Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams stated, “if you build it, he will come.” That might have worked in the movie, but “if you write it, they will read it,” doesn’t work with white papers.

The first step in getting someone to read your white paper is to determine who you are writing for.

This might sound obvious, but you probably don’t market to everyone. You want your readers to identify with your paper so they will read it all the way through. You don’t mention your company until the end, so having someone stop half way through is disappointing. The way to keep readers engaged to the very end is to identify your ideal client.

In the book Duct Tape Marketing, by John Jantsch, chapter 1 is titled “Identify Your Ideal Client.” Even before you determine your core marketing message or develop a logo, you need to determine your ideal client. Your core message and logo won’t resonate with customers if you don’t know who they are. The same holds true with white papers. Who is going to read your white paper? Will it be business executives or technicians? Are they part of large companies or smaller enterprises? Will the topic be familiar to readers or does your paper propose a new idea? All these questions are important to answer before you begin writing the paper.

The second step is to identify a problem or challenge that your ideal reader faces, and for which your product or service is the perfect solution. Read the rest of this entry »

What are white papers?

White papers are essentially persuasive essays written for the Business to Business (B2B) market. They give managers, executives, and other business leaders the needed justification to make required purchases.

White Papers are:

• Often called guides or reports
• Written for the B2B market
• Persuasive essays directed at decision makers
• 5-12 pages long
• Fact-based, using citations as appropriate

White Papers do:

• Focus on the needs of readers
• Begin by describing a problem your typical customers have
• Present generic solutions to the problem
• List criteria of what to look for in a solutions provider
• Highlight your company as the premier solutions provider

White Papers also:

• Establish trust in your products or services
• Give businesses the needed information to make purchases
• Educate and inform with information useful to the reader
• Contain mostly text with a limited use of graphics and/or pictures
• Do not generally use humor
• Shun hard sell tactics
• Are serious in tone, not humorous

White Papers are used to:

• Generate leads
• Close sales
• Establish your company a leader in your industry

The bulleted lists above give you a basic understanding of a seemingly simple document that is really very complex in all that it can accomplish.