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Nearly 60% of B2B marketers use white papers in their marketing strategy, and more than half consider it the type of content that produces the best results. What is it? What are its advantages? How do you succeed with your white paper?
Mathilde Wehry, Operations Director at Infopro Digital Stories, Infopro Digital’s content creation agency, deciphers for us the why and how of white papers, along with the trends for 2024.
Mathilde, what are your areas of expertise and main responsibilities at Infopro Digital Stories?
At Stories, we support our clients from designing their content strategy to implementing their editorial frameworks. Our editorial experts create content that is targeted, technical, and demanding across all formats (text, social, audio, video…) to engage their audiences effectively.
Can you briefly explain what a white paper is?
A white paper is a concise guide that often addresses a technical or complex subject relevant to professionals in a specific industry. It is designed as a decision-making tool to help B2B stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of the topic and become aware of available solutions to address challenges or grow their business.
What are the main benefits of publishing a white paper in B2B?
It’s the ideal editorial format to showcase expertise and guide prospects in their decision-making process. A brand that publishes a white paper is perceived as a legitimate expert on the subject and a provider of solutions, influencing decisions before any purchase or investment.
More concretely, it’s an extremely effective tool often used to generate leads, typically through a landing page where prospects can download the white paper after filling out a qualification form. In 2023, 80% of B2B marketers** utilized this content format to enhance their lead generation strategy and identify new prospects.
According to you, what makes a good white paper? Conversely, what are the pitfalls to avoid?
A good white paper is a well-structured guide that moves the prospect forward in their thinking and provides solutions. It’s not a promotional brochure but an editorially angled content piece. It should help the reader answer their questions and/or solve their problems. The quality of the content is crucial to engage the reader effectively. Ideally, we recommend a length of between 8 and 12 pages to optimize the effectiveness of the content.
When a company entrusts us with the creation of a white paper, how does the collaboration unfold?
Firstly, one of our project managers, supported by the editorial director, engages with our clients to define their objectives and target audience. This helps us propose a relevant editorial approach that addresses their specific challenges. Based on this discussion, the first deliverable is a “table of contents” outlining page by page the content that will appear in the final document, covering both the core messages and their presentation (interviews, articles, etc.). Once the table of contents is approved, we move to the writing stage, handled by a subject matter expert writer. Concurrently, we create a custom layout with our in-house studio.
The white paper aims to offer expertly structured content that is both informative and visually engaging. It includes practical cases, graphics, key figures, or infographics to highlight relevant information effectively.
Once the white paper is completed, what publicity and promotion strategies can you offer?
We typically host it in a White Papers section on one or more of our group’s media websites. Then, we promote it extensively to the targeted audience through a comprehensive campaign. This campaign may include email marketing, telemarketing efforts, digital advertising across our media platforms and newsletters, as well as sponsored posts on social media through our brand channels. Our white papers often form the centrepiece of lead generation operations orchestrated and executed by Infopro Digital Media’s Data service.
In your opinion, what are the major trends expected in 2024 regarding white papers?
Expertise remains crucial, as clients increasingly demand deeper insights into industry-specific topics. Additionally, there is a continuing rise in major cross-cutting themes for 2024 such as decarbonization, anticipated developments with AI, new mobility solutions, employer branding, and CSR challenges. Overall, we tailor our content to address each client’s specific needs, ensuring customized and specific white papers that resonate effectively with their audience.
* Content Marketing Institute, B2B content marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends : outlook for 2024
** Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing for Demand Generation 2023 Research