These days, companies are eager to minimize the costs of creating and distributing collateral - brochures, white papers, article reprints, etc. - so when planning a lead generation campaign, one of the first questions that clients ask is: "Just how good does the offer have to be in order to get people to respond?"

The answer is: better than you think. Only a few short years ago, successful campaigns required information offers that amounted to little more than a brochure and a white paper. Nowadays, that kind of offer is woefully insufficient, for two main reasons:

• the Web has made white papers and brochures so easily accessible that a very simple information offer is likely to be perceived as something the reader can download anonymously off your Web site. Today's offers need to be unique and compelling in a way that transcends the typical information that someone can find on the average corporate site.

• face it: most prospects aren't in buying mode. In order to attract the larger universe of prospects who may not perceive an immediate need, but nonetheless are experiencing the pain that your company can solve, you need to include content that delivers real information on how to solve that problem, not just hype on what makes your product or service so great.

1. A well-written, "business case"-type white paper, not necessarily written by an independent third party, but one that focuses on a particular solution, category or approach, rather than your specific product or service. (For further discussion, see: http://www.connectdirect.com/tips/hs199912.html)

2. Some kind of third party validation of your message, preferably either a press review of your product or company, or an analyst's report on your product category.

3. A real-life case study or success story highlighting your product or service and the ROI your client was able to demonstrate.

4. Information on your product or service.

5. Some kind of multimedia presentation - either a demo or trial CD, a Flash presentation about your product or company, a series of video testimonials, anything that helps "spice up" the offer. (Almost regardless of content, CDs and other multimedia offers almost always improve response dramatically.)