The Biggest Mistake companies Make With White Paper and E-Book Marketing – And How to Fix It
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Defining your target audience
One of the most important steps in content marketing is to define your target audience. This can be difficult, especially if your company sells to multiple industries or you have a diverse product line. To narrow your focus, consider these factors:
-What problem does your product or service solve?
-Who is making the decision to purchase your product or service?
-What other products or services are they considering?
-What is their budget for this purchase?
-What is the timeline for this decision?
Creating a catchy title
Your title is the first, and often only, chance you have to make a good impression and persuade someone to keep reading. It’s worth spending some time to get it right.
The biggest mistake companies make with their white paper and e-book titles is not putting enough thought into them. A good title should be:
– Brief: Get to the point quickly. Long, windy titles are off-putting and will decrease the likelihood of people reading your content.
– Descriptive: Tell the reader what they can expect to learn from your white paper or e-book. Generic titles such as “How to Succeed in Business” are a turn-off.
– Intriguing: Arouse the reader’s curiosity so they want to find out more. Pique their interest with a surprising statistic or an unusual point of view.
– Relevant: Choose a title that’s relevant to your target audience and their needs or interests. Avoid titles that are too general or self-serving.
Writing quality content
The number one mistake that companies make when it comes to white paper and e-book marketing is not taking the time to produce quality content. While it may be tempting to try to save time and money by outsourcing your content to a low-cost provider, this is often a mistake that will end up costing you more in the long run.
Producing quality content requires a significant investment of time and resources, but it is worth it in the end. Quality content will help you build trust and credibility with your audience, and it will also give you an edge over your competition. If you want your white paper or e-book to be successful, make sure that you invest the time and effort necessary to produce high-quality content.
Designing an eye-catching cover
Your white paper or e-book might be the best, most informative piece of content you’ve ever written. But if the cover design is weak, it will never get the chance to be read.
The cover is the first thing potential readers will see, so it’s important to make a good impression. Here are some tips for designing an eye-catching cover:
1. Use a strong image that represents the topic of your white paper or e-book.
2. Use minimal text on the cover so that it’s easy to read at a glance.
3. Incorporate your company’s branding elements (logo, colors, etc.) into the design.
4. Keep the overall design clean and simple – too much clutter will turn people off.
If you take the time to create a well-designed cover, you’ll be more likely to convert potential readers into actual readers.
Promoting your white paper or e-book
The most common mistake companies make when it comes to white paper and e-book marketing is not putting enough thought into how they will promote their content once it’s published.
Content promotion is essential to getting your white paper or e-book in front of the right people, and there are a number of ways to go about it. Here are a few of the most effective:
1. Social media – Use social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to promote your content. Make sure to use relevant hashtags, and tag any relevant industry influencers in your posts.
2. Email marketing – Send an email blast to your list promoting your new white paper or e-book. Include a link to where people can download it for free.
3. Paid advertising – Invest in some paid ads on platforms like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads. Target your ads specifically to people who are likely to be interested in your content.
4. PR & media outreach – If you have a newsworthy story, reach out to press and try to get some mainstream media coverage for your white paper or e-book. This can be a great way to get in front of a larger audience.
5. Blogging – Write a blog post about your white paper or e-book, and include a link for people to download it. You can also syndicate this blog post on other sites for even more exposure.
Offering an incentive
One of the biggest mistakes companies make when marketing their white papers and e-books is offering an incentive for downloading them. This can take the form of a discount, free shipping, or even a free gift. While it may seem like a good idea to offer an incentive to get people to download your content, it can actually backfire.
The problem with offering an incentive is that it can create a feeling of obligation on the part of the potential customer. They may feel like they need to buy something in order to get the discount or freebie, which can lead to resentment. Additionally, it can make your company seem desperate, as if you’re not confident that your content is good enough on its own.
The best way to market your white papers and e-books is to simply make them available for free on your website. You can promote them through social media, email marketing, and other channels, but don’t offer an incentive for downloading them. Let people download them because they’re interested in the topic and they want to read what you have to say. If you put out quality content, people will be happy to read it without needing an incentive.
Measuring results
The biggest mistake Companies make with white paper and e-book marketing is failing to measure results.
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of creating and distributing a white paper or e-book. But if you don’t take the time to measure your results, you won’t be able to tell if your marketing efforts are paying off.
There are a number of ways to measure the success of your white paper or e-book marketing campaign. Here are a few key metrics to track:
-Downloads: How many people have downloaded your white paper or e-book?
-Shares: How many people have shared your content on social media or via email?
– views: How many people have viewed your content on your website or blog?
– leads generated: How many new leads has your campaign generated?
– sales attributed: How much revenue can be attributed to your white paper or e-book marketing campaign?
By tracking these key metrics, you’ll be able to see how effective your white paper or e-book marketing campaign is and make changes as needed to improve your results.
Repurposing content
When crafting a white paper or e-book, the most common mistake organizations make is thinking they can simply repurpose existing content. This couldn’t be further from the truth. White papers and e-books are meant to serve different purposes and, as such, need to be crafted accordingly.
White papers are educational pieces that position you as an expert on a particular topic. They are data-driven and often include original research. On the other hand, e-books are more like long-form blog posts. They are meant to be entertaining and easy to read. While they can include data, they should not be overloaded with it.
If you try to repurpose content for a white paper or e-book, you will end up with something that is neither effective nor successful. So, before you start working on either one of these pieces, take the time to understand their purpose and what goes into crafting them. Only then will you be able to create content that actually delivers results.
Updating old content
One of the biggest mistakes companies make when it comes to white paper and e-book marketing is not keeping their content up to date. Just like any other marketing material, your white papers and e-books need to be regularly updated to reflect changes in your industry, product offerings, and target audience. If you don’t keep your content up to date, you run the risk of it becoming outdated and irrelevant, which can damage your company’s reputation and make it harder to sell your products or services.
To avoid this, set up a regular schedule for reviewing and updating your white papers and e-books. At a minimum, you should be doing this once a year; if there are major changes in your industry or product offerings, you may need to do it more frequently. When you do update your content, be sure to promote the new versions through your website, social media channels, and email lists to ensure that people are aware of the changes.
Creating a series
Companies often make the mistake of thinking that they can produce a white paper or e-book once and then reap the benefits for months or even years to come. However, this is not usually the case. In order to be truly successful with white paper and e-book marketing, it is necessary to create a series.
Creating a series has a number of benefits. First, it allows you to target your audience more effectively. You can produce a series of white papers or e-books that are each targeted at a different segment of your audience. This ensures that you are reaching the right people with your marketing materials.
Second, creating a series gives you the opportunity to build upon each previous installment. You can take the lessons learned from one white paper or e-book and apply them to the next one in the series. This helps to ensure that your marketing materials are always getting better and more effective.
Third, creating a series gives you something new to promote on an ongoing basis. If you only have one white paper or e-book, you will eventually run out of ways to promote it. However, if you have a series, you can continue to generate new leads and sales by promoting each new installment.
Finally, creating a series gives you an excuse to stay in touch with your audience. You can use each new installment as an opportunity to reach out to your readers and keep them updated on what is happening with your company. This helps to foster a relationship with your audience and keep them engaged with your brand.