White Papers

Including Case Studies, Business Cases, Primers and more

A "White Paper" is a generic term for many kinds of longer, detailed documents, including case studies, business cases, product/service descriptions, position papers, backgrounders and primers, or other documents intended for an audience predisposed to read them because of their interests, position in the sales cycle or other relevant reason.

What's the Key to a Great White Paper?

White papers can help collect lead information, be used as leave behind documents during sales calls, or provide key impetus at other points thoroughout the sales cycle.  White papers range in style from informational to persuasive to relationship-building.

An informational paper might be used when the customer has requested detailed information to review, either in response to a marketing campaign or later in the sales cycle as part of their selection process.

A persuasive paper might be intended to expose the customer to certain opinions or perspectives on a technology or market issue.

A relationship-building paper is more generic and aims to provide the customer with value added information or education rather than anything specific about your company or products.  This helps to create brand awareness and preference as well as influencing their subsequent buying criteria.

Some of the types of documents that fall into this category include:

• Backgrounders and Primers
• Position Papers
• Product/Service Descriptions
• Case Studies
• Business Cases
• "Mock" Proposals
  

What's the key to a great white paper?

White papers can be difficult to use successfully.  The greatest challenge is their length:  because they tend to be longer documents they demand a lot from their audiences.

The most important question when writing a white paper is always "why should they care?".  Almost always, the answer is one of two possibilities.  Either the paper comes from a trusted source (meaning the reader has a strong relationship with your company already), or the paper is directly and immediately relevant to the reader's current situation.

Knowing which kind of paper you're writing is crucial, because they have very different styles and techniques.  Even more important is actually providing the benefit expected in both cases.  A great white paper (as opposed to a merely good one) leads the reader to get some kind of benefit or value, leaving them better off and with a better appreciation of your company.