Content publishers looking for ways to encourage readers to stay on the page should consider adding a flipbook HTML5 to their marketing strategy.
Flipping books are a relatively untapped market. Limitations of publishing software meant that the technology did not provide a good-user experience, but recent developments have improved the way readers engage with content online.
Advancements in flipbook technology have elevated magazine style formats from the coffee table to desk top computers and mobile devices.
A broad range of digital media that can be accessed through flippingbook apps give online publishes another avenue to reach their audience in new ways.
Now consumers are using multiple devices, publishers need to find solutions producing content by means that are functional across multi-media platforms.
Page flipping technology allows readers to turn pages with a swipe of the screen. All you need is to create a PDF and transfer the content to an interactive digital publishing platform.
This guide details everything you need to know about making HTML5 flipbooks and the benefits it offers marketers and online consumers.
What is a flipbook?
A flipbook is the digital equivalent of conventional page-turners such as books, catalogues, brochures or magazines. When used on your laptop or mobile device, flipbooks looks and feels like printed media.
High-quality graphics, video and audio are all elements that can be included in flipbooks to engage and entertain readers.
And unlike PDF’s, they are responsive to smaller smartphone screens so can be used on multiple devices.
Easy to create Flipping Books
On the subject of PDF documents, most flipbook platforms support the file format. This allows creative to use documents they are already familiar with such Microsoft Word or Powerpoint, and convert it to a PDF to upload into a digital publishing platform.
Simple right? Okay, let’s take you through this step-by-step.
What is a digital publishing platform?
Digital publishing platforms enable publishers to create a wide range of content that will help to improve cross-media marketing strategies.
Print media will not last forever and the advent of digital platforms enables publishers to replicate offline reading materials into the digital arena.
Less expensive to create
The cost of creating flipbooks is considerably lower than expensive offline print shops. Creating advertising materials and reading products digitally dramatically reduces production costs.
Creating flippingbooks only require a single conversion and you distribute as many copies as you want. And because you can host the content on your server, there is a ready supply of unlimited flipbooks you can produce stored permanently.
Modern publishing standards
People are so used to accessing free content from their digital handsets they have become accustomed to burying their head into their tablet to look for a good read. The number of people buying print magazines is waning.
Flipbooks give your content gives users the digital feel which makes content even more powerful and vibrant. High-resolution screens produce images that create more impact than a glossy magazine ad page.
The editing suites also offer a variety of skins for you to choose from so you can design your own branded style of content. With plenty of space to work with, you can choose whatever you want to create a text based article or page content that leads with visual images.
Impressive load times
Considering the amount of high quality content, flippingbooks upload remarkably quickly. If you were to replicate the standards you can achieve with digital publishing platforms on your blog pages, your web pages would load much slower – especially on mobile handsets.
Highly flexible digital publications
Flipbook technology is extremely versatile and can be used to create numerous types of content.
Historically, flipping books were primarily used by magazine companies, but because of the diverse range of products you can create with HTML5 flippingbooks, dozens of industries have been able to find exciting new ways of engaging customers.
Flipbook software enables content creators to place text along images and position them wherever you want them to go. With crisp interactive graphic design, flipping book image has a high impact.
Interactive flipbooks
Page flipping brings interaction to mobile devices and increases the user-experience.
The interactive features of flipbooks may still be in a rudimentary phase, but with the hype of virtual reality and augmented reality there is a high chance developers will create new ways of making flipping through catalogues more entertaining.
Added income
Traditional magazines have always boosted their revenue from advertisers – and digital flipbooks are no exception.
The principles of publishing are still the same in the digital arena as they are in print, so flipbook owners can showcase their own work and sell ad space to other companies.
Reach a wider audience
Digital flipbooks are enjoyable to use and have the potential to increase your readership.
Thanks to social media, internet users are more willing to share great content and because flipping books are trending they are highly shareable.
Data collection
HTML5 flipping books are something of a special feature in a company’s content marketing arsenal and can be used to leverage the collection of data from your customers.
If you use your flipping book technology to create a magazine or newsletter, you might want to consider asking your customers to subscribe to the publication in return for their contact details. This gives you the opportunity to gather intel on your customers that can be used for marketing purposes further along the line.
Flipbook HTML5 animation
The possibilities of flipbook animation are endless. Publishers are using flipping book technologies to diversify content and make their websites more interactive.
There are many ways publishers can use animation in flipbooks:
- Newsletters
- Digital magazines
- Travel guides
- Company white papers
- Brochures
- eBooks
- animated logos
- interactive characters
- animated pop-ups
Usability
We can’t tell you all about flipbooks without mentioning their faults. The biggest sticking point is that flipbook is not the most user-friendly format. The print is often too small for users to read so they have to zoom in to read the text and use on-screen controls to navigate round the page.
However, the flip-side of flipbooks is they are more interactive than typical blog content. Online magazines are much more visually appealing and sophisticated than standard blog posts.
To compensate for the loss in display quality due to the limitations of flash-based technology, programmers developed on-screen tools so the content is interactive.
No tracking
The only other downside to flipping books is the inability to track engagement and ROI. When readers use a flipbook online, marketers can track the number of users that visit the url, but they cannot track how users interact with the content.
There is no way of knowing whether visitors actually engaged with the contents of the flipbook, which pages they read or how much content they read. This can make it difficult for marketers to plan future content strategies.
However, developers are now releasing platforms that integrate SEO analytics. The data provided offers some clues to the performance of the flipbook content so that marketers can plan to improve page rank in search engines.
Creating HTML5 flipbook content enables publishers to handle different aspects of a marketing campaign and deliver a diverse range of content in a refreshing and appealing format.
Content and marketing work together and in the digital arena, “content is king.” Flipbooks will alter the digital landscape and influence the way we read. And the transfer from print to digital platforms works seamlessly.
