PJA: Bow & Arrow

The white paper is dead. Long live the white paper!

September 2nd, 2008
by Hugh Kennedy

All snarking aside, white papers have for years acted as the coin of the realm in BtoB. They’re informative, they’re current, and best of all, they’re content. But are they dullsville in 2008? Have they outlived their usefulness? And with all the vlogs and marketing games and widgets flying out of our screens at us every time we open a new browser, are white papers not worth the paper (or pixels) they’re printed on?

The answer, apparently, is not by a long shot.

A new Marketing Sherpa study (delivered in a deck, not a white paper) of 880 BtoB execs shows that

• good white papers are still highly effective
• users and vendors ranked white papers as the #1 piece of content worthy of registering for
• readership of white papers actually rose between 2007 and 2008, with 58% of decision-makers and 63% of influencers reading two to five white papers each quarter, and 27/22% respectively reading between six and ten

Where did most people find these white papers?

More than three-quarters on vendor Web sites and nearly two-thirds from similar online sources. The stat I really like is pass-along, with 56/57% of decision-makers and influencers reporting that they forward along white papers to colleagues.

And what makes for the most interesting content? Simple:

• Case studies and success stories
• How-to’s for using a product/service to better advantage
• Top ten lists of ways to improve business

Other good information from the Sherpas:

* Length isn’t set in stone, and neither is format

* Identify your industry, target reader, goal and position of the company within the industry

* Solve a tactical problem

* Don’t punt on the title

* Match the length to the prospect’s desire

* Keep registration questions to a minimum, especially if you are trying to reach a tiny niche audience

* Turn the white paper into podcasts

* Consider an eBook in PDF form, optimizing it with metadata through Acrobat so it’s searchable via those links online

One final reminder: just because it’s a white paper, you do not have license to go on and on for 30 pages. Keep it brief, keep it fresh, and remember your call to action.

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