Attract More Customers with White Papers
Day 4
"Why a White Paper Can't Be a Dry Technical Treatise"
ALL people make buying decisions based on emotion.
Not logic.
Yes, this is really, actually true. Engineers, accountants, executives, attorneys, housewives, and ministers – and butchers, bakers and candlestick makers – We all fundamentally make all of our decisions based on emotion, not logic.
Logic supports our emotions and is used to justify our decisions after we have made them. Logic plays a part, but emotion is the core ingredient.
Some people think emotion has no place in B2B marketing. Those people are likely to tell you that your white paper should be 'just the facts ma'am.'
Sorry, they're absolutely, 100% totally dead wrong.
You can use those people to write instruction manuals and employee handbooks, but keep them out of your sales and marketing department. This sort of thinking is exactly why most business-to-business marketing is so DULL.
The Cardinal Sin in all business writing is to be Boring!
OK, so how do you use emotion in a white paper? When I write a white paper, I use a 29-point content checklist. 15 of them specifically address various aspects of using emotion. We don't have time for all 15 but I'll give you three right now:
1) The introduction should suck 'em in.
Having a hard time writing that first paragraph? This is going to make it a whole lot easier for you.
Begin with The Conversation That's Inside The Reader's Head – Right Now.
There is an *emotional* reason why the person asked you for this document. What is it? What are they irritated about? What are they worried about? What opportunity are they trying to capitalize on? If that person were to launch into a rant right now, what would they say?
Start with that. It'll suck 'em in instantly.
2) Agitate.
You're not done yet. Once you've reinforced the conversation inside their head in step one, take it a step further. Tell them about even *more* problems they'll have if they don't consider all of the data. Tell a horror story or two, if that's appropriate. Point out a few more problems they probably haven't thought of yet.
3) Have a call to action at the end. Explain that there may be consequences for putting this off. The clock is ticking, but they can schedule a consultation with your company in which you will review the five most critical success factors in this kind of project, blah blah blah.
Note: The call to action is NOT a call to buy your product. It's a call to take the very next step in the buying process. Maybe that's a phone consultation, or a technical review, or some kind of evaluation. It's probably not a purchase order – so don't ask for one then.
Please understand, there's a difference between emotion and hype. Your message doesn't need to sound like late night television in order to provoke emotion. You need to figure out what your customers love, and what they hate, what keeps them awake at night, what gives them ulcers and what catastrophic events they dread.
You need to observe what aspects of their job they're emotional about, and design your products, services, and White Paper to address those felt needs.
You want to balance your sales message and emotion with credible, factual data, so you build a strong, persuasive guide that people can't stop reading.
Tomorrow is Part 5:
'Why Promoting Your White Paper is More Important Than The Paper Itself.'
Best,
Perry Marshall
