The content marketing value of white papers

A white paper can bring a lot of value to your business if it resonates with the right target audience. It can be used to generate leads, increase awareness, and affirm your company as an authority or thought leader on specific subject matter.

The first rule of thumb is that a white paper needs to be a useful resource for the reader – not a sales pitch. If you expect people to provide their contact details in exchange for downloading your white paper, then our advice is not to shortchange them with a glorified product brochure. As the saying goes, once burned, twice shy.

But let’s back up a bit and examine what a white paper is.

In content marketing terms a white paper is:

• An authoritative, informational document that explores a particular topic, problem, solution or service in depth.
• A document that typically combines research and expert knowledge to build a case for a solution to an industry problem.

There can be varied opinions on what a white paper is, because the term has connotations with government. In fact, the term ‘white paper’ originally comes from the British government, where official documents were colour-coded – a white paper signified a report designed for public access.

A B2B white paper is, however, a content marketing tool with commercial objectives. These objectives often include lead generation, increasing awareness about a brand, product or solution, building trust with a specific target audience and increasing sales.

Importantly, businesses will often have a different idea of what a white paper is to them – which is why at COG we always start with a content brief.

How do you produce a successful white paper? Before there is ‘how’ there is ‘why’.

The most successful papers that we have produced for clients have a strong purpose – one that is not commercial. For example, it could be making equipment that improves the safety of workers as well as the efficiency of a production line. How effectively you articulate and communicate this ‘why’ will be the difference between a good and a great white paper.

We take a collaborative approach to white papers, where we work together with our clients on a content brief to ensure that we understand the ‘why’ of what they do, and the key messages and points the paper needs to cover. We also leverage our unique relationship with publisher Prime Creative Media to gain internal insights into target audiences and track the success of white papers when they are published and promoted.

Here are a few examples of white papers we’ve produced and published with media on behalf of our clients:

Mining 4.0: How do we get there in Australia?

Harnessing the benefits of Edge AI in Industry 

Quadshore™: The world-leading lightweight heavy duty propping solution for temporary construction works