White papers have increasing become the stars of the show when it comes to thought leadership PR and corporate communications. No longer solely the domain of academia, they are now one of the most influential content marketing platforms for companies and organisations to convey their industry authority to both customers and media alike.
Quality content is key
As we all know, the secret to marketing online today lies in creating quality content – facts and figures, market trends and industry statistics, all presented within a series of well reasoned arguments. You can find all these elements in a white paper – this is exactly why they are now so effective and becoming increasingly popular.
At Westgate, we offer our clients everything they need to produce white papers with exactly the right blend of high impact and industry authority to reach and engage with their key audiences.
From start to finish
This can be everything from editing submitted copy, designing the lay out, commissioning research data to illustrate all the various arguments and even structuring and copy writing the whole paper, from start to finish. Taking into account clients' busy diaries, our briefings to kick start white papers can range from a rushed conversation on the way to the airport to three hour interviews with senior management! However your organisation works and whatever resource you have in house, we can meet that need, plug any resource gaps and deliver an outstanding white paper to make you stand out from the competition.
A paper on its own is not enough
But it is a mistake to think that a white paper on its own will be enough to make you really stand out. Once it is finished, you then need to spend as much time as possible developing a marketing support programme, full of activity to promote the white paper and its contents to both media, customers and prospects as widely as possible.
Again, this is where the Westgate team can kick start a whole range of different activity. Over the last few years, we have organised seminars, webinars, media launch events, key note discussion dinners, media tours, interview briefings and conferences. Basically, we will do whatever is needed to raise the profile of a client's white paper in the way that is most relevant to their key audiences. and which will make a real commercial difference to their bottom line.
Over the last few months, the white papers we have delivered for our clients have been featured in media such as the BBC and The Guardian, as well as a range of key vertical press. In addition, all the support activity for one white paper recently generated seven new business enquiries for one client.
A long term investment
White papers really are a great marketing investment but it is important to remember that a white paper is not just for Christmas but for life! They really are a gift that keeps on giving. For many of our clients, after the white papers have been launched, for months afterwards we can continue to use extracts from white papers in opinion piece articles in the media, as the basis for conference papers and of course they will contribute to the quality content online, whether this is on a web site or on social media platforms, all so important for high impact marketing reach in 2015 and beyond.
If you would like to talk to one of the expert team at Westgate about helping you to develop a thought leadership programme to deliver great commercial impact for your business, please email info@westgatecomms.com. We would love to hear from you!