Comments on: New Study: Marketers Spend Budgets on White Papers

By: Natalie Brahan

Natalie Brahan — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:37:02 +0000

You’re right VeraBradley! without a good content and facts no article will be a good enough. hence, spending by marketers so much is an effective way..

By: VeraBradley

VeraBradley — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:49:08 +0000

Like one commenter said, content is king. With content and facts to write about, one can produce quality articles. So i guess its not a suprise that marketers spend so much on those.

By: SEO Company

SEO Company — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:24:54 +0000

I would agree and would suggest that this number is rising. A large part of the work I do for clients is sourcing out the right expert to write custom, meaningful content for the client. The larger the business, the higher percentage of quality custom content seems to be needed.

By: fatsgone

fatsgone — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:19:42 +0000

It’s undeniable that it is effective but I think that we do need to keep up with the times. Like Mark did mention above, a multimedia/web hybrid of white papers may just be the new thing, more effective and convenient than conventional white papers.

By: Bagrep

Bagrep — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:31:22 +0000

Good observations. What you have stated are all true. There is nothing better than the white paper but depends on how much budget you have or else you won’t be able to benefit at all.

By: Joe Pulizzi

Joe Pulizzi — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:07:52 +0000

Hi Mac…good question.

The findings state that 50% of business marketers are creating their own white papers. The chart lives here http://www.junta42.com/resources/Business_to_Business_Custom_Publishing_Research/
and lists what types of content activities marketers are engaged in (but not by budget or revenue spent).

We are going to try to get a bit more granular for the next study.

Hope that helps.
Best
Joe

By: Mac McIntosh

Mac McIntosh — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:33:39 +0000

Michael,

Is the research saying they are spending 50% of their “content creation” budgets on white papers, or is it saying that 50% report that is one of the (primary?) things they spend their “content creation” budgets on?

Maybe Joe Pulizzi can help clarify.

Thanks,
Mac McIntosh
www.sales-lead-experts.com

By: Michael A Brown

Michael A Brown — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:17:05 +0000

Hi Michael! Great content! An observation if I may: despite the infusion of money into white papers for lead gen, too many B2B marketers are under-funding and mismanaging the “next step” … the business phone call that follows the white paper.

Indeed, in my Business To Business By Phone consulting and training practice, I find that many callers who contact white paper recipients have never seen the paper themselves, do not know what would provoke a prospect to request the paper, and therefore struggle to open and conduct an appropriate and engaging dialogue.

I urge marketers to consider not only the content of white papers, but also the context and continuity in which they are applied. And above all, make sure the callers who will speak with white paper recipients are prepared for substantive conversations.

Michael A. Brown
www.michaelabrown.net

By: Brent Applegate

Brent Applegate — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:59:30 +0000

Makes sense!

By: Troy Bingham

Troy Bingham — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:53:49 +0000

We too are looking at using webinars, and other multi media to add some spice to our educational marketing.