Research has shown that a whopping 95% of B2B marketers use content marketing as part of their promotional strategy, and out of these 78% trust whitepapers over other mediums such as videos, case studies and webinars. Figures like this indicate how relevant and favourable content like whitepapers really are today.
Whitepapers are authoritative reports which seek to inform and educate readers. They are data-backed and thoroughly-researched, making them highly reliable sources of information. Today, B2B marketers use them as targeted informational and promotional content to reach out to corporate customers.
Types of whitepapers
Backgrounders
Any whitepaper which offers either a product/service review or explains a case study in detail is known as a backgrounder whitepaper. The primary objective of this whitepaper is to explain difficult concepts and to introduce new ideas to a group who know nothing about the topic under discussion.
- When to use?
Post-product/service launches
While introducing difficult topics
When talking about industry leaders and benchmarks
- Best used for:
To educate interested prospects who never convert
Numbered list
These whitepapers essentially function as FAQs and Q&A’s regarding technical topics and industry trends. They are great for introducing specific issues and covering them in-depth. These whitepapers make for easy reads compared to the other two types of whitepapers.
- When to use?
While introducing new trends and practices
To trigger thoughts and opinions in the client’s minds
To encourage existing clients and prospects to consider your product/service
To get immediate attention and engagement
- Best used for:
Nurturing existing customers and encouraging prospects to convert
Problem/solution
Executive briefings, top management reports, primary research findings, special reports and industry overviews fall within the category of problem/solution whitepapers. These are highly-specialized whitepapers, which contain the latest and most exacting research findings. They seek to educate, inform and most of all, prepare readers for ‘change’.
- When to use?
To inform customers and salesforce about industry/market trends
To educate employees and prospects about the brand’s offerings
To target a new market and generate leads
To establish thought leadership and build mindshare
- Best used for:
Informing and influencing key decision makers in B2B markets
Ways to use whitepapers for marketing
Now that we know what whitepapers are, let’s understand how we can use them in our marketing campaign:
- Use your whitepaper as data for conferences
While secondary research is versatile, the data that adds the greatest value to any conference or paper presentation is primary data, and this is where your whitepaper can come into play. A great way to use whitepapers for marketing is to use the information in the whitepaper as a case study or research result.
You can talk about the findings of your whitepaper and explain how your brand is performing on the parameters of the study.
- Link your whitepapers to landing pages
Say, someone finds your whitepaper online. A great way to encourage them to visit your site is to hyperlink the download link to your landing page.
This way, you readers will have to visit your website before being allowed to download your whitepaper. Who knows, this may actually encourage them to take a look at your website and see what products and services you have on offer.
- Include top bloggers and journalists as sources in your whitepaper
Whitepapers which offer product reviews and case study analysis can be the perfect place to include quotes from renowned journalists, bloggers and industry experts. When you create space for their opinions in your whitepaper, you encourage them to share your whitepaper on their websites and blogs.
Some journalists and bloggers may even do a press release about your brand, to encourage more people to read your whitepaper.
- Publish your whitepaper as research on LinkedIn groups
Research shows that there are over 2 million active groups on LinkedIn today. Imagine the benefits a brand will achieve by tapping a small percentage of this number.
When you publish whitepapers about industry trends and market overviews on a LinkedIn group, you increase the chances of getting noticed by everyone from customers to investors. You can also start meaningful dialogues with experts.
- Leverage your mailing list
Social media influencer and whitepaper writing specialist Gordon Graham, recommends B2B businesses to use whitepapers over blog posts to inform newsletter subscribers about product launches, primary research and other important brand-related information.
Whitepapers, with their superior-quality research, make for interesting reads. According to Graham, the more whitepapers you share with your mailing list, the greater the chances of generating new leads, boosting SEO, engaging new readers and improving ROI on the marketing campaign.
- Post a video whitepaper on YouTube
Studies show that 81% of the millennial population use YouTube almost exclusively for information. This means, your young target audience is more likely to watch a video than read an article you publish.
By using video whitepapers, you can tap into a large, influential and highly-lucrative market. Slide-based whitepapers in the form of presentations can also work wonders on YouTube.
A great source for B2B leads
Whitepapers have a very high positive impact in B2B markets due to their research-backed content. Using whitepapers in your promotional strategy will be a great way to attract prospect attention. Use the above tips and build both business and mindshare.