Step Up Your White Paper Game
by MGB2B
White papers can and should play a role in the content marketing strategy of your business. White papers can show potential clients why you are the thought leader in your field. They can be used: to answer common questions or problems that arise in your industry, as case studies for a recent success, or to share relevant research done by your company. Whatever you choose to write about, white papers can be hosted on your website and shared with potential customers. What most businesses don’t realize is how to make white papers stand out and actually be read. Here are the three most important elements to keep in mind:
Content:
The simplest (and most important) thing to remember is to write something that will actually be useful to read. While the benefits of working with your company might seem really interesting to you, they probably aren’t to everyone. In all of your marketing efforts, and especially when creating white papers, you should put yourself inside the mind of your potential customer. Think about what problems they are facing, and write about how you can help them solve it. If you are going to write a case study, present the problem or challenge that you faced when working on the featured project before diving into the solution.
Design and Layout:
The first step is to say something great, the next step is to present it in a way that keeps your reader intrigued. The unfortunate reality is that attention spans today are small and getting smaller. You have a better chance of keeping your reader engaged if you present your content within a good looking design that contains a visual hierarchy, images, and graphics. White papers are an effective medium where you can have fun with infographics, show product features, and include anything that will lend visual support to the words on the page.
Interactive Elements:
This is the new stuff. In the past few years, PDFs have become more dynamic, allowing you to add features that give your white paper depth and drive readers back to your website. One of the simplest and most important features is the hyperlink. If you are referencing something on your site, don’t write out the whole url. Make a text reference and use a live link, or if you are using graphic, include clickable buttons that take readers where you want them to go.
Forms right in your PDF are a great way to capture a reader’s name, email, and phone number. And when they click “submit,” all of that information is sent back to you. This can all be done within your white paper, or you can advertise your white paper and grant usage of it only once the information is captured through a page on your website. The biggest thing to be added to PDF capabilities is embedded video. You can now create a PDF that has playable video right in it. Instead of referencing a video on YouTube and possibly losing your readers’ attention when they leave to go watch it, you can contain the video and make it playable within your white paper design. You can dictate if you want the video to auto-play, show player controls – all the same things you can do on a website’s embedded video.
All in all, you need to use your white paper to show potential customers that you are a thought leader in your category. A white paper is the perfect place to create that story and capture some information about your prospects at the same time.
Tags: B2B content, B2B white papers, effective white papers, interactive PDF, thought leadership, white paper best practices