Erick Schonfeld points out that LinkedIn "knows what industry you work in and your job title, making it easy to guess what kinds of white papers you might actually be interested in."  Then, "LinkedIn members can get white papers for free, and in return sponsors get qualified leads."

If all goes according to plan, this could turn into a very efficient way of connecting companies to interested parties.  LinkedIn might also make a fair amount of money off the move, since Schonfeld reports that each lead should net it somewhere between $40 and $100.

The one problem would be if people ignore the white papers because they use LinkedIn while off the clock.  It’s not exactly brilliant to be surfing a professional networking site when your boss can pop in at any moment, after all, and when the workday is over, most people lose the desire to do extensive research.

But we’ll see what happens.  As the above picture shows, VMware, with its market cap of $10.68 billion, apparently has enough confidence in the idea to become involved.

These are some of the key take home messages of a new study by CMO Council and TechTarget, entitled Technology Buying and Media Consumption Benchmarking Survey.

Nearly 71 percent of respondents indicated white papers were used in the last three months to evaluate new technology, followed by email newsletters (59%), product literature (51%), articles (50%), software downloads (50%), webcasts (39%) and case studies (29%).

However, many serious concerns were raised by this study.

For example, common criticisms of white papers include:

• Was expecting technology discussion, not product information (48%)
• Not problem solving focused (39%)
• Too product oriented (36.9%)

Given the sheer number of white papers that technology pros read, the above problems need to be resolved. For example, nearly 60 percent of study participants read 5 or more white papers in the last 3 months and 28 percent read 10 or more.

The top three reasons people read white papers (according to the study) are:

• To stay on top of new and emerging markets/technology/ (64%)
• To obtain preliminary information about products and vendors (60%)
• To find solutions for solving problems (54%)

This study should be a wake-up call to businesses producing white papers. STOP focusing on your product and start focusing on your readers.

This is the second of two major studies that come out in the last few weeks.

What are your thoughts on this study? Why do you think case studies were so poorly ranked?

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Every once and a while I come across a simply excellent white paper.

I found one that really is over the top.

I was working on a project for one of my clients, regarding word-of-mouth marketing.

The paper is titled Consumer-Generated Media (CGM) 101: Word-of-Mouth in the Age of the Web-Fortified Consumer and written by IntelliSeek (now Nielsen BuzzMetrics).

This is one of the best pieces I have seen for a number of reasons:

• It is highly educational and informative
• It establishes the sponsoring company as a thought leader
• It very subtly inserts sales messages
• It’s formatting and layout is simply incredible

I would like you pay close attention to the following items when examining this paper:

• The first page: Note the very large text in the opening sentence and large type on the rest of the page. Also notice how the problems are clearly identified.
• Writing style: The words are very easy to digest in this paper.
• Creative use of columns: I am not a big fan of multiple columns, but these guys did it right. There is space on the left for call outs and hand written notes for those who print the piece. Note that page one has no columns (an important point to draw in the reader).
• Exceptional use of sidebars: Nearly every page uses sidebars (extra information to bolster the story). Note the full page sidebar on page 6 AND the “Consumer-Generated Chicken Buzz?” on page 9.
• A quiz: What a quiz you say?? Yes, there is a quiz on page 9, titled “A Marketer’s Quiz: Questions to Ask Yourself.” This is an excellent example of adding valuable content for the reader.
• Use of photography: Nicely done to add to the story in a few places (including the cover).
• Case studies: Page 14 has a few simple case studies.

Folks, I suggest you carefully study this white paper. Much can be learned. It is one of the best examples I have ever seen.

What are your thoughts about this piece? Do you apply any of these tactics?

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The highly interactive medium of blogs has altered the way information is spread.

The audience for blogs and white papers is similar, although bloggers spend more time online, are younger, more tech savvy, educated, earning high incomes and having broadband connections.

Blogs are sprouting everywhere it seems. It is estimated that over 12 million Americans have their own blogs.

The total number of blogs in the US doubles every five months with 700,000 being created every single day, of which 76,000 shut down due to lack of traffic.

At the recent Chicago DM Days & Expo ’06 organized by the Chicago Association of Direct Market, Dana VanDen Heuvel, director of RSS and Blog advertising at Pheedo explained:

“RSS is the new e-mail, blogs are the new whitepapers and podcasting is the new webinar. [Anywhere] from 10-30% of Internet users are using blogs”.

Forrester Research”s estimate of 10% is the most conservative, EMarketer thinks it”s 14%, Pew 25%, Princeton Survey 27% and comScore Networks 30%.

Blogs are making a significant dent as consumers are becoming highly skeptical to mainstream advertising and are increasingly resisting advertising to gain control of decisions.

Media sources are also becoming fragmented and targeting the right customer is becoming crucial.

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A retail analyst, researcher and writer by profession. A traveler and observer by nature.

For many B2B marketing pros (especially those in technology), a time-tested tool is the white paper.

As I’ve written before, I’m a big proponent of educational marketing tools such as white papers, because they allow you to reach people early in their buying process.

Just remember, they should be EARLY in their buying process!

I recently had the pleasure to read Michael Stelzner’s new book on the topic, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged.

I think book lays out proven strategies to producing white papers that support your lead generation process.

Also, I recently wrote in this post “Using White Papers for Lead Generation” that you might want to check out too.

I appreciate the practical steps that are outlined in the book, such as Michaels 10-step process to creating white papers.

There is also some excellent information on writing titles and some great ideas about how to market the finished white paper.

Check out a sample chapter from Michael’s new book at http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/book/.

CONTEST: Michael has also agreed to give away two signed copies of his book to my blog readers who first correctly answer the following question: What is the original meaning of the word ‘white’ in ‘white papers’?”

Email your answers to bcarroll at startwithalead dot com

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Brian Carroll is the CEO of InTouch Inc. InTouch is a 50-person company focused on delivering effective lead generation solutions for “the complex sale.”

Brian authors the very interesting B2B Lead Generation Blog which focuses on B2B lead generation, sales leads, and marketing for the complex sale.

Eric Gagnon, a sales and business development consultant and author of The Marketing Manager’s Handbook, says: “White papers communicate with the reader without resorting to the usual marketing hype found in many brochures, ads, direct mail or other standard B2B marketing deliverables. I think this is a very important feature of white papers, and explains their growing popularity.”

A recent story in Target Marketing proves the popularity of information premiums such as white papers, guides and related educational information in the direct mail world. The article noted in the second quarter of 2006 the Who’s Mailing What! Archive recorded 24.3 percent of premium mailings contained information freebies.

Many companies also use a white paper as part of their opt in email marketing strategy. A visitor to the corporate website gets a white paper in exchange for providing his or her email address.

Once you’ve got the prospect into your marketing loop, you increase the chances of converting him into a customer.

But too often I see companies require that a web visitor only provide his name and email address. This can attract freebie seekers into your subscriber list. You don’t want to spend time, money and resources marketing to people who won’t buy your product.

The best way around this problem is to demand more qualifying information from your prospect. The minimum info you should require before making a white paper available to web visitors is:

-First and last name -Job title -Company name -Email address

Other required info could be the prospect’s website address and phone number.

Some B2B websites won’t accept subscribers using free email addresses, such as Yahoo or Hotmail. The theory is people using such addresses are more likely to be freebie seekers, not quality business prospects.

To help better understand if a web visitor is a hot lead or a marginal prospect, ask him to answer some questions. This mini survey can provide valuable marketing intelligence.

Below are some questions you might ask web visitors. Some may not be appropriate for your particular industry, so think about what essential information you need to qualify prospects. Then create relevant questions.

-Have you ever purchased a product similar to [name of product] If so, what brand?

-Do you authorize the purchasing of products like ours?

-What is preventing you from purchasing our product today?

The biggest concern many marketers have about creating a questionnaire is how many questions to ask. Too many and you may drive away even a red hot prospect. Too few and you end up with little useful marketing intelligence. The only way to know for sure what works is to test. Experiment with the number or content of questions.

One way to speed up the testing process is to use a split-testing program on your website. If you’re not familiar with the concept, split testing splits your audience into reading two or more versions of your sales copy (or, in this case, survey questions) to see which version results in more sign ups.

After reviewing the answers, divide your subscriber list into hot prospects versus marginal. Then you know where to allocate most of your follow up marketing initiatives.

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David Coyne is a copywriter and marketing consultant who specializes in B2B. Get his FREE report “Multiple Ways To Make Your Advertising More Responsive” and other marketing bonuses at his site http://www.dc-infobiz.com

I’ve written a number of times that educational content is an important tool for lead generation.

If you’re involved in marketing to IT or financial buyers, you should consider using white papers or e-books.

I’m a big proponent of educational marketing, because it allows you to reach people early in their buying process.

Just remember, they should be EARLY in their buying process!

Early-stage leads – those who are not ready to speak to a sales person yet – can be developed further with an effective lead nurturing program.

Do you qualify leads before sending them to your sales team? After doing numerous lead qualification programs, we have found that only 5 to 15 percent of those who download white papers are truly sales-ready leads.

So don’t pass white paper inquiries to your sales people until they’re more rigorously qualified as sales-ready leads.

We’ve found that when you send educational content of any kind, it’s important to followup with a human touch; namely, followup phone calls. During each call your goal is to be a trusted advisor, and not simply focused on whether they are ready to buy.

Ask why they downloaded the white paper. What questions were they hoping to get answered and how else could you be helpful? Can you send them other relevant and educational content?

As noted in “Sales leads are too valuable for sales people alone,” you need to look at how you can help your sales people, who likely don’t have time to do followup on early-stage leads.

If possible, you’ll need a separate function, internally or outsourced, that can manage the lead qualification and followup process for you.

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Brian Carroll is the CEO of InTouch Inc. InTouch is a 50-person company focused on delivering effective lead generation solutions for “the complex sale.”

Brian authors the very interesting B2B Lead Generation Blog which focuses on B2B lead generation, sales leads, and marketing for the complex sale.

Then you need to build awareness that your solution is relatively pain-free, seamless, affordable, and gives companies good return on investment. This article will show you ways to do that.

Seminar Marketing is Very Effective

Seminar marketing is one of the best forms of IT marketing because it builds awareness. Instead of you or your salespeople going around on sales calls and spending an hour or two talking about the fundamentals to individuals, you can do pretty much the same thing in room full of prospects simultaneously.

No Pressure on Your Prospects

And it’s MUCH less intimidating to your prospects. With the right registration, the right follow-up procedures, the right qualifications, the right invitation strategy, and right follow-up calls, you can do a tremendous amount of business from holding seminars on key technology issues for your niche. For more information on holding seminars, check out my Sweet Spot Clients Teleseminar Series (<http://www.SweetSpotClients.com>;).

IT Marketing: White Papers

Publishing a white paper or an e-zine is another really great way for a lead capture and follow-up mechanism. Let’s say you’re running a direct mail campaign. One of the best ways to get a response is to offer some kind of white paper that you can give out that has a high perceived value.

This white paper can either be developed by you, outsourced to a freelance writer, or you can adapt something from one of the reseller programs you belong to. Of course if you regularly do seminars, you can simply offer an edited transcript or white paper based on the seminar to help with your IT marketing.

IT Marketing: Get the Word Out

You can advertise your white paper when doing any kind of display ads or direct mail piece. It gives people an excuse to call or excuse to go online and request something. Once they request something, you have a way of capturing their information and using it for further your IT marketing processes.

The Bottom Line on IT Marketing

To maximize your value to prospects, you need to let them know what problems they have and how you can solve it. Two great ways to do this are by holding seminars and advertising your white paper to prospects.

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Joshua Feinberg helps small business computer consulting firms get more steady high-paying clients. Sign-up now for Joshua’s free one-hour audio training on Small Business Computer Consulting secrets at http://www.SmallBusinessComputerConsulting.com