Improve how you use White Papers for Lead Generation - Part II

Have you created a white paper for your organization in order to generate leads? If you have, there are some great tips that Michael Stelzner has just written about in an article Getting The Most From Your White Paper Marketing.

His big tip is that you should consider providing a large chunk of the white paper for free before you ask for a web visitor to register for it. He uses the gaming industry as an example. There are some sites out there like EA Sports (one of my favourites) that will let you download a sample of the game before actually purchasing it. What Michael failed to mention was that you typically have to register for the sample but you get his point.

Here are some of his other tips that I liked:

• Keep the registration form out of sight. People are scared when they see it. Warm them up to the idea of registration with some "meat" from the white paper.
• Keep the registration form questions to a minimum. Only ask what you need. For example, why ask for zip code if all you need is state for your lead distribution processes.
• Provide some quotes on those that liked the white paper (like mini book reviews). Those quotes could be from industry big wigs or industry analysts (my tip).
• Send an auto-responder email letting the person know about other resources that are available. Michael suggests a slight delay in sending the white paper but I disagree. Nobody likes to wait around for anything these days and if there is a delay, they'll go to your competitors site and/or they'll forget why they registered in the first place.

One tip that I'll add is that it's always great if you have an industry analyst like Gartner or Forrester write a white paper about your company (assuming it's a positive one!!). This gives your company and products the credibility it needs to get people to consider you.

Do you have any tips that have increased your lead generation using white papers?

If you're interested in creating your own white paper or want some tips in writing a new one, see my post called Writing a White Paper? Read The Following Book in which I review Michael's book.


Chad H.