“White paper” (or “whitepaper”) is a term that has come to mean anything from a glossy business brochure to an academic report. While the term was originally used to refer to an official government report, it’s now often used in a marketing context.
To create a white paper that will benefit your business or organization, first establish your primary goals for the document and decide how you will promote the white paper to your audience.
Goals
Who are you hoping to reach with this white paper? Be specific. If you are writing for a business audience, are you hoping to reach the C-suite or someone with purchasing power in a given department? If you are writing for individuals, what do you want them to do? Do you want them to purchase a product, sign up for a service or advocate a position?
Perhaps you are not looking for a specific action from readers now, but want to establish your credibility in your field. Your white paper should provide educational content.
No matter what type of white paper you create, make it visually appealing. Use images to market your brand or use graphs to visually represent your data as suits the format, but be sure to tell a story about your findings and solutions no matter what.
Photo by Locus Research
Promote your White Paper
If you’ve written a white paper that contains new research, pitch your findings to reporters. Distribute a press release. You may even choose to host an event for others in your field promoting the findings, which provides another opportunity to share your research with the media.
When you’ve written a promotional white paper hoping to generate sales leads, leverage your own social media to find readers. Promote the piece with tweets, and posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and your company blog.
Get your white paper into the right hands by distributing it on your website and at trade shows or industry events. You may also include it in enewsletters or even send paper copies to select business prospects.
______
Use these research resources when writing white papers for your business.
