Last week SMEketing launched a white paper campaign for a local IT company here in Hampshire. Wikipedia defines a white paper as: “An authoritative report or guide that often addresses problems and how to solve them. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions.”
If the product you sell is expensive, sophisticated, technical and/or involves a complex buying process, or if your company sells to other businesses (B2B), then the use of white papers is definitely a marketing method you should be employing. A well written white paper should be a few pages long, and should state your company’s position on how a problem should be solved. The white paper isn’t a sales tool however – you are not pushing or selling your product or solution. What you are doing is identifying a problem, and writing about the best way to solve it. Feel free to mention your product as an example of the type of product that can solve the problem you are writing about, but be factual about it, rather than pushy and salesy.
So why are white papers such great marketing tools? Firstly, the people who read them have an active interest in what the paper is about. So for example, if you sell an IT solution that improves the efficiency of organisations telephone system and write a paper focusing on how businesses should manage the problem of missing too many telephone calls, the people who read your white paper are those who have a problem with their telephone system, and could probably do with a solution like yours. The leads generated from a white paper should be very high quality and targetted to a specific product or solution.
Secondly, by uploading the white paper to your website, and promoting it online, you’ll help to improve and maintain your rankings in the top search engines. Search engines, like Google, love websites that constantly add new material. A white paper would be classed as new content – and because it is written about your product or solution, it will be jam-packed-full of those all important key terms.
The key to a successful white paper is the promotion and follow up. There’s no point having a well written, good looking white paper on your website if no one knows it’s there.
What SMEketing did for our client was to create a press release and submit that to relevant press as well as uploading it to newswires online. We also created dedicated eblasts (tailored to match their stage in the buying process, or based on the level of contact which our client had already had with them), which were sent using the SMEketing Email Marketing Tool to their contact and prospect lists. We also created a new Google Adword campaign for them – advertising their white paper and driving relevant traffic to their dedicated white paper landing page.
We only released the white paper for our client late last week, but the results are already impressive. The dedicated landing page we created included a simple form which requested just the name, email address, company and telephone number, as well as a drop down box asking people to say where they heard about the white paper. Keeping this form simple and quick has meant that the our client has already had a huge number of people filling in the form and downloading the white paper.
These contact details from the online form will then be passed onto their sales team to be followed up.
The press releases that were submitted online are now starting to be published and are creating links to their website – again, adding another boost to their search engine rankings.
So you can see that the benefits of a white paper are multiple. By creating a white paper that has been optimised to contain relevant key terms, repurposing it into a press release and eblast, and promoting online and offline, our client has not only gained many high quality new business leads, but will also improved their rank in Google for the key term that the paper was about.
If you want to promote your product or solutions using white papers, but need some help, please get in touch. SMEketing is a full service marketing agency based in Hampshire, that can manage either the entire campaign for you, or just the parts you need help with. Services can include writing the paper, creating the promotional tools and designing the online landing page, as well as the promotion and marketing of the paper itself.
Otherwise, I hope this blog post has given you an idea about how to write a white paper, and what to do with it once you’ve created it!
May 19, 2009
Small business networking is hugely important for all small businesses. 
Most people recognise that in for small business success, it’s not just about what you know – it’s who you know. One of the best ways of generating new business is through networking. For small businesses the return on your investment (ROI) can be huge. However, it is important that you know how to make the most of networking opportunities.
By having a commitment to constantly improving your network of contacts you can expect benefits such as gaining access to an informal ‘board’ of advisers offering years of business experience, developing valuable business relationships, exchanging your management skills and ideas with peers and picking up valuable hints and tips on avoiding business roadblocks and common mistakes.
If you’ve just received an invitation to attend an event where there will be a lot of networking going on, here are some useful tips that can help you get much greater and longer lasting business value from it.
Have a genuine liking for people
Good networkers are normally people who like reaching out to other people. It is important to have an interest in others and be willing to learn about their business, their industry and the challenges they face.
Get to know the organisers
Every networking event has been organised by somebody who knows the attendees and their backgrounds. Find out who it is and speak to them before the event. They can identify the movers and shakers in the crowd and help you meet them.
Get into groups that make up your target market
The groups you choose to be in (keeping in mind that most business owners or managers can’t afford the time to be in more than two or three groups) need to be lively, vibrant and relevant to you.
Contribute to these groups in practical ways
If you are in a group solely for what you can get out of it, it will become obvious and unappealing to other members. You need to contribute in some way, show that you can get things done efficiently and become an active member of the group.
Go out of your way to help
When you are talking with individuals, and the occasion arises, offer to help. On a particular occasion, the conversation may turn to problems with marketing services; if you happen to know a local marketing agency (hmm…SMEketing?!) who provides outstanding service, offer to provide their contact details. It’s a small act on your part, but it can mean much to both the marketing agency you are referring (SMEketing we hope!) and to whom you are making the referral to.
Look for groups within groups
Most networking events have their groups, people who know each other and meet regularly at these gatherings. It may seem hard to break into one of these groups but think of the advantages – meet one and you’ve met them all! If you know that someone is a member of one of these groups you can have an informal chat and ask them to provide an introduction to the other members.
Have something to say
Be ready with something to say when you’re introduced to someone new. They’ll want to know a bit about your business and how it is performing. Prepare a brief elevator pitch about 30 seconds long, which presents your details and is both informative and interesting. Rehearse it so it sounds natural when you deliver it.
Show interest in others
If you’re talking with a potential customer, try and keep the conversation on them and gather information you can use after the event. Show interest in them and offer to send them some information about your business. Even if they’re not immediately interested they’ll usually accept out of politeness.
Don’t forget your business cards!
One of the most important networking tools is the business card. You literally cannot afford to be without one at these events, so come prepared with a quantity of well designed cards.
Circulate!
Don’t monopolise anyone’s time. After all, they didn’t attend just to meet you. Get to know them and then move on.
Look for the loners
Not everyone is gregarious and outgoing and there will always be people at networking events who look lost. It is a good chance for you to introduce yourself and see if they might want to have a conversation. You can be doubly supportive and introduce them to others you know in the room. Be enthusiastic and you’ll be seen as someone who gets things done.
The follow-up (this is probably the most important parts of networking)
You meet a lot of people at networking events and it is sometimes hard a week later to remember exactly what was said to any particular person. Collect business cards from everyone you meet and if you’ve made a commitment to do something after the event, make a note on that business card as soon as your conversation is over. Never rely on memory alone, and be sure to follow up within a couple of days before the lead gets stale or you’ve been forgotten.
When you meet someone whom you want to develop a relationship with for the first time, follow up soon afterwards. Meet for a coffee or forward a relevant newspaper article that may interest them. Similarly, if you offer to provide information, be sure to follow up. Being reliable and becoming known as reliable is an essential ingredient when developing a network.
If you want to start networking, but aren’t sure where to start, get in touch. We can help put together a list of local events for you as well as an action plan to ensure networking success!
May 1, 2009
