• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 2, 2016

Based on an analysis of 2 decades of experience driving sales leads using quality client white papers, Emedia presents a paper on how white papers can best drive the lead generation program. The study finds nine common applications of B2B white papers that have been selected to invigorate effective content planning.

White papers will add value to your marketing plans, Period, says the report, with no modesty.

Across the wider B2B world, 61% of content marketers use, and gain value from, white papers according to a study by Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs B2B Content Marketing: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends.

And, an Eccolo Media B2B Technology Content Survey concludes that white papers are viewed as the most influential asset type for lead acquisition use. By a wide margin, over 50% of buyers surveyed, call white papers the best content type for helping them understand issues and problems faced by their companies

The nine White Paper strategies for B2B’s greatest lead generation content tool, described further in the report, are:

• Develop Trust and Legitimacy
• Thought Leadership for Thought Leadership’s Sake
• Overcome Commoditization in a Saturated Marketplace
• Fill the Sales Funnel from the Top – Lead Nurturing with White Papers
• Expand On Sales Executive’s Pitch
• Clarify Frequent Prospect Questions In Writing
• Offer Criteria for Appraisal of Competing Solutions
• Initiate a Diversified Series of Offers – Nurture Leads to Sales-Readiness

1. Develop Trust and Legitimacy

White papers are ideal for showing that your company understands a particular marketplace or technology, and is a problem solver within a certain space. An extended, multi-page opportunity for analyzing a common issue experienced by your market, the white paper lets your company build empathy with prospects and lay out a set of possible solutions and expert recommendations for dealing with the issue.

2. Thought Leadership for Thought Leadership’s Sake

Numerous companies use white papers to put themselves on the fore front of developments in their industry, in the eyes of their customers. Michael Stelzner, “Writing White Papers” says “…thought leadership papers are written to demonstrate forward thinking… help convince existing customers to stick with a company… persuade the world to buy into a future vision…”

This is especially useful, says the report, for companies aiming at higher level decision makers that seek to position themselves as selling value, rather than simply products or services.

3. Overcome Commoditization in a Saturated Marketplace

Modern age decision makers tend to initiate the buying process on their end, says the report. They pan the great assortment of online published information available for solutions to business issues.

The DemandGen BtoB Buyer Transformation Survey indicates that over 80% of B2B buyers “either called the solution provider directly or were contacted after they requested further information online.” A quality white paper permits your company to reach decision makers at the outset of their buying process, before they want to deal with sales people.

4. Fill the Sales Funnel from the Top – Lead Nurturing with White Papers

Because white papers are ideal for framing an issue, says the report, then presenting solutions, they succeed masterfully at getting business decision makers interested in learning more. Many B2B companies use white papers to bring qualified decision makers into their lead nurturing process.

5. Expand On Sales Executive’s Pitch

White papers not only summarize the sales rep’s points in writing, but also provide substantial supporting facts, figures, tables, charts, illustrations, real-life examples, quotes & testimonials, and much more. In this context white papers embellish upon the essential points emphasized by your sales reps, offering color and detail. This is especially evident with technical white papers, observes the report. These papers tend to be full of data, quantifiable content, and how-to information, put together with specific goals.

6. Clarify Frequent Prospect Questions In Writing

Veteran writer Gordon Graham, in “The Art of the White Paper” maintains that white papers answer repetitive questions better than a sales person. All sales people receive frequently asked questions common to their solution and to their market. White papers provide a readymade format for answering such questions. Three benefits accrue from this, says the report.

• Answers become standardized and concise, creating a helpful reference for sales people.
• Written FAQs may also preempt customer questions.
• FAQs serve as a powerful opportunity to flesh out your solution and to translate features into benefits, posted digitally as a permanent reference for prospective customers.

7. Offer Criteria for Appraisal of Competing Solutions

The white paper is ideal for making it easy for prospects to begin the vendor selection process. White papers not only build awareness of your company’s solution, they enable head-to-head comparisons and provide opportunities to contrast your solutions from your competitors, says the report. Prospects use white papers to create short lists of viable solutions, then conduct further analysis via other collateral and sales meetings.

According to Information Week’s Tech Marketing Best Practices Research report “White Papers”, white papers are most useful for determining whether a vendor’s solution will “work for us” and for “creating] a vendor short list”.

8. Initiate a Diversified Series of Offers – Nurture Leads to Sales-Readiness

Since white papers shine at bringing prospects into the sales funnel, progressive companies are learning to use them to initiate varied lead nurturing sequences, says the report. Your company may introduce a new approach to a marketplace issue through a white paper release. Based on qualifying criteria set by Sales and Marketing, your team can put the respondent into a lead nurturing process, presenting a series of follow-up offers up to the point at which the prospect is deemed ready for Sales contact.

9. Approach Different Decision Makers with Targeted Offers

Another approach is to launch one white paper for one set of decision makers and a separate but related white paper for another. With this strategy the company aims to reach multiple levels of essential decision makers, and message to them in their own respective “languages”. This scheme is useful within a team decision making environment, a very common situation among B2B purchases, concludes the report.

For more on creating white papers, please visit here.