Comparing the Trustworthiness of Blogs and White Papers
Are blogs more trustworthy than white papers? Are business customers getting tired of reading white papers and choosing to read blogs because they are more informal and casual?
According to blogsite Blogopreneur, people are “sick and tired” of reading third party information such as reports and white papers and choosing to read blogs instead:
“People are sick of reading reports and articles written from a third party perspective, and blogs engage their readers because they are written in a conversational voice. Blogs are informal. To put it in a crude way, information on blogs are not facts! They are opinions.”
But then you say, “Well then, how can I trust the things I read on blogs then?”
You can’t. Seriously. The world of blogs don’t work in the same way as the world of white papers and government regulations. It’s important to think of blogging more in terms of a conversation than a marketing or public relations piece. Compelling conversation will make for a compelling marketing tool, not the other way around”.
When comparing blogs and white papers there are two things to keep in mind:
First, white papers are not always written by “third party” resources. White papers are becoming established, mainstream marketing vehicles. Many are written internally, and most represent the official strategic position of an organization. While many reference third party industry analysts such as IDC, Forrester, Gartner, and others, most do not use their perspectives to form their exclusive marketing position.
Secondly, informal communications such as blogs have their place, but the higher up you go in the corporate food chain, the more formal the marketing requirement. For example, a blog is fine for corporate to customer collaboration and engagement, but if an enterprise is considering a multi-million dollar ERP solution, blogs don’t even appear on that decision-making radar screen. For these purposes, white papers are not only a necessity, but a marketing requirement.
So the bottom line is this: Blogs are popular because they are informal and conversational. They provide great information and allow for collaborative user input. But when it comes to educating customers, generating leads and establishing thought leadership blogs don’t cut it, white papers do.
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April 26th, 2007 at 9:02 am
I agree wholeheartedly that blogs and white papers are both good for generating leads and establishing expertise and credibility. And they are both useful for establishing the authority of a person or organization. And they should be used separately and differently.
I write customized white papers for executive coaches and consultants to be used to establish the consultant as a thought leader in his/her area of expertise and to be distributed to organizations and persons responsible for hiring them.
My question is this: so far, I write valuable information about leadership issues and how the consultant can provide solutions to their most challenging problems and I write them in the 3rd person. (As in: According to John A. Smith, most of these challenges can be reduced by using a different perspective altogether…etc.”
Are you suggesting that the white paper might even be more effective by using the 1st person pronoun? This would go even further into making the white paper more of a marketing piece, and would have to be done skillfully so as not to sound too much like marketing. Your thoughts on this use in the context of white papers for individual consultants?
April 26th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Hi Patsi,
No I was comparing the two mediums of blogs versus white papers. This blogger felt that business were entering a more casual environment today where the use of blogs can create an atmosphere for making equally critical decisions.
I disagree and feel that white papers are still the most serious medium for conveying information especially when a significant amount of money is at stake.
Regarding your comment on person, I have always used third person as well. I think it sounds more professional. I don’t advocate first person. It sounds too sales oriented.
Thanks for your comment!
Jonathan