How to Deliver Downloadable Files

Are you using OptinMonster to collect leads and deliver downloadable files such as an eBook, PDF guide, etc.?

This article teaches you how to deliver downloadable files to your new subscribers.

Before You Start

Here are some things to know before you begin:

• A downloadable file, in this guide, indicates a PDF file.
• We recommend uploading the file you want to deliver to a remote server or file-hosting platform, like Dropbox.
• It is not possible to upload files to your OptinMonster account to provide to subscribers.
• It is not possible to send emails directly from OptinMonster to your subscribers. For that, you’ll want to use a dedicated Email Service Provider.

Deliver Downloadable Files by Email

One of the best ways to deliver downloadable files is to send them directly to your new subscribers in an email sent from your Email Service Provider (ESP). You can provide the file in your first email to new subscribers, or make it part of a campaign sequence if your ESP allows you to create sequences.

The benefit of this approach is that only legitimate subscribers receive the file.

With this approach, you’ll work within your ESP to create an email that sends to new subscribers and attach the downloadable file to that email.

The exact process to do this will vary depending on your ESP; if you need assistance getting started, don’t hesitate to contact our support team.

Add a Download Button

To add a button to your campaign the links to the hosted PDF file for download, follow these steps:

1. Upload your PDF file to your own site or a file-sharing platform like Dropbox (see below).
2. In the campaign builder, add a button block following our guide here.
3. When configuring the button click action (aka Success Action) for your button, add the URL to your hosted PDF file in the “redirect to URL” option’s field.

Redirect on Submission

To automatically redirect the visitor to your hosted PDF file for download, configure the Success Action of the optin form to “redirect to URL” and enter the PDF file share URL in the provided field.

Learn more about configuring the Success Action in this guide.

Dropbox File Hosting

You can store your downloadable file on Dropbox and add the shareable link to your campaign.

To do this, upload the downloadable file to Dropbox and generate a share link following their guide.

Dropbox also allows you to set a shareable link to automatically download the file to the visitor’s computer by editing the query argument in the share URL from ?dl=0 to ?dl=1. Like this:

Original share URL: https://www.dropbox.com/s/17a2za7bdw97k3/hello.pdf?dl=0
Updated share URL: https://www.dropbox.com/s/17a2za7bdw97k3/hello.pdf?dl=1

Once you have your hosted file share link, you can use it in the Success Action of a campaign. Check out these examples:

• Add share URL to a button in the campaign
• Redirect the visitor to the share URL after they submit the optin form

FAQs

Where can I host my PDF file?

You can upload the PDF file to your own website or use a file hosting platform like Dropbox.

If you’re serious about jumpstarting your website business growth, get started with OptinMonster today!