Marketing professionals who want to develop a white paper for their company may find it confusing given the wide variations in definitions of whitepapers between industries.
A legislative document outlining and endorsing a specific political solution is the term used in politics in the past.
Even a business whitepaper can be utilized for a range of purposes and target markets, some of which are more product-focused than others. Although it is organized similarly to an ebook, the two are written very differently.
We are here to provide you with the greatest explanation of a whitepaper in the business environment as well as advice on how to make one. This article covers: What is a white paper?, How should a whitepaper be written? as well as some White Paper samples.
What Is a White Paper?
A whitepaper is an authoritative, in-depth report that presents a problem and offers a solution on a particular subject.
Marketers create white papers to educate their audience on a certain subject or explain and advocate a particular methodology. These are sophisticated problem-solving manuals. Whitepapers are excellent for generating leads because they typically require more information than just an email address in order to download them.
What Isn’t a White Paper?
A product pitch.
A white paper, according to Investopedia, is “an informational document released by a company to promote or highlight the characteristics of a solution, product, or service,” but you should be aware that openly pitching your own products to readers may alienate them.
The purpose of a whitepaper is to enlighten and persuade based on facts and data, not tell the world why people need to buy your product right now.
Blog Posts and Ebooks
A whitepaper is not your only option if you’re seeking for a quick and engaging way to communicate your value to the industry. There are also ebooks and blog entries, both of which differ from whitepapers in a number of ways.
The differences in each product’s size, look, and time commitment is what actually set them distinct. A solid whitepaper can take between a few weeks and a few months to write and polish, but publishing blog articles and ebooks might take anything from a few hours to a few weeks. Compared to blog articles and ebooks, they are less showy, far more serious in tone, and include deeper research.
Whitepapers and e-books can both begin with the same template. Whitepapers, however, are essentially research papers on marketing content. Readers anticipate a high level of knowledge supported by reliable research that is fully referenced.
Ebooks, on the other hand, are frequently a continuation of a subject you frequently blog about. When breaking down a business topic, they can result from careful research but they can appeal to a wider audience.
While most people don’t really want to read whitepapers, they do it nevertheless to increase their understanding of an operation they need more insight on before making their next move, thus you can guess this makes them sort of boring in comparison.
For this reason, they tend to be very extensive and instructive, authoritative, and produced by industry specialists. And some decision-makers may feel more positive about a future purchase as a result of these traits.
What Makes a Good White Paper?
Theoretically, whitepapers don’t need to meet any minimum standards. Anything can be referred to as a “whitepaper,” but that doesn’t mean you should. Without clear guidelines on what constitutes and does not constitute a whitepaper, we run the danger of losing credibility and misleading our readers. This is an example of an A+ whitepaper:
- Length: Six pages in all, with references, charts, and images. can reach 50 if the subject calls for that much depth.
- Structure: The typical structure includes a title page, table of contents, a brief executive summary (optional but helpful), an introduction, several pages that inform the reader about the issue, several pages that propose a solution, several pages that provide an example of a business that used the proposed solution to produce results, and several pages that offer a conclusion.
- Density: Denser than an ebook. White Papers are typically difficult to skim; in fact, readers often need to read them more than once to extract all of the information from them.
- Format: PDF in portrait orientation (8.5″ by 11″).
- Style: serious, expert, well-written, and well-edited. To design the page layout, graphics, fonts, and colors as well, I’d suggest employing a graphic designer.
How to Write a Whitepaper?
1. Find the Problems your audience is facing.
Despite the fact that you are a subject matter expert in a unique position to create content, you must take your audience and what is happening in their life into account. You’ll be better able to develop demand for your whitepaper if you create one that answers (and solves) their demands.
Consider developing a buyer persona to do this. You can put yourself in their situation by engaging in this activity. Then, you should think about the knowledge that would appeal to them, how they would use it, and how it would alleviate their suffering or difficulty.
2. Do proper research.
White Papers are informational by nature, so you should think about how to give your audience knowledge they can’t find anywhere else. This is possible by:
- Doing proper study or survey
- Assembling distinctive case studies
- Describing a special procedure or project
If you are unable to conduct your own research, consider obtaining statistics from survey companies and/or government agencies and conducting an original analysis of them (and make sure you cite your sources).
3. Create an outline
Given the length of a whitepaper, an outline can assist you to keep your ideas organized. Think about outlining your subject using the following structure:
i. Introduction and Synopsis
The topic of the whitepaper is introduced, along with the audience’s perspective on why it is essential and what the whitepaper aims to accomplish, communicate, or solve.
ii. Overview
Defining a few of the major terms you plan to use, outlining the relevant variables or parameters, and summarize your main points.
iii. Body
laying out every important detail and highlight you’ll cover.
iv. Conclusion
Highlighting the main points of the body and any recommendations for the reader’s actions.
4. Write down your outline and give it more detail.
Use the outline as a guide as you start to elaborate on your thoughts in an informative and fact-based manner. Each paragraph should also advance the article’s main objective.
5. To help you describe your points, use visuals.
Visuals like charts, graphs, and tables can help you present information in a visually attractive way and make the paper easier to read because whitepapers go deeply into research and analysis.
6. Get feedback.
It’s crucial to give your readers the finest article you can. Your credibility with your audience will increase as it becomes better. Get input from a reliable source to identify any typos or other readability difficulties.
7. Work on formatting and design.
Although it’s not necessary to go overboard, appealing whitepapers often feature color, layout, and graphics.
A Few Good Examples of Whitepaper
Here are some more recent examples of whitepapers that are exemplary of excellent white paper execution (and why) to serve as further inspiration:
1. It’s Not You, It’s My Data, Custora
This whitepaper was produced by Custora to discuss customer churn, its importance, and how to avoid it. This booklet is fantastic since it promises the reader tangible value (revenue savings from minimizing attrition), supported by a plethora of information and helpful guidance. Even more, the whitepaper is stylish and appealing, making reading enjoyable. This makes it easier for the reader to consume long-form content.
2. Google Cloud’s AI Adoption Framework, Google
This whitepaper uses Google’s influence to influence the reader to use AI. Google hopes to give the reader the tools to consider the power of AI as it can be used in their business by outlining a methodology at the outset. The whitepaper then delves deeper into more technical details for knowledgeable readers.
3. Employees and Cybersecurity, Excedeo
Excedo attempts to raise awareness about the security threats that poorly trained staff may unwittingly present to firms. The whitepaper promotes the kinds of internal IT regulations and education that are necessary for modern society.
4. Not Another State of Marketing Report, HubSpot
Every year, HubSpot does a fantastic job of assembling information from professionals and partners to express current trends in the marketing industry. Marketers can produce marketing and sales content using the facts, and they can also learn from the macro shifts taking place in the sector. This information is presented in the whitepaper using eye-catching visuals, succinct editorial summaries, and links to in-depth articles on each subject.
Whitepapers have a lengthy history, and their applications have evolved over time. Be sure to assess whether or not a whitepaper will genuinely assist your audience before investing in the months-long process to develop it. An ebook will suffice on occasion. On the other hand, your content strategy should include long-form educational content.
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By SEO
- Mar 23, 2023
By SEO
