In recent weeks, several freelance writers have told us their ghostwriting work in producing white papers, articles and custom publications for IT companies is drying up.
I’m not surprised, and it’s no reflection on the skills of these writers. In my mind the downturn has to do with the way publishers of the material – the IT vendors -- address the quality of the ideas in their publications. The vast majority of the articles I’ve read over the years are superficial, vague, jargon-filled, and evidence-free (i.e., very few identify customers that have benefited from their technology). I can’t imagine these articles generate many leads.
If they did, why are budgets for them apparently being slashed today?
To be sure, custom publishing nonetheless remains a big business in the U.S. IT vendors publish hundreds of white papers every year. And in 2008, business-to-business marketers in the U.S. will spend an estimated 30% of their marketing budgets on “custom content” (email newsletters, white papers, customer case studies, blogs, etc.), according to a March study by Junta42 and BtoB magazine. (To see the details, go here: http://www.junta42.com/resources/Business_to_Business_Custom_Publishing_Research/)
Technology vendors do need to tell their target customers that their products have value. They do need to provide evidence that they understand the operations of their customers' business that their technology improves. But they need to do so in a convincing way.
I’d love to hear from the community that produces these publications – the ghostwriters, marketers, PR agencies, IT research companies and computer publishing firms (or anyone else involved in this business). Is your business off? What do you think of the product you’re producing? Does it generate quality leads? How would you improve it?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment