If you are using white papers for lead generation, you will want to get the best value from each one. This article outlines the different ways people use white papers in content marketing. The aim is to reach out to a wider audience and generate as many sales leads as possible.
First steps
First of all, your sales managers and business partners can email the paper to their contacts. Then, you can email your in-house lists and offer the paper as a content download. This will show you who is interested in the topic. You could also post the paper to your website, behind a gateway, and maybe post a summary of it to your blog.
Reach out further
If the topic is new and important, there will be plenty of other people who are interested in learning about it. This means your white paper has potential for a broader leads generation campaign. It is not difficult to promote a paper through Twitter, using hashtags to reach individuals in the wider community, and you can post an introduction to it in Linkedin groups – some if them contain surprisingly large numbers of people.
Make an event
It might be possible to use the white paper to secure a speaking slot at an industry event. It’s an excellent way to demonstrate your company’s thought leadership, and work in partnership with a respected industry organisation. Again, this is a good way to reach a wider audience, beyond your own contact lists.
If there isn’t an opportunity to present at a conference, why not develop a webinar around the same topic and use this as a second stage in the same campaign?
With a small marketing budget
If there are some funds available, even if they are limited, you can do much more. You could issue an online press release about the white paper to an online service such as PRWeb. This should give a boost to your online marketing and SEO.
Similarly, you could use promoted posts on Facebook or Linkedin to offer the white paper to more contacts. Again, this will reach new people, beyond your company’s existing mailing list.
If the keywords used in the paper are receiving plenty of search engine queries, it may be worth using Google ads or Pay Per Click advertising to bring more traffic to the landing page.
You can also use a white paper as a basis for a PR campaign. The details can be mailed to journalists to spark interest in interviews, features and comment pieces. This could be the biggest opportunity you will have to reach more people. Most market sectors have quite a few trade publications to approach. From the marketing point of view, this is helpful if you need to explain new products and services in more depth. This approach can work well for brand new products that don’t yet have success stories.
Trade publishers regularly promote white papers through their email marketing services, and it may be a good move to use one of these services. It will strengthen your campaign and help you to build a stronger relationship with the publisher.
Tips for white paper success
Some factors that will help you use your white papers for lead generation more successfully:
- Define the topic with care. The subject must be clear, and the document should present information that is genuinely helpful to the reader.
- Produce the paper in an uncluttered, professional format, using current business typefaces. Keep the corporate branding discrete.
- Create a compelling landing page. It should summarise the useful content in the paper, and why readers should not miss it!
- Use a short download form and add a tick box to indicate whether the contact would like a call from a salesperson.
What does it cost to commission a white paper for an IT company?
The cost to have a white paper written for your company by a professional freelance writer will probably be a fraction of the value you would put on some new sales leads. Just be sure that the writer has experience of your industry and your company’s markets.
Please get in touch if you would like a new white paper written for your company: you can reach me at anna.wood@technologypr.co.uk.
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