Content offers, like eBooks and whitepapers, give your business added credentials. They present your company as a leader in the industry, able to speak on a variety of topics in depth.
Targeted content can be written for a specific goal and to a specific group of people, opening up conversations with potential customers and educating them on your product or service.
These are sometimes (but rarely) written directly about the business itself or its products or services. Ideally, content offers should be designed to educate the reader, not directly make a sale. Content offers should simply attract the visitor or collect information, such as an email address.
Defining the Terms
First, let’s look at the difference between eBooks and whitepapers.
Whitepapers
Traditionally, a whitepaper is highly-technical and more detailed. It will rely on data-rich text, over style, to convey information in a longer form. A whitepaper is typically 10-30 in length, focusing on a single idea.
eBooks
An eBook uses visuals and a more casual, conversational tone to give a quick overview on multiple topics or ideas, in 6-12 pages.
Before writing and formatting either, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is your Goal? Determine whether you want to be seen as an expert in your field or to display knowledge while starting a larger discussion.
- Who is my Audience? Decide whether you’re targeting readers among the B2B market, or speaking to consumers directly.
- How Detailed Should It Be? Choose a standpoint. You can either speak conversationally about your topic or take a formal approach, delivering just the facts and figures.
- Which Visuals Are Available? Research your topic and find out whether charts and graphs will be your primary support or real life images.
When deciding whether or not to create an eBook, remember design is as important as your written content. Whereas your whitepaper’s only distraction from the text should be graphs and charts displaying statistics.
Choosing a Content Offer
Whitepapers are ideal for discussing a complex topic that proves your company an expert in the field. By providing useful information on a subject that will be easily understood, you enrich aspects of your own business and inform on related topics.
Most often written in the long style, you are able to discuss detailed information that is straightforward, without losing anything by trying too hard to simplify the concept. Whitepapers offer readers the opportunity to inform themselves on the same level as the experts and act as a great resource to share, particularly in the B2B world.
eBook’s appeal more to consumers since they are generally looking for information that is accessible and easily digested. You will showcase your knowledge in a more casual and visual way so you reach a range of people who otherwise wouldn’t have the time to commit to a more weighty document.
Eye-catching visuals lead the reader into an informative discussion via a book-like layout. Often, eBook topics are loosely related to your company, offering the opportunity to interest a wider group of people in your business.
Whitepapers and eBook’s are more than a blog or email campaign, and should act as a value piece for consumers who in return give some sort of information about their own interests. Whichever content offer you choose, make it worth everyone’s while. Do your research and ensure it fits your reader.