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12.02.08 Study Shows Buyers Still Prefer White Papers  By Michael Stelzner Are you wondering whether white papers still have pull as a marketing tool? Well look no further. TechTarget has released it's Media Consumption Benchmark Report, a very comprehensive analysis of white papers as a marketing tool. Rather than make you comb through 47 pages of details, I have highlighted the key findings here: TechTarget serves the high-tech market, so these results need to be examined within that context. What buyers think about white papers: White papers are number 1 for people evaluating a solution: The white paper still sits at the top for evaluations, with 59% saying they rely on white papers more than newsletters (51.8%), trials (46.2%), product literature (40.7%), articles (38%), webcasts (47.7%), case studies (25.7%), podcasts (9.3%) and virtual trade shows (8.4%). Buyers read a LOT of white papers: 52% read 5 or more white papers in a three month period of time. In addition, buyers consume more white papers than any other type of media.
The two biggest disappointments with white papers: The two biggest turn offs to buyers are white papers that are too product focused or too long. White papers most effective information source to buyers: 80.5% of buyers find white papers to be either very effective of somewhat effective in the decision making process, more so than any other marketing tool. White papers number one for building awareness and consideration among buyers: 47.6% of buyers use white papers to gain awareness and 35.7% use them when considering a solution. This places white papers above all other forms of marketing for gaining awareness and consideration. White papers most forwarded material among buyers: 41.6 percent of buyers either frequently or very frequently forward white papers to friends or colleagues. What are your thoughts on these results? Comments About the Author: Visit http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/ for extensive resources on crafting compelling white papers and applying creative marketing tactics. Michael A. Stelzner is the author of the new book Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged and has written nearly 100 white papers for companies such as Microsoft, FedEx, Motorola, Monster and SAP. |
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