Content Marketing Strategy for B2B Software Vendors: Starring the ‘New’ White Paper

 

For the past several years, multiple studies by different research firms have been conducted to evaluate the most sought-out and influential content for B2B technology customers during decision-making buying cycles, and every time, in every study, the #1 preferred content is the White Paper.

The white paper is the #1 most influential piece of collateral that technology purchasers consult when making or influencing a buying decision for their company, according to a recent survey by Eccolo Media

However, many B2B software vendors still are missing the boat with their use of white papers and have not employed them in ways to engage potential buyers, let alone convert them to customers.

  

In The Beginning…

Technology white papers find their origins in government briefs that were called white books, alluding to the plain white binding that was used. With the transformation to the technology white paper, experts, lead architects, systems designers used these documents to provide authoritative discussions of key ideas or technologies to show thought leadership and future direction. The classic white paper was very technical and dissertation-like, rich with in-depth details and research results.

Then something happened to white papers when many software companies began to generate them as “product collateral”. White papers were hijacked by many product marketing and marketing groups to directly promote products. Content became thinly veiled product brochures extolling the virtues of the software offerings, highlighting information favorable to the vendor. White papers became just another item in the checklist of collateral to generate for a product launch. Little strategic thinking or advance planning went into creating white papers, including the recruitment of a top tech professional to write the white paper. Well, guess what: software solution buyers do not like that kind of white paper.

 When asked what most disappointed in a white paper, poor writing ranked number one.

 One surprise in the findings – the respondents said they're more disappointed when a white paper doesn't contain enough technical information rather than when a paper contains too much.

 

 What Potential Buyers Want In Effective White Papers

Quality Quality Quality

Customers continue to call out high quality writing with accurate and useful content as top values for the white papers that they want to read and use. They want plenty of details (tech / business), which means content has to be: tight, clear, compelling, authentic.

The survey also found that the quality of report writing gets noticed. Some 86% of respondents felt that high-quality writing was at least moderately influential and 51% ranked good writing as either very or extremely influential. By contrast, poor quality writing was the most frequent reason respondents gave for decreasing the influence of a white paper.

 

Less Time to Consume Content

A lot of great content is constantly published on the web, due largely to constant brisk evolution of business needs and corresponding software solutions. Customers would like to consume a large variety of content, so they prefer shorter lengths for white papers. Shorter white papers also allow vendors to generate a constant flow of new content that also keeps pace with business and tech changes. According to most of the studies cited in this article, the ideal length of a white paper is 4-8 pages. (Tech Marketing Best Practices Research Series on white papers states that 86% of tech buyers want white papers under 10 pages.)

 

Buyers are proactive in the use of white papers:

How to Maximize the Use of White Papers in Your B2B Marketing and Sales Process, released by InformationWeek in February 2009. Its survey of 542 professional buyers found that 93% of IT buyers pass along up to half of the white papers they read/download, and that 54% of those surveyed contacted a vendor for more information after reading a white paper.

 

No Registration Please

When marketing groups co-opted the white paper another marketing staple was added: requiring buyer registration to be able to download the white paper. There is a strong buyer sentiment that vendor websites should not require any information from the buyer for any content downloads.  After all, the sales engagement is buyer-driven, with the buyer deciding when and if next steps will be taken.

A recent survey done by Spiceworks (SMB IT management resource site) addressed the issue of having to register for white papers:

We also found a lot of people – more than 75% – DON'T sign up for papers requiring registration, which means the vendor is missing the opportunity to share and disseminate their knowledge.

         How many (vendors) stopped requiring registration as the result of your survey?

A handful so far. The results are pretty staggering. When you remove the "registration wall," downloads go way up. One white paper that was offered without registration was downloaded 500 times in three days!

  

White Papers and Content Marketing Strategies

Potential buyers visit B2B corporate websites with the intent of finding all kinds of information that will help with purchase decisions. Buyers also look for vendor information on other web venues. It is critical for any vendors who see web presence as a key to success to build a strategy for content marketing. A content marketing strategy for B2B software vendors should focus on providing relevant, compelling, and frequently updated information for target markets and customers/buyers. A high quality white paper is a significant business asset for content marketing: quality content holds its value for reusability, engagement, impact, and vendor credibility.

Adam Needles: Content marketing is the architecture behind information exchanged with the buyer before we can get them to ’sales ready’; it is the rationalization of what content that our prospective buyers need at various stages of the buying cycle and via what media and channels; and it is integral to the nurturing process.  Content thus has moved from tactical to strategic.

 

Many B2B software vendors could benefit greatly from building a content marketing strategy around white papers. Don’t just produce single white papers in a reactive fashion, as a product launch checklist item done in a hurry. Plan, create and publish excellent white papers well in advance of any product launches.  B2B software vendors should be publishing white papers with high frequency (since customers want shorter white papers): set the stage for what your company does now and will do in future. Show authentic thought leadership, clear understanding of various customer needs and real problem-solving.

Publishing sets of “companion” white papers is a good idea for vendors targeting buyers with different perspectives such as business and tech buyers, and biz-tech composites. Some white papers can be created to bridge the gap between business and tech, to encourage collaborative definition of needs and problem-solving. Series of white papers that break down a complex topic can be an interesting approach as well. These approaches will show vendor commitment to helping customers understand current technology trends as well as provide guidance for solving problems or for becoming more competitive.

Beyond publishing great white papers is the opportunity for vendors to engage customers in conversations through social media, wherever customers participate. There already is a social aspect to downloaded white papers – customers have a high rate of sharing white papers. Tap into social media for interactive conversations with potential buyers and industry writers. On download pages include links to communities and forums to encourage discussion. Schedule Tweetjams for topics covered in white papers. Comment on blogs that address the topics of vendor white papers, not to directly promote the white paper, but to add to the brainstorm and show command of the topic.

 

Value of white papers for B2B software vendors:

 
 

   

The Right Industry Professional to Create White Papers for B2B Software Vendors

Keeping in mind that customers have made clear that they want high quality content with extensive tech details, it would make sense to work with a software industry professional with strong tech experience, business smarts, and who can articulate complex ideas clearly and authentically. This would be a professional who has worked with customers, understands both business and tech, has the ability to hold the interest of these readers. And of course, this professional has to be a really good writer.

White papers will benefit from a professional who has decent smarts for several software solution categories and who has good hands-on experience on the tech side of software. The business-technology professional should contribute rich insight, produce creative content and original thinking, see unexpected connections and future trends. Direct customer experience enhances an understanding of how tech will help customer competitiveness, and will enable writing from the customer POV.

Another very useful attribute of the right professional would be one who is inter-connected to individuals throughout the software industry: analysts, practitioners, consultants, writers, vendors. A professional who is in constant conversations with other industry SMEs will be up-to-date on key topics and trends, and will have resources at hand for research and confirmation. Quality white papers will result if the professional regularly writes software industry-related articles and blog posts, participates in new product briefings from various vendors and start-ups, and continually monitors several software solution spaces. A business-technology professional who is well-connected in social media can also provide guidance to vendors for content marketing strategies that target white papers and social media.

 

The ‘New’ White Paper:

• Reflecting studies cited: high quality and accurate content, plenty of deep details (tech / business), 8 pages or less which engenders content that is tight, engaging, well-written, inspiring
• Often written from the customer POV, using customer language
• Covers trends that matter: new solution segments – transitions of solutions
• Real takeaways that benefit customers whether they buy the vendor solution or not - vendor is associated with insight to solving problem, doing things in new way that is useful
• Inform, educate at sophisticated level to provide real depth
• Create companion white papers when different customer roles come into play for the topic (business, tech, hybrid/composite)
• Passion in the treatment: blogging has shown that writing about software solutions is more engaging if the writer inserts personality into the work – apply this to white papers when appropriate
• Provoke thought about the solution space: new thinking for addressing needs; provoke desire to find out more;  provoke a conversation that will lead back to the vendor
• Look into employing variety of buyer scenarios to connect customers to relevance of topic
• Infographics, tech details, guidelines, suggested reading, links to other resources (not necessarily on vendor site) – all add to value in buyer eyes
• Format for readability, flow, quick-scanning, engagement
• Publish on the distributed web – not just on corporate site but share on sites frequented by buyers
• Stir the pot: encourage social media conversations through blogs, Twitter, forums, communities, Facebook; also actively contribute comments on relevant blogs
• Not self-serving brochure-ware solely touting vendor offering – but can address issues that matter to buyers that generally could be solved with vendor’s offering

 

Related Links

SMB / Mid-Market B2B Software vendors - Findability + web presence + social: attracting the “customer as buyer”

I have a confession to make: I am a Hybrid

Goodbye Corporate Website – Hello Web Presence Management Framework?

 

  

About the author: Julie Hunt is an accomplished software industry analyst, providing strategic market and competitive insights. Her 20+ years as a software professional range from the very technical side to customer-centric work in solutions consulting, sales and marketing.  Julie shares her takes on the software industry via her blog Highly Competitive and on Twitter: @juliebhunt   For more information: Julie Hunt Consulting – Strategic Product & Market Intelligence Services

 

Comments

[Aaron]

Nicely done, Julie.
I have to agree that many companies have treated white papers as advertising and thus changed the intended purpose from educating and establishing thought leadership to product pitch. Borrowing from social marketing, it's the content stupid. Without compelling (and yes authentic) content, the document is unlikely to provide benefit to me.
Equally important is targeting a persona in your writing. Product marketers frequently produce content for different buyers in the sales cycle. It may be that in today's agile environments, these documents are not getting the necessary attention as you suggest.
I do have one question. Is it that users balk at ANY registration form or can it be the forms typically require too much information? For me, name and email address would be okay to provide but asking me too much (company name, revenue, buying time frame) will cause me to Google for content elsewhere.
Off topic, what implications do you see, if any, for analyst reports? Lately the information provided by some firms is not "meaty" enough to justify the cost. Could the argument be made to give away more reports in order to gain more services revenue?
Thanks,
Aaron

[Julie Hunt]

Hey Aaron! Thanks for stopping by & leaving such a detailed comment. Regarding your two questions:

1."Is it that users balk at ANY registration form or can it be the forms typically require too much information? For me, name and email address would be okay to provide but asking me too much (company name, revenue, buying time frame) will cause me to Google for content elsewhere."

JH>> Frankly, as a researcher who downloads a lot of content, and from the research cited in this article, I don’t think most software buyers want to do any sort of registration at all. They want to get in, get the document and go. Most buyers want to drive the sales process, including the decision if there is even going to be a sales process. This is especially true of small and mid-market companies.

2. "Off topic, what implications do you see, if any, for analyst reports? Lately the information provided by some firms is not "meaty" enough to justify the cost. Could the argument be made to give away more reports in order to gain more services revenue?"

JH>> For analyst reports, I like what the more “open” analysts are doing (like Altimeter Group) – providing more free research for the world to use. I agree that certain analyst firms are producing for-fee benchmark reports that are too high level and general to be of use ‘as is’ to tech buyers. I address the issue in this post: *Time Travel Required: Finding WEM in the 2010 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management* http://bit.ly/bOD5j9

Cheers,
Julie

[Taylor]

Julie,
Thank you for this post. I hadn't even thought to remove the registration from our white papers. Clearly, results speak for themselves. My concern is that in removing registration on white papers, we then do not have a way to track who has read it and follow up with them. In addition, we then lose the ability to capture the information of that individual and automatically add it to our CMS.

There are marketing platforms out there that tags prospects when they hit the site and then tracks their time and pages visited (among many other features). Would you recommend having something like this in place before removing registration forms?

We tend to put a lot of time and useful content into our social media, specifically our blog, as well as case studies and video testimonials.

[Julie Hunt]

Hi Taylor!
I really appreciate your taking time not only to read my article, but to leave your thoughts and questions.

As the sources cited in the article (and many other research sources) indicate, customers want to drive the buying process even for B2B software. A lot of customers do not want anyone contacting them just because they downloaded a white paper. Again according to a lot of research sources, many customers will make the decision if they want to engage with a software vendor; otherwise, these customers do not want to be contacted, and companies might do well to respect that.

It’s great that you are offering such a variety of good content for visitors to your website. Content marketing should have at its heart the goal of providing high quality content for use by visitors – period. If a consumer of your content wants to know more about what your company does, that consumer will get back in touch with your company – the internet makes that very possible. Marketing is changing greatly, as you already know, and one of the biggest changes is to pursue an authentic customer-centric approach to marketing and sales – it’s no longer about what the company wants, it’s about what the customer wants. How each company approaches such a marketing strategy will differ.

If your blog has a lot of comment activity, that is a good way to engage visitors. Forums, tweetchats, interactive webinars are also good ways to engage with potential and current customers. A lot of customer engagement may not even be taking place on your website.

Cheers,
Julie

[Fred]

Julie,
Great information - thanks for pulling it all together.

I think this goes beyond software/technology - I will typically not register unless I must have the paper, and even then sometimes what I get is not worth the effort.

We are all more savvy now with technology - countless studies on how in B2B or B2C folks will go online to research what they want. If they create interest in the research process they will reach out as the next step.

Anyone with a business web site needs to have the analytics platform to know who is visiting, where they looked, how long they stayed, and where they went next. I know its available as I have received emails from white papers I downloaded without registering.

Thanks - Fred

[Julie Hunt]

Hi Fred – thanks very much for the kind words. I think your point about disappointing white paper content is a good one: it cannot be stressed enough that high quality content is the key to engaging potential customers.

Yes, most customers know how to research and really do want to be the ones to decide if they contact a particular company or not. So while analytics can identify visitors to websites, I’m not so sure that sending an email is the next best action on the part of the company, unless the company is offering further services of interest to the visitor. If the only purpose of the email is old school sales contact then the company will not accomplish anything. Emails instead could be used to invite visitors to join communities, point out other sites where discussions of interest are taking place, provide other content, and so on.

Cheers,
Julie

[Ellen Finkelstein]

I have a white paper with links to free and paid products (with a discount code) at the end. My experience is that people rarely use those links. Here's the issue: I know I would get more downloads without registration, but the point is how many people buy? It might be better to get fewer downloads from people who are interested enough to give their contact information than more downloads from people who are less interested.

Any research like that?

[Julie Hunt]

Hi Ellen, I appreciate your taking time to read my article.

My approach to content marketing here is geared towards B2B software vendors, so it's not quite your use case. I haven't run across research that would fit your needs exactly.

Have you considered engaging prospective customers in other ways, such as Twitter chats or community forums hosted on other sites for your areas of expertise?

-- Julie

[Michael Wilson]

Julie,

Well done. I am a firm believer in the power of information. When I was with HostBridge Technology, we used white papers to drive almost all our conversations. Our white papers were some of the best-performing on TechTarget and ebizQ due to a balance of technical and business content and an effort to educate rather than sell. We made sure our white papers provided valuable content that readers could use even if they went with a competitive solution.

Hiding white papers behind a registration also robs vendors of the benefits of having their valuable content be captured by search engines. White papers are a huge benefit for SEO because of the number of relevant terms included and the immense opportunity for having partners, bloggers, or anyone else cross-link to it.

Plus, they are a great source for follow-on marketing. For example, RichRelevance currently has a white paper on The Path to Personalization that also drove a collaborative webinar with Forrester. Not to mention the fact that many times a white paper can be broken into smaller chunks and made palatable as blog posts. Sort of like serializing the content and then pulling it all together as a whole.

Good stuff,
Michael

[Julie Hunt]

Hello Michael - really good to hear from you! Thanks very much for the kind words.

You make a lot of great points in your comment - I appreciate your stopping by and sharing!

Best,
Julie