic to your brand’s website. Include landing pages to your website, within your book, to drive traffic and improve page views.

What is a white paper?

White papers are considered to be the “academic papers” of the marketing industry, according to HubSpot. Different from eBooks, white papers are reports that are meant to educate an audience on a specific topic, present a problem, and provide a solution. It is structured in a more informative and professional manner, whereas an eBook can be written in the form of a long-text blog post. Those who read white papers are expected to be presented with facts, statistics, and research, in order to make detailed and informed purchase decisions. Usually, interested readers need to provide an email to access the white paper. This is a great way to guarantee leads and reach out to prospects.

How do you create a white paper?

Much like an eBook, there are pre-designed templates that can be used to start designing your white paper. White papers can also be designed from scratch, using the proper formats.

  1. Choose a relevant topic that presents a problem and its solution.
  2. Creating an outline prior to writing your first draft will help structure the flow of your paper.
  3. Write your first draft and then double and triple proof your paper.
  4. Include a title page, table of contents, executive summary, and an introduction.
  5. Structure the paper by presenting the problem, providing a solution, a relevant case study, and a conclusion.
  6. Be informative and professional. Provide statistics, graphs/charts, and research.
  7. No more than six pages long, proper font type and color, and export into a PDF.

Branding Considerations and Ultimate Goal

A white paper aims at establishing a brand’s credibility and authority in a specific industry. Since the paper is professional and informative in nature, it is used to educate readers about a problem and a solution. The brand becomes a valued source of information in the community. Many customers look for concrete data and facts to support their purchase decisions and a white paper is a great way to get it in front of them. Think of a white paper as being an informative, reliable guide for professionals and companies in a specific industry.

Conclusion

While there are differences between an eBook and a white paper, both are useful forms of content marketing. Choosing the one that is right for a brand’s content marketing strategy greatly depends on the type of information they want to provide to their audience. Regardless of which one is used, both will help a brand effectively promote their messaging and expand brand awareness!

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