White Papers For International Sales
As an International English Copywriter I like to keep up-to-date with North American copywriting practices. That’s why I’m spending this evening listening to over 3 hours of an informative webinar.
It is the Copywriting Success Summit 2008 organized by Michael Stelzner from the White Paper Source.
In fact, this is the first event I have attended of its kind. You get the value of a 2 or 3 day live day event without the travel and hassle of hotel rooms. All of the attendees listen through the web or by phone. Content is delivered in several sessions at one time. For me here in France it is in the evenings. This maintains a good learning level without the travel.
Tonight’s presentations are given by Peter Bowerman, Michael Stelzner and Casey Hibbard.
Listening to these presentations tonight highlighted the strong reasons why companies targeting new foreign markets should create specific White Papers for these new markets.
International Lead Generation
White Papers are a great lead generation tool. They can easily be used online. And they are also a great communication tool for live events, conferences and exhibitions.
International business development based on web marketing needs strong lead generation tools. And there are not many strong lead generation tools available when targeting foreign markets primarily through international web marketing.
This reason alone is why companies selling abroad need to use White Papers.
White Papers Go Viral
White Papers have great viral potential with the right online marketing.
And this viral potential is even more valuable if you are developing a new market with limited content available to target your new audience.
All online marketing can be tracked. This means you can calculate the results your White Paper brings to your business. Another great advantage when discovering new markets.
Adapting White Papers To Specific Cultural Behaviors
Now…
Let’s take this a little bit further.
Imagine you take a closer look at the cultural behaviors for the country you are targeting. And imagine tweaking your White Papers to appeal more to your specific foreign market.
This makes your White Paper a powerful international lead generation tool.
And what are the different cultural behaviors to look for?
There are 5 different scales of cultural behaviors:
- Individualism/Collectivism
- Femininity/Masculinity
- High Uncertainty Avoidance/Low Uncertainty Avoidance
- High Power Distance/Low Power Distance
- High Context/Low Context
When writing a White Paper for a specific culture, you can take all of these different scales of cultural behavior into account. In writing your White Paper. And also in how you format it and how you market it.
By adapting your White Papers for specific international markets you can generate more international leads.
Let’s Write Write Papers
Many of my French clients believe it takes months and months to write a White Paper. They are surprised when I say I can easily write one a month for Get International Clients.
It does take a lot of work. But this is where good copywriting skills come in.
According to this evenings summit:
- Businesses spend on average 50 hours over a period of months write a White Paper.
- A copywriter spends on average 25 hours over 4 weeks to write a White Paper.
Writing a White Paper involves:
- A series of interviews
- Research
- Writing
In today’s world of information overload the best length for a white paper is between 6-12 pages. And the tendency is towards the lower number of pages.
And the price? The average price for a 6-10 page White Paper is over $4000. But you need to compare this with the value of what you are selling.
White Papers provide credibility and authority. These elements are usually missing when targeting new markets.
Are you interested in a White Paper for an international audience? I write for both European and North American companies and I work closely with both North American copywriters and French writers. Contact me to find out more.
More on White Papers For International Sales:
- European Versus American White Paper Marketing
- Get International Clients With The Right Content
- The Best Sales Tool In A Slow Economy
- White Papers For International Lead Generation
More on International Lead Generation
- How To Avoid Wasting Your International Potential
- Create Front End Acquistion Information Products For International Sales
- International Lead Generation With An Information Product Strategy
- Up-Sell Expectations Across Cultures
More in these Get International Clients Business Guides
- Run Your International Sales Strategy
- Guide To International Lead Generation
- Guide To Multicultural Marketing
- Connect With Your International Markets
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