The best way to Write White Papers Prospects Need [Templates + Examples]

What Does A White Paper Look Like?

Your white paper must be simple to navigate. Sections ought to naturally lead into one another. Use formatting to make your white paper skimmable, and graphics to attract consideration to the important thing factors you’re making.

Listed here are the important thing parts white papers usually have:

1. Title web page
2. Desk of contents
3. Govt abstract
4. Introduction
5. Sections and subsections
6. Graphics, charts, and/or sidebars
7. One-pagers
8. About your organization
9. References

Align Your White Paper To Strategic Enterprise Values

1. Know Your Viewers

“Write for pay scale, not demographics.” That is what Jimmy Daly, co-founder of Superpath, wrote in an Animalz article. Pay scales outline how tactical or strategic the knowledge must be to enchantment to your goal reader:

Which means your goal reader wants several types of info throughout the identical subject relying on whether or not they’re a pacesetter or an implementer. Leaders want technique and frameworks to suppose inside, whereas implementers want hands-on ways and instructions.

To be taught extra about your audience, we advocate studying:

1. The best way to Discover Your Goal Viewers
2. The best way to Create a Advertising and marketing Persona

2. Know Your Enterprise Experience & Strengths

White papers are a type of thought management — content material that positions your enterprise as a good supply in your trade. They provide the probability to spotlight your strengths.

However, how are you aware what topic areas your enterprise excels at? Carry out a SWOT evaluation.

Throughout a SWOT evaluation, you establish the strengths, weaknesses, alternatives, and threats your enterprise faces. You possibly can stick with the strengths and alternatives while you carry out one to establish your experience.

Take into consideration the matters you already know extra about than your competitors (strengths), and brainstorm topics your competitors doesn’t cowl (alternatives).

3. Select A Subject That Intersects Viewers Wants & Enterprise Strengths

For one of the best probability of white paper success, select matters that your enterprise focuses on that your viewers additionally cares about.

At CoSchedule, we name this method the content material core. It balances your focus between site visitors and promotion.

While you use the content material core to determine in your white paper matters, everybody wins. Your prospects get content material they wish to learn, and also you unfold the phrase about your enterprise.

And that mixture results in your best prospects getting extra information about your product, taking them via the advertising and marketing funnel.

4. Analysis Your Subject

Begin with inside analysis and collect all proprietary info that helps your subject. This contains:

• Outcomes out of your purchasers or prospects, like buyer success tales
• Unpublished buyer interviews
• Anecdotes out of your gross sales and customer support groups
• Viewers surveys (for instance, our advertising and marketing statistics report is predicated on a survey we ran)
• Quantitative knowledge out of your consumer base (for instance, Mailchimp makes use of their consumer knowledge to publish electronic mail advertising and marketing benchmarks)
• In case you have the time and assets: your individual analysis research (Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media Studios has a implausible information to get you began)

Then, soar into exterior analysis. It will rely in your trade, however listed here are some preliminary factors to start out:

Be aware of the whole lot that aligns together with your subject. Proper now, you’ll be able to’t know which knowledge factors or examples you’ll use, so it pays off to maintain monitor of something fascinating.

5. Outline The Drawback Your Viewers Wants To Resolve

Return to the viewers analysis you carried out in step one and consider issues your prospects face that your white paper subject may resolve. By understanding the problems your prospects have associated to your subject, you’ll have the ability to current your white paper as the answer.

Ask your self these questions to search out issues associated to your subject that your viewers faces:

• What data gaps does my viewers have on this subject?
• How does this subject problem my viewers of their enterprise day-to-day?
• What worries concerning the future does my viewers have associated to this subject?
• What troubles does my viewers have implementing this subject of their enterprise?

6. Outline The Resolution Your White Paper Gives

Now that you already know the problems your prospects face associated to your subject, you’ll be able to create an angle in your white paper. Take into account how one can share data about your subject to resolve your viewers’s downside.

Let’s have a look at how Deloitte presents an answer in its 2022 Retail Business Outlook white paper’s introduction.

It begins by presenting the issue: Retailers must hold reworking their companies within the face of pandemic-fueled change.

Then, it offers the answer of informing retailers about 2022 developments to allow them to hold their companies on the suitable course sooner or later.

Plan Your White Paper Writing & Formatting

7. Write Key Factors In A White Paper Define

Go away notes for your self to quote references and sources. Writing from a content material define helps you’re employed quicker and crush author’s block.

Right here’s learn how to construct your white paper define with the analysis you probably did to date:

1. Headline: Begin with a working model that describes your subject; you’ll be able to all the time polish it up later. CoSchedule’s Headline Studio might help!
2. An govt abstract: A placeholder for a brief description of what your white paper is about. Add key factors right here so you’ll be able to construct your abstract later.
3. Introduction: What’s the hook that can draw your readers to maintain studying the white paper? What are the principle ache factors and matters you’ll cowl?
4. Part subheadings: Every part is a degree that helps your general argument or a step within the course of you’re presenting. Their subheadings ought to clearly introduce them.
5. Subheading content material: Listing the subpoints you are making in every part and any supporting info that you just got here throughout in your analysis.
6. Conclusion: Summarize your key takeaways. If it’s applicable, you may contemplate including a call-to-action right here, too.

Use our white paper template for the simplest strategy to construct your white paper define.

8. Get Inspiration From White Paper Examples

Wish to get impressed by white paper examples that work? Take a look at the checklist beneath and see how of us like Apple, Amazon, and Vox Media method their white papers.

9. Stylize Your White Paper Doc

Use this planning and outlining stage to additionally map out graphics, charts, sidebars, and one-pagers.

You are able to do this with textual content containers, tables, and web page breaks within the Phrase doc. This manner, you’ll have placeholders instead of visuals you’ll add within the design stage afterward. It will enable you form your writing primarily based on the skeleton of your white paper’s ultimate look.

Moreover, use this step to regulate the looks of your fonts and headers. In Microsoft Phrase, right-click the model you’re utilizing, click on Modify, and choose completely different headings or paragraphs you wish to replace.

10. Write The White Paper Title

Greatest white paper headlines are those who join your subject with an final result your reader craves.

A powerful headline contains:

• Phrase stability: a mixture of widespread, unusual, emotional, and energy phrases
• Size: optimized for visibility and click-throughs on engines like google and social media
• Sort of headline: varieties of headlines embrace ‘“why” headlines, how-to, and query headlines
• Readability and skimmability: simplified for simple studying and understanding at a look

Begin by itemizing headline choices. Take a look at these headline formulation and templates and these 73 (!) methods to put in writing a profitable headline.

From there, soar into Headline Analyzer Studio and examine your strongest headline choices in opposition to solutions. Use the phrase financial institution to strengthen these headlines and choose your favourite to make use of in your white paper.

11. Write The White Paper Introduction

Your introduction bridges the promise out of your headline and govt abstract with the important thing factors and sections of your white paper.

Greatest introductions assist the reader:

1. Really feel like they’re in the suitable place, studying the suitable white paper primarily based on the issue they wish to resolve
2. Get a high-level overview of what you’ll cowl
3. Show you do have the solutions they’re on the lookout for

Use your introduction to tease upcoming sections and contact on the info, assets, consultants, and authentic analysis you’ll use to make your factors.

12. Break Up White Paper Content material With Subheadings & Subsections

Every subsection ought to make a definite level, like defining a step of a course of or making a particular argument.

In the event you’ve researched and outlined your white paper in an organized manner, writing your white paper subsections must be comparatively simple.

As you write, you may discover a niche in your analysis or a subsection that could possibly be added primarily based on the narrative you’re growing. If that occurs, make an observation and are available again to it in the direction of the tip of your writing to fill these gaps.

13. Embody Knowledge & Visuals

Is there knowledge or an thought that might be finest offered visually?

Mark any segments that might profit from a visible asset. You’ve marked some potential spots in your define, so now that you’ve your draft, get particular concerning the precise visuals you want.

Assume:

• A graph or chart of an vital knowledge level
• A one-pager with a key statistic or quote
• Comparability tables
• Customized illustrations

14. Recap The Drawback & Resolution In Your Conclusion

Whereas white papers are a sort of selling collateral, they typically have a softer call-to-action than most others.

When your reader reaches the conclusion, they’ve simply gone via numerous information. Your conclusion ought to recap your white paper’s downside and answer to tug all of it collectively and drive them to motion.

Going again to Deloitte’s 2022 Retail Business Outlook white paper, you’ll be able to see a abstract of the issue and answer in its conclusion.

As you replicate on the retail insights you learn within the white paper, the conclusion reminds you that retailers nonetheless face challenges, however in addition they have alternatives. It strikes you ahead by explaining how you should use the knowledge you simply realized to maintain transferring towards the longer term.

15. Proofread & Edit

Along with your first draft performed, it’s time to overview and edit your work—or hand it over to your editor, you probably have one.

First, examine the mechanics: grammar errors, spelling errors, passive voice, and comparable points. Instruments like Grammarly and Hemingway are helpful right here.

Then, dig deeper to examine the move of your white paper and the energy of the factors you’re making. This contains:

• Aim: Does the content material fulfill its promise? Does it reply all of the questions your reader may need?
• Construction: Is the construction optimized for engagement and completion?
• Information: Is the whole lot factually correct? Double-check details, statistics, hyperlinks, and sources.
• Understanding: How simple is your writing to grasp? If there may be language or jargon your viewers could not perceive, word it and contemplate alternate options. This may be corrected with a easy search on Thesaurus.com.

Be aware of any elements that you must reposition, phrase in another way, or make clear; when you undergo your complete doc, soar into these edits. Seize some extra modifying ideas right here for those who want them.

Now You’re Prepared To Write A White Paper

You made it—you’re able to analysis, plan, write, design, and promote an distinctive white paper.

Observe this course of to construct a bit of content material that can serve your advertising and marketing and enterprise objectives for a lot of months and years to come back. Don’t skip the promotion and repurposing efforts to make your work go a great distance.