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How White Paper Marketing Can Fail
Too many white papers fail because they simply do not deliver a key
marketing message. The time, effort and money put into producing them
goes down the drain.
Why does this happen, again and again? The truth is, crafting an
effective white paper – one that gets read and creates positive
ROI – is not as easy as it looks.
White Paper Marketing that Produces Results
By taking care to avoid the most common white paper marketing mistakes, you can use a white
paper to create several distinct advantages for your
organization:
- Generate highly qualified sales leads for your sales force.
- Overwhelm your competition with an extremely effective white
paper marketing weapon.
- Give your prospects and customers a great source of solid,
useful information.
- Maintain valuable resource of high quality, reusable marketing
content.
- Create white paper marketing campaigns that return your initial marketing
investment many times over.
See how to avoid the white paper marketing mistakes that waste time
and money. Ensure that your white papers deliver positive marketing
results.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Wrong Author for White Paper Marketing?
Subject matter experts aren't always great marketers. A developer or
user of a technology or service may know their subject inside and out
– but that knowledge rarely translates to the ability to create
readable, compelling prose. If white paper marketing is targeted to
high level business decision makers, and you want that white paper to
generate results, follow this simple rule: Use technical experts for
input, and employ a competent writer to turn your highly technical
information into interesting, readable content that will be clearly
understood by your business audience.
Lack of Visual or Marketing Appeal
Text-heavy papers tend to lose reader attention after about three
pages. When this happens, you lose your audience and the reader turns
to other websites or solution providers for their white papers.
Graphics and text treatments help get and retain reader attention.
Diagrams, charts and tables support the copy and create visual
interest. Multiple columns, call-outs and bulleted lists lead the eye
and enhance readability. Advanced white paper marketing techniques
utilize visual elements to break up dense blocks of text, visually
reinforce the key attributes of your solution and retain your
readers' attention.
Acronym Abuse
TLA's (Three Letter Acronyms), and acronyms in general, are the bane
of technical communication. SIP, RGB, CRM, EIM, ASP and so on. Too
often, technical writers assume readers know what the acronyms mean,
and don't provide a clear definition or analogy to confirm how a term
applies to the white paper topic. If you must use TLAs, provide clear
definitions and examples. Whenever possible, use plain English with
your white paper marketing efforts, instead of a TLA.
Disjointed Content Flow
Too many white papers jump right into the details without providing
relevant background information that explains why a business need for
that solution exists in the first place. In addition, many white
papers skip from one topic to another without making any connection
between them. Ask yourself, "If a Martian who had just landed on
earth asked what 'Data Warehousing' meant, how would I describe it in
detail so he could understand it?" Good white paper marketing starts
from the assumption that the reader knows nothing about the issue,
presents the common business pains and problems the reader is
experiencing and highlights possible solutions to those problems. The
reader is lead by a logical progression of ideas, from their problem,
through possible solutions, to your solution to their problem.
Too Long!
Too often, organizations publish white papers that cover every
single point about their product or service in excruciating detail.
Don't confuse your goal with that of the State Department covering
the issue of famines in sub-Saharan Africa! Government white papers
may need to be very long, but yours don't – a business white
paper should be no more than twelve pages. Business decision makers
are pressed for time and want to be able to quickly absorb the high
points of your white paper. If they need more information, they will
contact you. So keep your white paper marketing message short and concise if you want it to get read.
Too Short!
In an effort to save time and money, many organizations will produce
a short "white paper" of two to four pages. The problem with
marketing white papers of this length is that they don't provide
enough background information to bring the reader up to speed on the
topic before reading about the advantages of your product or
solution. A good rule of thumb is to produce your white paper with a
minimum of eight pages, to allow enough room for discussion of the
specific industry issues and business challenges your solution is
designed to solve. If you don't have that much marketing material,
then don't refer to the document as a white paper. Choose
descriptions such as "Executive Brief", or "Corporate Perspective" to
set appropriate audience expectations.
Audience Assumption
Many companies fall into the trap of assuming that the target
audience for their white papers marketing audience already knows what the company knows
about their products or solutions. This "group think" occurs when
internal writers and product marketing executives deal with the same
subject matter day-in and day-out. They grow accustomed to bandying
about complex terms and attributes in their communications with
fellow employees, vendors and support personnel who share the same
level of familiarity with their solutions. When marketing white
papers for an external audience, these individuals use esoteric terms
and jargon that go over the heads of their readers. Remember to
provide appropriate definitions, analogies and or explanations into your white paper marketing message to
support these complex terms for your audience.
Theory Without Reality
Many white papers are written as if readers will believe the
effectiveness of a solution based solely on the theory of how it
works. While theoretical concepts and models are essential in the
educational process, they do not convey the business benefit
received. Use case studies and "real world" business examples that
reinforce theoretical concepts to demonstrate how a particular
solution can solve the specific business needs presented in your
white paper marketing message.
Lack of Summary
Have you ever read a white paper and turned the last page, only to
feel as if you have just been left out in the cold? Your white paper marketing message may have
presented all the facts, but that doesn't
necessarily mean that your reader has fully grasped the key points
you want them to retain. The summary is your opportunity to hit the
high points one last time. Think of the summary section as your
chance to wrap up the white paper and ensure that the key points you
wanted get across are clearly presented and understood.
Conclusion
White papers are often treated as a disposable commodity with a
short shelf life. But, by avoiding common mistakes, white paper
marketing can return exponential multiples of their initial marketing
investment.
White paper marketing has been proven to be reliable sales lead
generator, and our white paper writers
are the best in the business.. White papers written and produced with care and
forethought can be repurposed for other marketing uses, such as
tradeshow materials, direct marketing, brochures and more.
The Appum Group can help you create a white paper marketing campaign that get attention and
motivate your customers and prospects to take action. Contact us to
find out more about how you can leverage white paper marketing and
produce white papers that get results! Learn more about white paper marketing at
our corporate site appumgroup.com.
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