10 Best Practices For Writing An Effective White Paper

By Author: Steve Hoffman
Total Articles: 2
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1. Don't make the white paper too long (or too short). A happy medium of 8-10 pages including illustrations (about 3000 words) provides sufficient space to cover a complex subject area in a readable length for most audiences.

2. Use the third person in the white paper. While the pronouns I and we (first person) or you and your (second person) may seem friendly in a white paper at first blush, they are inconsistent with the expectation of credible, objective information.

3. Refrain from including marketing information about your product or service throughout the white paper. In most cases, the goal of a white paper is to provide unbiased, objective information to educate and inform a target audience, and to demonstrate thought leadership. Marketing collateral is the best place for marketing language.

4. Address business and technical audiences in separate white papers. Business and technical audiences struggle with significantly different challenges, and seek quite different information about solutions.

5. Stick with the facts; avoid posing strong opinions or specifying required courses of ...
... action in a white paper. Stating facts rather than offering opinions, describing options and alternatives, and factually explaining the likely ramifications of various actions is likely to resonate better with the information seekers that read white papers.

6. Motivate readers by providing useful information -- not by instilling fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Most business and technical decision makers do not operate based on these emotions. Instead, they typically evaluate options to implement sound decisions, especially in situations with significant financial implications.

7. Include third-party information. By synthesizing related information from various third-part sources on a particular topic, a white paper can be a powerful resource for readers.

8. Consider the option of outsourcing white paper development. White paper development quality usually suffers when in-house personnel try to find time in their busy schedules to develop the paper while continuing to perform their existing duties.

9. Consider hiring an agency, rather than a freelancer, to write your white papers. Freelance writers can produce high-quality work and may be fairly inexpensive, but they lack the strategic advantages of agencies. Agencies usually employ multiple writers, thereby mitigating risk, providing broader coverage, and offering faster response times when business conditions call for quick action.

10. Don't try to find a subject matter expert to write your white papers. Effective white paper writers have proven time and time again that the demonstrated abilities to review and quickly synthesize complex information from various sources, conduct efficient interviews, develop a concise outline, draft a compelling paper, and efficiently incorporate comments are more important to white paper creation than prior knowledge in a specific subject area.

Special Bonus: Get the most out of your white papers; use them to inform other audiences too. Organizations can use white papers to educate and inform a broad array of secondary audiences, including employees (e.g., sales forces, executives, legal personnel, and HR personnel), potential employees, contractors (e.g., PR firms, ad agencies), regulatory personnel, the media, analysts, and partners, including resellers, recruiters, suppliers, and investors.

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