Content marketing is often about selling products or selling services. But certain forms of content marketing are instead about selling solutions, strategies, or techniques.
The two main ways to market a strategy is with a white paper or with an e-book. Which option you use depends entirely on type of strategy or solution you are offering.
E-Book
As the name suggests, an e-book is a significant quantity of writing. The average e-book has multiple chapters and at least one hundred pages.
You write an e-book when you are offering advice, strategies, or solutions that are generally applicable to an industry or specific subsection of an industry.
For example, an e-book designed for lawyers might discuss strategies for maximizing asset splitting in divorce procedures.
White Papers
White papers are more focused than e-books. As a white paper writer, you identify a very specific problem and then offer a single solution to that problem. Your white paper is a focused and efficient piece of writing.
Most white papers are relatively short, usually maxing out at about 10 – 20 pages, and potentially only a page or two.
An example of a white paper designed for lawyers might be the discussion a specific strategy about how to win possession of the family home while minimizing the compensatory assets during a divorce procedure.
Marketing White Papers
Despite the growing prevalence of e-books, white papers are still marketable, and actually offer numerous opportunities. The most effective way for a white paper writer to take advantage of these opportunities is on an industry blog.
An informative blog engages readers and sparks interest. Use a blog entry to introduce the problem and frame the solution, placing the full solution, your white paper, behind a pay wall.
Alternatively, a white paper is actually a rather ingenious way to market an e-book. If you’ve written an e-book, simply excerpt a single chapter or idea from the e-book to create a white paper.
Offer this white paper for free via social media, an industry blog, or other marketing vehicles. This will interest readers who you then direct to your e-book, hidden behind a pay wall, for additional information on the subject.
Anthony English says:
Hello Mickey, I appreciate the advice given in terms of White Paper being a marketing tool to draw attention to the eBook written. It is also an effective way to market an affiliate program.
Val Tanaka says:
This is good advice for people who write e-books. Selling white papers on their own is something that I never considered. But it’s a good idea for popular writers. I don’t think I’m popular enough to sell white paper. I don’t write instruction manuals either, so I guess that I might just use white papers to market e-books.
Val Tanaka says:
Cliff’s Notes are for people who couldn’t get through the book or needed help understanding it. People who actually read books aren’t going to settle for white paper only. I agree that an e-book shouldn’t be a glorified white paper.
Georgia Potts says:
White papers are generally created by tech writers. I have never heard of anyone writing a white paper outside of a tech writing project. I don’t know that anyone would want to read one outside of that context. Perhaps if it’s highly instructional?
Joanna Morgan says:
How do you feel about writing a white paper before being invited to do so? For example, let’s say I write a white paper on a topic pertaining to lawyers. Could I then go to lawyers and share the white paper, enticing them to purchase one from me? Thanks for the tip!
Georgia Potts says:
I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. Usually a white paper is pretty oriented to the exact needs of the client. I wouldn’t think you could do one on spec.
Cassandra Parsons says:
thank you Mickey for sharing this. It was so good that I had to share it with a friend of mine via FB. thank you again for sharing your knowledge. blessings!
Victor Peters says:
I must admit that Mickey’s posts are always informative.I always look forward to your articles to learn more.For the first time i have heard of a white paper.i only knew of an e-paper.Keep on with the good work.
Earl Dotson says:
I can attest to the power reading an excerpt can have. There have been times I’ve read an excerpt and immediately felt like I had to read the whole book.