White papers are essential marketing tools for businesses during a down economy.  Why?  Because lead generation programs become essential during times like this.  In addition, prospects are more resistant to sales hype.

A recent study examined the importance of different types of collateral among buyers.

“White papers remain the most effective piece of marketing collateral, with 86% of respondents finding them moderately to highly influential in the purchasing decision,” found a new Eccolo Media study reviewed in B2B Magazine.  When asked to rank order the importance of white papers, case studies, podcasts, videos and brochures, survey participants overwhelmingly ranked white papers as the most important collateral they use when making buying decisions.

In the same edition of B2B Magazine, white papers were mentioned as critical marketing pieces in two additional articles.  Here are the highlights:

Naylor Gray, director of global marketing at research firm Frost & Sullivan said, “Companies need to focus on opportunities for growth…  The most important thing is to focus on ROI and focus on things that will make the company money, such as sales lead-generation programs, webinars and white papers.”

In a separate article, the following was noted.  “White papers really do have a lot of influence. They are definitely the best investment you can make in terms of your collateral budget. That assumes you stick to the good guidelines for creating white papers: not too long; an objective discussion; delivered in a digital format to make them easily shared and looked at,” said Lorie Loe, president of Eccolo Media.

These findings also support a series of other new research.

Is your business using white papers?  Do these findings make sense to you?

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