White Papers: Picking Up the Pieces

How to Use White Papers to Build Supporting Content

(This post is the second in a six-part series about repurposing content. Today, we’ll look at how to harvest content ideas from white papers).

Content is an ongoing effort for anyone with a web presence. Not only do people like to read fresh content on your website and social media channels, but search engines also like to see new content on your website. How can you keep your brand ambassadors, potential customers, and search engines happy, without continually churning out new content? You can work with the content you have and make it new again – and you can start by dissecting your white paper.

White Papers: The Basics

Ideally, when you plan a white paper, you should be thinking about how you can repackage content sections for other uses. If each section has a clear focus, you can easily repurpose sections to make blog posts, eBooks, LinkedIn posts, and more. 

Your repurposing plan should account for what types of content you need to engage specific audiences and to target people at different stages in the marketing funnel. Read on for some tips on how to use a white paper to create different types of content. 

Top 10 List or Listicle

Those of us who grew up watching David Letterman can’t resist a Top 10 list. Younger readers also appreciate Top 10 lists (or “listicles”) because they’re brief, specific, and informative. 

Listicles can contain any number of points defined in the title, like, “3 Tips for Post-Holiday Weight Loss.” People are more inclined to click-through when the headline specifically defines the number of points in the article. 

White paper content about industry trends works well for a listicle. What insights or data can you share that will make your target audience want to click on your headline?  

Sales Sheet

Busy decision-makers don’t have time to carefully read your white paper from start to finish. But if you can distill the important points into a one-sheet format – with some design elements to break up the text – you can get their attention. (See an example of a BoxCrush sales sheet). 

Glossary

If your industry uses specific jargon, or you find yourself constantly explaining terminology to your clients, it might be time to put together a glossary or dictionary. Does your white paper include terms that are explained in parentheses? If so, you can start building your glossary with those terms. Gather about 10 terms to start – you can expand your glossary over time. 

Glossaries can be used during client onboarding, when providing reports, or as a reference for people in your industry. Once you’ve created a glossary, you can include it as an addendum in future white papers. Make the glossary available for download, so people can reference it easily anytime. (Get the BoxCrush Pay-Per-Click Dictionary). 

Getting Started

Great content is the foundation of any marketing strategy. With just one white paper, you can produce numerous types of content in a variety of formats. But where do you begin if you don’t have that foundation? Ask BoxCrush for help.