A big measure of success is how much you get done in a work day, work week, and work year.
It might be how many emails you answered or how many meetings you went to.
The average office worker gets 121 emails a day, according to research.
If you’re a manager, owner, or CEO, you’ll get 2x – 3x that many.
The rest of your time you spend answering phone calls and going to meetings. Then you’re following up with your boss, co-workers, or employees.
And that’s not counting the 1,ooo,001 other things that happen in a daily work day.
Your success at your job is partly determine by how of much of this “work” you can get done.
There’s a similar philosophy with marketers using white papers as part of their strategy.
They focus all their time on getting the white paper completed.
They want it done.
Gotta write 5 pages today!
Gotta get those graphics back from the designer!
Gotta find a good headline title!
Gotta go, go go!
Write, write, write!
Well, I have news for you.
If I hear one more person talk about how “Busy” they are, I’m going to make LOUD NOISES.
In fact, many white paper writers use “Busy” as bragging rights. They wear it like a badge of honor.
But that’s the wrong attitude for success.
They spend their energy on writing the white paper. Yet, they don’t think about what happens after the white paper is released.
In other words, they spend no time considering how to get people to READ the white paper.
And that’s backwards.
The main focus shouldn’t be on getting it written.
The focus should be getting people to read your white paper.
In this post you’ll discover simple techniques to get your white paper in front of more people.
The reason why is obvious.
The more people seeing your white paper means more people reading your white paper, which in turn means more people buying your product or service from your white paper.
The list you’ll find below is the first of several posts.
I’m releasing them in pieces.
Rather than writing one giant post, I’m splitting it up.
This way, you’ll get some ideas today and start implementing them tomorrow.
So let’s dive in and start with some ways to gain some exposure.
These are all ways that you can use to get more people to see and read your white paper.
Put It On Your Website
Let’s start with the obvious. At least, I hope this is obvious.
Put your white paper on your website. Make it available for download.
This is your first step if you have people coming to your website searching for information. Place your white paper in front of people where they can see it and get it. This is usually the first place where business owners will place their white paper.
But don’t stop there.
Read on.
Make A Special Homepage Announcement
This might shock you, but most of your website visitors don’t hang around long.
The average number of web pages viewed by a single customer is low.
It’s surprising, actually. When a business owner first starts using analytics, that’s often the biggest revelation.
Visitors don’t “hang out” on your website.
According to my experience, the small to medium sized company has an average page view of 5 pages or less.
Business owners (and most web designers) foolishly believe every new visitor digs around their website looking at every page.
Wrong.
According to people who research this stuff, the average visitor hangs around for a few seconds. They read a quarter of the text on the page on average.
Of course, your mileage may vary depending on the size of your website. But I can almost guarantee your visitors aren’t staying as long as you think they are.
Get your developer to give you the data for your website. Get the stats. Study the stats. Learn what the data means.
Here’s what it means for your white paper. Even if your white paper has it’s own special download page, that page likely won’t be seen or fully read by all of your visitors.
So we need to fix that.
Here’s how.
To increase the visibility of your white paper, place a link or announcement on the home page of your website.
Your home page is seen by more people and is guaranteed to get more eyeballs and more traffic to the paper. Making a special place on your home page for a new white paper announcement is a guaranteed way to have more people see it.
If you’re web team balks about design issues or some other such nonsense, explain to them that the goal of the white paper is to get new customers and you want more readers turning into customers.
Leave it up there for a few months. Use your analytics to track your visitors and the white paper download rates. When they reach a consistently low level, replace your current white paper with a new one to start the cycle over again.
Put Your White Paper On Your Other High Traffic Pages
This is an interesting one.
It’s really obvious when you hear it. Some of you may slap your forehead and say “Why didn’t I think of that?”
It’s this.
Use your analytics to rank your pages based on traffic, and place your white paper (or a link to it) on the other high traffic pages of your website. Examples might be the About Us page, Services Page, or even the Contact Page.
These high traffic pages are visited by people looking for specific info on your company. If a customer is looking for your phone number, they’ll go to your website and then immediately look for your Contact page, ignoring everything else.
If your white paper is in a special download section, these visitors may miss it because they’ll never visit the download page.
By putting your white paper on these high traffic pages, you’ll increase the chances of them seeing it.
Similar idea for the other pages. You’ll increase the chances of getting your white paper noticed by people who are visiting your website and looking for one specific piece of information.
Your web team can give you visitor numbers and traffic data for every page. Your traffic data will make the decision clear where to place the white paper.
Make A Special Email Announcement
A common complaint I hear about email marketing is this: I run out of things to say.
A new white paper is the perfect reason to send out an email update.
In fact, if you’re sending email on a regular schedule, I’d break schedule and announce the new white paper. It’s new, it’s interesting and it’ll get attention.
That being said, remember to frame the white paper in benefits to the reader. Always add value to the customer in every communication, especially email.
Bonus: If you’re an advanced marketer, try a mini-launch of the white paper to build up excitement. There’s a few variables in this scenario to watch for, so it’s not for everyone. If you’d like me to write a full post about this, email me and I’ll write one up.
Create A Separate Landing Page
If you have more than one white paper – and you should – you might have a tendency to lump them all into a single page, often cleverly titled “Downloads.”
Instead, create a separate landing page for your white paper.
Here’s why.
Some of the people who can use your product will NOT be ready to read your white paper at that moment.
So they’ll need a little push.
You’ll have to sell them on the idea of downloading it now.
They’ll need to be convinced of the benefits. They’ll need to be informed of the important relevant information and why it is useful for them. You’ll have to convince them to download it. If you have separate landing pages for each white paper, you’ll be able to accomplish this task much easier than a ‘catch-all’ downloads area.
I know this sounds weird, but it’s 100% true.
Even if the white paper is 100% free, you’ll have to sell it. Yes, you even have to sell things that are FREE. Free downloads need to be sold just as much as your product.
In fact, sometimes the free stuff is the hardest to sell.
By creating a separate landing page, you’re able to focus on the benefits of the individual white paper and show your reader how their life will be better for reading it.
Create A New Blog Post
Make a new blog post and talk about your new white paper. Describe the white paper and why you should read it. Make it clear to the reader that they should stop what they are doing and read the white paper after they finish the blog post.
Here’s what’s great about a blog post and blogging in general.
It’s fresh content for Google to index. Fill it with relevant keywords to help your website rank.
In the blog post, discuss the benefits of the paper, not just what the paper is about. Explain who it helps and why they should download it.
If you run out of ideas (or time) to write a blog post, copy the summary page or the abstract of your white paper in your blog post.
Then include a link so interested people can click directly to the page to download it.
Send Out A Press Release
This is perhaps the most riskiest of all the items on this list.
Why?
Because even though issuing a press release is easy, it’s also easy to screw it up.
Many people will draft a press release that is… well… boring.
They write the press release with the content all about themselves.
There’s not enough room here to give you all the details on writing a press release that gets attention.
Here’s the gist.
The press release should be targeted at journalists and editors, who are looking for stories to pick up and include in the trade magazines. You’ll craft your press release in way that encourages them to contact you for more info.
If this is something that interests you, email me and let me know. I’ll write something up on everything I know.
Add A Blurb To Your Physical Newsletter
If you aren’t mailing a physical newsletter, you should be.
Did you know more customers will read a physical letter than open an email or even visit your website?
Amazing, but true.
When you launch a new white paper, include a blurb in your physical newsletter telling your audience about it. If you’re pressed for time, use the technique from the blog post idea above. Just include the abstract or a summary of the paper and a download link.
Advanced tip – Use a URL shortener like bit.ly to track the number of people who visit your white paper from the physical newsletter.
Super Advanced Printing Tip – Use a special insert to announce the white paper. It’s a technique used by the big mailers. The insert will get more eyeballs and increase the number of downloads. The insert can be included at the last minute by your team or printer. This gives you some flexibility if your printing deadlines and writing deadlines overlap.
“Packages” Sent To Customer
This tip depends on the size of your organization.
If your company has even a few employees, you’re likely sending things to customers all the time.
Sometimes it’s a welcome letter, sometimes it’s a Thank-You note. Sometimes it’s paperwork or even a small gift. Maybe it’s a sample or a trial subscription. Whatever. Toss your white paper into the box and send it along, especially if it’s a white paper for a new product.
Even if your mailing is non-marketing, include a copy of the white paper.
Advanced Copywriting Tip: Write a cover letter explaining what it is and why they should read it. Include it along with your white paper.
Social Media Channels
Push the download link out to your various social networks.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, and any other social network where you have an audience. Push it out to your business page or your fan page if you have one.
Run a Facebook group? Post it there.
Another tip.
Create a separate URL for each social network so you can track the responsiveness of each of the networks. There’s plenty of services that do this. Bit.ly is one of many.
This one takes a bit of effort, but it’s worth it.
Depending on your product/service and your customer demographics, some social networks will outperform others.
With a unique URL, you track the visitors from each social network. You then see which ones have the highest download rates.
Once you have these stats, push more information in the networks bringing you the most traffic and drop the low performing ones.
Have Employees Add It To Their email Signature (and you do this, too!)
Do this!
This tip works for any corporation of any size and with any number of employees.
Have your employees put a download link in their email signature.
The email signature is the little space at the end of every email. It’s automatically inserted when you send an email. This is an old technique, but just like anything, people move on to the new stuff and forget about the stuff that actually works.
This technique is one that works. Use it.
There’s some differing opinions on who should put the link in their signature.
The main complaint against this technique seems to be that it’s ‘not professional’ when every uses it. Some corporate giants will have policies that govern the usage of email signatures, so you might have your hands tied.
Should everyone use this technique or only the sales team?
Here’s my take.
If there’s someone on your team who is constantly interacting with customers or prospects, then it’s fair game to include the download link.
Other than that, it’s up to you. I’ve seen both CEO’s and Executive VP’s include them. I’ve also seen CEO’s who didn’t.
Don’t forget about your tech support staff and shipping department. Many of these people see and talk to new leads everyday. It’s very likely that a download link in their email signatures could produce a real lead.
Send Out A New Postcard
Drop a list of your physical addresses to your printer and tell him to ship a postcard announcing your new white paper.
I love this idea.
It’s so out of the ordinary.
Who sends postcards these days?
It’s this uniqueness that’ll make you stand out and attract some curious eyeballs.
In this day and age attention is scarce. You should do (almost) anything to stand out.
We’ve used postcards on simple local events to a full-on executive level training program.
Very effective.
Trade Shows
One of my favorite giveaways at trade shows was a physical copy of the white paper with some type of gift.
The gifts are called schwag.
This giveaway technique is still used but really isn’t that effective anymore.
Today, most guys get to the trade show, collect all the schwag and then toss the marketing materials into the trash bin as soon as they turn the corner.
With today’s data collection tools, if I were at a trade show today, I’d look for a solution where I can scan a badge and then send a specialty item to her.
I’d even have the item personalized with her name.
With this method, you get a correct name, an email, and a physical address. The trifecta of marketing data.
And then…
I would send a physical copy of the white paper with a personalized Thank You letter as a cover page.
As I mentioned earlier, more people are reading physical mail these days.
Gotta use it if it works.
Sales presentations
In this tip, the sales presentations are the ones at your customer’s office.
The ones where you are physically in the room with your prospects
Here’s the tip.
Use your white paper as a gift to leave behind to all of the participants.
Why do this?
Well, it’s simple.
It gives you a reason to follow up with them and start a low pressure discussion.
It’s a lot easier to call someone up and say “Hey Joe, what did you think of the white paper?” as compared to “Hey Joe, you ready to give me money yet?”
Depending on your audience, you might have multiple versions.
For example, a technical reader may want the technical white paper while an executive just needs the summary.
Run PPC ads
Use Pay-Per-Click traffic to drive new viewers to your white paper download page.
This is a game winning strategy if you get all the pieces in place.
First, you’ll need to have a separate landing page. We discussed that already.
If you have a killer title to your paper, Pay Per Click is a great source of NEW traffic.
This is a killer strategy for two reason.
You get the people who are interested in buying your service today or tomorrow AND you also get the people who are interested now but not ready to buy today.
In other words, you’re getting hot prospects and warm ones. The warm ones become familiar with you and your product, giving you a strategic advantage when it come time to hand over some money.
To make this work, you’ll need a nice follow up campaign to go with your white paper.
Whew!
Ok. That’s all for this post.
Hope you enjoyed it and hope you learned something new.
Or at the very least, you were reminded of something that you have forgotten about.
More posts will be coming in the future.
In fact, I have at least TWO more posts with more ways to get your white paper in front of people.
They are similar to this one and both are just as long.
But for now, let’s stop here.
This is plenty to get you going.