I'm working on developing lead warming campaigns for my company. Anyone have any tips for using white papers for lead follow-up?

Jenn, Thanks for the post. In your opinion, should images (even single images) be banned from nurturing emails?

Your points are very valid and true. We've written a ton of white papers for clients and the number one rule of persuasive writing: educate before you sell. The more value you provide by educating people the more likely they convert. It's all about the rule of reciprosity.  
 
BTW - love the spam image. Used it on a blog post a while ago. It's a classic! 
 
Ryan

We have an ongoing debate of whether to have all nurture, lead pursuit and drip marketing emails come from one person or is it ok to have all come from one person but have drip marketing come from one of our thought leaders (but have reply-to come from same as above). Any suggestions?

Dan - Not to sound cliche, but you should check out a white paper we wrong on Launching White Papers Like Products. The technique got us some fantastic results - nearly 6 figures in marketing reach from a single white paper.  
 
Here's a case study that was written about it on Mike Stelzner's white paper site: 
http://www.whitepapersource.com/case-studies/case-study-educational-white-papers-get-results/ 
 
 
http://www.smartbugmedia.com/7-tactics-to-boosting-white-paper-performance/ 
 
And here is the link to our paper that shares how we did it. Since your in the biz, we'd love to hear your feedback. 
 
 
Ryan

Great comments here! 
 
@Dan, You can use your existing white papers as offers that give people an opportunity to reconvert. Go ahead and put in a call to action to one of them in your nurturing campaign. 
 
@Thomas, I don't mind a company logo or something like that, but people get really carried away with images sometimes, which is really a turn-off! 
 
@John, You don't have to always have email come from the same person. It's nice to have it come from someone and give it a personal touch. I personally don't like a different reply-to address, but that's my personal opinion :).

Great post. I believe plain text e-mails that provide a user or recipient with value are more effective than HTML e-mails that over utilize images and hard selling techniques.

Jenn- 
 
 
 
I use sarcasm as well, so to me, this was hilarious. 
 
 
 
You sure know how to write, funny, with a great message. 
 
 
 
I just watched a webinar on newsletters by Melissa Galt the other day. This really compliments what she was talking about. 
 
 
 
Provide value. That is THE common piece of advice I get from everyone I would consider successful, in any business, online or offline, in all aspects of every business. 
 
 
 
Whether you are making a website, tweaking your SEO, generating traffic, writing a newsletter, and every other aspect of all businesses, if you are not providing value, you are in trouble, and in my opinion, you deserve it. 
 
 
 
When I'm watching sports, I root for the underdog. But in business, I like it when the good guys, and gals, win. 
 
 
 
Customers pay our paychecks. If you were a customer, what would you search for? What problems would you need a solution to? What questions would you need answered? How would you want to be treated? 
 
 
 
If you can answer these questions, and answer them for your customers, you will win. 
 
 
 
Thank You- 
 
 
 
Matthew Zinda

Loved this blog post. 
 
 
 
Made me smile because it is so easy to "slip into" the canned, hacked email mode.  
 
 
 
It's hard to put personality and value into an email. Especially on a regular basis. 
 
 
 
Thanks for bringing this out to attention.

In the B2B sphere, buyers are more hesitant than ever to click on an offer of a "white paper" because they know what will surely follow: a lame, intrusive cold call from the issuer. Best bet: send your prospects the kind of stuff YOU would like to receive: tips on how to make your business life simpler, easier, more profitable, less stressful, more rewarding, etc. No mystery here.

Using your previous blog posts in your lead nurturing campaign is a simple way to provide value to your prospects. 
 
Mark