With so many people focusing all their time, energy and attention on social media, they’ve overlooked a huge marketing tool which is – White Papers.

What are they you ask?

A white paper is an informational document usually issued or published by a company or non-profit organization to promote or highlight the features of a solution, product, or service that it offers or will be offering in the near future. White papers frame issues or problems your industry faces and positions you and your company as the expert solving those issues. You become the industry expert or the voice in your industry by publishing an in-depth overview of the problem and solution.

White papers are used as a sales and marketing tool to convince or persuade potential customers to purchase your particular product or service or to educate your prospects on a topic leading to the same outcome, a purchase.

With the widespread growth and adoption of content marketing on the internet, the creation of non-promotional content was needed to generate interest in a business and its product or service. Companies, non-profits and other projects can benefit from creating and publishing white papers as they can effectively be used to establish you as a thought leader, to make your business case, generate sales leads, grow your customer base, audience or email list. They inform and persuade.