Fill Your Funnel Using Interactive White Papers: 4 Tips for Better ROI
If you read the latest best practices around content marketing, you might be confused about how exactly to connect with prospects through content.
On one side, you hear repeatedly that the human attention span has shrunk to less than that of a goldfish — a mere 9 seconds. And on the other side, SEOs now say the best way to rank on search engines is with lengthy content — length being a signal that what you’ve delivered is “in-depth” and therefore more authoritative.
So, which is true? Do your prospects want 9-second sound bites or deep dives? The truth, although unsatisfying, is “it depends.”
At pivotal moments in the buyer’s journey, your prospects will need different types of content to nudge them further down your funnel toward making a purchase.
When those potential buyers have identified their problem and are now shopping around for the best solution, they’re more likely to appreciate the deep dive — authoritative, educational, non-promotional content that helps them figure out what to do next.
There is no better content asset than the white paper to meet that need.
How white papers can fill your funnel
According to the DemandGen Report — 2017 Content Preferences Survey, white papers remain one of the most valued content assets for your buyers. More than three-fourths of survey respondents said they are willing to exchange information about themselves for white papers.
Nearly every form of content other than webinars scored lower, including e-books, case studies, analyst reports, podcasts and infographics.
But not only does offering a high-quality white paper affect your lead generation — it can directly influence your sales. More than half the respondents to the Eccolo Media B2B Technology Content Survey, for example, reported reading a white paper before they made a buying decision.
Source: Eccolo Media
This means that if you can create in-depth, engaging content that readers are eager to spend 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes with — and that helps them make a better buying decision — it could affect your budget, status and performance reviews at work.
However, the continued value of white papers for marketing and lead generation hinges on awareness of how people consume information today.
Your buyers are more likely than ever to read on their mobile devices. They are more likely to retain information that is visually appealing and accommodates skimming. And they are more likely to engage with your white paper if you give them multiple options for accessing it — the traditional gating form is not the only way to go.
Interactive white papers deliver ROI
With so much on the line, you cannot afford to cut corners with poorly designed, text-heavy PDF white papers. Not only are PDFs non-responsive and static; but once downloaded, they’re freely sharable, they can’t be measured and you get little insight into how readers interact with them.
Interactive, digital white papers don’t have these limitations.
