All about white papers
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Using white papers as a marketing tool
Thanks to the increased popularity of content marketing, white papers have gained traction as a marketing tool for businesses of all sizes and with good reason. These authoritative and educational documents are a minimum-fuss marketing tool with maximum potential.
Benefits of white papers for business
If you want to establish your business as a thought leader in your industry, a white paper may be the right option for your branding and marketing strategies. Not only does producing a white paper help generate sales with your existing clients, but when done well they will be shared introducing your brand to a new set of potential clients.
10 tips for writing your white paper
- Have a clear objective. What does your business hope to communicate and achieve by creating the white paper?
- Ensure the white paper does not read like a hard sales piece, but rather informs and educates your readers.
- Choose quality over quantity. White papers can be anything from a single-page document to a much longer intensive research paper. Just be sure that the quality of information included takes precedence over its word count.
- Don't be afraid of some subtle branding it's the difference between over-the-top generosity and a return on investment.
- Ensure every claim you make or reference in the white paper is backed by research.
- Consider using infographics to illustrate any research findings these are often shared through blogs and social media.
- Have the paper properly edited for spelling and grammar.
- Be sure the paper presents your business as a thought leader rather than a thought follower.
- Hire a designer to help pull everything together for a more professional look.
- Amplify the white paper. Host it on your site, share it on social, send it out to your client base and seed it in relevant industry groups and partner sites.