New B2B Study Shows White Paper Importance
Just arrived back from the MarketingProf’s convention with a fresh new study in hand from MarketingProfs Research Insights.
What’s interesting about this study is the examination of white papers in relation to B2B sales leads.
What follows is a detailed review of the findings:
Online content effectiveness for lead generation:
White papers were among the top 4 for effective lead generation. Here is the breakdown:
1. Newsletters (39%)
2. Press releases (30%)
3. Case studies (25%)
4. White papers (24%)
5. Webinars (22%)
6. Trials/demos (21%)
7. Blogs (12%)
8. Video (11%)
9. Podcasts (4%)
10. e-books (4%)
Report co-author Robert Lesser had this to say, “Even as new forms of content and online media are making waves, the tried and true such as white papers continue to be favored by B2B marketers.”
I am a bit puzzled about newsletters being used for lead generation. You first need a name and email address before you can send a newsletter. I think perhaps this might be ads in other people’s newsletters??
Lead nurturing: The study also found that white papers were very effective for lead nurturing, more than trials, webinars, press releases, blogs, video, podcasts and ebooks.
Comments
Hi Michael,
To your question regarding newsletters... I've found many companies today are using their own newsletters or co-branded newsletters as a lead generation technique. As you touched on, their challenge is obtaining net new email addresses vs. just lead nurturing existing ones. Additionally, several technology manufactures are now offering co-branded newsletters with content for their channel partners to use a lead generation vehicle. However, to your point, most the prospects the newsletter goes to is their existing customer base. So it might be effect but I would bet not for net new lead generation.
Posted by: Will Gibney | June 25, 2008 05:18 AM
I share your befuddlement over newsletter's top slot in lead generation. I am also curious how press releases managed to arrive in second place. Content that forces some sort of registration process seems a more likely choice for lead generation. Was there any information about what types of content the information consumer / target market preferred? I have heard some groans from buyers over white papers because there are so many out there. Also, buyers seem wary that information included in white papers runs the risk of being biased towards the producer or sponsor of the white paper.
Posted by: David Knight | August 1, 2008 02:25 PM