According to TechTarget, close to one-third (31 percent) of white paper readers consider the papers they read to be valuable in making a purchase decision. If it’s been a while since you’ve written (or read) a white paper, you may find this surprising. But white papers are NOT dead.
By definition, a white paper is a detailed or authoritative report. In BtoB tech, white papers define a key problem that a target audience is facing, and present a solution to help them solve that problem.
This isn’t to say that every marketing campaign should offer a white paper or that all white papers are created equal. Poorly written white papers can be viewed as boring, too long or too technical. Good white paper are typically around seven pages in length. From a recent MarketingProfs U Marketing Writing Bootcamp, great white papers typically include:
- A compelling title – Focus on the audience (not your company) and sell the white paper to prospective readers. Be specific in what the white paper is about and clearly identify who it’s for.
- Introduction – Draw the reader in with an interesting or shocking fact. Similar to an executive summary, state the key benefits for the target audience and summarize the key challenges.
- Problem – Explore your audience’s pain points and provide content on current trends, market drivers and interesting statistics. As you set up the problem, discuss the risks of doing nothing or doing the wrong thing.
- Solution – Discuss the necessary elements of an effective solution. This is your chance to introduce your product/service as part of the solution and list the benefits of your proposed solution.
- List – Provide tips on what to look for in a solution and in a provider. You can also offer insights on next steps, best practices and more.
- Brief sales pitch – This should be no more than 20 percent of the full white paper. It’s also your chance to share how your product addresses the discussed issues, explain the benefits and include success stories.
- The call to action – Invite the reader to explore the topic or your solution further by asking them to: sign up for a free trial, watch a demo, view more content, or contact a sales rep. to learn more.
- See more at: http://arketi.com/blog/#sthash.omKVpAJb.dpuf
Mary Rose Macaranas is Account Coordinator at Arketi Group, an integrated marketing consultancy that helps business-to-business organizations generate revenue and accelerate growth through intelligent strategy, branding, marketing and public relations. To view all company blogs go to Arketi Group blog site.
