Reasons to Include Whitepapers in Your Content Marketing Strategy
Whitepapers are a type of comprehensive document that dig into a specific topic to offer unique, detailed insight for readers. For instance, a whitepaper will often reveal the results of an original survey or study a business has conducted or offer a detailed overview of an effective process a company followed that got them the results they were after.
Whatever a whitepaper covers, the in-depth and authoritative manner in which it does so helps whitepaper authors build a reputation for themselves and garner trust amongst readers. As such, whitepapers are an excellent marketing tool for creating a connection with your audience and, ultimately, converting more leads.
Here's why you should include whitepapers in your content marketing strategy to help you grow your business.
Generate New Leads
When done right, whitepapers represent untapped potential for readers by giving them unique, original insight into new survey results, personal case studies, or a process that a business has documented and successfully utilized. This means readers in your industry will be eager to get their hands on your whitepaper and it will quickly be shared throughout their circles, so long as it gives them the value they were expecting.
If you manage to live up to your readers' expectations and take the time to produce a truly useful whitepaper, the primary benefit is new leads for your business. First and foremost, a whitepaper will help you generate more leads by giving you a "lead magnet" that you can give away in exchange for an email address.
On top of that, whitepapers will build trust while being sharable and worth linking to, meaning they will begin to generate leads all on their own -- from all new sources -- as time goes by.
Build Your Reputation
While generating new leads is often the first thing that comes to mind when a business considers investing in the creation of a whitepaper, that's only the most direct and obvious benefit. When you author a whitepaper, the positive impact it can have on your business' reputation is second-to-none.
Whitepaper authors are regarded as experts in their niche, especially when you take the time to plan out a truly comprehensive and insightful whitepaper. The sheer depth of information you're able to offer in this single document will help your audience take on the perspective that you are a niche authority, thereby building trust in your brand and any products or services you offer.
Beyond building trust, a whitepaper can truly make you out to be an expert, and that's exactly who people want to work with. As soon as you position yourself as an expert in your field, business, backlinks, and all benefits associated with it will soon come your way.
Grow Your Newsletter
If your brand is already thriving, you may wonder how a whitepaper can fit into your content marketing strategy. Better yet, you may already be using whitepapers in multiple ways in your content marketing strategy, and growing your newsletter represents yet another opportunity.
If you have your lead magnets covered and your reputation is booming, a whitepaper can help you grow your email list in addition to the above benefits. To do this, you simply need to give away your whitepaper to your newsletter subscribers -- either exclusively, with a message like: Sign up for the newsletter to download this whitepaper" or with an optional opt-in, where there's a checkbox on your download form to opt into the newsletter if they desire.
The fact is, once a reader realizes that you're offering real value in your whitepaper and they begin to trust you as a content provider and niche authority, you're likely to see a huge uptick in newsletter opt-ins regardless of whether you position your whitepaper as an opt-in offer or not. This is just another side effect that comes along with producing comprehensive, quality content.
Fuel Original Research
Many businesses have no idea where to start when it comes to conducting and producing original research. Smaller companies often assume they don't have the budget or reach, even though it costs little to nothing to conduct a study or survey and you can spread them with ease, helping you raise awareness for your brand in the process.
Ultimately, taking on the project of creating a whitepaper could be just what your business needs to convince you to take the next step into original research if you haven't done so already. And, if you have already conducted your own research, a whitepaper may be just the opportunity you've been waiting for to reveal the results to the public.
With original research being of particular importance in the B2B space, there's no excuse not to pursue an original research project as part of your whitepaper creation process. While this will tack time onto the project, the value you will derive from it is simply unmatched.
Collaborate With a New Writer
Are you convinced that a whitepaper can help you grow your brand or business? While it will take time and in-depth research to pull it off, creating a whitepaper can help catapult your business to a new level of success. The important thing is to invest the time and money into creating a very high-quality and comprehensive document in your field.
Most businesses, however, don't have the time or expertise to properly plan, create, and edit a whitepaper all in-house, and that's why they turn to Scripted. If you need help finding the right whitepaper writer for your upcoming project, Scripted can help you find them. With our platform of dedicated collaboration tools and thousands of professional writers in our database, Scripted can ensure your whitepaper is a rousing success.
To get started on your search and start collaborating with the ideal writer for your project, explore our whitepaper writers today. With our flexible membership tiers spanning all budgets, Scripted is accessible for companies of all sizes.
Published by Ciara Antolini on Monday, December 13, 2021 in Content, Content Strategy, Whitepapers, White Papers.
