Does your company meet one of these 3 criteria? Then you should consider a whitepaper
A strong whitepaper can be a central cog in your marketing strategy, especially business-to-business (B2B). But before you rush into developing one, you’ll want to be confident that a whitepaper is a useful tool for your company. If your firm meets one of these three criteria, it most probably is.
Think your company could use a whitepaper but you’re unsure how to proceed? Download our comprehensive guide, ‘Using Whitepapers’, through this form:
1. Your audience wants information
We all know copy is getting shorter and shorter: today’s consumer is not looking to read a 10-page document before she makes her next purchase. So, in most business-to-consumer (B2C) channels, a hefty whitepaper will fall on deaf ears. Things are different in B2B. Here, buyers take more time and require more up-to-date data before making purchases – especially if the product or solution they are considering is innovative, complicated, expensive, or in a competitive market. Some 71% of buyers say they’ve read a whitepaper over the past 12 months before making purchasing decisions (DemandGen, 2018). With a whitepaper, you can deliver on this need for insight. This is particularly useful if you possess in-depth information that your customer needs, but doesn’t have: for example, you can offer thorough explanations of the latest innovations in your field, bringing your readers up to an appropriate level of technical expertise. And by providing this valuable service for free, you’ll be able to position yourself as both an industry expert and an excellent potential partner – and collect valuable leads at the same time.
2. You’re selling something innovative, complicated and/or costly, in a complex field
The single biggest strength of whitepapers is their level of depth and detail, with room for extensive explanations, analyses, cases, diagrams, and more. If you’re working in a highly technical field – for example, medical equipment, pharma, or food technology – you know that detail matters. And you probably also know how difficult it can be to communicate detail. With a whitepaper, you have the scope to provide all the information a reader will need, from market projections and scientific research to water-tight explanations, arguments, and examples.
3. You want to position yourself as market expert
If you’re looking to put yourself forward as a market leader, to offer an innovative solution to an industry-wide problem, or to highlight an unexpected market opportunity, then you need enough time and space to back up your claims. Whitepapers are an ideal vehicle for this, which is why they’re often structured around three core components:
1) highlighting a market problem or opportunity;
2) offering an answer; and, finally,
3) positioning your own company as an expert partner to move forward with.
If well-researched, whitepapers offer you the scope to provide all of the latest facts and figures and to make convincing arguments – thereby speaking into an entire industry.
Wrapping it up
In short, if your audience has a serious need for information; and/or you’re selling something innovative, complicated and/or costly, in a complex field; and/or you want to position yourself as a market expert, a whitepaper is the right tool for you.
Eager to hear more about what whitepapers can offer your business? Talk to someone at rebelieve today.
References
DemandGen. (2018). 2018 Content Preferences Survey Report: Blogs, Podcasts Gain Interest as B2B Buyers
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