Fact No.1 That We All Know: Providing free content such as whitepapers or research reports can be a great B2B lead generator.

Fact No.2 That We All Know: B2B marketers' inboxes are overloaded with daily free-content offers.

So, what's a content provider to do to stand out in the crowd? According to Susan Fantle at the B2BMarketingSmarts blog, a whole lot is riding on your headlines. Readers will want to download content, she says, "[o]nly if the headline catches their eye and their imagination."

She offers a few examples of what not to do when naming a whitepaper or report:

• "Unified Communications and Process Automation Combine to Maximize ROI"
• "Cover Your Assets with Desktop Managed Services"

While earnestly trying to convey information, these headlines "provide no intrigue, no big promise, no revelations, no specifics," Fantle argues. To be effective, a headline needs to instantly communicate what the piece contains, she says, in a way that will make the reader want to see more right away.

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