By: Robert Soares | You have a PDF sitting on your site. Maybe it's an ebook, a product catalog, a pricing guide. People download it. Then they disappear.
No email. No contact info. No idea if they even opened it.
According to Content Marketing Institute's research, 74% of B2B marketers use content to generate leads - but most of that content leaks value through ungated PDFs. That PDF could be capturing leads right now. Here's how to make it happen.
Time required: About 10 minutes Technical skill: None - if you can upload a file, you can do this
What You'll Need
- A PDF you want to gate (ebook, guide, catalog, report)
- A Flipbooker account (free to start)
- Optional: access to your CRM or email tool for integration
Step 1: Upload Your PDF
Log into Flipbooker and click "New Flipbook" or "Upload."
Drag your PDF into the upload area. Or click to browse your files.
Conversion takes about 15 seconds for most documents. Larger files (100+ pages) might take a minute.
After this step: You'll see your PDF converted to an interactive flipbook. Pages turn, zoom works, it looks like a real publication. But we're not done - we need to add the lead capture.
Step 2: Enable Lead Generation
Go to Settings for your flipbook. Look for "Lead Generation" or "Email Gate."
Turn it on.
You'll see options for customizing the lead capture. For now, the default settings work fine. You can always adjust later.
What you're setting up: When someone reads your flipbook and hits a certain page, they'll see a form asking for their email. Fill it out, they continue reading. Don't fill it out, they stop there.
Step 3: Choose Your Gate Page
This is the important decision: which page triggers the email gate?
Too early (page 1-2): They bounce. Haven't seen enough value to justify giving their email.
Too late (page 20 of 25): They've already gotten most of the content. Why bother filling out the form?
The sweet spot: Usually page 3-6, depending on content length.
Some guidelines:
| Content Type | Total Pages | Recommended Gate |
|---|---|---|
| Short ebook | 10-15 pages | Page 3-4 |
| Long guide | 30-50 pages | Page 5-7 |
| Product catalog | 20-40 pages | Page 4-6 |
| Pricing guide | 5-10 pages | Page 2-3 |
The goal: let them see enough to get hooked, then ask before you give away the main value.
After this step: Your gate point is set. When readers hit that page, they'll see the email form.
Step 4: Customize Your Form
Default form: just email address. That's usually best. More fields = fewer completions.
Formstack's analysis of over 650,000 forms confirms this - eliminating just one field can increase conversions by up to 50%. Keeping forms short dramatically improves completion rates.
But you can customize:
Form fields to consider:
- Email (always required)
- Name (optional, useful for personalization)
- Company (optional, useful for B2B qualification)
Skip job title, phone number, company size unless you have a specific reason. Every field you add drops conversion by 10-20%.
Customize the message:
Change the headline from generic "Enter your email" to something value-focused:
- "Get the full 2026 Report delivered to your inbox"
- "Continue reading - plus get the bonus templates"
- "Unlock the complete guide (47 pages of tactics)"
Specificity converts. Vague doesn't.
After this step: Your form is set up and customized.
Step 5: Set Up Email Delivery (Optional but Recommended)
When someone fills out the form, what happens?
Option 1: They just continue reading in the browser. Simple, but they might not bookmark it.
Option 2: They also get an email with a link. Now they can access it anytime. Better experience.
If you choose option 2, write a quick email:
Subject: Your content name is ready
Body: Thanks for your interest in content name.
You can access it anytime here: link
Here are a few highlights you'll find inside:
- Key insight 1
- Key insight 2
- Key insight 3
Questions? Just reply to this email.
Your name
Keep it short. They want the content, not a novel.
After this step: People who fill out your form get an email with permanent access.
Step 6: Connect to Your CRM (Optional)
Leads in Flipbooker are useful. Leads in your CRM are more useful.
If you use HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, or another major CRM, you can push leads automatically.
To set up integration:
- Go to Settings > Integrations
- Find your CRM
- Connect your account
- Map the fields (email → email, name → name, etc.)
Now when someone fills out the form, a contact gets created in your CRM automatically. Sales can follow up. Marketing can add them to sequences. Most major platforms have detailed integration guides to walk you through the setup.
If your CRM isn't listed: Use Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat). Create a Zap: "When Flipbooker captures a lead, create a contact in Your CRM."
After this step: Leads flow directly to your CRM.
Step 7: Publish and Share
Click Publish. You'll get a shareable link.
Ways to use it:
On your website: Embed the flipbook on a landing page, or link to it from your resources section.
In email campaigns: "Read our new 2026 Report" linking to the gated flipbook.
On social media: Share the link. The preview pages are public. The gate captures interested readers.
In sales outreach: "Here's our detailed pricing guide" - gate captures leads, analytics tell you who's actually interested.
Step 8: Track Results
Now the good part. You can see exactly what's happening.
Lead capture metrics:
- How many people started reading
- How many hit the gate
- How many filled out the form
- Your conversion rate
Engagement metrics:
- Which pages people spend time on
- Where they drop off
- Who came back to read more
- Total time spent
This is where gated flipbooks beat PDF downloads. With a PDF, you know someone downloaded it. That's it.
With a flipbook, you know they downloaded it, read pages 1-15, spent 4 minutes on the pricing section, and came back twice.
That's a qualified lead. That's someone worth calling.
After this step: You're capturing leads and tracking engagement.
Troubleshooting
Problem: Low conversion at the gate Try moving the gate later. They need to see more value first. Or rewrite the form copy to emphasize what they're getting.
Problem: High gate completion but low engagement after Content issue, not gate issue. The first few pages hooked them, but the rest isn't delivering. Improve the content.
Problem: Lots of fake emails Add a basic email verification, or accept that some percentage will be junk. Focus on engagement data to find real leads. Fake emails don't read 40 pages.
Problem: People complaining about the gate Your gate point might be too early, your form might be too long, or the content might not justify gating. See our guide to gating without annoying people.
What to Do With Your Leads
Getting the email is step one. Now qualify and nurture.
Immediate follow-up: Send the access email right away. Strike while they're interested. Research compiled by Chili Piper shows that you are 21 times more likely to qualify a lead with a quick response than if you wait more than 30 minutes.
Watch engagement: Someone who read everything in your pricing guide is ready for sales. Someone who bounced at page 3 isn't.
Segment by behavior: High engagement → sales outreach. Medium engagement → nurture sequence. Low engagement → slow drip.
Use the data: When sales calls, they can say "I saw you spent time on the enterprise features section. Want me to walk you through how that works?"
That's not creepy. That's helpful. They'd rather talk about what they're interested in than get a generic pitch.
The Quick Version
- Upload PDF to Flipbooker
- Enable lead generation
- Set gate at page 4-6 (adjust based on content length)
- Keep the form short (email only is best)
- Customize the message to emphasize value
- Connect to your CRM
- Publish and share
- Track who's actually reading
- Follow up based on engagement
Ten minutes of setup. Unlimited leads from content that was previously a black hole.
Ready to try it? Upload a PDF and set up lead capture - you'll have it working in about 10 minutes.
Want to go deeper? Check out the complete guide to content lead generation.