Everyone has heard the expression “Content is King.” Good content helps improve search engine optimization, educate prospects, generate qualified leads, position your company as experts and more. So what type of content actually is kingly, or king-like, or just king?

At the top of my list are white papers based on surveys. One of my clients, GlobalSpec, a specialty search engine for the industrial sector, regular conducts surveys of its registered user base — engineers, technical buyers and others who use its search engine. They ask questions about searching and buying patterns, how they locate information that’s important to their jobs, how the economy is affecting their work and so on. Then, they compile and analyze the results and publish a white paper that they push out to industrial suppliers they want to advertise on their Web site.

The target customers of these industrial suppliers are the respondents to the surveys. The information in the white paper is valuable to suppliers because it demonstrates how they can best reach out to these target customers and win their business. That’s the kind of educational content that drives sales.

Here’s an example of a recent white paper based on the survey: “2009 Economic Outlook Survey: How Industrial Companies can Succeed in the Current Economy.”

To execute this marketing tactic, you need to:

• Identify the audience you are going to survey and the audience you are writing the white paper for
• Create and conduct an effective survey
• Analyze the results
• Write a persuasive yet educational white paper
• Promote the white paper to your intended audience

It may seem like a lot, but it’s worth it.