Making Your Brand Blossom: Distribute White Papers Through Social Media

Written By Brian King

Whether you’re a small business owner looking to raise brand awareness or an established brand trying to maintain your position, the distribution of white papers likely plays a key role in your marketing strategy. But if you’re still thinking of white papers in the traditional, static PDF format, you’re limiting your possibilities.

In today’s environment, social content marketing is the key to making your brand blossom. But that’s not to say that your traditional white papers can’t play a role. On the contrary, your white papers can be easily adapted for distribution through social media.

Making the transition

Step one in social content marketing is to create relevant and engaging content, the type that starts conversations and begs the reader to share. Hopefully, your white papers already meet these criteria. From there, it’s simply a matter of tweaking. Remember:

• Great content creates interest, but the key to extending your marketing dollar is search engine optimization (SEO). If no one can find your content, you can hardly expect them to share it. Research keywords and strategically implement them in your white papers to achieve stronger search rankings.
• The purpose of social media distribution is to point readers back to your products and services. Be sure to include a strong “call to action,” complete with links back to your other content.
• With persistent distribution, you can engage potential buyers on their own terms while extending the white paper longevity and generating more leads at a reduced cost.
• Privately-branded social media platforms can track the effectiveness of your white papers in terms of who is sharing your content and how – resulting in a more targeted and cost-effective means of lead generation.

Thanks to social media, today’s consumer has many ways to research products and services, and the information they gather usually comes with the stamp of approval from friends and family. So it’s imperative to find new and creative ways to position yourself  as a trusted, authoritative source of information during early stages in the buying process.

With proper care, your white papers can earn your brand that coveted stamp of approval.

To learn more about how easy it is to start delivering your white papers in the cloud, click here to contact us.