Wisely using your website to promote a white paper

If you’re looking for a great way to promote a white paper you’ve developed, start with your company’s own website. That makes sense, because visitors to your site are seeking more information about your company and its products and services, so they may find your white paper helpful and valuable.

Promote a white paper on your home page

Call attention to your white paper by including an image of it on your home page. Visitors can click on the image to either download the paper directly or reach a request form that allows you to capture their names, email addresses, and other key information (this is called “gating” your white paper).

Create landing pages to measure effectiveness

You can track and compare the success of your marketing channels by creating one or more “landing” pages for your white paper. For example, if you’re promoting your white paper through your trade advertising, email newsletter, a direct mail piece to trade show attendees, and LinkedIn, you’d create a separate landing page for each of those four channels. The pages could be identical, except for their URLs. By tracking the number of unique visitors to each, you could compare how well each channel works for you.

Mention white papers on other pages

Add links to your white paper to other pages on your website that may be appropriate. For example, if your white paper is about a specific technology used in several of your products, you can offer it on pages describing those products. Some companies are reluctant to have multiple mentions on their websites, but it’s important to remember that most visitors will only view a page or two, so repetition is an effective way to reach more of them.

Be careful when gating your white paper

Companies using white papers as a lead generation tool will often “gate” them, meaning people who want to download the white paper must fill out a form providing information. It’s tempting to use that form to gather all sorts of information about the visitor, but best practices reveal that shorter forms tend to get higher response rates. It’s one thing to ask for someone’s name and email address. It’s another to request their phone number, marketing budget, and shoe size.