CHECKLIST

How to make an effective whitepaper

WHITE PAPERS: A B2B MARKETING TOOL PAR EXCELLENCE

A white paper is a powerful B2B marketing tool. You can use it to show customers which expertise
is present in your company and it also offers excellent opportunities to collect leads. At least, if the white paper
is well structured and you really help the reader. Note: flat leads may be collected with bad content, but to build
trust and ultimately sell your product or service, good, reliable content is indispensable.

What is a whitepaper?
THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS:

An in-depth knowledge document. With a good whitepaper you demonstrate that your company has the
knowledge and expertise to deal with the client's problem or decision-making issue. That is the basis for
convincing potential customers that you are indeed the right partner.

Gives an answer to a specific problem or pressing question; the more concrete your story,
the greater the effect.

Tool for a specific target group to make the right choices. Which problem bothers
the target group and what decisions should they take? It goes without saying that
it is essential to know exactly who the target group is. So, you have to get to grips with that
target group and know what's really going on: sit on the customer's chair.

Objective, independent, non-commercial. Yes of course, in the end you want to promote your product or
sell service. In order to remain credible, it is important to ignore this wish (just for a moment).
You don't make a whitepaper for your company, but for your target group. A whitepaper imbued with a
commercial message is not credible.

Usually consists of a pdf of about 4 to 10 pages. If you want to collect leads, then you really need to
provide some information to avoid disappointment. Anyone entering their address details
for downloading a whitepaper, expect something valuable in return.

Always answer the following

questions before you start:
Why do you make a whitepaper?

Who is your target group?

What problem do you want to solve

or clarify?

How should the target group tackle this problem?

What is the result for the reader

after reading the white paper?

Purpose of a whitepaper:
Helping your reader solve a problem
or to take the right decisions.

Raise your company's profile in the market as

expert, well-informed B2B partner.

Collecting leads by means of downloads.

If your information is valuable enough,
people are willing to give their data.

A whitepaper is not...
... an advertorial or brochure to sell your business. By doing so,
you lose credibility very fast.

... a commercial means of selling your products.

There are many other methods for promoting this.

Structure of a good whitepaper

In general, the structure and design of a whitepaper is fairly standard, well-organised, and
without too much embellishment to avoid a commercial appearance. Again: know who your target group is
and adjust the layout accordingly.

A GOOD LAYOUT CAN LOOK LIKE THIS:

1.Front page
Full page image + header + subtitle
- Headline: a strong headline is crucial;
take a look at eight good tips here!
- Bottom head: 2 to 3 lines: what's the problem?
what solution is there, what can you/do you know when you use the
have you read the white paper?

2.Table of contents

3.Short summary
Explanation of the problem/question. What is it, what
is going on in the market, why is it a problem?
If necessary, a new survey may be carried out
or are an investigation.

4.Content
What solutions are there; elaborate with tips, pros and cons?
disadvantages, practical examples, manuals.
Tip: Always work with clear, clarifying instructions.
A tool can be to first
divide the content into several headings
and then to write the intermediate pieces one by one.

5.Short end-conclusion

6.Closure
Company name + logo + possibly a very short description of what your company
can contribute to the target group (a call-to-action).
A condition is that this is in line with the white paper,
contact details, links to additional information.

7.Page with sources

Complete the texts with informative visual material such as frames or graphs; these can be used in the
clarifying and strengthening information. Always frame the text with original images and
avoid the standard stock photos. Composing your own original images, for example, can be reasonably
simply in Canva.
Some examples:
The Content Creation Guide
(Pardot)

Fostering a data-driven culture

(The Economist/Tableau)

A few extra tips:

The term 'white paper' is not used in every industry.
Yet it is precisely such a
new term that can arouse curiosity! Or
simply don't call it a whitepaper when
you think that the term is not
appealing, but then speak, for example, of
a 'manual' or 'step-by-step plan'.

Research by The Economist shows that decision-makers

attach the greatest value to content that
simplifies and clarifies a complex problem.

Have an independent expert or a

customer tell the big story and stay at
the background.
Provide background information if necessary,
but be careful not to secretly promote your products or services.

SOURCE: www.vakmedianet.nl