In my previous article, How to Best Connect with RIAs: A White Paper May Be Your Answer , I discussed how a white paper can be an effective strategy for firms to share thought-leadership, deepen client relationships, and generate new prospective business.However, once you’ve published a white paper, will people read it? Not necessarily. All too often, I see firms place all their efforts into research, writing and designing without giving any thought to how they’re going to promote it. While a white paper can have a 6 to 12 month shelf life, you’ll want to make sure you have a proactive plan to leverage this valuable investment from the start.Here are 3 simple, and inexpensive, ideas to get you started:
Tip #1: Publish it
Posting it to your website is a great place to get started, but there are several steps that will help with your success. Give the white paper it’s own microsite page that includes a thumbnail image (typically the paper’s cover), a good overview description, and why reading the white paper will benefit them. Be sure to include a sign-up form to collect basic contact info, like name and email, to follow-up. If there’s important information that helps you better understand their needs and interest; by all means include these questions, but be aware the more you ask the less likely they may be to complete the form.
Tip #2: Socialize it
White papers are the perfect vehicle for social media. Decide which are what the most important takeaways from the white paper and create social media posts for each. Then, schedule them weekly with a link to the microsite download page. For example, if your white paper’s topic is ’12 Marketing Strategies for RIAs’ you’ll have a 12 week campaign ready to go. A platform like
HootSuiteallows you to schedule these posts in advance. Be sure to track the weekly views and downloads. There may be a post topic that resonates much more than others and you’ll want to know this for future content marketing initiatives, as well as alerting your sales and service teams that this is a topic of high interest to your client base. Other easy ways to spread the word online, is to
MailChimpto create an email campaign to send to clients and add an auto email signature with a link to the microsite.
Tip #3: Leverage it
While prospects and clients are the most obvious targets to send the white paper, ask yourself who else may benefit from reading this? Are there industry editors or reporters who regularly write on this topic? If so, send them the white paper PDF and let them know that you’re available to be interviewed for more insight. If you think it’s newsworthy enough, you can also draft a press release and distribute over a newswire, like
PR Web. Some publications allow you the ability to send as a promotional email blast to their circulation. Just make sure the reader demographic is aligned with your customer type.Also, consider your Centers of Influences (COIs) who have blogs and engage in content marketing to see if they’ll repost it. Often times, they’re looking for new and valuable information to share with their audience and your offer will be well received.Lastly, create a PowerPoint presentation version of the white paper and present a webinar. Everyone has their own preference for consuming information. A webinar give those who prefer listening to readinganother option. While this may take time to do, you already have some great content created, it just a matter of repurposing it. For more on webinar success, visit my Morningstar blog on
7 Tips for Promoting Your Webinar.
