White paper marketing: How to get more effect from your white paper? 4 practical tips

When you, as an entrepreneur, decide to make use of one or more white papers, you will irrevocably find out that building a white paper is no child's play. It takes time, effort and expertise, in short: money. Of course you can make your perfect one outsource whitepaper, but that does not end the stocking. Throwing a whitepaper online and not having to worry about it is a waste of money. Your white paper is not intended as a free reference work, but as a lead generator. Your white paper must work for you and ultimately attract new customers and therefore revenue. But how do you achieve that?

These four tips help you to use your white papers optimally for your company:

1. Use marketing automation in a smart way

That term may be new to you, but marketing automation simply comes down to an automated marketing model. This is already possible in a very accessible way, for example with an online form in which you ask a number of relevant things to your website visitors. For example, give downloaders of your white paper the choice to subscribe to your newsletter; that is a signal to you that this is not a simple downloader, but potentially a serious customer who wants to get in touch with you. You can also ask downloaders directly: "Are you planning to purchase a ... in the coming ... period?" In this way, your average website visitors are automatically separated from your serious leads and you gain insight into what the market looks like see.

2. Always make a suitable offer in your white paper

Products or services for which you use a white paper are generally products or services that require a customized approach. For example, a car, or a software package or alarm system. These are not products that you lift out of the box and are going to use. Make sure that you always provide your leads with a suitable offer in which the tailor-made nature comes to the fore. The lead must feel recognized and recognized. An offer that fits well with customer needs is too good to completely ignore. You come into conversation with each other.

3. Make your download visible

Your white paper cannot work for you if potential customers have to put too much effort into finding it. There is a gray area between not being found and pushing through someone's throat; somewhere in that gray area you have to find the right balance. Do you want a pop-up? Do not make this too disturbing. Where do you place a possible banner? Do you also share your white paper via social media or other external sites? What does the presentation look like there? Can you possibly buy a premium download location at an online place where your target group often surfs? Visibility is more than a nice place on your homepage; your white paper must offer itself without being experienced as a nuisance.

4. Measuring is knowing (guessing is missing)

It is the old rule of thumb for all online content: sitting still is bleeding to death. You will have to continuously adjust and adjust your strategy. You can only do that effectively if you know what you are whitepaper actually yields. You want to know how many visitors leave their contact details and which part of your downloaders is excessively interested in your services. Of course you want to know what the final conversion is, but also how many of your original customers ultimately purchase other products or services - now or at a later stage. You want to measure and analyze all these kinds of things. An optimal online strategy starts with analyzing your available data and using the insights to perfect your lead generation.

Keep measuring and remain critical to your own strategy and conversion. The online battle is generally won by the parties who know how to adapt best, fastest and most smoothly to changing trends and other developments in the market. It's good to start small, but keep expanding your online marketing machine. Because the same goes for you, your company and your white paper: stagnation means decline.