I hate it when mid-sized companies keep talking about creating viral content as part of their B2B content marketing strategy. Why? Because:
- Your audience does not comprise of the same TG that buys Cadbury chocolates, Honda cars or Samsung mobiles
- You don’t have that kind of money to experiment.
Viral content cannot work for a niche audience. It has to cater to a large cross section of the society. Also, when your purse strings are drawn tight, you cannot experiment with content in the hope to get it viral. Instead, you must choose your next steps wisely (and economically). Enter white papers.
This is a white paper
These are examples of white papers
White papers for B2B content marketing? But how?
If I have to idiot-proof it, here’s how: Your customers big people. They intelligent. They no care about viral content. They want information. Give them white papers.
I hope that was enough to convince you. If not, contact Spacebar and we’ll explain the whole concept to you. And I’ll be nicer in person, I promise.
Okay, white papers are important. What next?
Great, so you’re on board. The next step is to create a strategy (didn’t see that coming, did you?). And keeping in line with the title of this post, here are some tips to help you do just that.
1. Identify your business need
Like any other strategy, the white paper strategy must align with some objectives – in this case, your sales/ marketing plans. Draw up some objectives. Are you planning to aggressively market a particular product or service whose concept your customers would need help understanding? Or do you want to showcase all the amazing new ideas and use cases being generated by your R&D team? Or maybe you want to build a community of like-minded people from your industry? Whatever it is, identify the need and use that as a starting point.
2. Study the market
What are your competitors doing? If nobody is doing it in your geography, great! Look at the thought leaders in more mature geographies and emulate them. The topics they choose for their white papers are probably the ones you want to customize for your own region.
3. Ask your existing customers
It’s important to know what your customers need help understanding. I’d kill for a white paper on GST right now (hinting straight to my Chartered Accountant here).
4. Create a mixed team of content writers and subject matter experts
You need both the subject experts and the content marketing experts to collaborate. The former will have all the meat that will make up a majority of the white paper, while the latter will understand how to get the message across most effectively. Get the two experts talking.
5. Evaluate the right delivery channel
Do you want people to download the white paper from your website? Or will you send it to them on email? Maybe you want to run a social media campaign to get people to access it? What will it cost them – their contact details in return, a registration on your website, money, or something else?
Of course, this is not a comprehensive list. Like any other content marketer, I want you to get in touch with me to know more! Oh and did I mention, there are several other alternatives to white papers. Developing thought leadership material for your B2B content marketing strategy is a complete evaluation and implementation exercise by itself. If you need help, or just want to chat about content in general, get in touch at support@spacebar.in.