How to Transform One White Paper Into 10 Pieces of Engaging Content
Publishing a white paper can be extremely rewarding for businesses and public institutions alike.
They’re powerful marketing tools that generate quality leads that usually convert to sales. For public institutions, white papers have the ability to persuade and influence big decisions.
Long form content like white papers communicate complex information and solutions, while simultaneously promoting an organization’s thought leadership.
Writing a white paper can be an investment, though. Compared to other forms of content marketing, it can take up to a few weeks to a few months to write one and can cost a pretty penny if a writer is hired.
Since white papers are such an investment in both time and money, it would be a shame if all of the data, research and analysis never saw the light of day again.
If you already have a white paper, you’re sitting on a content goldmine. So make your white paper work a little harder for you.
Coming up with ideas for content is already difficult.
We all know that being seen and heard on the internet is everyone’s ultimate goal. But for Google to actually find and rank you, it takes a lot of effort, strategy, skill… and content.
There are a lot of marketing strategies out there to guide content creators in the art of appearing in search results. It seems that every industry has a unique marketing practice, not to mention that each type of content has a strategy. And so do different platforms!
Take blogs for example. According to a comprehensive blogger survey, the best strategy for a blog to rank and reach more people is to post blog content daily.
The same goes for social media. High performing accounts with a lot of traffic and engagement typically post anywhere between one and seven times per day, depending on the platform.
To make matters a little more difficult, surveys show that it takes the average writer over three hours to research and write a 1,000 word blog post. And to create longer, better performing posts it can take up to six.
Let’s not forget that doesn’t include the time it takes to generate blog content ideas. No wonder 52% of bloggers agree that their biggest challenge is a lack of time.
That’s a lot of content… and we didn’t even mention quality.
Good thing you already have a white paper.
One of the benefits of publishing a white paper is its versatility. The white paper itself can be used as a marketing tool, but so can the content generated from the data, research and analysis of just one publication.
Benefits of Repurposing Existing Content
Saves time and creative energy. Depending on how frequently you post content, repurposing content in white papers into other formats can quickly and easily fill gaps in your content calendar.
Reaches new audiences. White papers and social media posts are two very different marketing tools. White papers target a certain audience, so repurposing content into other formats can reach a different audience that probably didn’t read the original white paper.
Adapts to your changing business. Businesses should always adapt to what the people and market wants. Businesses or organizations may want to modernize by engaging on social media or starting a podcast. If you need to pivot your marketing strategy from primarily using long-form content, existing white papers are a great place to look for content.
Repeated content helps with SEO. SEO is tricky, but one of the golden rules that’s not likely to change is that consistent, repeated content helps search results. Repeating information contained in a white paper in blog posts or articles makes it a little easier for search engines to find you.
Market expertise on multiple platforms. Your customers on Facebook may not dig white papers, while those on LinkedIn might prefer them. Repurpose existing white paper content to formats that perform well on each platform. You can also use the content pulled from the white paper to promote the white paper itself!
As you can see, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. You’ve made the investment to write a white paper, so take advantage of all that great information!
Here are 10 Pieces of Engaging Content You Can Create From a Single White Paper
Blog series
Coming up with fresh blog ideas isn’t always easy. So it’s understandable why a white paper is a great place to pull ideas from. Creating blog series from white papers are popular for a reason because the content is largely already written. Just remember to include keywords in your blog posts, as they may not have been added in the white paper.
2. Webinar
Webinars are becoming increasingly more popular as a top of the funnel marketing tool. They are relatively simple to create and even easier for participants to engage with. Typically white papers end with a call to action to the reader, which would be no different in a webinar format. The real difference is that someone is presenting the material.
3. Video series
Videos are quickly becoming the preferred method of consuming most information online, and is one of the best ways to create engaging content. Almost any piece of content can be turned into a video.
Video also engages a younger audience that may not read a white paper. Depending on your marketing strategy, transforming a white paper into on-camera action may be a good idea to engage younger clients.
Bonus: Google’s algorithm is now picking up voice and video content into search results, just like written text. It goes without saying that the more content that you put out on the internet regarding a topic, the more opportunities you have to rank in search results.
4. Infographics
Infographics are really popular and favored by social media users. Because they’re easy to read and informative, infographics are a great way to create interactive posts for social media.
Interactive and engaging posts like infographics are also more likely to be shared, which ultimately helps you reach more people. Take the key data included in the white paper and turn them into simple and visually appealing infographics to post on social media.
(We couldn’t resist making one ourselves.)
5. Social Media Posts
Impress your manager or client with an entire month’s worth of content in a matter of hours. It’s easy to fill up your content calendar by pulling existing white paper content into social media posts. Just make sure that what’s being shared is valuable and interesting to your audience.
Right now Instagram is heavily favoring carousel content (along with video). Already having long-form content to pull from makes creating carousels pretty easy. Can you imagine how many Twitter posts you could create from a single white paper?
6. Online Course
This concept is similar to creating webinars, but online courses are typically a little more in-depth. Depending on the topic and complexity, your white paper may be perfect to repurpose as a course.
Free webinars are sometimes used as a lead magnet that generates a captive audience that you can later target to upsell an entire course. Just pull a few high-level, but valuable, key points to include in the webinar and then dive deeper in the course.
7. Pitch to Podcasts
White papers can be used to promote thought leadership in a number of ways. If your organization is looking for PR opportunities, consider pitching your white paper to podcast hosts. They’re always looking for interesting perspectives and industry leaders who are experts in a niche subject. Your white paper can prove both.
8. Pitch to Publications
While you’re at it, send the white paper to industry publications. Online publishers are always looking for well written and interesting long-form content. Getting published is also a serious credibility boost.
9. E-Mail Campaigns
Not only can white papers be used as lead magnets to obtain email addresses, you can use key points from the white paper in email newsletters that would be valuable to existing readers. Bonus points if you include an infographic and links to your webinar in the email too.
10. Article
Similar to blogs, white papers are easily converted to article format. What’s great is that all sources are already referenced in the white paper, so converting and formatting into an article would be an easy task. LinkedIn is particularly fond of sole source articles written directly on their platform. And online publications favor pitches of already written work. If the white paper is too long to send to a publisher, consider pairing it down to article size.
If you’re looking for blog ideas, ideas for engaging facebook posts, or interactive content that’s fresh for your audience, look to your long-form content for inspiration. There are so many benefits of repurposing content like white papers, so don’t go at it the hard way.
If you don’t already have a white paper, you may want to consider investing in a white paper writer. Not only can the white paper be used as a powerful marketing tool on it’s own, but there are so many other opportunities to repurpose content that will build out your marketing strategy.
You never know, a white paper may save you time and money.
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