What is a White Paper?
If you're in business particularly in the technology or IT field, then it's likely you've heard of White Papers.
White Papers have been around for some time time and it's thought they evolved from the "White Book", originally used by National Governments to communicate policies and address political issues.
However, in today's business world, many organisations use them to educate ad inform prospects of the benefits of their products or services.
The name "White Paper", while appropriate for some business types can also be known by other variations of the term such as e Books, Reports or Guides. It really just depends on the audience you're marketing to.
In essence, a White Paper combines the education al content of an article intermingled with soft sell messages typically found in a company brochure.
Why use White Papers?
Businesses use White Papers to lead prospects through the sales cycle by demonstrating how their product can provide a solution to an existing or potential problem. They're often given away as a Free Report on a website or presented to a prospect during or after a sales presentation.
Depending on the product and target audience, White Papers can be quite complex, full of product specifications and statistics. On the other hand they can take the form of a simple "How to" guide which demonstrates how the company's products or service can help solve a particular problem.
It depends entirely on the objective of the paper and the intended reader.
Who can use White Papers?
Anyone in business can benefit from writing a White Paper, e Report or a "How to" Guide.
in fact, lots of different professions and industries are capitalising on the popularity of these documents. From service professionals to IT specialists, equipment manufacturers to medical suppliers and people in the trades and services - everyone can and should add one of these valuable tools to their marketing arsenal.
How long is a White Paper?
White Papers are typically around 5 - 12 pages long and often presented as a PDF document can be easily printed or emailed by sellers or downloaded from a website by interested parties.
Write a White Paper if you want to:
- Raise your business profile amongst your audience
- Become a thought leader in your profession or industry
- Educate and inform your audience of the benefits of doing business with you
- Provide useful information that you know your prospects will benefit from
- Sell more of your products or services
- Increase your website ranking by writing on topics that people are searching for on the web
How do I write a White Paper?
Just like other marketing materials, White Papers benefit from being written in accordance with a specific style and format and they do take some time to put together.
And if you choose to hire a Copywriter to write a White Paper for you, expect to pay a fair price.
After all, there's a great deal of research that goes into writing a document of this calibre.
How can I find more information about White Papers?
Just Google the term "White Paper" and you'll be bound to find lots of information about them as well as some handy examples.
A good book I can recommend is Michael Stelzner's "Writing White Papers". He's the leading authority on this subject.
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