Six New Facts About Buyers
Preferences For White Papers In 2009
Buyers have clearly stated their
56% of marketers plan to increase content marketing
preference for educational content spending either slightly or significantly.
that aggregates and economically Chart: Most Downloaded Media Types
presents facts and analysis to help Fact 2. Search Then White Papers!
them make better decisions during 82% of IT buyers always use search engines to
the buy cycle. The greater the research a problem.
Newsletters, magazine, associations are the least
informative value to the customer,
effective sources for buyers.
the stronger the differentiation, Chart: Most Effective Sources of Data
mind share and relationship gained
Fact 3. Buyers Are Looking For Information, Not A
by the information provider is the
Pitch!
new rule. In response, “content is Up to 90% of executives find white papers moderately
the new marketing” is the mantra of or extremely helpful.
wise marketers who are investing in White papers are the strongest influencers.
efficient educational documents. Chart: Top Three Reasons Vendor Content Is
Dismissed By Buyers.
Fact 4. Buyers Prefer Text
The only white paper of its kind, this Buyers are 3X more likely to review information early
briefing aggregates the latest data in the buy cycle.
on trends and best practices to build Third party analyst remains the most influential
dialogue.
buy cycle relationships with
Table: Buy Cycle Phase/Content Type Alignment
information products.
Fact 5. Double Sales with Relevant White Papers
Vendor-neutral and independent reviews are most
This report includes: favored.
Facts Are Stubborn Things Sales almost cut in half by content lacking relevancy.
18% CAGR in online interactive media through 2013 Fact 6. Viral Nature of Quality Content
Chart: Top Two Marketing Pressures Chart: A white paper is the leading reason for readers
Chart: Biggest Media Time Wasters to register for “gated” material.
37% to 67% of readers frequently or very frequently
Fact 1. Demand for Custom Content Intensifies
forward white papers.
29% of global market executives plan budget
increases this year.
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Six New Facts About Buyers Preferences for White Papers
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Facts Are Stubborn Things
Have you noticed lately how
Buyers want sellers to 31% of marketers
discussions about what buyers want
give them ammunition have planned to
during their purchasing cycles has
that can help sell increase content
become more about educational
upstream to marketing spending
information then events and significantly in 2009 -
management!
advertising? White papers are the
top source for
information among
Across all verticals, programs that lead
buyers of
with whitepapers that deliver high technology.
educational value are gaining strong
traction during these austere times.
This traction is dependent on the content being highly relevant,
accurate, complete and time-efficient. The intent is to capture a
buyer’s attention early in the buy cycle to start building lasting
credibility and trust - a stark departure from past advertising
assumptions founded on the premise that reach and cost serves as a
proxy for efficacious relationship building. As a result, a rather
dramatic shift of marketing dollars toward white papers and reports
is one of the growth items in 2009 marketing budgets. 1
Increasingly, money spent on traditional advertising, such
as collaterals, brochures and events is being heavily
cannibalized by an 18% CAGR in online interactive media
expected to last through 2013. This trend in spending is focused
on highly informative content driven by a couple of major dynamics
effecting buyer preferences. 2
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Six New Facts About Buyers Preferences for White Papers
First, the discussion around the publisher-controlled model being
disrupted by the emerging user-controlled model has taught us that
Web 2.0 technology requires collaboration and participation in
order to enable success--it also adds tasks to our already crowded
list of tasks. Blogs, podcasts, video and social networks are the
newer entry points encountered when we begin to search for
information on needed products or services. We conclude as we
move further down this path that relevance, structure, accuracy and
completeness are frequently lacking in a rising sea of fragmented
facts and opinion. Because so little of this “cyber-clutter” is
organized, experienced professionals – as the data in this
report shows - find it is best to be temperate toward Web 2.0 for
many of these access points are considered the biggest time wasters
when searching for answers during the buy cycle. 3 4
Secondly, it is estimated that a person living in a city can see up to
5,000 ad messages a day. 5 Add this to the flood of fragmented and
unstructured content coming from the Web and most people are
agreeing that this excess has taught us to discriminate toward the
highly relevant, share it with colleagues within our communities and
tune the rest out at an alarming pace. Again, buyers of information
technology have clearly stated that they also have to do more with
less and favor educational content that aggregates facts and analysis
because of the efficiency and, if they are lucky, implied objectivity
A February 2009 IBM
that vendor neutral documents offer.
study of US and other
Back To TOC
industrial countries
advertisers saw
segments as: 65% of the Back-to-basics – quality and economy for the buyer.
overall population are 24
years and older; own or There is no question that making smart initial investments in
use three or fewer multi- quality educational documents and then using a combination of
media devices on a traditional and Web 2.0 tools to let the buyer know about them is
regular basis; are least delivering leads, restarting stalled buying cycles; cultivating high-
likely to participate in value customers and prospects, and quickly shifting market or mind
innovative types of share. 6 This realignment toward quality is being driven by time-
media consumption; and starved prospects and buyers demanding greater economies in how
is considered the “cash they collect and use content—it pivots around buyers favorably
cow. answering “yes” to:
source
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Six New Facts About Buyers Preferences for White Papers
 Can I count on this content as being objective, complete and
relevant?
 Does it lift the buying committee’s overall knowledge and meet
our unique buy-cycle needs?
 Is it good enough for me to pass on to my colleagues?
Finally, it is incredibly easy for any of us to collect information.
However, to filter, extract and structure information within a
specific context and offer a meaningful perspective for B2B buyers
demands broad industry and niche expertise, which is considerably
more difficult. Those who do this are a valuable knowledge asset up
and down the channel. This value is an expression of a company’s
commitment to be of meaningful service to the buyer first and by
default a chief influencer of the community – the most important
product and the one least vulnerable to substitution. Back To TOC
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Six New Facts About Buyers Preferences for White Papers
References
Back To TOC
1
(2009, January 13). Custom And Social Media Look To Be Strong This Year. BtoBonline.com Retrieved 1-09 from:
http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090113/MEDIABUSINESS/901129951/1117/FREE&template=printart
2
Loechner, J. (2009, March 17), Accelerated Shift to Digital Media Platforms Predicted. Media Post. Retrieved 3-09 from:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=102154
3
Chui, M. (2009, February). Six ways to make Web 2.0 work. McKinsey & Co. Retrieved 2-09 from:
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Business_Technology/Application_Management/Six_ways_to_make_Web_20_work_2294
4
(2008, December 18). Technology Vendors May Be Losing Close To 50% Of Their Potential Sales Due To Inadequate Online
Information. IDG. Retrieved 1-09 from: http://www.idgknowledgehub.com/research/
5
Chui, M. (2009, February). Six ways to make Web 2.0 work. McKinsey & Co. Retrieved 2-09 from:
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Business_Technology/Application_Management/Six_ways_to_make_Web_20_work_2294
6
Loechner, J. (2009, January 15). Back To Basics For Marketers. Media Post. Retrieved 11-09 from:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=98129
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