We are surrounded by SaaS products today & its evident how PLG has taken center-stage.
Given the various techniques marketing teams employ to build awareness where does "The White Paper" fit in?
Image credits: visme
#productmanagement #marketing #whitepaper
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Over my recent article “The White Paper Evolution” I talk about the past, present & the future of these instruments whilst also exploring the content, composition & the use cases.
Give it a read:
mgmtinc.substack.com/p/white-paper-evolution
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Over this thread here I shall explore common methods marketing teams use whilst also figuring out whether the white paper is worthy of fitting in there.
I'll also get into details of the costs & benefits of each of those methods pitting them against the white paper.
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In the parlance of modern day SaaS products, marketing teams could take to one or more of these methods:
- Social media
- SEO
- Influencer Marketing
- Blogs, Articles
- Explainer video
- Niche Targeting
- Lead Generators
- Trade shows
- Online workshops
- White paper
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When some of these techniques listed here are age old - one may term them "tried & tested", some are a closer representative of the SaaS age, the modern day approach to marketing.
⚠️- which is not to say the old methods aren't good for today, they just have their niche.
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But when it is good to talk of all these marketing techniques, the ground realities separating them from each other, orgs. choosing one of them as a default option over the other could all boil down to 2 parameters:
1. the "COST" &
2. the attached "BENEFITS"
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So, a few factors influencing the cost of each of those options listed above could be:
- no. of team members required to get the job done
- average cost of operations
- the conversion rates &
- the confidence levels
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This table represents a comprehensive view of that:
⚠️NOTE - (calculations shown here for an annual year)
As you can see the white paper seems to have a pretty decent conversion rate but the talking point really is the "confidence levels" of each of those options.
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The figures seem to be clearly skewed towards:
1. niche targeting
- it seems to have worked absolutely amazingly well which isn't altogether surprising at all
& then followed by
2. lead generation
3. social media &
4. explainer videos
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Surprisingly, the white paper seems to have a pretty low confidence level of 35% almost at the bottom of the pile in spite of having comparatively good conversion rates (20%) which is one of the highest in the list.
➡️ Puzzling case, don't you think? 🤔
Why is that?
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To understand that aspect we have to get into a bit of psychology in deciphering how decision makers / leadership think.
Lets' consider the last record from that table:
- cost of hiring a writer(s) for 3 White papers
- for a period of 1 year is
- $12,805
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But, that's a big bet & the mid-sized orgs. & early-stage start-ups could ill-afford to take that step.
There could be apprehensions an organization has towards outsourcing the job to a freelance writer, maintaining confidentiality is one.
Let's reason that out.
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1. scarcity of writers who write white papers
- when there is an abundance of writers & their availability isn't a question, the problem could be in finding the ones who actually are into this niche of writing white papers as it requires some nuanced skills
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2. very deep subject knowledge
- writing white papers do require a deep understanding of the subject / domain & that's a reason why those jobs are taken up by experts who possess abundant experience over a given field / stream
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3. collaboration with SMEs / experts
- if independent freelance writers are hired, it would mean they ought to collaborate with relevant tech / engineering / product teams to gain a thorough understanding of the subject which is bound to take quite a bit of an effort & time
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4. combination of writing skills & subject knowledge are rare
- people with the subject knowledge who also possess a thing for writing, so as to be able to deliver at a professional level may be a rare combination, though that seems to be slowly changing given today's time
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But times do change & kicks-off a totally new inclination over possessing & honing skills that may never have been heard / deemed necessary up until then.
Over time, changes may convert to a few viable options to orgs. so as to make the white paper dream more of a reality.
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Having said that, you don't need to look too far for resources to create a white paper.
Templates are available online providing you designs, options, just so that you concentrate on the subject.
One thing to sort out is
- "finding a writer with the subject experience"
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That's it folks!
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Thanks for reading 🙏
Guru Prasad “TPW - The Product Web 🕸”
@BgpInv
Product Management (Fintech, B2B B2C SaaS PaaS); Leadership; Coined Solution State Model (SSM)-2014, Elevated Trapdoor-2014; Mentor & Advisor @ TPW;