5 steps to write a good B2B content marketing white paper from 0 to 1

Starting from the origin of white papers and combining specific cases, the article analyzes and interprets the key points of completing B2B content marketing white papers in different categories, and shares 5 steps to complete the white paper from 0 to 1.

01 Origin of the White Paper

Before we officially start the B2B content marketing white paper, let’s first understand the origin of the white paper. So that we can better understand and carry out this work.

The White Paper originated from the British and American governments. It is another name for important documents or reports officially published by the government or parliament and bound in a white cover. As an official document, it represents the government's position. Usually refers to an authoritative report or guiding text work used to explain, solve or make decisions.

The earliest White Paper was the Churchill White Paper in 1922. In addition to the White Paper, there are also the Blue Paper (a comprehensive research report completed by a third party), the Green Paper (a research report on optimistic prospects) and the Red Paper (a research report on crisis warnings).

02 White Papers in B2B Content Marketing

Because of the authority and special significance represented by the white paper, it was later widely used in B2B content marketing by enterprise-level services in Europe and the United States. According to Shel Horowitz's experience, the cost-benefit ratio of white paper marketing can reach 1:8.

In China, with the start of the first year of enterprise-level services in 2015, domestic enterprise-level services have also begun content marketing and have begun to widely use white paper marketing.

So what is the purpose and significance of white paper marketing for enterprise-level services? There are two main levels:

The first level: brand level

White papers can enhance brand awareness, authority and build a professional image for the company. This is very important for enterprise-level services, because C-end users may buy products because of a discount promotion, but B-end customers are more likely to consider the professionalism of the product, the authority of the brand, etc. from all aspects.

The second level: user level

Enterprise-level customers will be very interested in the content of the corresponding white paper. In addition to promoting the company's own products and services through the white paper, they can also obtain information from potential customers (usually the white paper will be on the official website of the enterprise-level service, and registration is required to download and receive it).

In addition, different types of white papers have different functions at the user level. In addition to attracting new customers to retain information, they can also convert potential customers, allowing potential customers to make up their minds to buy, as well as provide guidance and practical training to old customers.

In addition to the two main levels of brand and users, white paper marketing also has a certain role in educating the market at the market level. With the continuous accumulation of high-quality content, it is also of great help to the SEO of enterprise-level service official websites.

03 Learn to write white papers from big companies by classification

B2B content marketing white papers are also classified into different categories according to their different functions. Different types of white papers have different functions, content frameworks, content formats, etc.

The following will start from the classification of white papers, combined with white paper cases of excellent enterprise-level services.

Category 1: Brand White Paper

The content of white papers that are more brand-oriented is not very related to the enterprise-level service products themselves. Instead, they are more about content that has a wide audience, is more attractive or interesting, and is more forward-looking, authoritative, and representative in a certain industry, profession, or other professional field.

(1) Like GrowingIO’s 2018 Growth White Paper

GrowinglO 2018 Growth White Paper Contents

The content of the "GrowingIO 2018 Growth White Paper" itself has little to do with its products. It focuses more on the theme of growth, and revolves around growth trends, growth status, and growth talents . The discussions on growth are very referenceable and representative. It has played a major role in shaping its brand image and leading in growth areas.

(2) Like WPS's "WPS Office User White Paper"

The "WPS Office User White Paper" is a white paper completed in collaboration with iResearch Consulting Group, based on analysis of the user data of WPS products themselves.

This white paper conducts an in-depth analysis of WPS users' age, gender, region, hobbies and other aspects, and then expands on the media value and user insights of WPS users. While promoting WPS's leading position in the office service industry, it also serves as a reference for attracting advertisers to invest.

(3) Like Qingcheng Technology’s “Fitness Industry White Paper”

Fitness Industry White Paper Catalog

The "Fitness Industry White Paper" mainly focuses on the market size data, gym revenue data, membership data, coach data, course data and other data analysis related to the fitness industry. After analyzing the average data of the fitness industry, the 6 industry insights extracted are of great guiding significance to entrepreneurs in the fitness industry.

This white paper based on fitness industry data analysis also plays a good role in promoting the brand of Qingcheng Technology (intelligent SaaS management system for the fitness industry) in the industry.

Category 2: Customer Acquisition White Paper

White papers that focus on customer acquisition are mainly aimed at potential customers. They usually start from a certain industry (such as real estate industry, retail industry, etc.) or profession (such as Internet operation, product manager, etc.) and are integrated and integrated with the products themselves.

Its main function is to acquire potential customers in this professional field through authoritative, guiding and carefully polished content.

(1) Like Beisen’s “White Paper on Talent in China’s Real Estate Industry”

China Real Estate Industry Talent White Paper Catalog

The "White Paper on Talent in China's Real Estate Industry" first reviews the overall trends of China's real estate industry and analyzes its development trends. This part of the content is relatively broad and can attract relevant practitioners in the real estate industry.

Next, we transitioned from the real estate industry to real estate talents, which was consistent with Beisen’s products. We conducted a comprehensive big data analysis of China’s real estate talent profile, including talent distribution (age, length of service, gender, education, major, and region of graduation school), talent challenges, talent requirements, talent profiles (ability profiles, personality profiles), and comprehensive talent files.

The last part is then cleverly combined with its own products, and a summary of three similar solutions is proposed for the advanced management of talents in real estate companies.

(2) Like NetEase Qiyu’s “White Paper on the Current Status of the Customer Service Industry”

Customer Service Industry White Paper Catalog

The "White Paper on the Current Status of the Customer Service Industry" is based on NetEase Qiyu's survey questionnaire, analyzes the current situation, and explores future trends in combination with products. An analysis was made on the survival status and pain points of the customer service industry and practitioners, and the last part combined the solutions of its own products. This white paper is mainly used for acquiring customers for NetEase Qiyu’s own customer service system.

(3) Like LinkedIn’s “White Paper on Global Marketing of Chinese B2B Brands”

China B2B Brand Global Marketing White Paper Catalog

The "White Paper on Global Marketing of Chinese B2B Brands" starts with LinkedIn's research questionnaire, expounds on the current status of Chinese B2B companies going overseas, and then combines LinkedIn's analysis of the field to provide five major brand building observations combined with its own solutions. Finally, three customer cases form the brand's overseas story.

This white paper is a typical customer acquisition white paper with a clear structure and high-quality content. It is also naturally integrated with LinkedIn's China B2B brand marketing solution without being abrupt.

Category 3: Transformational White Papers

White papers with a conversion effect are mainly aimed at customers who already have purchasing intentions but have not yet made up their minds to buy for some reason. The content is relatively professional and targeted at a specific group and field. Such white papers will play a great role when users cannot convince purchasers or decision makers.

In addition, transformational white papers change with the development and changes of the industry and the overall environment. Take Kingdee as an example. When Kingdee's financial software transitioned from terminal products to cloud products, many bosses of traditional enterprises were worried about data insecurity and were unwilling to transform. At this time, it was necessary to issue some white papers on the security of financial SaaS to reassure these bosses. But when most people have accepted the SaaS model, such white papers are no longer needed.

(1) Like Shangshangqian's "Shangshangqian Security White Paper"

Shangshangqian Security White Paper Catalog

The entire "Shang Shang Qian Security White Paper" revolves around the security of Shang Shang Qian and is divided into 10 parts: organizational security, compliance security, personnel security, data security, application security, operational security, physical and environmental security. Emphasize Shangshangqian’s technical accumulation and operational practices in the field of cloud security.

On the one hand, it shows that Shang Shang Qian pays great attention to the privacy and security of user data. On the other hand, it conveys Shang Shang Qian's strategies, methods and measures in security and compliance assurance to companies that have purchasing intentions but have not yet done so due to security issues.

(2) Like Alibaba Cloud’s “Alibaba Cloud Security White Paper”

Alibaba Cloud Security White Paper Catalog

In September 2019, version 4.0 of the Alibaba Cloud Security White Paper was released. This white paper redefines Alibaba Cloud's security architecture. It comprehensively introduces Alibaba Cloud's security system and native security services and capabilities through five horizontal and two vertical architectural dimensions, 26 architectural modules, and more than 80 functional points.

(3) Like the “White Paper on the Development of the Government WeChat Industry” by Enterprise WeChat

Government WeChat Industry Development White Paper Catalog

The "White Paper on the Development of the Government WeChat Industry" was jointly released with the Guanghua School of Management of Peking University, the Enterprise Informatization Working Committee of the China Enterprise Confederation, and the Digital China Research Center.

Although the name sounds similar to a customer acquisition white paper, the content of this white paper basically revolves around the WeChat for Business product, emphasizing that WeChat for Business relies on open and efficient mobile information technology to create a new mobile Internet ecosystem of win-win and symbiotic life, etc. Finally, there are customer cases of government applications to enhance conversion.

Category 4: Customer Success White Paper

This white paper focuses on customer success, and is mainly aimed at existing customers. The main purpose is to help existing customers get started and use the product better and faster, increase their stickiness to the product, and help them succeed. There are relatively few customer success white papers in China at present, because they are basically presented in the form of operating manuals, etc., which are not really content marketing in essence.

(1) Like Sensors Data’s “Android Full Embedding Technology White Paper”

Android Full Embedding Technology White Paper Catalog

"Android Full Embedding Technology White Paper" introduces how to achieve the systematization of Android full embedding in the era of big data. In addition to helping existing customers better understand and use the product, it also provides relevant practitioners with guidance and practical systems for research and learning.

In addition, Sensors Data has collaborated with third parties to produce many interesting reports. These reports have nothing to do with Sensors' products, but they can play a certain role in the breadth and depth of brand communication. It is very likely that explosive content will be spread.

Part of the research report on the tear index of working mothers

• "2018 Product Manager Survival Report" Qidian Academy + Everyone is a Product Manager + Tencent Questionnaire + Sensors Data
• "Survival Guide for "Finely Decorated Men" in the He Economy" by Jumei Youpin + Sensors Data
• "Research Report on the Tear Index of Working Mothers" by Mamabang + Sensors Data
• "Towards a Better Self: 2019 Small Town Youth Report" Kuaishou + China Youth Daily + Sequoia China + Sensors Data

04 Start white paper marketing from 0 to 1

Through the above classifications and cases, we have a general understanding of the role, content framework, content format, etc. of B2B content marketing white papers. So how do we produce white papers ourselves? It is roughly divided into the following five steps.

Step 1: Clarify the role

The first step is to clarify whether the role of our white paper is branding, customer acquisition, conversion or customer success. It can be a single effect or a combination of multiple effects, but it is best to focus on only one.

Step 2: Lay the framework

After clarifying the role of our white paper, the most important thing is to lay a good framework for the white paper, including what the first and second parts are, what small parts each part is divided into, etc. Mind maps can usually help us present.

Framework diagram of Beisen's "White Paper on Talent in China's Real Estate Industry"

For example, the framework structure of Beisen's "China Real Estate Talent White Paper" is very clear. The framework of this type of customer acquisition industry white paper can be roughly composed of five parts: industry overview, industry challenges or pain points, solutions, future trends, and customer success cases.

Through mind mapping, from the primary structure to the secondary, tertiary and other structures, we need to determine all the subdivided contents in advance, and then proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Determine the source

After determining the overall framework of our content, we then need to determine the source of the content based on each corresponding segment of content. For example, if you want to write about industry trends, where does the relevant data come from? For example, if you want to write about population portraits, is the relevant portrait data obtained through questionnaire surveys or in cooperation with third parties, etc.

A white paper is usually completed by several people working together. The source of each detailed content is clearly identified, and then the corresponding content is allocated and improved based on the strengths of the participants.

Here are 11 websites I often use to check industry reports:

1. iResearch: http://report.iresearch.cn/
2. 199IT Internet Data Center: http://www.199it.com/
3. Analysys report: https://www.analysys.cn/article#analysis
4. Talking data report: http://mi.talkingdata.com/reports.html?category=IndustryReport
5. China Report Network: http://www.chinabaogao.com/
6. Umeng data report: https://www.umeng.com/reports.html?spm=0.0.0.0.eIY17Q&from=hp
7. Alibaba Research Institute: http://www.aliresearch.com/
8. 360 Internet Research Report: https://zt.360.cn/report/
9. Penguin Think Tank (Tencent): https://tech.qq.com/biznext/list.html
10. Baidu data: http://datamarket.baidu.com/app.html#app/index
11. Qianzhan.com: https://bg.qianzhan.com/

Step 4: Promotion

After completing the above three steps, the content of the white paper is completed and a download entrance is available on the company's official website. The next step is to officially start promoting the white paper. How can we promote a piece of content that we have worked so hard to complete so that it will attract more target groups to view and download it?

Promotional methods are divided into two aspects: offline and online.

(1) Offline <br />White papers that can be released offline are generally larger white papers. They can be released through some theme salons, separately set up press conferences or with the help of a conference.

For example, the "2019 Industrial Internet White Paper" was released through Kingdee Cloud's Global User Conference and was also reported by CCTV International Channel. Its influence is still very good.

(2) Online <br />There are many online channels, which can be roughly divided into three major parts: internal online channels, external online channels and cooperative external online channels.

• Own internal online channels: official website (banners, pop-ups, etc.), internal product targeted push, targeted emails, targeted text messages, full-staff marketing (i.e. employee forwarding), own social groups, etc.
• Own external online channels: official WeChat public account, official Weibo, official Douyin, official news and information accounts (NetEase News, Dayu, Baidu Baike, Toutiao, Sohu, Penguin, etc.), professional communities (CSDN, Everyone is a Product Manager, Product 100, Nuggets, etc. that are consistent with the content of their own white papers), Zhihu, Jianshu, etc.
• Cooperation with external online channels: This is divided into two parts. One is free: if our white paper is released together with many third parties, other third-party publicity channels will also promote it for free; the other is paid: paying some top accounts related to the content positioning of the white paper, or top KOLs to help us promote and publicize the white paper.

I will not go into details about the promotion and publicity of the white paper here, and I will write a separate article about it when I have the chance.

Step 5: Data Analysis

In the final step, we need to review the data analysis of the white paper to guide our next work.

(1) Channel analysis

How to measure the quality of content distribution channels? In order to know which channels bring more downloads, we can use tools like GrowinglO ad monitoring to track the detailed data of each channel. For high-quality channels with large traffic and high download volumes, you can increase your promotion efforts next time. For low-quality channels with large traffic but low download volumes, you can selectively abandon them.

(2) Content analysis

How can we use customer reviews to help us further improve our content? We can get the answers we want through survey questionnaires, which is more flexible but difficult to obtain. You can also use the white paper download page to set up a movie rating + review system similar to Tao Piaopiao to better analyze our content.

(3) Effect analysis

How do we measure whether the white papers we produce are effective? We can judge this through attribution models. For example, if our white paper is "White Paper A" for converting retail industry customers, then we can measure the impact of our content by looking at how many of the retail industry customers have downloaded and viewed "White Paper A" from the date of its release, and at which step each of them has viewed it.

But at present, the attribution models for enterprise-level services are not particularly perfect, and many do not have this concept, so it may be difficult to measure the role of content through attribution.

Author: Luo Gongzi

Public account: Traffic Research Society