There are so many types of content out there it may get overwhelming for you as a business owner. In this post we’ll cover whitepapers, case studies, e-books and infographics, and talk about which you should focus on.
The Difference Between Whitepapers, Case studies, and Infographics
There are some obvious differences for these content types. Whitepapers are text heavy, technical and formal, whereas infographics are graphic heavy, informal and fun.
When deciding what type of content to use, consider two main areas. First, what type of customer are you serving, and second, where along the customer journey are they?
B2C & Early-Stage Buyer Cycle
If you’re running a Business-to-consumer business (B2C), then you’ll do better by serving helpful infographics, e-books, and case studies to your customers. These help your customers along the early and middle stages of their journey and help educate them and direct them through the purchasing process.
B2B & Late-Stage Buyer Cycle
If your business is more business-to-business (B2B), then you can still use infographics, e-books and case studies in the early part of a customer’s journey but use whitepapers in the later stages of the buyer cycle to convert those customers into clients.
Whitepapers are more formal and scholarly than regular infographics or e-books and limit the number of images to charts and diagrams if needed. Whitepapers are text heavy and useful for education on a specific topic or area of expertise. These can generate leads, publicize your company and products, and help you become the thought leader in your space.
Whitepapers are great for sharing technical knowledge and showing that your company is the formal expert in the space. You could state your positions on a certain topic or give your unique solutions to the problem. If your solution includes a service or product, you could write about the technical details of that solution in your whitepaper.
A Final Say on Whitepapers, Case Studies & Infographics
For B2B, whitepapers rule the later stages of a buying cycle. For B2C and any early-stage buyer cycle, whether its B2B or B2C, e-books, case-studies, and infographics are king.
If you’re not sure what to use, then try a combination of these content types to test what your target customer resonates with. For infographics, case-studies and whitepaper
creation, reach out to one of our content marketing specialists at The Archangel Group and we’ll help you out.
