White papers are an effective and common way to promote an organization and its products. Done properly, white papers can generate leads, gain the attention of decision makers, and distinguish companies from competitors. Nonprofits can produce white papers to promote their cause, educate audiences about an issue, and influence policy makers.
According to a 2014 study by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, 64% of marketers use white papers. As part of a content marketing strategy, white papers have continued to grow in popularity since then.
White papers, however, do have disadvantages. They are time consuming to create. Many marketers and PR professionals lament that results fall short of expectations. Often, it’s because they are perceived as dry and boring and lack actionable insights. Some miss the target audience by using too much technical jargon.
Lack of Strategy
A major problem is the lack of strategy that integrates white papers into the overall content marketing strategy. Organizations often don’t plan how to get white papers in front of the right people, at the right time.
“That’s a clear oversight, especially since the average white paper requires about 40 hours of work,” writes Stephen Dupont, vice president of public relations and branded content at Pocket Hercules, for Public Relations Tactics.
Experts offer these guidelines for creating and marketing effective white papers.
Focus on content. The best white papers offer substantive content that educates rather than attempting to sell, a clear point of view relevant and timely issues, and well-researched data. The most successful white papers also entertain while they educate.
Seek outside experts. Don’t rely only on internal experts. Including quotes from experts outside your organization adds credibility and accesses followers and fans of the experts, reaching new audiences.
Market it. Dedicate budget resources to promote it through bylined articles in trade journals, Google Adwords, LinkedIn ads, Facebook ads, email blasts, banner ads on consumer or B2B websites or print ads.
Syndicate it. Consider a syndication service. These services promote white papers, typically for fees based on number of leads. “Just be sure that your syndication service can get your white paper in front of your ideal customers, and that you’re not paying for bad leads such as your competitors, students and consultants,” recommends Rachel Foster, B2B copywriter and the CEO of Fresh Perspective Copywriting, in Business 2 Community.
Don’t ask for too much. Marketers may request customers to provide their email address, name, phone number or mailing address in return for the white paper. Beware that asking for more information than necessary will turn many people away, cautions James Anderson in the TopRank Marketing blog.
Make it searchable. Substantive white papers rank highly in search engines. Make sure it is produced in a format that can be found and indexed on your website by search engines, especially Google.
Repurpose it. Chop and dice it into more “snackable” forms such as an infographic, video, podcast, webinar, slideshow or presentation at an industry conference.
“Not all white papers are created equal,” writes Roanne Neuwirth, senior vice president at Farland Group, for the Content Marketing Institute. “Scattershot ideas, poorly researched perspectives, white label third-party reports, rehashed promotional materials, and feature/function descriptions all give the white paper a bad name. There is so much competition for attention in the marketplace, those poorly conceived efforts will quickly consign your content to the garbage bin.”
The not-so-secret sauce for white paper success is educational substance – helping the target audience better understand the subject so that they can make better-informed decisions.
Bottom Line: Although many marketers include white papers in the marketing mix, they often fall short of expectations. Creating a successful white paper requires carefully developing content that’s truly helpful to the target audience, making the content interesting or entertaining, promoting the white paper aggressively, and then repurposing the content into other formats.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
