Savvy B2B Marketing

Stephanie,
I still enjoy reading white papers and think they are useful for many purposes. We are, however, being saturated with so many that their power is becoming neutralized. Many simply aren't that enlightening, mine included.

The statistics you posted, while probably accurate, seem to be presented by companies that are in the content management business. It is also interesting that registration is required to access them

It's a great topic and I'm sure it will drive a lot of lively debate.

Thanks

Dale - EchoQuote

Stephanie,

Thanks for elaborating on that post. I am one of the pro-white paper people who comments on Paul's original post.

The argument that because the research comes from content syndicators, it is somehow invalid is bogus. Countless companies go to analysts like Gartner to get information because they are at the center of the storm within a particular market. The same is true for ad networks like Tech Target and TechWeb (disclosure: I write occasionally for TechWeb).

I've pasted my comment here, because I think it is still valid.

Ryan Malone
SmartBug Media
A <a href="web link marketing agency</a>
<a href="web link

--
Paul –

Completely disagree. Different mediums have different purposes. Saying that white papers should go away is like saying blogs should go away because there are too many of them. The reality is that white paper still rank as the first or second most powerful sales tool available to marketers. They still represent a concise and portable argument on a particular topic and can be tremendous lead generators.

The issue at hand is that most white paper are rubbish. Most white papers have a paragraph of educational materials and 15 pages of propaganda. This presents a problem because peoples’ top turnoffs are white papers that have too much product bias. Because white papers have become so effective, many copywriters have attempted to get into the white paper writing business. It takes different DNA to write a white paper.

When I am selling to a senior executive, I don’t send him an email that says “Read these 142 blog posts….and make sure you read them in order, because I keep my arguments to 300-500 words.” I send he or she a white paper that introduces a new concept that is educational, shows empathy for their situation and presents a solution that logically makes sense. I think follow that with other white papers for different people in his or her organization at different points in the sales cycle – each addressing their concerns.

White papers can be incredibly powerful tools. I presented a case study at Mike Stelzner’s White Paper Success Summit how a single white paper generated an enormous amount of marketing reach:

- 2 speaking opportunities
- 2 byline articles
- 3x increase in leads
- 2x increase in lead quality
- a bunch of inbound links
- a few interviews with analysts

@Stelzner, @Jonathan – Amen.

BTW – if anyone is interested in learning how we got those results, you can download the white paper at: <a href="web link;

I absolutely agree that great white papers do matter and are a valuable marketing tool, but I more frequently wonder about the quality. A sure disappointment is to opt-in for a white paper only to find that it's just a lengthy sales brochure.

Sure there still are a lot of great white papers, but too many are written without considering the target customer's perspective. It seems that too often the same people who create sales brochures are often writing the white papers and using the same approach for both.