After you write a white paper, the next step involves making sure that key decision-makers read it. Building some "buzz" around your white paper positions you as an expert and helps you reach as many readers as possible. Try some of the following tactics to promote your white paper. These ideas are helpful both to introduce a new paper and also to leverage its content months after the initial publication date.

Link It

After finalizing your white paper, post it on your web site. Encourage readers to complete a fast online form to receive a free copy of the paper—an excellent way to gather leads. You need the paper posted on your web site as a link for various, other promotions, so accomplish this step first.

Blog On

Blogs are an excellent way to promote your white paper. If you are blogging on a topic and have written a white paper that relates to it, insert a link to the paper hosted on your web site. Better yet—extract several relevant topics or mentions from the paper and insert them as blog comments so you can link directly back to the white paper.

Post Your Paper

There are plenty of online venues where you can post your white paper. Subscription-based services such as TechTarget’s BitPipe, KnowledgeStorm, and TMCNet provide an online library of IT white papers, webcasts, and product information for review. Papers are grouped by topic and/or industry. ZDNet offers a free service that allows you to submit your white paper for inclusion in a vast library of free, IT white papers, webcasts, and case studies. FindWhitePapers.com is an additional free service, and there are others.

Hand It Out

Print hard copies of your white papers to hand out at trade shows and conferences. Make sure copies of your white paper are distributed to the press room at the show to encourage reporters to schedule an interview with you.

Share with Social Networks

Develop a custom Twitter background containing a thumbnail image of your white paper’s cover page and include a visual URL. Twitter backgrounds are graphics, so you cannot link to the paper but you can suggest a download from your web site. In Facebook, send a white paper to your "fans" or include a link to the white paper on your Facebook fan page or on your personal profile. You can also use the Notes feature in Facebook to paste in HTML formatted content, such as your white paper’s landing page on your web site. LinkedIn offers a free application that allows you to post white papers and other files and then display them on your profile.

Send Email

For email promotion, consider third party, opt-in email list rentals to promote your white paper. For example, choose a relevant list and send an emailer offering a free copy of the paper. With emailers, you can insert a call to action, requesting readers to "click here" for a copy of the paper. You can also collect information from readers using a web form for later follow-up and you can even set up the white paper to be sent automatically by email. Or print a postcard and suggest your readers download a free copy of the paper by registering online.

Promote in Your e-Zine

When you release a new white paper, promote it in your company’s e-newsletter or e-zine. Extract a few tips or quotes to entice readers then request they send an email or complete a simple form for a complete copy of the paper.

Capture on Video

Create an online presentation based on the content in your printed white paper. If, for example, your white paper describes a new technology or methodology, use video to demonstrate how it works. You can then post the video link in a prominent position on your web site or submit it to YouTube.

Send a Press Release

For papers that offer newsworthy content, consider writing and distributing a press release that describes the main objective and message of your paper. Papers that disseminate valuable information to your clients may justify press attention, and press releases offer the added benefit of being indexed by search engines once they are posted online. Some press release distribution firms, such as PR Web, include Google indexing in the fee that you pay for distribution. If Google picks up the release, it may be read by anyone who searches on relevant keyword terms that link back to the paper. In this instance, it is particularly important to make sure you optimize the press release for relevant keywords in the white paper.

Reposition as an Article

To ensure you maximize the impact of your white paper, use your white paper to attract the attention of a key trade journal or magazine editor. Send the paper to the editor for review and suggest they repurpose it as an article for their publication. Editors are often thrilled to receive a new story idea, and your paper is exposed to hundreds or thousands of new readers.

These are just a few ideas to ensure that your white paper receives the attention it deserves.