Written by: Vickie Sullivan | May 08, 2014
Why White Papers Are Dead
In my last post, I discussed the Tomorrow’s Most Wanted Study by Hyper Island, a digital education company based in Sweden. I am so fascinated by how they used this research that I want to return to this study for a different reason.
In the space where everyone else sends out press releases and white papers, Hyper Island did something different. They created a website for folks to use the information. They created a way for visitors to compare themselves with the responses by industry and country. That’s cool.
There’s also other great stuff here such as top challenges and readiness.
Here’s my point: Now that content marketing is king, the bar has been raised exponentially. For all but the most conservative industries, white papers won’t cut it. Infographics have a shorter shelf life. We now have to place the community into the research — let them make these findings relevant for them.
The good news: Thought leaders don’t have to have the answers. If you create a way for others to use your perspective, you create relevance. The standard for relevance has moved from killer content to comparisons and findings. Think about this next time you want to unleash your research…
Other Resources You Might Like: