How to write lead generating white papers?

Posted by Ambal Balakrishnan September 9th 10

White papers are powerful sources of lead generation. We asked our panel of white paper experts "What are the top 2 components of a white paper that is most effective to generate leads?". Read on to get their insights.

Jonathan Kantor

Blog WhitePaperPundit Twitter Jonathan_Kantor

"The Executive Summary & Design and Formatting”

Jonathan Kantor's Bio

Jonathan Kantor is the principal and founder of The Appum Group, "The White Paper Company", and has been producing commercial white papers for the past 11 years. He is also the author of the White Paper Pundit blog. Jonathan's experience with white papers is also coupled with over 25 years of enterprise business experience with leading industry innovators such as Apple Computer, Microsoft, Digital Equipment Corporation, and J.D. Edwards Enterprise Software (now a division of Oracle Corporation). This experience included a variety of sales, marketing, business development, and management positions.

Jonathan Kantor's Tip

By now most of us have heard of the famous “3-second rule” for website design. What this means is that an average web surfer will devote about three seconds to web information before they are either engaged by its content/presentation and will read more of it, or if not they will surf to an entirely different site.

This principle of engagement also corresponds well to white papers. Essentially, the 3-second rule as it applies to white papers means that most business readers won’t devote a lot of time after they download and scan through it.

Because of this brief opportunity to create a positive first impression, we must understand the sections that are best at capturing initial reader attention and generating leads. In my opinion, these include:

#1: The Executive Summary – The Executive Summary is typically the first page in most white papers. It is the first section that the reader will use to form their impression of the primary content that follows it. If the Executive Summary is well written and formatted to quickly deliver key bottom line messages, the reader will become more engaged. This will either lead to their reading a greater portion of the primary content or result in delegating that responsibility to another person within the business.

#2: Design and Formatting  - White paper design also serves as a significant component in lead generation. Besides the use of color, illustrations, graphics, and business charts, visual elements play a major role in engaging readers. Favorable first impressions are created with a professional front cover design as compared to an all-text white paper. Other visual elements include sidebar callouts/pull quotes, shaded text boxes, bullets, and comparison tables.

An example of an organization that executes this strategy is Maritz Corporation with a white paper called, “Delight or Defection: The Pivotal Role of People Inside the Customer Experience”. In this paper you can see how a well-written Executive Summary, professional design, and a wide variety of visual elements engage readers and deliver key bottom line business advantage messages.

Jonathan Kantor Recommends

• Generating More Leads with Video White Papers
• Free document distribution sites: Scribd.com, DocStoc.com, Slideshare.net, Gazhoo.com, Yudu.com, and WhitePapers.org. 
• Blog sharing sites such as BizSugar.com, Sphinn.com, and Reddit.com.
• WhitePaperPundit: The Friday FREE White Paper List, a listing of free white papers from weekly Twitter Tweets that don’t require registration, posted each Friday.
• Twitter Keywords: White Paper, Whitepaper, #whitepaper, #wppundit
• Google Alerts set to “White Paper”, and “White Papers”. 

Stephanie Tilton

Blog Savvy B2B Marketing Twitter StephanieTilton

 “Relevance and Call to Action”

Stephanie Tilton's Bio

Stephanie Tilton is an expert case study and white paper writer who helps B2B companies advance the buying cycle by engaging prospects and customers. Harnessing her unique blend of technical knowledge, marketing savvy, and writing skills, Stephanie has crafted nearly 150 case studies and white papers for leading brands such as Akamai Technologies, EMC, Macromedia, Novell, SAP, and Symantec. Her website is Ten Ton Marketing.

Stephanie Tilton's Tip

The top two components of a white paper that is most effective at generating leads are relevance and call to action.

#1 Relevance means addressing a reader's (i.e., prospect's) questions and concerns at a specific stage in the buying cycle. Unfortunately, many white papers are written as all-purpose pieces for a broad audience, covering too much territory and failing to make a connection. And some papers that seem to be aimed at those just starting to explore their options close by trying to make the sale (how many white papers have you read that finish with "call us"?!).

Your ability to connect with prospective buyers hinges on how well you understand their concerns, aspirations, and challenges. Many marketers develop this knowledge by creating buyer personas. With a deep understanding of your prospect's issues, you can produce a focused white paper that hits the mark – one that resonates with the reader, and prompts the person to want to continue along the path to purchase.

#2 This is where the call to action comes into play. Every paper should conclude by encouraging the reader to take the next step in the buying cycle, whether that's downloading more content, registering for a webinar, requesting a trial, or calling up a sales rep, for example.

This Simparel white paper is a good example of a paper written for a business decision maker – working for a company in the fashion company – who may be considering replacing the company's legacy ERP system.  While the topic is about ERP software, the discussion focuses on business issues, and even provides a helpful checklist of what to seek in a solution. At the end, readers are invited to explore case studies demonstrating ROI, and a 2-minute video that shows the solution in action.

Stephanie Tilton Recommends

• 5 Steps to a White Paper that Pulls in the Perfect Prospect
• Savvy B2B Marketing blog posts about white papers

Related Articles

• ClickInsights: What is your favorite white paper? Why do you like it?
• ClickInsights: How to choose a white paper syndication partner?
• ClickInsights: What is the biggest mistake to avoid when writing a white paper?

posted in ClickInsights: Expert Interviews

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