One tenant of marketing is that all content should have a call to action. Seems basic enough, but is this really common practice with white papers? Jonathan Kantor provides a list of white papers each Friday in his blog, The White Paper Pundit. This is a somewhat random sampling of white papers; Jonathan describes the list as a list of white papers posted on Twitter that week that do not require registration. They are not B2B white papers, but it's still an interesting exercise. So what did I find? MORE >>

Because white papers have such high levels of proven marketing value, it's tempting to consider every potential topic about a product to be worthy of a white paper. even best presented in a white paper format. How do you choose which topics should be covered in a technical white paper? The following criteria can help you decide; consider a white paper for a topic that: Explains the design, implementation, or application concepts built into the product or technology. But of course, not every topic is suitable.or MORE >>

Interactive White Papers can be used at various stages to help facilitate the buyer’s decisions, depending on the content of the white paper itself. Interactive White Papers that contain personalized research, simple diagnostic assessments, relevant case studies and personalized solution recommendations serve best during this stage. Interactive White Papers with intelligent solution recommendations and configurations, quantified personalized benefits and ROI estimates help best during this middle stage. MORE >>

Internet Fuels IT Buying Cycles According to a recent survey of 500 technology decision makers and influencers, Internet access to content is changing the way IT solutions are purchased, with buyers using on-line research to drive substantial portion of the decision making cycle on their own. Savvy buyers are using on-line content to set strategies, explore and select solutions, all before ever engaging a sales representative. Content that Matters Most? When surveyed as to the most influential content in decision making, white papers remain the stand-out content of choice. MORE >>

I recently learned that Spiceworks surveyed 800,000 SMB IT pros to get their thoughts about registering for white papers. Vendors can tap into this community of 800,000 IT pros in a number of ways , including posting their white papers for download. got in touch with Jay Hallberg, one of Spiceworks' four founders and its VP of Marketing, to understand what prompted Spiceworks to conduct the survey about white papers, what the survey revealed, and how advertisers/vendors had responded. What percentage requires registration in exchange for white papers? MORE >>