{"id":214,"date":"2011-08-24T15:43:59","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T15:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/?p=214"},"modified":"2011-08-24T15:43:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-24T15:43:59","slug":"are-your-white-papers-zombies-or-lead-generators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/are-your-white-papers-zombies-or-lead-generators\/","title":{"rendered":"Are your white papers zombies or lead generators?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Is the white paper dead?\u00a0 Recent studies suggest they’re not, but there’s no denying that too many of them have fallen into a zombie-like state.\u00a0 Fact is too many fall short of their sales mission.\u00a0 But the findings <\/a> such as those by Sirius Decisions last year reveal that white papers remain primary tools for building influence.<\/p>\n

One out of every two B2B customers in the Sirius survey considered white papers the most important source of content when it came to making purchase decisions.\u00a0 Even more important than analyst reports (54% vs. 39%).\u00a0 A separate study by Eccolo Media showed that 47% of purchase decision-makers considered them “extremely important” in the buying process. The unmistakable take-away:\u00a0 the venerable white paper is very much alive.\u00a0 Now you just need to keep yours kicking.<\/em><\/p>\n

So what’s the difference between white papers that make customers want to know more about you and the ones that make readers quickly turn to something else?\u00a0 Turns out that the principles of producing a successful paper today are no different than what it takes to create any successful initiative across all marketing and sales.\u00a0 It must be carefully targeted, well crafted, optimized for social media and oriented towards a specific result.\u00a0 Last year, a study by Ziff-Davis revealed that the primary purpose of white papers in the buying process was to provide information during the customer’s research-and-discovery phase.\u00a0 Message: Those customers will be looking specifically at what you know and have to say about their<\/em> interests, not yours.<\/p>\n

One out of three B2B customers utilize white papers to look for new ideas and solutions.<\/em> Message: keep your content fact-rich but easily digestible.\u00a0 Know when and how to use infographics to make a key point, for example.<\/p>\n

Nearly one in four readers will narrow their vendor selections with the content found in white papers.<\/em> Message: spotlight what makes your solution competitively superior. To the greatest extent you can, make your comparisons measurable, quantifiable and, if at all possible, graphic so as to be very quickly understood.\u00a0 Remember that your reader is at least as busy as you are.<\/p>\n

One out of ten readers will make the vendor selection based on white paper content.<\/em> Message: readers will be influenced to the extent they are convinced your solution is a rifle-shot at their problem.\u00a0 So you must be intimately familiar with what this problem is. Tailor the content to the customer’s need in the terminology they use and the issues they grapple with.\u00a0 Know your customer.\u00a0 Understand their anxieties. If this sounds like the age-old best practices of selling and marketing, it’s because that’s exactly what it is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Is the white paper dead?\u00a0 Recent studies suggest they’re not, but there’s no denying that too many of them have fallen into a zombie-like state.\u00a0 Fact is too many fall short of their sales mission.\u00a0 But the findings such as those by Sirius Decisions last year reveal that white papers remain primary tools for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,36,37,9,10,53],"tags":[59,212],"class_list":["post-214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-content-marketing","category-content-strategy","category-marketing","category-online-content","category-website-content","category-white-papers","tag-solution-white-papers","tag-white-papers"],"yoast_head":"\nAre your white papers zombies or lead generators? 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