Whitepapers are sales letters wrapped in authenticity and objectivity!
Whitepapers are a bit like the old reliable Cadillac of marketing and copywriting. They aren’t flashy like a sports car (latest social media). But they have some very unique features that make them a great way to market your products and services.
1. You can publish whitepapers across many mediums
Once you get your whitepaper written, you can publish it on your company website. You can turn it into an article and publish it on Medium or Substack. A white paper could be divided up into several marketing emails. You could compile all the whitepapers on your products and services, and then turn that into an ebook or hard copy book that you send to customers or even sell on Amazon. And, the content and pages of a white paper could easily be turned into slides and videos and published on Youtube or LinkedIn or other social media that uses video.
2. Whitepapers look official and objective, not sales-y
A well written whitepaper reads like it could have been created by a third party that is objective and not trying to sell anything. A white paper is a publication that presents a problem that a customer might have and describes the problem and the pain from that problem. And the loss of revenue from that problem. Safety hazards of the problem. Then at the end, it presents your product or service as the solution to that problem. But it truly educates first. And this gives a sense that you are looking out for the customer’s best interest, and not trying to pitch them on anything. But a white paper done right will show the customer that the answer to their problems is with your product and service. They sell themselves on you.
3. Whitepapers show off the benefits of your products and services
Let’s say that you work in a hardware store. Someone comes in and asks to buy a drill. The savvy salesperson might ask, “what do you need a drill for?” The customer is likely not going to say, “I need a drill for a paper weight in my office.” But they don’t exactly buy a drill to have another power tool.
Rather, they are buying the drill to make holes. Making holes is a feature of the drill. And he is making holes in his desk to better route his cables so the desk doesn’t look so cluttered. That is the benefit he is seeking: a desk that is less cluttered so he feels more at peace when working from home for 9 hours a day.
He doesn’t necessarily even need a drill, as he could buy a better desk with holes already in it. But he is seeking the benefit of a better desk, and drilling holes is the solution he seeks.
I told that roundabout story to tell you this: a white paper delivers lists of benefits in a great way. The white paper talks about serious problems that the customer might be having, and resolving these problems would be a big benefit to the customer. We turn the telescope around and explain benefits first, and then position your products and services as the right answer.
4. Whitepapers talk about customer problems
This ties nicely into #3 above. There is an interesting saying that I heard talking about marketing: “Don’t tell me about your weed killer, tell me about my nasty crab grass!”
By educating the customer all about their problems, and explaining all the important details about the problems, then the white paper positions your products and services as the natural answer. But a whitepaper does this in a consultative and trusted way. It builds trust, and then the customer comes to you for the solution.
5. Whitepapers can help with capturing customer information
Once you get your whitepaper created, you can actually capture customer information and then send the white paper as a pdf to your customers.
You may only want to do this with your very popular white papers, and then have some white papers available without requiring an email address.
But I do recommend having at least one white paper as a lead magnet, so you can capture customer information. These emails and phone numbers are likely to be excellent leads that you can follow up on. Add these leads to your email and snail mail newsletter and continue raining your great information on them.
6. Whitepapers position you as the expert
Whitepapers can educate your prospect on their nagging problems better than they understand them right now. When you do this, you start to become their trusted advisor. You become an expert on their problems.
And who does the prospect go to for fixing their problems? Why it’s you, the expert. The consultant.
7. Whitepapers help you tell more and then sell more
“The more you tell, the more you sell.” That is a great maxim of sales. Why is this?
Long copy just generally sells more than short copy does, for complex sales. Whitepapers are well suited for complex sales and technical products and services. Complex sales require more time and therefore more words to sell!
Prospects will continue reading and reading and reading, if they have a seriously nagging or dangerous problem! And if your copy is compelling and interesting (dare I say entertaining!?) then they will keep reading it to best understand their problem.
Do you need a white paper?
If you need a whitepaper written about the benefits of your products and services, you might consider my copywriting services. Contact me at Brandon <at> BrandonDeShaw.com.
This article also appears at https://artofcopywriting.substack.com.