ther forms of content, such as the less formal eBooks, blogs, infographics and interactive games appear more exciting and attractive and ultimately seem to have become more popular.
You could be forgiven for thinking, therefore, that whitepapers have had their day and are just another victim of digital progression.
But there is another school of thought – one which we subscribe to at Thirty Seven – that whitepapers are alive and well and continue to play a crucial part in effective content marketing strategies.
In fact, we believe they have an integral role in providing the comprehensive, detailed material which is all too often missing in other parts of content marketing.
It is the perfect long-form content medium in which to position a brand as a genuine authority in its field and take a deep look at the issues which matter to its clients and potential customers.
Here are a few more of its strengths:
Whitepapers have longevity
A whitepaper which successfully tackles an important issue will be saved and printed out and people will refer back to it again and again when they make important decisions.
Whitepapers are shared
They may not go viral in the social media sense, but whitepapers are typically shared by colleagues and teams and can travel extensively within just one organisation, greatly increasing the size of the audience and spreading awareness of your brand. My boss, for example, will regularly share whitepapers with me that he has downloaded and found useful and I often pass these on to other colleagues and even people in other organisations.
Content that can be reused
A common concern organisations often have about whitepapers is that they require considerable time and effort for just one piece of content. But actually that isn’t the case. A good whitepaper can typically be sliced and diced into a series of blogs. Not only is this fresh content, but each resulting blog can be used to encourage the reader to download the whitepaper for detailed analysis of the wider issue.
Whitepapers create strong leads
Whitepapers are not for the casual reader – they require too big a time commitment from the consumer for that. So, when someone signs-up to receive a whitepaper they are looking for a solution to a particular problem and they are trusting your organisation to provide it.
If whitepapers have all these benefits, how can you ensure yours doesn’t fall into the ‘unsexy’ trap?
Tackle a topic which matters to your audience
As with all content marketing, understanding your audience and the issues that matter to them is pivotal.
For your whitepaper to gain the interest of your customers it needs to tackle both an issue they want to be resolved and offer a unique perspective.
This involves detailed research, information being verified and experts being interviewed - and a clearly communicated argument.
Improve the visual
One key way to improve the image of whitepapers is to make them look visually better. Page after page of text is only going to cause readers to lose interest and stop reading, no matter how well it is written.
Photographs, infographics, charts, pull-out quotes and even coloured boxes all have a role to play in adding a creative touch and making whitepaper content more visually appealing.
Length
Even though whitepapers are long-form content a careful eye needs to be kept on length.
A 10-15 page document should easily be enough to construct a credible and persuasive argument and will be much more digestible and less daunting than something double that length.
This means that writing needs to be sharp, concise and waffle free.
Use variety to spice it up
If you’ve already got whitepapers as part of your content, try using different templates and styles to make new ones stand out. Find different ways for readers to test what they have learnt in different sections of the paper, add bullet point summaries after specific sections and use different layouts.
Produce an attention-grabbing headline
No matter how strong the content of your whitepaper you still need to find a way of ensuring you customers are going to read it.
The headline is key to ensuring that your whitepaper stands-out, generates curiosity and promises the solution to a problem.
Enable people to preview whitepapers before they download
Allowing customers to preview a few sample pages of the whitepaper before they need to enter their details and download it is a great way to entice readers and highlight the quality of your document. If it is good enough for Amazon and the books they sell then I think it is something we should all consider.
Check out this example we created for Every Angle.
Whitepapers may not be sexy. They may not provoke instant excitement. But get them right and your customers will find them hard to resist.
At Thirty Seven, we offer content and design services to ensure your campaigns reach the right audiences at the right times. Our journalist led approach ensures your content is interesting, engaging and informative so you gain brand awareness and engagement whether it is social media content or a whitepaper.
Media First designs and delivers bespoke media and communications courses that use current working journalists, along with PR and communications professionals, to help you get the most from your communications plan.
