Technology companies leverage white paper content marketing to increase branding and authority, boost market share, and increase profitability. A well-written white paper can be a lead magnet, boost brand and product visibility, and establish thought leadership.

 

B2B technology companies need more than blog posts, articles, web content, and other traditional content formats to attract quality leads because B2B prospects are unlikely to become leads if they don’t feel your industry authority status. Adopting white paper content marketing establishes industry authority, wins prospects’ trust, and generates quality leads.

 

A Content Marketing Institute survey reported that whitepapers (50%) are amongst the top three most effective types of content B2B marketers use for content marketing purposes, and 62% of the respondents found it most successful.

 

What is white paper content marketing? How is it structured? Why do you need it for an effective B2B content marketing campaign? How can you get the best white paper writers for your company?

Table of contents

What Is a White Paper?

Originally an official government report providing detailed information on a specific policy, a white paper has transcended into business.

 

It’s an authoritative report that educates or informs the target audience on a specific, complex topic or concept. It’s used to analyze a pain point and possible solutions in detail, with data backing up the information.

 

Primarily used by B2B companies, a white paper is heavy-duty content marketing material. It can place a company on top of the SERPs, win the audience’s trust, and boost industry authority status.

 

With 71% of B2B buyers making their purchasing decisions with the help of a white paper, it’s evident that a well-executed white paper marketing strategy benefits tech companies.

 

Quick Fact: Some business owners often mistake white papers for blog posts or ebooks. They’re not the same; white papers differ in length and usage.

How Long Are White Papers, and What Do They Include?

White papers are typically 2,500 to 5,000 words long. Sometimes, they can stretch to over 10,000 words, depending on the need and targeted audience. Detailed white papers contain text, infographics, statistics, and other visual elements that add to the report’s credibility and are available in digital formats like PDFs, HTML5, and JavaScript.

 

White papers go in-depth and take the form of typical academic research reports. They include report components like the title page, abstract, problem statement, proposed problem solution, conclusion, and references. The level of research that goes into white papers is why most B2B companies include white papers in their content marketing strategy. These companies use white papers to inform and educate their audience about concepts and topics around the problem that their products and services solve.

 

Despite informing potential clients about a company’s products or services, white papers are not salesy. This non-salesy nature of white papers is part of the reason clients consider them credible and critical content marketing material for B2B companies.

Why Are White Papers Useful for B2B Technology Content Marketing?

The B2B technology industry is complex and requires high-level authority marketing. Being your target audience’s go-to authority profoundly benefits your market share, visibility, and bottom line, while not living up to your potential clients’ expectations can be colossal.

 

White paper content strategy and marketing is an excellent way to educate your audience about important industry concepts and trends while establishing brand authority. It is also a great way to consistently bring your brand, product, and services to your customers’ attention.

 

Here are a few reasons white papers are essential content marketing materials for B2B technology companies:

 

1. Quality Lead Generation

White papers contain detailed research about a topic or problem and its solutions, so they make excellent lead-generation materials. Business executives and key company decision-makers won’t mind parting with their details and even certain brand information in exchange for a white paper that contains specific information they need.

 

Gated white papers work effectively for lead generation. However, some companies don’t gate their white papers; instead, they use highly persuasive CTAs to turn readers into warm leads.

Your technology company can build a database of quality and ready-to-buy leads by consistently publishing insightful white papers.

 

2. Build Trust and Establish Brand Authority

B2B customers trust authority companies more and prefer to do business with a company that understands their needs. With informative white papers addressing critical customer issues, a company can present itself as the key authority and gain the trust of its target audience.

 

Building trust and brand authority takes resources, especially when you’re playing in a highly competitive market. Consistently churning out well-researched white papers shows that you know your stuff.

3. Educate Your Audience

The technology and automation industry is highly technical. As an industry player, there’s a need to explain certain concepts and procedures and debunk wrong practices already accepted as industry norms. Most importantly, it’s crucial to acquaint your audience with your products and demonstrate how your product solves their problems.

 

Most technology companies use a good white paper content strategy to educate C-level executives, influencers, bloggers, analysts, and other relevant bodies, on their products. When executed successfully, the message goes out that you’re the B2B buyers’ go-to person for credible industry information and products.

 

4. Create Brand or Product Awareness

Another key use of white paper content marketing for technology companies is brand or product awareness. Because white papers are in-depth research reports on specific complex topics and concepts, they’re read by highly qualified leads with particular content needs. These readers consume all relevant information on the white paper, allowing you to market your brand or product.

 

Similarly, if you’re to launch a new product, white papers can help educate your readers about your new product. You can give your B2B customers a heads-up about how your products will solve their problems more than your competitors, halting their purchasing decisions given your ‘superior solution.’

 

Consistently publishing well-researched white papers will gain the followership of company executives who follow your updates, read your white papers, and recommend other executives and employees to do so too. This grows your brand reach while amassing highly qualified leads for you.

 

5. Create Evergreen and Repurposable Content

White papers are excellent resource materials for producing other B2B content like blog posts, social media content, infographics, and explainer videos because they’re well-researched and cover details about a particular topic.

 

Businesses that produce many white papers never run out of content ideas, as information can always be repurposed. This, in turn, gets more people to read the white paper because customers get access to it through the small bits of content created from it.

 

6. Incite Engagements

Although B2B tech businesses use white papers for serious, official communications, they can be used on a lighter note to incite engagements and gain visibility. Thought-provoking opinions or content that challenges norms gets readers to further research topics and brands. If the white paper gets people to argue and talk about your company’s views, you’re hitting the right nerves. If your opinion about the topic is valid, you have earned warm, quality leads.

 

It’s essential, however, to use an inoffensive tone and language in such white papers so you don’t make enemies of your competitors.

 

White papers are data-packed resources often cited by online publishers and website owners to support their arguments in blog posts, articles, etc.

 

Companies that publish white papers get backlinks anytime data from their white paper is used and cited in any online publication. Quality backlinks, especially from authoritative websites, are one of the critical determinants of how useful your website looks in the eyes of search engines.

 

The more backlinks your white papers attract for your website, the more credibility and authority your website gets. This has immense SEO and content marketing benefits and increases your chances of generating leads organically via search engines.

 

How to Find the Best White Paper Writers for B2B Tech Companies

The best tech white paper writers aren’t just skilled in writing; they understand marketing, human psychology, and the extensive research process involved in writing white papers. It takes expertise and experience to develop highly detailed content that’s engaging and easy to read, written in the best tone and language that appeals to the audience.

 

All white paper writers are good content writers, but not all good content writers are white paper writers.

 

The critical and specific nature of B2B tech company white papers makes it crucial to hire a writer who understands that each audience and message needs a unique tone and use of language, a writer with industry experience, and who understands the business side of the industry. Of course, subject matter enthusiasm, long-form writing experience, and solid communication skills are among the first characteristics to look for in a white paper writer.

 

Seven Oaks Consulting Offers the Best White Paper Writing Services

At Seven Oaks Consulting, we have white paper writing experts focused on writing for technology companies. We help companies educate their audience, build authority, and acquire high-converting leads through white paper strategy and marketing. We’ve been in business for over 15 years, working with future-minded tech organizations that understand the importance of quality content marketing in today’s B2B business environment.

With Seven Oaks, you have the peace of mind of working with a stable, mature, professional, and reliable team of marketing experts, white paper writers, and editors.

Reach out to us now to discuss how we can help you build authority and generate leads with white paper content marketing.