Why Should I use a Flipbook?
It might seem obvious, but PDF's are not mobile friendly - they often open in a new application and can be difficult to decipher on smaller screens. While PDF's are not obsolete, there are better ways to display them on your site. In the following post, we'll look at why PDFs can be troublesome for your site users and what you can do to increase user engagement with PDFs on your website.
One of the reasons PDF's are suggested to be flawed is that they are dead end pages; in nearly all cases there is no page navigation from the PDF back to the website. In other words, once a user gets to the end of the document, there's nowhere to go which is generally considered poor User Experience (UX) and can result in the user not coming back to the website. The other flaw is that they are incompatible for mobile browsing. They don't display on browsers and require a seperate app to view them; and even if they do display you still have to pinch to zoom. The whole experience is rather clunky (especially if your responsive website does a better job at presenting content on mobile devices).
Most businesses use PDF's to create and physically distribute information about themselves. It's an easy medium to produce presentable and accessible information. And often, this information in this format gets published on their website. If you're using PDF's for your business, it might be time to consider using an Online Flipbook to publish it instead. Flipbooks can be integrated into your existing website to create a better UX, they can be optimised for SEO and help to create more value for your visitors.
Consider these reasons for Online Flipbooks in your business
1. Interactivity
The main point of a Flipbook is it allows a static brochure to be literally flipped through digitally. Because you're displaying this content digitally, there's several interactive features you can add. A Flipbook can display all sorts of multimedia including video and audio content, but above anything else when it comes to interactivity, the main feature a Flipbook provides is control by the reader. The reader is already familiar with the brochure format, but now they can also zoom, search, bookmark and consume the content faster and more effectively - creating a much more engaging and enjoyable interaction from the user.
The main point of a Flipbook is interactivity. Statistics have shown experiential approaches to marketing cause far more engagement with your customer. 98% of people say an experiential approach makes them more inclined to purchase a product.
2. Visual Appeal
A Flipbook also offers a far superior visual appeal. The flipping motion is aesthetically pleasing for readers no matter what device they're on. For businesses that produce a large number of PDF-based documents, this tool can be a fantastic way to add some interactivity to the process of consuming these documents online - creating engagement and animations as the user navigates the document. A static PDF may look different on devices but a Flipbook will maintain it's format on all devices.
3. Flexibility
A Flipbook can be anything. It can be a book, a brochure, a manual or any content relating to your business.
4. Cost
A Flipbook eliminates all printing and production costs, meaning it also eliminates the distribution cost of getting your physical content out there too. By using a Flipbook, you are reducing the risk of waste from overrun too.
5. Audience Size
When you print something out and give to someone else, there is a chance they may hand it to someone else or it may not go past them. With a Flipbook, your audience is the entire Internet!
If your business has a number of documents, annual reports or brochures then it may be time to make these digital and start implementing Flipbooks for your business.
If you're interested in seeing an example of our work, take a look at the Maben Edge Flipbook we developed for Maben Group. DCODE GROUP updated the layout/design of a printed PDF to adapt it for online viewing and then developed the flipbook solution to enable its viewing online.
Let's talk further about how we can help you to implement this for your business using our experience with other clients.
