Last year, one of my long-standing clients hired me to write a new case study. From their very brief creative brief, the project seemed to be one of their typical customer success stories. I bid the job accordingly.
As I was conducting my background call with my client’s service reps, ...
Case studies are one of my specialties. I write a lot of them for my clients. Recently, though, I had a couple of case study projects that, through no fault of my own, didn't go so smoothly.
Both were for a client ...
"What's your biggest challenge when creating compelling content?"
When Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger, asked that question on social media, the most frequent response he received was, “Keeping it original and interesting.”
As a freelance writer and blogger, I can tell you; that's a serious challenge. And it’s not just ...
A few years ago, I conducted a survey of technology company websites to benchmark the frequency of the deadliest errors tech companies make in creating and promoting white papers. A mistake I encountered frequently is what I call “post and pray” syndrome: Merely posting white papers on the corporate website ...
One of the most frequent mistakes I see marketers make with white papers is allowing visitors unrestricted (ungated) access to them.
In a survey I conducted of technology companies who offered white papers on their websites, 61% allowed visitors to download any of their white papers without registration. [i] ...
Let’s say you’re putting together a white paper to generate leads for your latest offering. You’ve laid out the nagging problem your target market. You’ve pointed out the drawbacks of the well-known solutions. You’ve introduced your new solution and shown how it overcomes those drawbacks and really solves your prospect’s ...
Your white paper’s title is probably the most important factor in your prospect’s download decision.
It’s the first thing prospects read when they encounter your white paper. It heads the description on your download page and any search results that turn it up. It figures prominently in any promotions you ...
This is the third and final installment in our series on white paper planning. In our first post, we discussed why many white paper projects fail. In the second, we looked at the benefits of putting together and gaining agreement on a White Paper Plan (WPP) before beginning development of ...
In survey after survey, technology buyers have named white papers the form of marketing content that influences them the most when they’re making purchasing decisions.[i] So, it’s not surprising that technology companies produce thousands of white papers each year.
But that abundance creates a problem for technology marketers: How do ...
In my last essay, we saw how we can use surprise to focus our audience's attention on our message, and thus make our message "stickier," or more memorable.
A surprise lasts only a brief instant, however. What if our message is too complicated to be delivered in a just that ...
10 Common Mistakes
That Kill
White Paper ROI
How to Avoid Them And
Generate More Leads
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