How to Write a Successful Whitepaper
Originally stemming from politics, the "Weißbuch" – in modern terms: Whitepaper – has recently become a public relations tool that provides an overview of a company's services, standards, and techniques. Whitepapers differ from conventional advertising formats not only in their scope but also in their concrete utility. However, experience shows that a lot of "garbage" is produced, even though the requirements for a whitepaper are fundamentally easy to follow.
The term Weißbuch originated with the British government, and many refer to the Churchill Whitepaper of 1922 as the earliest known example under this name: It presented the government's position regarding the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which Britain agreed with the Zionist aim of establishing a "national home" for the Jewish people in Palestine.
Generally speaking, whitepapers in politics represent a way for the government to present political preferences before proceeding to legislation. Publishing a whitepaper tests public opinion on controversial political issues and helps the government better assess their likely impacts.
Since the early 1990s, the term "Weißbuch" has increasingly been applied to documents used as marketing or sales tools in business. These whitepapers are long-form content used to promote a specific company's products or services. As a marketing tool, these papers use selected facts and logical arguments to create a case favorable to the company supporting the document.
Among other things, whitepapers are used to attract sales leads, disseminate thought leadership, explore new business areas, or inform and persuade potential customers, channel partners, journalists, analysts, or investors. They can also present research findings, list a series of questions or tips on a specific business issue, or highlight a particular product or service from a provider.
Different Types of Whitepapers
Essentially, there are three main types of commercial whitepapers:
Backgrounder: The backgrounder describes the technical or business benefits of an offering, product, service, or methodology. This type of whitepaper is used to supplement a product launch, explain a business case, or disseminate a technical evaluation.
Numbered List: Such a list presents a series of tips, questions, or points about a specific topic. This type of whitepaper is ideally used to capture attention with new or provocative views, or to take a critical look at the competition – keyword: FUD (short for: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, a communication strategy aimed at creating insecurity or deterrence).
Problem-Solution: The problem-solution whitepaper recommends a new, improved solution for an existing business problem. This type is typically used to generate leads at the top of the sales funnel, inform about the new in-house strategy, and convince stakeholders.
What to Consider When Writing
Whether a whitepaper is intended to serve as a case study, market study, technical study, research and survey study, description of use cases, training material, guide, or strategy analysis – the rules for creation apply universally.
Title and Pretext: Titles and teasers are crucial because they often determine how deeply a potential reader will engage with the text. The headline should not promise anything it cannot deliver. The teaser should answer all the W-questions, provide a meaningful summary, and offer an outlook on the topic.
Numbered List: Such a list presents a series of tips, questions, or points about a specific topic. This type of whitepaper is ideally used to capture attention with new or provocative views, or to take a critical look at the competition – keyword: FUD (short for: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, a communication strategy aimed at creating insecurity or deterrence).
Red Thread: The success formula is: the more focused, the better. Define the topic and target audience in advance. Those who succinctly outline the problem will find it easier to demonstrate concrete solutions and assess them correctly. It is, of course, allowed and desired to highlight details and venture into a certain depth of presentation – naturally with the proviso of considering the limited scope of the document.
Layout: Images, statistics, and subheadings not only help to sensibly structure whitepapers but also provide additional information for the reader and support the arguments presented. However, as a rule of thumb (especially with images): Less is sometimes more.
Expected Impact
Why write whitepapers at all? Decision-makers are constantly searching for solutions or arguments to justify their decisions. Through whitepapers, companies have the opportunity to share their positive experiences and engage in dialogue with decision-makers. Those who continuously inform without overwhelming establish a connection to the market and disseminate what they consider "expertise".
Advertising always addresses an acute need – whitepapers are more enduring. They are reports or guides that succinctly inform the reader about a complex issue and present the company's philosophy on the matter. A whitepaper should help readers understand a problem, solve a problem, or make a decision. It should convince customers and partners, promote a product or a standpoint. Those who understand how to depict all this will benefit from the "advertising format without advertising" – as whitepapers are also called.
