It's too bad nobody's going to look at this because of the title (and because everyone here is trying to sell social music playlist apps at $10/mo to strangers on the Internet). This is a really tight, useful little post. Thanks for getting it up here.
It's definitely useful. Calls to action work wonders at the end of engaging content. You're essentially giving engaged readers a clear sign of what's next.
That being said, I have to disagree with the removal of the email boundary. Requiring a small bit of personal information will often lower conversion rates early on, but can often boost conversion rates later on in you sales funnel. It also gives you a great follow-thru communication channel.
Though I've never read a white paper, the general principle is sound. Give your product 0 barriers to entry, then ask for people to register, rather than asking upfront.
It was the specific calls-to-action that grabbed me; "circulate this to your peers" --- I've written probably close to 100 white papers now for various companies, and never thought to include that!
I wrote a lot of white papers before I thought of it. It's so obvious, but I missed it for a long time. I "discovered" it accidentally while profiling white paper readers. I wrote all the things I'd like them to do after reading. Having them give the white papers to others was in the top two - calling the author was #1. It seemed like an easy request...the rest, as they say, is history :-)
I have to disagree with the suggestion to NOT ask for registration> I think that you'll get much more response if you feature a white paper that people want to read so badly that they'll register up front. Then anything that they do with the call-to-action at the end (which you should be all means include) is gravy.
It's a good debate. And even better test. It's something marketers should test and run with what gets the best result - most likely measured by lead quality, volume, and sales.
I wish I had the link for you now, but I read an article at one point by a guy who made those websites that get you to opt-in to a horoscope subscrption to your phone.
His finidings through testing were that when he requested a zip code up front, his initial click-through rates were lower, but his response rates on the back end were much higher. It turned out that people who gave a little information up front were much more likely to give a lot more later on. It really boils down to trust.
With regards to the "forward this to a colleague" call to action: this works great for (some!) B2C promotions, too. I often include it at the end of my customer-oriented linkbait: if you have a friend, colleague, or family member who you think would like this, please, feel free to tell them about it! (Works especially well when I'm handing out free things. People rarely feel the need to send sales letters to Aunt Emma.)
And, since my customers are not exactly technophiles, I tell them how to make a link on their blog or website. (If you decide to tell Aunt Emma about my free [christmas bingo cards] via the family blog, or to send it home to all the parents via the classroom website, I win at SEO. All very, very aboveboard, too.)
Given the value of one additional link (high) and the cost of one additional visitor (less than nil), you can do VERY profitable marketing this way even with a 1k or 10k : 1 ratio of visitors to linkers. (Which are, sadly, common in my demographic.)
Thanks to all for the kind words and thoughts. The calls to action are effective, more so if you really pour yourself into everything that proceeds - not writing a fluff piece, but offering something of real value. Treating the reader like they're already a customer.
I'm sure all of you already know this, but when I use the term white paper in the context of this post, it equally applies to case studies, guides, reports, etc. I use this tactic in all such doscuments I write and consistently find it effective.
