Flipbook Use Cases: How Teams Use Interactive Documents
A flipbook is a PDF that doesn't feel like a PDF. Same content. Different experience. People actually read them.
That's the short version. Here's the longer one.
We've watched thousands of companies use flipbooks for everything from $500K proposals to employee handbooks to jewelry catalogs. Some patterns emerged. Certain use cases just work better as flipbooks. Others are fine as regular PDFs.
This guide covers the nine most common ways teams use flipbooks, what makes each one work, and whether it makes sense for what you're trying to do.
Why Does the Format Matter?
Before we get into specific use cases, a quick reality check.
The average B2B email open rate hovers around 39%, but that's just email opens, not document engagement. When it comes to actually reading attached documents, the numbers drop dramatically. Many recipients download PDFs and never open them.
Flipbooks change this equation. Links open in-browser with no download friction. And because they're trackable, you finally know who actually engaged.
Why? A few reasons:
- They open in the browser. No downloading.
- They feel interactive. Page-turning beats scrolling.
- They load faster than you'd expect.
- They don't get flagged by corporate email filters as often.
But the real reason might be simpler. People are curious. A flipbook link feels different from "see attached." It gets clicks.
Now let's look at who's using them and for what.
Sales Proposals
This is the big one. Probably 40% of Flipbooker usage.
Sales teams send proposals all day. Most disappear into email voids. Did they read it? No idea. Did they share it internally? Who knows. Are they comparing you to competitors? Silence.
An interactive proposal changes the equation. You know exactly when they opened it. You see which pages they spent time on. You watch them flip back to pricing (good sign). You catch when they forward it to their CFO. You time your follow-up call perfectly.
According to Loopio's RFP statistics, the average proposal win rate is around 45%. Companies with formal sales enablement programs see 49% higher win rates on forecasted deals compared to those without. The difference often comes down to timing and insight. Research shows you're 21 times more likely to qualify a lead when you respond within 30 minutes versus waiting longer. Knowing exactly when prospects open your proposal gives you that edge.
A construction company's director of business development described what this looks like in practice: "We've just won a 2-million dollar contract because, on all things equal with the competition, the way we presented our proposal as a flipbook made us stand out." The same company noted that "the time spent on page gives us good feedback about what's relevant to that client. And that is what we're going to focus on during our next call."
What makes a good proposal:
- Keep it under 15 pages. Seriously.
- Put pricing on its own page (you'll want to track it separately)
- Include a "next steps" page at the end
- Add your contact info on every page, not just the last one
- Skip the 3-page company history section. Nobody reads it.
See our full guide on sales proposals for templates and tracking setup.
Product Catalogs
Printed catalogs cost $3-8 each to produce and mail. Update a price? Reprint everything.
Digital catalogs solve that. But PDF catalogs are clunky. Scrolling through 200 pages on a phone? Not happening.
Interactive catalogs work because they feel like the real thing. Page turns, zoom, clickable links. A 200-page catalog becomes browsable instead of overwhelming. Wholesale distributors, furniture manufacturers, jewelry brands, industrial suppliers, trade show exhibitors - they all end up here eventually.
These documents are different from a typical brochure or proposal. They're longer (50-300 pages). They need search. Products need clickable links to ordering pages. And seasonal updates are frequent, which is where the economics really favor digital.
The analytics angle matters too. Which products get the most views? Which pages do buyers linger on? Which categories get skipped? That's product intelligence you can act on. As 80% of B2B customers use mobile devices at work, browsable, mobile-friendly catalogs aren't optional anymore.
A tile manufacturer's digital marketing designer described their transition: "We were constantly updating our catalogs to make them better and more accessible, so we had to go digital to cut expenses and have all the brochures in one place." They also started putting QR codes on the back of physical tile displays so buyers could pull up the full digital catalog on the spot.
Full guide to digital catalogs
Case Studies
The most underused sales asset out there. Marketing creates them. Sales emails them. Prospects save them "for later." Later never comes.
The interactive format helps because you can see what happens. When a prospect spends 3 minutes on page 4 (the results page) and skips the methodology section entirely, that tells you exactly what they care about. Lead with results, keep them to 4-6 pages, make the numbers big and scannable. Case study guide
Ebooks and Guides
Content marketing lives and dies on gated content. Offer something valuable. Get an email address. Nurture the lead.
According to Content Marketing Institute research, 74% of B2B marketers say generating leads is a top goal achieved through content marketing. Ebooks remain one of the most popular lead magnets.
But here's the problem: you don't know if they read it.
Someone downloads your ebook, gives you their email, and then... nothing. They might have read every word. They might have opened it once and closed it. Most likely, they never opened it at all. It's sitting in their Downloads folder with 200 other PDFs.
Flipbook ebooks change this.
What you can track:
- Did they actually read it? Yes or no.
- How far did they get?
- Which sections grabbed attention?
- Did they share it with anyone?
This matters for lead scoring. A prospect who downloaded your ebook and read 80% of it is a warmer lead than one who downloaded and bounced. Now you can actually tell the difference.
Gating strategies that work:
Some companies gate the whole ebook. Some gate at page 3 (let them get hooked first). Some don't gate at all but capture leads who want the "print-friendly" PDF version.
There's no single right answer. But flipbooks give you options that PDFs don't.
Complete ebook guide | Lead generation features
Newsletters and Magazines
Email newsletters have their place. But some content wants more room to breathe.
Member newsletters, industry magazines, quarterly updates, alumni publications. These are meant to be browsed, not just read. Membership associations, luxury brands, university alumni offices, nonprofits - they all gravitate here.
What makes this format work for periodicals: multiple short articles instead of one long piece. Strong visual design. Table of contents with page links. An archive of past issues readers can flip back to.
The tradeoff is effort. This isn't a "write it and send it" format. You need design time. But if your content is visual and your audience is loyal, the engagement difference is real. Newsletter and magazine guide
Training Materials
"Did everyone complete the training?"
If you work in HR, compliance, or L&D, you've asked this question. A lot. Usually with a sigh.
The traditional workflow: Email a PDF. Hope people read it. Ask managers to confirm completion. Get vague responses. Document it anyway. Pray nothing goes wrong.
Interactive training materials don't solve everything. But they solve the "did they read it" problem. You get documented proof that Employee X completed the training on Date Y and spent Z minutes on it. If something goes wrong later, you have records.
The problem is real. According to ATD's 2025 State of the Industry Report, organizations invest an average of 2.9% of revenue into formal employee learning, yet research shows that 34% of employees skim content or tune out during training, and 15% just click through without engaging at all.
A recruitment agency's head of marketing described how the format changed their onboarding: "We've heard of flipbooks before, and thought they would be a nice way of displaying information for our needs. Sharing a link is easier than sending heavy attachments or printing items." Their sales team was particularly affected: "Actually, we used one of our packs in a pitch to our potential client, and the sales guys were convinced the new format was what made the difference."
Keep modules to 10-15 pages. One concept per page. Break long training into multiple documents and send reminders to non-completers. Training materials guide | HR and training solutions
Annual Reports
Almost nobody reads these. But they have to exist. The interactive format at least makes them usable when someone does engage: clickable table of contents, embedded video messages from leadership, links to detailed financial data. Public companies satisfy requirements. Nonprofits tell a better story. Annual report guide
Brochures
The classic three-fold. Digital brochures have been around for a while, but most are just PDFs of print brochures. Awkward to read on screens. Fixed size. No interaction.
Interactive brochures preserve the browsing experience while adding digital benefits. Trade show follow-ups, real estate property brochures, service overviews, event sponsorship packages, tourism guides. The visual design carries most of the weight here, so keep it strong.
What makes the difference: clickable contact info, links to booking pages, tap-to-call phone numbers on mobile. A commercial real estate firm described why they switched: "We wanted something better than an old-fashioned PDF - something more like a website." They now embed videos, link images to Google Maps, and track which properties get the most attention from prospective buyers.
Event Programs
This is the unexpected one. Event programs have a shelf life: before the event, during the event, then trash. Digital programs extend that life. Attendees access them on phones. Organizers see engagement data. And here's the real value: if you sell sponsorships, you can now tell sponsors exactly how many people viewed their ad or clicked their link. That's data you couldn't provide before, and it makes sponsorship packages easier to sell. Event program guide
When to Skip the Flipbook
Not everything needs to be interactive. Print-required documents, legal contracts, forms that need annotation, anything where the audience has no internet access - a PDF is still the right call.
The real question isn't "should this be a flipbook?" It's "do I care whether people actually read this?" If the answer is yes, and you currently have no idea what happens after you hit send, try the format with one document. Proposals or case studies are the easiest starting point because the ROI story is obvious.
Pick one thing you send regularly. Convert it. Send it. Check the analytics. That single experiment will tell you more than any guide can.