Comments on: Is ‘Voluntary Registration’ Smart Marketing for White Papers?

By: mikewilke

mikewilke — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:10:03 +0000

Volume, for the sake of volume, is not important to me.
The quality of leads is what matters.

However, I do not agree that the “registration forms” should be long. Name, email address and either employer or position is enough.

By: globalcopywrite

globalcopywrite — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:27:23 +0000

Hi Mike,

I'm late to the party on this discussion. I found it really useful so I bothered to read all the way through. The comment I wanted to make and, surprisingly, one nobody else touched on is this: Faced with an option not to register, I will take the paper for free EVERY SINGLE TIME. Even when I think I might do business with the people sponsoring the website in the future, if I don't have to, I don't leave details.

I agree with Kate's comments about persistent sales people. (I was one of them myself so I know how they operate.) Unless I want a call, I never put my real phone number down. Honestly, if it's that important to me, I'll pick up the phone myself.

My vote is to require registration to stymie the difficult customers like me but keep the form short, very short.

By: globalcopywrite

globalcopywrite — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:24:47 +0000

By: randacodron

randacodron — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:43:32 +0000

Michael…I have the perfect solution to the dilemma of whether or not to gate your white paper content. In October 2009, Vitrium Systems will be launching a new product called PDFSalesLeads, a lead generation tool for your PDFs! The easy to use SaaS product places a form within the PDF allowing marketers to survey their readers while they are engaged with the content. PDFSalesLeads gives the reader the option to skip the form, therefore still allowing the reader to gain access to your content. It is a proven fact that a reader will be more inclined to hand over the information once they are engaged with your content…therefore giving you more better qualified leads. Web forms are a thing of the past its time for new tools to be used to put marketers ahead of their competition. Check it out at www.pdfsalesleads.com!

By: Michael A. Stelzner

Michael A. Stelzner — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:13:41 +0000

Approved

Michael A. Stelzner - Creative Partner
Stelzner Consulting
Poway Heights Corporate Plaza
13025 Danielson Street, Suite 108
Poway, CA 92064

Phone - 858.748.7800, x201
Fax - 858.748.6014

e-mail - mike@stelzner.com
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blog - http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/

"Great Minds Sync Alike"

By: Samson James

Samson James — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:37:12 +0000

Great discussion. According to me, white papers have to be put under registration. Also the process of registration should be short and simple.

By: robertdrew

robertdrew — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:35:09 +0000

How focused your company gets towards targeting its white papers goes a long way towards being able to require detailed registrations - or needing to rely on email address-only registration, or voluntary registration etc. If a company offers assets specifically tailored to audience/market niche, past experience (point in sales cycle), and other variables, and is able to execute a content strategy around this model, this company is more likely to be able to command detailed registrations for the benefit of accessing a white paper. White paper users are more likely to put up with the registration because the white paper more closely speaks to their interests.

By: mikewilke

mikewilke — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:40:11 +0000

Tough question, Mike!

I believe a very short registration is best. In my world, the quality of leads is much more important than a large quantity of lower quality leads. So, whatever brings in more valuable leads is where I stand. At this point, voluntary registration probably won't move me toward my goal.

The situation reminds of how some folks obtain followers on Twitter. One strategy places the emphasis on getting as many followers as possible. In my view, a huge number of followers would be nice, but not really useful.

I would prefer to have fewer followers that I actually have something in common with. Of course, that goes for those I follow, as well.

By: Fahed

Fahed — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:14:52 +0000

Thanks… that's what I was thinking as well.

By: Michael A. Stelzner

Michael A. Stelzner — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:03:44 +0000

Fahed;

I think a one time acknowledgement would be fine if they did not check
the box. That would be it however

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