| 4 October 2004:White papers, Newsletter and Webcasts - not just for Hi Tech |
In this issue
This month's issue is about a subject dear to my heart - white papers, newsletters and webinars. I think these marketing techniques are under-used outside the hi tech industries. But first - a word from our sponsor. We now have two demonstration sites for out content management system (CMS).
Please feel free to play around in the administration suite. The sites are both restored to pristine condition every night so you can't do any damage. But please keep it clean. The administration suite in both cases is targeted at PC users. If you want a demo aimed at Mac users please give me a call. When most designers and traditional marketers think of marketing they tend to focus on advertising, mail shots, promotions and, of course, web sites. However for business to business (B2B) marketing the Internet opens up new possibilities beyond using a web site as an on-line brochure. A recent survey of IT marketers in the US identified the following techniques as being the most cost-effective interactions on a web site in order of importance:
There were about 10 others but I won't bore you with them all. (details here: http://www.knowledgestorm.com/info/ITMM_teleseminar/default.jsp). The interesting thing is that the approaches perceived as most effective are not about pushing features and benefits at the prospect. This got me thinking about the marketing process and my conclusion is that we miss a trick if we don't think about some of the less obvious approaches that are facilitated by the web. White papersWhite papers at their best are high on quality content and low on sales padding. I think they are a fantastic tool for creating brand awareness and lining up future sales.
This type of material reaches people when they are at an early stage of the purchasing process, even before a purchasing decision has been made. Once the prospect has decided to buy then he/she is going to develop a great interest in your features/benefits statements. But White papers are a way of getting to them before they are at that stage and the Internet is a really good distribution mechanism. Bitpipe (who are in the white papers business) surveyed the use of white papers in the IT buying process and found that after reading, 72% of respondents (1,000 sample size) contacted a vendor for further information, and 86% said that the availability of high quality papers raised their opinion of a company. Bear in mind that the people surveyed were on a white papers email newsletter list, so they are not exactly a random sample. Full details here: http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1059602068_376.html Because white papers have value, they can be exchanged for something else of value: "Register here to receive a free white paper on …". And lo - you have a lead. There is a good white paper on white papers here: http://www.stelzner.com/copy-HowTo-whitepapers.php. In the world of IT, there are a number of white paper distribution sites:
The big users of white papers are in hi-tech industries. But I don't see why the benefits can't apply to any B2B sale. So go ahead - start writing. How about some papers on:
There are subjects that you are an authority on and on which your expertise is of great value. If you have some white papers on design issues please let me know - a brief email to sales@textor.com will do. If I get enough to be interesting I will set up a micro-site listing them. This will no doubt be a modest affair compared to www.itpapers.com but we have to start somewhere, and I can't find anything like this for the design led industries. NewslettersNewsletters/E-zines (I don't really like either title but don't know a better one) keep your name in front of prospective clients on a continuous basis. The key to a successful newsletter is to mentally become a publisher rather than a marketer. Keep the content factual and free of sales fluff. Basically the rules are the same as for a white paper and the reason is simple - they are targeting the same group; prospective buyers before they even decide they are going to buy something. Use them to keep in touch with prospects after you have cold-called them. Use it like white papers as an offering on your web site in exchange for registration. WebinarsWebinars are an audio visual presentation on the web. Attendees can ask questions and get a response in real time from the presenter. What this means in practice is that you see a set of PowerPoint slides on your screen, you hear the presentation via PC speakers, or a telephone conference call. You ask questions either via a dialogue box or via the conference call. Once finished, generally the webinar is offered to visitors to the web site to be replayed at any time. You need a fair amount of technology to mount a webinar but there are a couple of major service providers:
A webinar can be about a generic subject - following the same lines as a white paper - or can focus on your product. You will probably need to do a fair amount of calling to get people to attend on the day, although the replay can be a useful addition to your web site. ConclusionSo these three techniques, white papers, newsletters and webinars have a lot in common:
While these techniques are mainly used in Hi-tech industries, I don't see why they wouldn't apply in any B2B situation. |