Using White Papers in your Digital Marketing Strategy for 2015

At the centre of every successful digital marketing campaign is content. This can be in the form of blogs and incorporated within your social media channels to share and engage with your audience. However, businesses often miss the opportunity to publish premium content such as white papers, which serve a different function than blogs and articles. What can white papers bring to your digital marketing strategy this year?

Engaging your audience through interest

Generating interest in a particular topic will encourage your audience to engage further with you. Since white papers are read only by those who choose to access and download them, they will already be interested in the content of the white paper. Therefore, you are presented with a more willing customer, if you can show content that is relevant and thought-provoking. Monitoring engagement with each of your white papers will also help to give you an idea of what your potential customers are most interested in, and the most accessible to them. White papers are a great way to capture data of prospects which can then be shared with your sales team or used for remarketing.

Longer copy reaches a different dynamic

In contrast to the short copy used effectively on social media channels and blog posts, white papers demonstrate skill, market knowledge which conveys thought leadership. Writing long copy provides an opportunity for you to educate readers and influence their potential buying habits in the future too. White papers give a level of usefulness to customers, allowing them to learn about your product, service or industry, which will give them enough information to make the choice to engage with you again later on.

Generating trust becomes easier

Regularly producing content for the purpose of interest for your reader develops trust. White papers should be informative and not try to promote your product or service directly. Readers can enjoy white papers without the pressure of pushing for a sale afterwards. They are more likely to return and read more of your content, and even make purchases as their interest grows over time and they begin to trust your business.

Greater content sharing flexibility

White papers also give you the chance to go into more detail about what you choose to share with your potential customers. Social media posts such as on Twitter or LinkedIn, or your blog, are sometimes limited by the short length of the content. This restricts what you can write about and how much detail you are able to go into. However, long copy such as white papers gives you the freedom to explore a wider range of topics in more depth. In this way, you generate thought leadership as a business, giving you more weight in the eyes of your customers as you demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.

White papers give overall greater control

Once you have established trust with your consumers, proved your knowledge by sharing relevant and helpful information, and seen increased engagement, there are still more benefits to using white papers as part of your digital marketing strategy for 2015.

Downloads of white papers indicates a greater commitment from readers than simply liking or commenting on a social media post. Through using white papers, you create a longer-term relationship with your audience, which leads to conversions over time, as well as loyal repeat buyers. White papers and other premium content give you the chance to stand out within your industry. The timing of releasing a white paper could be just what it takes to generate leads, whilst giving you overall greater credibility within your field.

Finally, it’s important to remember the organic SEO benefits that white papers provide. Ensure your document contains internal anchor text links to key pages. Also, consider promoting your white papers through paid channels, such as posting on Facebook or using content synchronisation services such as Onlywire or Outbrain.

Develop a strategy for your business content marketing.