Overcome Prospect Concerns with a White Paper?
When you think about the best advantages of
publishing a quality white paper, do you think
about:
- generating quality leads?
- creating thought leadership in your market?
Those are two well-known wins you could expect
from using a white paper.
But you know what?
There are even more reasons for publishing a
white paper to get better marketing results.
Thing is, I’ve been reading Janice King’s book
“Copywriting that Sells High Tech” recently and
realized that white papers can really solve some
big concerns your prospects may never verbalize.
What are those concerns? I have three for you:
Resistance to new technology. A reader may not
want to change their current technology. It could be
that they’re concerned about the learning curve and
training of staff on the new product. Or maybe they
wonder about hardware and software investments
already made.
A white paper helps mitigate this major factor in
marketing high tech products. It can prove the
value in adopting a new technology, potential
consequences of waiting to adopt a new
technology and provide quotes about ease
of deployment from company leaders who
adopted the technology.
Confusion.
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous
than ignorance. – George Bernard Shaw
If a buyer has completely inaccurate ideas about
a technology or your product, your company could
be doomed before your salesperson gets out of
their car.
With a well-written white paper, you could be the
one responsible for turning confusion into education.
That may be a spin-off of thought leadership and an
opportunity for you. That’s true.
When you educate your customers about what the
technology really is capable of, you effectively nip
confusion in the bud.
You begin to hear things like, “Oh, I didn’t know you
could to this with that! Maybe we should give it
another look.”
What about removing risk?
Risk aversion. When your job could be on the line
when advocating for or deciding on a failed high tech
product, you want to be confident you’re making
the right choice.
While getting across accurate details about a high
tech product and quelling resistance to change
or upgrade technologies, you will hopefully be
removing risk.
If your white paper is written with a technology
focus, not simply a brochure, it would feature
test results that compare its effectiveness to
other products. It can also include a case study
or at least substantial testimonials from happy
customers similar to your company, proving the
product’s effectiveness.
Need a white paper or other marketing materials written
to solve high tech marketing problems like these?
Give me a call at 289.997.6771. There is no charge for an
exploratory telephone meeting to discover how I can help.
Of course I welcome your referrals as well.