How to Use White Papers to Generate Leads

Publishing a white paper may not be the hottest marketing technique, but it’s still one of the most effective ways to gain audience trust and generate leads.

In a business.com survey, more than 50 percent of respondents said white papers are a “valuable” or “extremely valuable” lead generation tool.

What is a White Paper?

A white paper is an in-depth business report that focuses on a particular topic of interest to your target audience. It normally focuses on a specific problem that potential customers may have, and offers practical solutions in an accessible format. It’s longer and more technical than a blog post, and best used as bottom-of-the-funnel content to influence consumer purchase decisions.

There are various benefits of using white papers in your content strategy:

• They show potential customers who you are, what you do, and where you position yourself in the market.
• They build brand awareness and credibility.
• They help you grow your mailing list and collect data on potential leads.
• They drive traffic to your website.
• They give your audience something to share on social media.

Choose the Right Topic

The white paper you produce is only useful to you if it’s useful to your audience. If you don’t provide solutions to problems your audience has, you’re unlikely to generate any strong leads.

First, you need to know who your target audience is. What concerns do they have? Determining their pain points should be the first step. Focus on a specific problem facing your typical customer.

Consider interviewing an expert within or outside your company. Alternatively, look through Amazon book reviews on the specific topic and pull together some insights from reviewers, taking note of the language and phrases they use. From this research, you should be able to create a compelling title that emphasizes the value of the white paper to potential readers.

Plan Your Content

Once you’ve got the topic figured out, your next step is to start pulling information together. Create a clear outline to help you focus on providing valuable information throughout. You can also use the outline to inform your table of contents.

Put simply, you need to introduce the problem, provide detailed solutions with supporting data, and show how the service or product your business provides is a part of the solution. Try to include answers to all potential questions your customers might have. Finally, let the reader know what they should do next with a clear call to action.

Inform, Don’t Advertise

At this point in the buying cycle, potential customers are gathering information before they make a purchase decision, so you don’t want to come across as pushy. If it sounds too much like a sales pitch, it might put people off.

Think of your goal as providing useful information. Include clear, detailed explanations supported by facts. When possible, include graphs, diagrams, example case studies, and links to other relevant resources.

Use a Professional Design

The design is a crucial part of forming a good first impression and appearing credible. If you don’t have access to a designer, Microsoft Word is a decent enough tool for creating your white paper. Alternatively, check out Adobe InDesign, Scribus, Scrivener, or Serif’s PagePlus.

Create a Landing Page

Before you start promoting your white paper, it’s important to set up a landing page that clearly explains why readers should download and read it.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. A compelling headline, a simple form field or two, an image of what your prospects are going to get, and a short paragraph explaining what value the white paper provides are all you need to increase opt-ins.

According to a 2017 DemandGen Report, 76 percent of buyers are willing to register for and share information about themselves in exchange for a white paper.

Promote Your White Paper

To drive more traffic to your white paper landing page, you’ll need to promote it across multiple online channels:

• Include clear links to the white paper across your website.
• Link to it from a blog post that covers the same topic.
• Include interesting snippets of information from the white paper in your next email campaign.
• Use social media. Tweet a statistic from your white paper. Refer to it in your next Facebook post. Include a relevant image when possible. Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without images. Tweets with images receive 150 percent more retweets than tweets without images.
• Create a video, highlighting some key points from the white paper, and upload it to your YouTube channel.
• Create a Google AdWords campaign to build awareness around your offer. You can also try Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn ads.

In Summary

With a little planning, creativity, and careful promotion, any business can use white papers to build their online presence and reach a wider audience.

Try using the tips we’ve provided here to establish your business as a credible information source. When you get it right, you’ll increase website traffic and social reach, and most importantly, generate leads for your company.