Whitepaper and its importance in marketing strategy

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Within inbound marketing, creating rich materials is an essential element for the customer's purchasing journey. Among them, we have the whitepaper, which can influence the lead's decision to close a deal or not.

Today we’re going to talk a little about it, as well as explain the best way to create it.

What is a whitepaper?
In short, it is an informative document that presents in-depth data on a given topic.

In other words, this is a material that has a more technical nature, developed from data and research on a topic. However, as we are talking about denser content, a heavier reading is usually compensated by using a more attractive and light layout for the persona.

It is important to emphasize this issue of presentation, because due usa phone number list to its in-depth approach, it can become very tiring and uninteresting for the reader. To prevent the person from putting it aside, it needs to be more dynamic, with infographics, tables and other elements that make reading more fluid.

Due to these characteristics, this material is especially used in the middle or end of the sales funnel , since it is aimed at a more qualified lead. Even so, it is important to emphasize that this is not a rule and that you can also use it to attract new customers.

One of its hallmarks (and what serves to differentiate it from an ebook) is that it is not opinionated in nature, but rather based on data and research, in addition to having a specific theme as its focus.

For example: while an ebook can cover a variety of topics and also include opinions, a whitepaper chooses just one subject to examine and provide an in-depth analysis.

The advantages of the whitepaper
Among the benefits of this type of material, we can highlight:

Influence the purchasing decision – for all the reasons mentioned above, it can serve as a “little push” for that lead who is still in doubt about whether or not to close a deal, since those pending doubts can be cleared up through the whitepaper;
Increased authority – providing in-depth material, the result of research and data analysis, places your brand in a position of authority within your field. In other words, this will influence people’s perception of your company as an expert in the segment;
Attracting qualified leads – as we are talking about very specific material, it will consequently attract a potential customer who knows exactly what they want, unlike those who often appear at the top of the funnel and who are still just getting to know your brand;
Reuse of material – finally, the whitepaper can serve as a basis for various materials such as blog posts or even on social media.
How to develop a whitepaper?
Now, let's explain how the process of creating this type of material works:

Choosing a topic – research the subject that is of greatest interest to your target audience at that time;
Research – as we said above, since this is material with in-depth content, it needs to include detailed research that provides the reader with as much information as possible;
Develop a roadmap – a very important part is creating a plan to facilitate the creation of the whitepaper, in which everyone on the team can know everything that will be covered. In addition, it is also useful for observing any gaps that need to be filled;
Work on the design of the material and its fluidity – this is the time to create tables and infographics to make the whitepaper as attractive as possible. In addition, you will need to work on the fluidity of the material through lists, subtitles, and options that can give the reader a “breather” so that they can pause without getting lost in the content;
Finishing – it needs to be visually impeccable and free of spelling errors, so this is a time to pay close attention so as not to miss anything;
Creating landing pages – once ready, the whitepaper can be an important tool for generating leads through a simple, objective and attractive landing page . Offering the material in exchange for a practical registration will be a great way to prospect new customers.
Final considerations
Nowadays, whitepapers are essential because they offer an in-depth view of certain topics that can make a difference in whether or not a customer decides to do business with your company. Always remember that they should be used in conjunction with other materials such as ebooks, blogs, social media posts, email marketing, and more.

And if you want specialized work in inbound marketing, including the development of whitepapers, get in touch with Universo. We have a team specialized in this segment that will create materials aimed at meeting exactly what your target audience is looking for.