MKT 345- Discussion 4
Shanteche Brown
1. How might this organization’s white paper strategy and tactics be applied to other organizations or companies?
“Businesses often include white paper marketing to provide a more in-depth look at a certain part of their business. White papers are long form content that include original or compiled research to offer trend insights and/or best practices” (Brafton, 2020). Similar to SIA, other organizations can also use white papers to educate the public of what they are all about, and to assist in raising funds for the organization. Other organizations and companies can use white papers to generate information on customer demographics, common areas of interest, etc. “An advantage of white papers is that they have high-perceived value to the recipients, they typically require the reader to provide an email address or other information to download or access” (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017).
2. What are some of the possible drawbacks to using white papers in an attempt to influence people?
“A white paper is expected to have at least pages of text…sources, facts, and sources” (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017). Most persons now a days seek convenience and efficiency. Therefore, they may not be interested in reading a long article that has many components and doesn’t get to the point immediately. There is also the possibility of tiring your audience with the same white paper attempt over and over. There are many other ways to reach out and influence people, especially in the age of social media. Such as social media platforms, radios, newspapers, etc. White papers can be perceived as dry and boring. Effective white papers are loaded with data, research and statistics.
Bryan Carlson posted
I think this organization's strategy and tactics could be used by almost any non-profit, especially their strategies on educating club members and raising funds. This is not to say that the other four strategies are not useful but I personally think that the two I mentioned could be used most often by the most amount of organizations. Educating members is the most important thing a non-profit can do. It allows for everyone to understand the goal and purpose of the organization and see what the organization is doing in detail. Yes, you can just look on the website and see what the mission is, but people want more information about the problem and solutions and thats what white papers allow for. Additionally, this gives members the ability to go and spread the word about what exactly the organization is doing for the cause and that can lead to new members and new donors.
In additional, this white paper strategy can be used in many ways for donors. The case points out that white papers can be used for informational and thank you gift purposes. When you give to an organization, you want to see your money at work, actually making a difference. These white papers can be sent to donors to justify the need for their donations because they can see what the money has done or is going to do and why this needs to be done. The white papers can also be attached to thank you notes for the same reasons.
In regard to for profit organizations, I think this white paper strategy has a place. It can be used loosely to educate salespeople. Making sure they have an understanding of problems in the business's specific field, and how their company has found a fix or solution to the problem, will allow them to have a better understanding about the products they are selling and why they are selling them.
2. What are some of the possible drawbacks to using white papers in an attempt to influence people?
I think the biggest drawback of white papers is the length and complexity of them. Take a second to think about other marketing styles you see everyday, such as emails, billboards, website ads. They tend to be short, simple and full of easy visuals but that is not the case with white papers. "A white paper is expected to have at least six pages of text and to provide useful information about a business or technical issue. A white paper should contain sources, facts, and figures" (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017). I do not see very many people taking time to read the entire thing and try to make sense of it unless they are already previously invested in the cause or topic. In other words, the target audience for the white paper should be considered heavily.
Additionally, white papers are very hard to create effectively and are very time consuming to create (Butler, 2015). So, even if the person is willing to read the entire paper, if it is not done correctly, it will all be for nothing. An organization needs to decide if they have the information, skills, and time before deciding on using white papers to influence people.
Shanteche Brown
1. How might this organization’s white paper strategy and tactics be applied to other
organizations or companies?
“Businesses often include white paper marketing to provide a more in
-
depth look at
a certain part of their business. White papers are long form content that include
original or compiled research to offer trend insights and/or best practices” (Brafton,
2020
). Similar to SIA, other organizations can also use white papers to educate the
public of what they are all about, and to assist in raising funds for the organization.
Other organizations and companies can use white papers to generate information on
custom
er demographics, common areas of interest, etc. “An advantage of white
papers is that they have high
-
perceived value to the recipients, they typically require
the reader to provide an email address or other information to download or access”
(Barker, Barke
r, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017).
2. What are some of the possible drawbacks to using white papers in an attempt to
influence people?
“A white paper is expected to have at least pages of text…sources, facts, and
sources” (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay
, & Roberts, 2017). Most persons now a
days seek convenience and efficiency. Therefore, they may not be interested in
reading a long article that has many components and doesn’t get to the point
immediately. There is also the possibility of tiring your aud
ience with the same white
paper attempt over and over. There are many other ways to reach out and influence
people, especially in the age of social media. Such as social media platforms, radios,
newspapers, etc. White papers can be perceived as dry and bor
ing. Effective white
papers are loaded with data, research and statistics.
Shanteche Brown
1. How might this organization’s white paper strategy and tactics be applied to other
organizations or companies?
“Businesses often include white paper marketing to provide a more in-depth look at
a certain part of their business. White papers are long form content that include
original or compiled research to offer trend insights and/or best practices” (Brafton,
2020). Similar to SIA, other organizations can also use white papers to educate the
public of what they are all about, and to assist in raising funds for the organization.
Other organizations and companies can use white papers to generate information on
customer demographics, common areas of interest, etc. “An advantage of white
papers is that they have high-perceived value to the recipients, they typically require
the reader to provide an email address or other information to download or access”
(Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017).
2. What are some of the possible drawbacks to using white papers in an attempt to
influence people?
“A white paper is expected to have at least pages of text…sources, facts, and
sources” (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017). Most persons now a
days seek convenience and efficiency. Therefore, they may not be interested in
reading a long article that has many components and doesn’t get to the point
immediately. There is also the possibility of tiring your audience with the same white
paper attempt over and over. There are many other ways to reach out and influence
people, especially in the age of social media. Such as social media platforms, radios,
newspapers, etc. White papers can be perceived as dry and boring. Effective white
papers are loaded with data, research and statistics.