What Is a White Paper and Why Are They Used in Marketing?
What Were the First White Papers?
The first ever white papers were believed to be those produced by governments. These were documents designed to clearly describe a problem and then provide a detailed explanation of how to the problem should be solved.
Some historians believe that Winston Churchill may have introduced the white paper in the 1920s, with the name deriving from the colour of the cover. A white cover in UK government meant ‘suitable for public distribution.’
How Are White Papers Used in Marketing?
In the early 1990s, marketing coined the term to describe its own version of the white paper, to be used as a way of persuading buyers to choose their products or services.
At its heart, the marketing white paper remains a document that includes a description of a problem and then an explanation of how the problem is to be solved.
As it also has a commercial purpose, the solution described will support the methodology or the approach of the company that is publishing the white paper.
What Is the Goal of a Marketing White Paper?
The goal of the white paper is to convince a specified audience that your solution is the most appropriate way of solving a problem that they have. If this is successful, members of this audience will become leads for your sales team to have further conversations with.
Why Are White Papers Important?
According to an article by FT Longitude, 62% of decision-makers request calls or meetings with companies that produce high-quality thought leadership content. 8 in 10 will happily provide their details to download such reports. It concludes, “If you’re looking to target these higher quality leads, a white paper is an excellent place to start.”
However, a well-written white paper will also provide the springboard to create other associated pieces of content for your marketing team.
It should provoke discussion, so you can ask readers to provide their views, perhaps as part of a video interview. White papers can be broken down into smaller segments, for release as articles on a blog or website. They can provide the basis for infographics, as well as offering content that can be promoted on channels such as LinkedIn or other social media.
It means that they are at the heart of most B2B content strategies, but it also means they must be well crafted and suitable for the audience to make an impact.
What Topics Should Be Covered in a White Paper?
A white paper must appeal to its readership, so it goes without saying that precisely defining the audience that you wish to target is key. This should be the very first part of your research when initiating a white paper project.
How Do You Define the Audience for a White Paper?
Fortunately, most B2B companies already have a specific buyer for their solution in mind, which is a great starting point.
However, many companies target different types of buyer, perhaps in different industry sectors, within different functions or at various levels within an organization. These are called personas.
You will need to understand exactly which audience subset, or persona, you are appealing to with your content. If it is a C-level executive, for example, then the white paper may focus on more conceptual aspects of a problem and how it can be solved. If it is a buyer who is heavily involved in the implementation of a solution, then the white paper may be more technically focused.
Getting this balance right is key to the success of a white paper, which is why defining the precise audience is so important as the first step.
How Do You Decide Which Topics To Cover?
Once you have a precise view of your audience, it is then possible to understand more about what motivates them and what they will find interesting. The nature of the business for whom you are writing will provide the basis of the subject matter, however how that subject matter is presented to a target audience should relate to issues that are top of mind for them.
Again, research is the key. This next phase of research is crucial to understanding how you are going to frame the story of your white paper for your audience.
What Does Audience Research Include?
It is advisable to find out the publications and media that your target audience is reading or following and make a note of the current themes and issues, particularly those that relate to your subject matter and review how they are being talked about – the questions being asked, and the type of language or terminologies being used.
When reviewing social media channels in particular, make a note of the job titles that are specifically interested in the associated themes and issues.
You may wish to approach some specific influencers or individuals who are especially vocal about the topic to include in direct research later, so make a note of any company or personal information that will be useful. These will be a part of your group of subject matter experts, whose views you may wish to incorporate.
The publications, blogs, articles, or videos that you discover here will also provide a basis for finding quotations or other supporting evidence when writing up your white paper.
How To Ensure Your White Paper Is Compelling for the Audience
There are two main ingredients here – choosing a topic or theme that the audience cares about and saying something new about that topic.
Once you have clarity on the issues and topics that are important to your audience, you should use the information to define the objective of what your audience should achieve in reading your white paper.
Do you want your white paper to educate the audience, is it aimed at making them better or more efficient in their jobs, or is it going to ask them to stop a certain approach and consider another?
Depending on the subject matter and how it relates to the themes uncovered in the second phase of research, you will find that a certain tone or approach will be more appropriate than others.
For example, if your subject matter seems new to the audience, then a descriptive and educational tone might be most appropriate.
If it seems that your subject matter is well-understood but that your approach as a company needs highlighting, then the white paper is likely to benefit more from a consultative style of approach that builds on established knowledge.
If the subject matter is well understood but not being tackled well, then you may adopt a more confrontational tone when presenting your argument in the white paper.
In order to say something new about the topic, a successful white paper will utilize a combination of subject matter experts and first-hand, evidence-based research to add to the conversation.
What Types of White Paper Are There?
There are many types, but white papers broadly fit into a couple of categories.
They may be conceptual, whereby you are making the case for a new way of approaching an existing problem; they may be technical, in which you are describing a new technological or technical solution to a problem; or they may be data-driven, in which you wish to present the results of first-hand research (perhaps data generated by your own organization), or results of a survey, for example. They can be a combination of these.
The crucial factor is, to be successful, the white paper must say something new about a topic in a considered and constructive way.
Therefore, if you are writing a conceptual or technical piece, consider how you could bring in data-led insights. Should you consider a survey, a mini-poll, or another data-driven exercise to support your argument? Or are you going to initiate a program of research to capture first-hand anecdotal feedback from subject matter experts to help make your case?
The answers to these questions should become clear during this phase of research, while also helping to define the structure and style of language you should use.
If there’s nothing new to say, or no original research that can be undertaken, it is worth stopping at this point to assess whether a white paper is the right fit for what you are looking to achieve. Otherwise, there could be considerable effort and resources applied to an output that is unlikely to perform especially well.
Getting Started
In summary then, you should:
- Decide what you need to do to provide something new to the conversation, and how to back up your claims with market-based evidence
- Define your audience clearly
- Formulate a view on the topics and themes that are of interest to them and how it relates to your subject matter
- Make a note of subject matter experts, influencers and other interested parties
