Hi Daniel;

You said,

I’m savvy enough to recognize that registration is a cheap attempt to get me to give my personal information.

My question to you: If you had a pressing problem and found a site that provided an adequate sample of the material, would you then be willing to register to get the paper?

Mike

I find whitepapers can give you additional facts on which to base analysis and this is dependent on the author and their recognition within the industry. I would also use the material to gain further discussion with clients and to progress requirements both on facts and "would like to haves". White papers give a solid basis on which to continue more informed discussions.

Responding as a reader...

It largely depends on how interested I am in the material, how badly and how deeply and how quickly I need to get my hands around a topic, and how long my need for information in a topic is going to last.

A couple of for-instances. In a previous job, I researched content management systems. It was a project with a very long tail, and was something I could leverage in future jobs. I didn't mind turning over my name, my work e-mail address, and a work phone number to get at what I needed. If the registration form required more than that, I'd abandon the site. Then I'd put out a call in the online forums I belonged to in order to see if anyone already had the white papers.

More recently, I researched requirements management systems. The company whose product we were most likely to go with -- which was also the company that provided the most in terms of quality white papers and other resources -- actually required the least on its registration form (name, e-mail address). I would have given more; they've never asked for more.

Still more recently, I was asked to look at document management systems. Knowing the group I report into, I knew this was passing curiosity -- a shiny object to temporarily pay attention to -- and wouldn't amount to more in the foreseeable future. Some of the vendors were obnoxious about what they asked for on their registration forms so I moved on. What irritated me was that you could tell that the real meat was locked behind the damn registration form, and the content that was out in front didn't say much.

Years ago, a marketing segment in a larger business course talked about "levels of reveal". There was stuff you got for free (it was out in the open). There was stuff that you got sort of for free -- you had to share name, e-mail, and company name in order to get it. For the next level of information, you had to give something else (maybe answer a 10-question online survey or agree to a 15-minute phone survey). Give-and-take. I'm willing to play that game because it allows me to go only as far as I need to and still allows vendors to collect info that can help them somehow.

In your case Michael, the bigger question is what are you trying to accomplish? Lead nurturing, thought leadership, grow your opt-in list??

Good question, Michael. That's something I'll have to think about. My original instinct was to provide an alternative method to connect with readers and "be with them" when they can't be online. Sometimes you just want a nice printout. My goal is to help people be better bloggers, and to do that it makes sense to me to provide a variety of formats that connect with different learning styles, different preferences that people have. In the same vein, I'm thinking about recording audio versions of some of my content, and may even produce screencasts and video.

Thanks for prompting me with the right questions!

I'm savvy enough to recognize that registration is a cheap attempt to get me to give my personal information. I value my privacy, and rarely see why I should give someone something for the privilege of being marketed to -- and we are all of us here honest enough to recognize that at least 80% of white papers are marketing attempts.

I would not register if prompted, or perhaps would register using a temporary e-mail account service and false personal information if I thought there was a reason to see the information.

Registration for marketing materials also delegitimizes the white paper source in my eyes.


Best bet is to skip the registration.

Register, but require very little. Name and email only.

If one asks too much, the reader will abandon the process.

Too often people ask self-qualifying questions, like title, decision time frame, etc. Get that later!

Jeff

Market research! Do the research, find out what your visitors are looking for through customer surveys.

Hi Katie and Tom;

Appreciate your opinions on this.

Katie, I think you hit on something critical when you said, "I would if the white paper is focused on exactly what I was looking for and if it is authored by an expert in that field or an author I recognize and trust."

So the real question is how do businesses connect folks that are seeking something specific with their white papers?

Mike

Hi Michael,

Personally I don't like to register for anything, but I would if the white paper is focused on exactly what I was looking for and if it is authored by an expert in that field or an author I recognize and trust.

I can understand why businesses would want people to register. They can use that information for marketing research, which is always a valuable marketing tool.

I think it comes down to whether or not you are a reputable and trusted company. If people are comfortable with you, they'll register.

Katie

For my corporate clients, the sales process is typically long and complex, and a single sale can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

Accordingly, we spend a lot of money generating and qualifying those leads, so registration is a must -- it's not even a question.

The tension has always revolved around the amount of information we try to acquire. The sales staff want literally pages of stuff; I want a name, company, title, e-mail and phone.

Ask for too much, and people will abandon the process.

Hi Michael;

Thanks for stopping by (love your blog).

I would argue that white papers and ebooks are not all that far apart from each other.

In your case Michael, the bigger question is what are you trying to accomplish? Lead nurturing, thought leadership, grow your opt-in list??

Mike

As someone who both downloads and will be creating white papers (why I'm visiting this blog!), I wonder about this myself. Here's what I think about it currently, but I'm open to suggestion: I think reducing friction increases conversion. A downloaded white paper is the "foot in the door," not the information gained during any registration process.

I've seen white papers and other ebook-type files (I know you would probably draw a distinction between the two) that do a masterful job of inviting participation or feedback (not pressure to purchase) back at the original site. If the paper's content is valuable enough, it seems to me that anything else other than polite invitations is ham-fisted.