Tips for Effective White Paper Marketing 

White papers are used to provide insights on industry trends and/or suggest effective solutions. They are research heavy and so are typically written in long-form format, but it is one of the best ways for a company or individual to show their stuff. Studies suggest that around 67% of white paper readers always want to know more, so a well-written white paper can generate leads and increase site traffic. That sounds great! Who doesn’t want that? 

With that said, here are some tips to get the best out of your next white paper marketing campaign: 

1. Remember that this is not a sales pitch

“The goal of a white paper is to inform and persuade potential clients based on facts and evidence,” writes Lindsay Kolowich of Hubspot. It is extremely important to remember that while you want to generate leads from the white paper, it is not a sales pitch. Think of your white paper as a gentle nudge towards your product or service instead. Do your research and relay the information via your white paper then with the same research, tell clients why your product/service can help them achieve their goals. 

Win new clients and leads by providing solutions based on said facts and evidence, not by overly promoting your or your company’s product. In the words of Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People: get people to do what you want by giving them what they want. 

2. Write to create understanding

White paper marketing is essentially that: marketing. Although it’s based on research, it should not read like a research paper – most people find it difficult to understand them – and you need your potential clients to be able to understand the waffle. A great way of doing this is to write as if you were verbally presenting (not lecturing!) the white paper to an audience. Make it visually stimulating by padding the white paper with relevant images and graphs. 

Intro and outro sections are just as important as the body of the white paper, so use them to their fullest potential. Use the introduction section to draw your potentials in and make them crave more, while the outro is best used to draw them to your product/service (gently!). A good thing to keep in mind is the 3-30-3 rule by author Michael Stelzner: you have 3 seconds to grab their attention and 30 seconds to engage them, then 3 minutes for them to read your white paper. 

The combination of enticing and straightforward language, alongside visual stimuli, is key to grabbing and maintaining your potential’s attention and turn them into leads. 

3. Promotion is key

White paper marketing is quite different to most other marketing strategies and advises that a slightly different approach is necessary in order to make it effective. Since white papers are content-specific, you need to send it off to those who are interested in that specific topic so a ‘spray and pray’ approach is the least effective thing you can do.  

A great way to promote is by creating a landing page about two weeks before publishing the white paper – This is one of the best ways to garner interest and gather emails from those who will most likely become your sales – so using a bit of tip #2: make sure that your landing page uses clear and persuasive language to grab their attention (and their emails!) 

Other things you can do to effectively promote your white paper is to create a specific email list (from previous email databases) for each white paper that you write, reach out to industry/topic specific content creators (like blogs), or promote it at an industry conference – your readers need to actually be interested in what you’ve written about, otherwise they won’t give you the leads you want. 

4. Take advantage of white paper marketing emails 

If you’re planning to send an email to your potential clients (and you should) to market your white paper, you need to ensure that the email does exactly what you need it to do – get more eyes on your white paper. Here are a few simple steps you can take to ensure that happens: 

• Use captivating subject lines

This is the first point of contact between the email and your potential reader, it needs to draw them to first click into the email. Utilize it to the best of its capabilities. 

• Use a body that’s short and sweet 

You’re not using your marketing email to relay information, only to introduce it. Use the email body to provide a short summary and tell them why they should read your white paper. 

• Provide clear CTA 

In addition to the previous point, the recipient of the email needs to be led to your white paper – so create a call-to-action button that leads them straight there! Make it easy for them to access the white paper by providing them a direct road to it. 

5. Get writing!

This is a lot easier said than done, but the hardest step is to get started. How would you market a white paper if it hasn’t been done yet? Once you start, set yourself daily goals to make the writing experience more rewarding and keep in mind the ultimate reward sitting at the end of the line: sales and lead generation. 

All the tips in this article should be kept in mind throughout the whole process: from writing to marketing. Great white paper marketing starts from a well-written white paper, so write it well from start to end – be clear and informative but not pushy. Generate interest by creating a landing site, sending out emails, and talking to people in the industry about it – promotion is key! Use technologies and tools available to the best of their capabilities to generate leads and visits, and you’ll be sure that your next white paper marketing campaign will be a successful one.