No one remembers the brands with the best white papers

No, I’ve not gone mad.

And yes, I stand by that headline.

There is a huge strategic culture clash to marketing when companies set long-term objectives but approach them with a short-term mindset. When leads or sales see a slight dip versus target, such as shortly into a new financial year, panic sets in and activity switches to a ‘get leads now’ mentality.

I explore more below.

The customer journey starts well before the sale

This culture clash effectively results in brand awareness engagement activity being switched off in favour of bottom-of-the-funnel and ‘do or die’ lead-gen content. While this might work in some rare instances, it ignores one fundamental aspect of the buying cycle – only 5% of customers are ‘in-market’ at any given time.

That leaves a massive chunk of people who are not ready to buy.

These people might be at the beginning or middle of their research process – they might have added you to a longlist or they might not even know that they’re nearing the time they’ll need your service.

Whatever stage they’re at, you won’t make them ready to buy just because you’re telling them to be – no matter how much budget you throw into LinkedIn’s or Google’s bank accounts.

If this is your only approach to marketing, it means it can never be switched off, and here’s the kicker – it will eventually plateau and die if you’re not investing at other points of the customer journey.

The question is, how do you talk to the 95%?

Brand Awareness With Purpose

If I asked you to think of a low-budget airline, a challenger supermarket or a baked beans brand, we’d probably write down the same three companies. That’s in part because their service is clear and easy to understand, but it’s also because they’re doing something more than pushing that service – they’re making themselves memorable.

Brand awareness with purpose doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the brand that operates for public or consumer-good, or fights the good fight (whatever that is).

It means a clear understanding of how you want to present yourself to your audience. It’s the brands that do this the best that we remember.

Not only are they doing an excellent job of standing out from their crowd, they’re standing out from the crowd.

All of this comes through brand PR, social media activity and engaging content at the very top of the marketing funnel.

Above all, it’s authentic.

Those brands are succeeding because their audiences are connecting with their product or service – thanks to marketing. By operating at all ends of the funnel, they’re broadening their potential audience and appealing to more people every day, while still being able to convert those who are ready to buy.

There’s a reason this chart is one of the most well-versed elements of strategy:

This level of ‘fame’ isn’t just exclusive to well-known B2C brands with enormous budgets. 

It’s achievable across B2B sectors too. 

The media might be different but the delivery principles are exactly the same – define how you stand out, communicate that to your audience, and show that you understand them.

Whatever your industry, make your audience feel something that makes you more memorable. So, when they’re ready to buy, you’re the brand that springs to mind.

By building your brand, you’re preventing a plateau. And instead creating more aware and engaged audiences, who are more likely to buy from you over anyone else, when they’re ready.

White papers, guides, reports – whatever you call them – have huge strategic importance (we should know – we write a lot of them), but they need to be part of something bigger.

Content With a Connection

A good marketing strategy outlines what you’re trying to achieve and what you’re going to do to get there. An effective one links this activity with the problems or challenges faced by your audience, how you understand them and further down the funnel, how you solve them.

This is underpinned by story-led content that builds a lasting emotional connection with the people you’re trying to target.

Unlike sales-focussed content, which is often short-lived and technical, content crafted with the needs of the customer at its heart is far more impactful and longer-lasting.

Yes, you might use data or statistics to punctuate a key point or understanding, but you present it creatively and persuasively. By tapping into what you know about your customers (through detailed research and persona workshops), you’re better equipped to understand where their real pain points are.

Here’s a hint – I can tell you that your customers are not talking about ‘efficiency’ and ‘productivity’ as much as you think they are.

They’re talking about work in more relatable terms, like how to get things off their desk quicker or make sure they’re on track for a bonus, and their personal life is more of a priority than many realise.

After all, we all want an easier life and to get home on time more frequently, right?

White papers, lead-gen reports or top of the funnel content, whatever you want to call them, they all have their place. But the best brands tap into something much deeper.

The Authenticity Factor

Connecting all of this activity is authenticity.

Whatever your sector or area of expertise, pain points you think you solve, targets you need to hit, you have to appear authentic – otherwise any content will fall flat on its face.

Your audience has to be shown that you get them and what you’re trying to communicate matters. But trying to sell this from the outset will likely result in fewer opened emails and poorer performing ad campaigns.

The trick and the challenge is to build up that trust and recognition long before anyone wants to buy from you, and instead build your community through storytelling and authentic engagement.

This gives you an edge (long before a target customer even considers your services) or weighs you up against competitors. Being memorable to the 95% has more longer-term benefits than just popping up on their radar nearer the end of the buying cycle.

You can draft all the white papers you want – it won’t make an ounce of difference if you’re competing at the thin end of the wedge in a price war.

Being known when someone needs you matters, but being known before matters even more.