The classic approach for big product reveals is to bring traffic to your trade show booth or event, but what if you’re in the middle of a development cycle and don’t have a major announcement?
One of the companies we work with took advantage of a brilliant alternative — asking prospects to sign up to receive a new white paper highlighting the new technology. This formula delivered fantastic results!
A hands-on demo at your booth is always great, but technical papers, guides, or checklists give you another easy way to build a conversation around a particular product, technology, or use case. By offering to send prospects a PDF, you not only provide value but also create an opportunity to capture contact information and bring them into an ongoing nurture campaign. If you’ve got a couple of technical papers on hand, you can even use them to segment your prospects by interest area.
Use the (free) 7 Marketing Basics white paper checklist to find out how to make the most of your technical PDF, white paper, checklist, or guide.
By providing value right out of the gate, you can positively influence a prospect’s perception of you, your company, and your products. A white paper might seem like an unlikely tool for driving sales, but if the team working on your booth has a resource like this ready to go, it can really help bring in the leads.
If you’ve already got a strong list and are looking to bring traffic to your booth, go ahead and invite people to sign up for a sneak peek at the PDF — and follow up with a request to book an appointment at the show. (This works for both in-person and online events!)
The hard work your team does to create technical documents, presentations, and user guides shouldn’t go to waste! Whether you offer the full document or just the highlights in the form of a checklist, you can quickly transform existing resources into content that drives your next marketing campaign.
Steps to take with your checklist, guide, or white paper:
- ✅ Every time someone signs up for your white paper, use an automated system to capture their info directly into your CRM and automatically deliver the document.
- ✅ Send a series of follow-up emails that include excerpts from the PDF, as well as any other relevant information that encourages engagement.
- ✅ Offer a little something more! Someone who found the idea of a technical paper, guide, or checklist appealing might be interested in another piece of useful content. Make that offer, and be sure to include a call to action, such as a meeting or trial software download.
- ✅ If the prospect follows through with a meeting or download, automatically shift that person into another campaign that maintains a connection.
Key concepts for turning your white paper into sales:
- Create a connection with your potential customers, help them know, like, and trust you.
- White paper — A document that gives in-depth detail on a technology, concept, or service, but is not salesy.
- Checklist — A list of steps to take, things not to miss, or points to be considered on a particular topic.
- Guide — A short document that provides info on how to do something. It usually gets someone started quickly and provided actionable information.
- Lead magnet — Marketing speak for any asset that gives value to your customer and can be given in exchange for contact info (email or mobile).
- WIIFM stands for “What’s in It for Me” and refers to the fact that customers only really care about what’s in it for them, their point of view, their wants and needs.
- Give your prospects the information they crave. They’ll get it from someone — why not from you? Be the expert!
- Call to action or CTA — What you want your prospect to do next after they read your email, watch your video, or visit your website, for example.
Pre-sell — If you are just about to finish up your guide, white paper, or ebook, but it’s not quite done yet, you can “pre-sell” it by asking for advanced sign-ups.
Related:
7 Marketing Basics online course – learn what works, step-by-step, at your own pace
How to Use White Papers to Drive Sales
How to 10X your ROI With Your Next White Paper
