Technical and b-to-b marketers usually include white papers in their marketing mix. Now, there’s even more evidence that they are indeed valuable in influencing the buying decision. Eccolo Media, a content strategy services company did an online survey of 155 technology buyers last August. A whopping 86% of respondents found white papers to be the most effective piece of marketing collateral.
Lorie Loe, president of Eccolo Media said, “They are definitely the best investment you can make in terms of your collateral budget.”
The same survey asked the respondents to rank various marketing collateral based on the how they influenced the buying decision. White papers were ranked number one as being the most influential. Brochures and case studies were number two and three respectively. Even though product brochures and data sheets were the most frequently used collateral type, they were ranked as being the least influential.
One surprising find of the study was that the majority of respondents preferred to read their content right on the screen rather than printing it out. I thought most people would prefer to read a 10-12 page white paper in a hard copy format rather than straining their eyes reading it on their computer monitors.
You can download “The Eccolo Media 2008 B2B Technology Collateral Survey” from their website.
We have been wondering if white papers would be a good tool in marketing log homes to consumers. Until now we always resorted to print advertising and never put much time to really develop a suitable white paper. Maybe on times like this would be exactly the method to cultivate sales leads for coming years of growth.
Posted by: Jake | February 01, 2009 at 08:43 AM
Jake,
Thanks for visiting and your comment. White papers really do work in moving the prospect towards a buy decision, especially in a difficult economy.
Posted by: Achinta Mitra | February 02, 2009 at 10:04 AM