If you are applying all the tools and techniques to promote your B2B business, but at the same time skipping one of the greatest and orthodox tools, White Paper, then you have been on a wrong track. White papers, also known as guides or reports, may be your last, best chance to get the click-through you want in business-to-business (B2B) email marketing. That is, in B2B email marketing as its being practiced today — often text only, sometimes HTML, bells and whistles kept to a minimum. With next-generation rich-media email around the corner, that may change.
Till date also, a free white paper or guide is still a powerful B2B offer that can stimulate high click-through rates (CTRs), capture essential company and contact information, and result in successful lead generation.
A B2B white paper is a really powerful marketing tool when it is written the right way. You need to follow certain rules, when you write it, to make sure that it works. Below is a list of 3 rules you need to follow while writing a B2B white paper.
1. Keep the selling subtle:
A B2B white paper works well only when the selling is kept subtle. The main aim of your white paper is to educate. You might think that this education focus will make readers just read the education bit and forget about the rest of the white paper, but this technique actually works well for a B2B white paper.
2. Never use testimonials:
Testimonials are one of the most important components of direct marketing materials, but you should never use them in a white paper as it will never go with the white paper’s indirect, subtle way of marketing. Instead of testimonials you can use reference and case study within your white paper to improve credibility.
3. Never use call to actions:
Calls to action need to be reserved for direct marketing materials and not the white paper as they too, like testimonials, don’t comply with the white papers indirect way of selling. You can have one or two lines with a subtle call to action like email us or visit our website, but you need to avoid using strong call to actions that will pressure your readers into using your services.
These three rules are the basic rules you need to follow while writing B2B white papers. These rules separate B2B white papers from B2C white papers. If you follow these rules you will be able to write B2B white papers which can attract vast amounts of companies to use your services.
