According to some analysts, corporate decision-makers rely on white papers more than almost any other source of information available to them. The solid technical information contained in such collateral helps decision-makers understand the business case of the offering. This goal fits squarely in the bailiwick of marketing, not engineering. …
White paper marketing works in two ways: It educates the buyer and it increases lead generation.
The first role is buyer education. This has two benefits: (a) it builds customer loyalty (they will buy from you instead of your competitors because you are their trusted advisor) and (b) it “sets the specs” for products in your category.
Setting the specs means your educational materials give guidelines for product selection, and these guidelines are written so that your product fits them best. Once the buyer gets the guidelines from your edu-marketing materials, he will use them to evaluate all products in your category — and of course yours will come out best, since you wrote the requirements to begin with.
For the PDF, click below:
http://www.dmnews.com/pdffiles/blypages.pdf
From The White Paper Marketing Handbook 1st edition by Robert W. Bly. Copyright 2006. Reprinted with permission of South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning: www.thomsonrights.com. Fax: 800/730-2215.
