Don't be a thought follower

Being a self-proclaimed Thought Leader isn't easy. It takes thought. And it takes leadership.

Why is it, then, that marketers are asked by managers to establish thought-leadership positions without sharing their insight into the company's original thinking on a topic?

One explanation is that the company has no original thoughts. But that seems unlikely. The more likely scenario is that the smart people who have all the new ideas are actually quite busy doing their jobs. And no one wants to bother them.

But here's a suggestion: Let's make a quick call to the person who knows the most about the so-called industry-leading idea, and ask what ONE thing customers need to know about it.

Now take this person's suggestion -- it's probably a good one -- and spin it for marketing. What pain does it alleviate? How does it work? Why is it different from everyone else's big idea? Above all, Who cares?

Then draft a short pitch for your subject matter experts -- the idea, why it needs to get out, who will listen, what action will they take, and how this will change the world.

Use the pitch in your invitation for a short interview so you can pull the thoughts from the leader's head like so much gooey brain-matter bursting from a cracked skull. Promise the interview will take less than an hour.

Prepare! Read everything you can, especially items that infringe on the new idea territory. Because if someone was there first, you can't take a leadership position on it.

Don't invite anyone to the interview who has nothing to contribute. No new ideas, not invited. No good questions, not invited. No interest other than CYA, do us a favor and stay away.

Write a solid draft and send it to the expert(s) less than 5 days after the interview. That way, everyone will remember what we talked about. And they won't have time to change their minds about it.

Set a deadline. If the reviewers don't respond after 2 reminders, tell them you're going to press (figuratively speaking) without their input. Then do it.

This actually works. And as someone I once worked for said, It's better to apologize afterward than to ask permission beforehand.

Thought leadership is not evergreen. It's a rare idea that doesn't whither on the vine or get plucked by a competitor if you wait too long to ponder it.

If marketers, managers and the experts can collaborate without wasting anyone's time, industry-leading ideas can find a voice and do some good.

Shorter White Papers for Short Attention Spans

The Appum Group's new "short attention" marketing white paper and newsletter pitch the benefits of cutting the crap out of the ponderous papers typically used to position companies as leaders in their fields.

Having written a few of these myself, I have to admit it's tough to get buy-in from all the internal stakeholders if you don't talk about all their points of view in the paper. I am relieved to see a few helpful pointers from white paper expert Jonathan Kantor on how to focus a paper so that it actually gets read.

"Ensuring That Your White Papers Appeal to Busy Executive Readers" illustrates six techniques -- in both content and visual design of this paper. In short, the six principles are:

1. Start with a one-page executive summary.
2. Conclude with a summary of key take-aways.
3. Use callouts and pull quotes to emphasize key points.
4. Let graphics explain complex concepts.
5. Itemize the components of ideas in bullet lists.
6. Wrap up each section with a boxed recap.

This approach assumes business readers skim, speed read or fully digest an article based on how rewarding each step is. By making it easy for readers to see the highlights, Kantor's short, visual approach improves the odds that a white paper will be consumed with gusto.

(Join the Short Attention Span newsletter mailing list to download the paper.)

White Paper Pundit's Rule of 3

No more than three subject matter experts (SMEs) should be engaged in the white paper draft review cycle, according to Jonathan Kantor, principal and founder of The Appum Group ("The White Paper Company"). Kantor cautions that interviewing multiple sources is often the best way to get in-depth information, but it can also delay delivery.

In "Too Many Cooks Can Spoil the White Paper," he notes:

"The greater the number of SMEs, the more people that must review subsequent white paper drafts. The diverse number of opinions and the resulting number of edits can result in the white paper going in a hundred different directions, and it also extends the amount of time necessary to compile all the SME opinions, and send the reviewed draft back to the writer for final completion.

"I have seen white paper projects take as much as six months to a year because of an excessive number of SMEs."

I have experienced firsthand the difficulties and delays that happen when in-house experts disagree on the focus and content of a paper. Having everyone sign off on a detailed outline before writing the first draft helps, but there will still be one or more holdouts who want their take on the subject to take precedence.

Kantor offers a sound piece of advice for freelancers: Insist that the client task a designated project manager with collecting and consolidating reviewer feedback for you. I've found that this works well--but I also suggest that your contract stipulate payment for the first draft (balance due upon approval of the final draft). That way, if the paper gets stuck in review, you won't have to wait months to get paid.

Get a click

The No. 1 objective of an email marketing message is to get a click. That is the takeaway from the latest free clinic by MarketingExperiments' Dr. Flint McGlaughlin.

In "Crafting an Engaging Email Message" (available on demand), we get a quick primer on how to improve clickthrough, as demonstrated by a simple yet powerful test case. Two identically designed emails offer a free white paper download:

Version A presents a headline, short introduction, four points of value, and a "download" button.

Version B presents the white paper title, first three paragraphs, and a "read more" button.

If you're like me--and nearly 70% of the webinar participants--you'd vote for Version A, because it sells the benefits of reading the paper.

But you'd be wrong. In the test case, Version B got 85% more downloads than Version A. Why? Because Version B makes it easy to jump from reading three paragraphs to reading more with one click.

Version A made it hard to decide whether downloading the paper is worthwhile.

So here are the rules we learned from this session:

• Give recipients just enough value to inspire them to click for more.
• Let the landing page do the job of converting that click to action.
• Emails should not say exactly what is on the landing page.
• Emails should take less than 30 seconds to read.
• Emails should not look and feel like a web page, advertisement or catalog page.
• Emails should have just one call to action.

Using examples in white papers

White Paper Pundit Jonathan Kantor recommends introducing complex technology with examples that illustrate how it works--as early as the white paper's introduction. He refers to RightScale's "Grid Computing in the Cloud" paper for its clever use of examples in a sidebar to the introduction. The sidebar features four situations, each in a different industry, where grid computing solves a problem, e.g.:

"Pharmaceutical analysis—
Researchers expected a protein analysis comparing 2.5 million compounds to take a week of processing on internal servers.
• With RightScale managing hundreds of servers, the job was completed in one day."

I like this approach, but I would not have used the company name in the examples. I would have rephrased to use “grid computing” instead and so reinforce the benefits of the technology. After the white paper makes the case for using grid computing technology, then the company can be introduced as the premier solution provider. Using the company name up front screams "sales collateral" and makes readers suspicious of the content, imho.

Tip #30. Be a life-long learner.

Pedagogical.

Now, that's a word I never thought I would use in a sentence. In fact, until a couple of months ago. I didn't even know what it meant. Once I learned the definition, I resolutely promised not to insert that piece of academic jargon into the white paper I was writing. Ha.

See final draft, paragraph 2:

"The $350 million market for LMSs [learning management systems] is populated by more than 140 vendors whose mission is to support best practices in the preferred pedagogical approach of colleges and universities.[2]

So why is a word I have come to actively detest placed so high in the content of this paper? One reason: It is the language of the reader (academics who are evaluating LMSs). Not only did I have to learn it, through extensive research, I had to speak it.

Writing a white paper is like being a graduate student in a subject you may or may not have studied before. It takes a life-long love of learning and genuine curiosity about any assigned subject. (The Chicago Manual of Style bookmarked to the citations section is also useful.)

Designing white papers that sell

Download the free special report on white paper design by Roger C. Parker of Design to Sell. "White Paper Design that Sells" illustrates 16 best practices in layout, topography and graphics. Of course, the design of the report itself is an excellent example. (Thanks to Michael Stelzner for pointing to the report in his newsletter.) 

Keywords in white paper copy

Identifying keywords to use in your copy can be counter-intuitive. Words that generate the most hits in Google are not the best keywords for getting found, because the search results are too diluted. You want words that concentrate the results in your niche.

In this week's WhitePaperSource Newsletter, Dianna Huff of DH Communications suggests testing keyword popularity using the free Google Keyword Tool. She advises:

"When writing your white paper's headline, abstract and landing page copy, conduct a keyword search first and then incorporate these keywords into your copy. Doing so will help ensure prospects find your white paper when conducting online research."

Find 5 tips for getting found in the WhitePaperSource article library, Marketing with White Papers.

Lead nurturing

Following up on leads takes more than a call to ask if the prospect is ready to buy. In the WhitePaperSource Newsletter, Brian Carroll of InTouch recommends a "lead nurtuing plan" to build trusting relationships with the right people.

Carroll says the goal is to influence the buying decision by answering these questions:

• How will this product/service help my company?
• Why do we need it?
• Is there a better provider out there?
• Can they prove the solution works?
• Is the company credible?
• Can we afford it?

Through a series of letters, emails, voice mails and events, you can provide credible information that establishes your company as the preferred provider.

Sample Plan
Here is the 12-month lead nurturing plan Carroll provided in his WhitePaperSource article, "How Lead Nurturing Drives Better ROI":

i. Introductory phone call and follow-up "thank you" email
1. Third-party article on pertinent technology via email
2. Relevant case study via email with follow-up call
3. E-newsletter with voicemail alert to check
4. Third-party article on pertinent technology via email
5. Relevant white paper via email
6. Targeted campaign via direct mail
7. Relevant ebook via email with follow-up call
8. Link to relevant podcast via email with follow-up call
9. Report via direct mail with follow-up call
10. Invitation to webcast via email with follow-up call
11. Call to invite to industry event and follow-up with link
12. Prospect calls you and becomes a sales-ready lead

Carroll reports that "nurtured prospects" bring in 100% more revenue than prospects who were not nurtured.

Carroll is author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. Thank you, Michael Stelzner, for bringing us this great article!

User-friendly formatting

My colleague Michaela Hayes was poking around the White Paper Source website last night and came upon the link to Roger Parker’s website, NewEntrepreneur.com. She was looking for advice on user-friendly formatting for research reports and found Parker's book, Looking Good in Print (6th edition). Looks like a good resource!

No time to read the book? Download Parker's free special report, White Paper Design That Sells.