How many times have you downloaded a white paper you thought would help you understand a particular subject better only to discover that you are now more frustrated and confused than when you started? Why is that some white papers hit the mark while others fall flat?
If you have been living in the marketing stone ages and still haven’t caught on to the power of white papers then you need to understand their power as an authoritative report or guide which helps readers to understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. I’ve read thousands of white papers over the last 20 years that range in size from 3 pages to over 30 (before the rise of eBooks) and tone from pure education to blatant self-serving sales pitch. Because of this, one request I field most often is what should my white paper contain to be effective. Put more simply:
What white paper development best practices would best help with viral acceptance of my offering?”
The best way to approach the answer to this question is separate the discussion into the following components:
- Target specific audience: start by segmenting your audience into functional areas. A typical path to failure is trying to address both business and technical audiences with one white paper, so targeting a specific audience with a specific white paper or series of white papers is superior to trying to serve all audiences with one white paper.
- Tone and design: Word-vomit is my number one gripe in reviewing whitepapers. Most people are attracted to aesthetically pleasing layouts (i.e. well designed websites or popular magazines) which tend to include the strategic use of headings and inset graphics or charts. The tone must be appropriate to the targeted audience, so business exec types will prefer heavy graphics and less text while tech-types will gravitate towards lots of charts with facts and/or architectural diagrams. My personal preference is to keep the final product to 3-5 pages total and offer a series of white papers for more content.
- Body content: It may seem trite but don’t forget to “Tell them what you will tell them; then tell them; then tell them what you told them”. Which is to say organize your content in such a way as to lead the reader on the journey of discovery through your white paper. It is imperative to write from the perspective of authoritative impartial observer and not come across as self-serving sales-driven.
- Call to action: People read white papers to become more familiar (read “educated” or “informed”) about a specific subject, but they are most impressionable once they have completed reading something they believe did hit the mark. Always provide some breadcrumbs (or specific direction) on where to go next.
Bottom line is that white papers are very subjective on what will ultimately work for your marketing needs and desired audience, so be prepared to experiment. Just remember it is better to start with a targeted audience and message and build a series instead of trying to fill every idea into a single offering.
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