Comments on: Major Study Reveals Marketing Power of White Papers http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/ Everything about writing and marketing white papers Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:28:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Carl Ellis http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-58544 Carl Ellis Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:00:49 +0000 http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-58544 Teach FIRST... Sell later!... Works great for me! Teach FIRST… Sell later!… Works great for me!

]]> By: fel3232 http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-58320 fel3232 Sun, 13 Jan 2008 02:43:30 +0000 http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-58320 I truly believe white papers are underused. I agree as well. great post. I truly believe white papers are underused. I agree as well. great post.

]]> By: Jim Logan http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-15844 Jim Logan Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:01:44 +0000 http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-15844 I truly believe white papers are underused. One area I believe they're underused is as a tool to advance a sales opportunity by overcoming barriers and biases within an account, positioning against a potential competitive weakness, and trapping the competition. Especially in long and complex sales cycles, there's room and necessity for numerous white papers, addressed to different buyers and interests. I believe a white paper should be in the sales tool kit as often as the marketing tool kit...in some cases more often. I love studies like this...the more you read them, the more you can get out of them and the more you can test in your work. I truly believe white papers are underused. One area I believe they’re underused is as a tool to advance a sales opportunity by overcoming barriers and biases within an account, positioning against a potential competitive weakness, and trapping the competition. Especially in long and complex sales cycles, there’s room and necessity for numerous white papers, addressed to different buyers and interests.

I believe a white paper should be in the sales tool kit as often as the marketing tool kit…in some cases more often.

I love studies like this…the more you read them, the more you can get out of them and the more you can test in your work.

]]> By: Michael Stelzner http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-15828 Michael Stelzner Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:19:45 +0000 http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-15828 Hey Jim; You bring up some very good observations. I think wise marketers must really consider adding white papers and case studies to their mix. It seems the white papers are missing in many cases. Mike Hey Jim;

You bring up some very good observations.

I think wise marketers must really consider adding white papers and case studies to their mix.

It seems the white papers are missing in many cases.

Mike

]]> By: Jim Logan http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-15824 Jim Logan Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:13:58 +0000 http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/03/27/major-white-paper-study/#comment-15824 It's a nice study. The greatest opportunity for marketers and sales staff is the study's conclusion that information should change as the sale advances - buyers want different information at different stages of the purchase decision. This is especially true in a complex sales environment where you're crossing varying needs, interests, and areas of responsibility. What this means is you can't have just one white paper, position, value, benefit, presentation, case study, application, etc. All these tools should be developed against your known sales cycle and delivered at the right time to advance the sale. A second area of interest is the report's finding that buyers (72%) want information on how to solve a problem, while marketers predominately (87%) produce new content to promote their offering. The study calls this an "Information Gap." This is interesting because it highlights a problem and opportunity for marketers - people aren't interested in what you do, they're interested in what you do for them. Again, nice study. Thanks for linking to it. It’s a nice study. The greatest opportunity for marketers and sales staff is the study’s conclusion that information should change as the sale advances - buyers want different information at different stages of the purchase decision. This is especially true in a complex sales environment where you’re crossing varying needs, interests, and areas of responsibility.

What this means is you can’t have just one white paper, position, value, benefit, presentation, case study, application, etc. All these tools should be developed against your known sales cycle and delivered at the right time to advance the sale.

A second area of interest is the report’s finding that buyers (72%) want information on how to solve a problem, while marketers predominately (87%) produce new content to promote their offering. The study calls this an “Information Gap.” This is interesting because it highlights a problem and opportunity for marketers - people aren’t interested in what you do, they’re interested in what you do for them.

Again, nice study. Thanks for linking to it.

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