What Is the Difference Between a Tri-fold Brochure, Case Study and a White Paper?
January 23, 2010
I have never been a big fan of tri-fold brochures that attempt to convince me that I should buy a particular product or sign up for a certain service. These marketing materials tend not to be persuasive enough due to the fact that information has been crammed into a limited space. The customer benefits are not always obvious, contrary to emotional appeal – nice images, unusual fonts and unique paper may catch my attention, but not for long.
White papers appeal more to me as they provide logic through facts, statistics and quotes from end users or industry experts. They are not flashy, but usually filled with facts. For me, they are much more informative. I consider writing a good white paper a real art form as the author has to be a good researcher, persuasive essayist and a marketer all at once. At the same time, a good balance between the right amount of facts, images, quotes and often industry terms has to be achieved. Case studies tend to focus on customer stories and testimonials whereas white papers add a touch of credibility through unbiased information.
High quality content is becoming increasingly important as people crave useful information and have access to growing number of information channels before making buying decisions. All marketing materials should educate; therefore, business people, especially marketers, need to become avid readers and dedicated students to continuously improve their skills. I am planning to master the art of writing effective white papers in 2010 to deliver quality leads for my own business and customers. I encourage you to do the same. Good content leads to good customers.
Good place to start: White Paper Success Summit 2010, a live online event that will empower participants to attract quality leads and grow their business with educational white papers. I am planning to attend as the list of instructors is impressive. I would love to win a free ticket or two and you can too (until January 25th, 2010) – read more on the Content Marketing Revolution blog and stop by Michael Stelzner’s website.
Why Your Company Needs a Social Media Marketing System in 2010
January 23, 2010
One-way, top-down communication does not work as well as in former days. Today, companies must create conversations with customers and deliver useful content at the moment their prospects, clients or constituents need it. Many firms will need to reinvent their marketing in 2010.
Marketers can’t push products on people. They have to think like journalists and create a dialogue with their audience to earn a prospect’s trust. Free or low-cost applications such as blogs and podcasts, in addition to social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, have changed the old rules. In addition, free social networking applications can be used for managing your company’s reputation, conducting market research, monitoring your competitors’ efforts and collaborating with your colleagues. Twitter can also serve as a platform for your company’s customer service.
Ideal clients can now be reached with targeted messages that cost a fraction of the old expensive advertising campaigns. In addition, social media marketing and PR efforts often allow instant feedback and measurable results, so businesses can immediately see which marketing strategies are working for them and which ones are not. Read more
