This blog outlines the role of white papers in today’s B2B sales content strategy and how to craft a white paper so that it best serves both you and your customer.
Today’s digitized customer often researches potential purchases using the relevant media content provided to them. One way to provide educational content to your customer is to use a white paper. White papers, in the business sector, are used to persuade the reader that a service, product, technology, method, etc. is superior to others, and that it will fill the client’s needs. Its goal should be to influence the decision making process of current and potential customers.
A good white paper is aware of its clients’ specific problems and addresses this early in the paper. Instead of simply explaining what your service or product is, phrase the information as solutions to needs you already know your client has.
For example, instead of:
“Gabriel Sales provides full-time sales and marketing operations.”
Write:
“Gabriel Sales’ full-time sales and marketing operations helps to identify winning strategies for your specific goals and objectives, navigate the new intricacies of today’s complex sales process and close deals.”
Time has become one of the most valuable resources in today’s digital environment of instant satisfaction. Potential customers do not spend as much time with your content as they used to and need to be entertained as well as educated. If your white paper is too text heavy, it is unlikely to be read in its’ entirety. It will also probably bore your reader into clicking on something more interesting.
Having clear summaries at the beginning and end of your white paper, as well as throughout, helps keep your reader focused on the messages you are trying to deliver. It also helps to ensure that if your reader does not have time to read your entire white paper, they are still spending some time with your overall message.
Also, the use of graphics, such as charts, graphs, or fact boxes, helps retain the reader’s attention. These graphics can also be used to summarize the key messages you want your reader to take away from the white paper.
To learn more about white papers and how to incorporate them into your B2B sales content strategy, please contact us. For more information on how White Papers can be included in an overall digital content strategy learn a little bit more about a holistic approach by checking out “What is better sales collateral?”
