A white paper is a key document every B2B business should have.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just the B2B businesses that need a white paper, any kind of business of any size can have a white paper as a tool for better engagement, leads, and customer acquisition.
A white paper is an authentic document that addresses an issue of your target customer and presents a solution most creatively.
Historically, the white paper has been recognized as a powerful tool by governments because of its authenticity. In a modern world, it is a guide or report that concisely keeps your audience informed about a complex issue and then presents a solution to that.
Academic Paper of Marketing Content
First introduced in the 20th century by the British government as a legal tool, the white paper has been trending in the market, particularly among B2B clients. IT companies are more likely to use white papers as content marketing tools because they have expensive products. Due to the in-depth research that’s included in crafting a white paper, it is called an academic paper of marketing content.
Write a white paper for your business frequently to reap its benefits. If you are new to it, you can choose white paper templates to create professional white paper with ease and flow.
In this article, we will be talking about the core reason why you need to create a white paper for your business.
1. Sells a Product or Service
First thing first, a white paper does not sell a product or a service directly. However, it contains both direct marketing material and informational content. That’s the reason a white paper often has high conversion rates. It is created in a way that combines persuasion with the conversion which makes it one of the powerful content marketing tools.
Although a white paper is not a selling tool, it can be used as a marketing tool to create awareness about your product/service. As a result, it helps prospects through the buying journey and moves down the buying funnel. Avoid selling your product right away. The core idea behind creating a white paper is to bring about a solution to any problem that your audience is facing. As a result, your target audience is more likely to buy your product or service.
Consider a white paper as a long-form of content, where you can explain the problem in detail. Once you do that thoroughly, you can present a solution. Don’t focus on selling, if you do so, you are already at a loss.
The high-level solution that you present should explain how the reader can solve the problem by investing in the product or service. The last section fully outlines the benefits and key features that will help them make decisions that are the right fit for them. Avoid empty claims. Don’t just tell them, show them by carefully addressing each problem they face.
2. Establishes you as an Industry Expert
As a business, you need to put in a lot of hard work to establish yourself as an industry expert. Showing up on each medium, conducting seminars, creating content, making value-driven videos are the few things that you have to do. Together this increases brand awareness and helps you build a brand reputation among your target audience.
In a similar pattern, a white paper does not always have to be a tool for generating leads. It also strengthens the brand image and spreads expertise. Showcase your expertise to address the specific problems your audience is facing to position yourself as a trusted advisor with industry expertise. As a result, your prospects will have confidence in your brand and skill.
A professional white paper should be value-driven. It should keep the audience nodding as they read through it. A white paper must stay the audience informed about the problem they face and give them the confidence to fix it easily. It must be educational and value-driven that creates help to establish as an industry expert. The goal of the document must be to enable your readers to decide with confidence.
3. Assists to Convert Potential Leads into Customers
In contrast to the general white paper, you need a technical white paper to convert your leads into customers. The one that could answer all the technical questions of your customers and convince your leads to turn into the customers.
Unlike a lead generation white paper, you need to do far less research for a technical white paper. You can get all the information within your organization. Leverage the knowledge of product experts within your company to craft a technical white paper. Include all the features of your product and the technical details to fill in the gap.
Providing a technical white paper will help you move the customer into the decision stage of the buyer’s journey, and facilitate the buying process. Make sure you add the customer concerns in the clear, simple, and concise way possible.
4. Improves SEO Ranking
A white paper is a long-form of content that establishes you as an industry expert. They are often PDF documents created after thorough research and are well designed. It is a great tool to demonstrate your expertise and showcase you as an industry expert.
A white paper is not a selling tool, and it delivers value to address the customer’s problems. Since search engines give an extra edge to the businesses that have helpful resources that can be searched, crawled, and indexed. The great news is, a PDF form of white paper can be crawled and indexed. If you follow all other SEO best practices, your white paper will also boost the search engine ranking.
Make sure you add relevant keywords to the white paper and add subheadings headings that are optimized. The document should be readable and all the images must have alt texts. In short, follow all the rules of SEO optimization when publishing a white paper. Write a meta description and use your target keyword phrases. Avoid keyword stuffing.
5. Allows you to Showcase Original Research
Today, the internet is inundated with duplicate content, and you will see a paraphrased version of someone’s content on others’ blogs/websites. We rarely get to see original ideas that are backed by original research. Since a white paper includes original research, it allows you to cut through the noise, elevate your brand awareness, and get a competitive edge.
Unlike the shallow content for the short blog posts that speak about user experiences rather than relying on the data statistics, a white paper has an in-depth study of the market and includes original research that makes it one of the most credible resources at your company.
Original research speaks volumes when it comes to the B2B marketing tactics. A white paper gives you a great opportunity to showcase the original research with creative visuals, and proven strategies that present solutions to customer problems.
As an endnote, a white paper is a powerful tool that results;
- Increased traffic
- Strengthen relationship
- Improved social proof
- Generate leads
- Establish you as an expert
How often should you write a white paper?
It’s great to write and publish a white paper once in six months for most B2B businesses. However, it also depends upon the business goals you want to achieve. A white paper is a great content marketing tool that contributes to the long-term success of your business, so make sure you write it well.
Do you think we have missed any significant reasons why you need to create a white paper? Let us know in the comment section below.
