Christine Taylor's Core Copywriting

What NOT to Do with a White Paper

There are 3 BIG No-No's when writing a white paper. Sadly, I see these all too often... hopefully not from you.

The white paper breathlessly touts the vendor's technology without setting up the challenge/solution. This is so common, especially at start-ups where the senior management team are themselves engineers. They're so thrilled about their own technology that they turn out "white papers" that are more product brief than white paper. Be sure to spend significant space carving out a picture of your readers' problems, and only then present your technology as the solution. And don't forget to build the business case along with the technical details! White papers aren't just for IT anymore, they're also for the CEO.

Too technical. A white paper isn't a glorified brochure, but neither is it a spec sheet. Refer to the above: senior management teams who are engineers can be uncomfortable with making a business case in the white paper. But these days, no technology exists in and of itself. They do impact the business, and a white paper has to make that case as well as explain the technology itself.

Poor writing. "It is to be avoided..." "The configuration of the controller to which the diagram refers..." "Market leader in [some miniscule area that no one has ever heard of]..." Ack! Don't do this. A white paper must present technology clearly and well; so use active voice and readable sentence structure so your readers will stay with you instead of nodding off.

This is the tip of the proverbial iceberg where white papers are concerned. For more about writing successful white papers, check out Michael Stelzner's "Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged." In the interest of full disclosure this is an affiliate link, but I know Michael personally, admire him greatly, and maintain that he is a white paper god. Check it out today.

How to Age-Proof Your White Paper

I talked with one of my best clients today about updating several white papers that I had written for them some time back. What struck me -- and frankly surprised me -- is that most of the white papers are still in good shape, and need only minor editing and updating. They are 2-3 years old at this point and still going strong.

How did my client keep company white papers working well after all this time? By focusing them on solving readers’ knottiest business problems. Tough business problems don’t go away overnight. Email is hard to manage. SANs have growing pains. Data migration is a headache. These were challenges 5 years ago and they are still challenges today as data volumes grow and the requirements for data protection get stiffer. And people need good tools to help them manage them, now more than ever.

The upshot? Resist the temptation to do a white paper narrowly centered on features and cool dinguses. (Technical term.) Concentrate on solving your readers’ biggest challenges instead, and you’ll have a white paper that will draw better response, from more qualified readers, over a longer period of time.

It’s all good.

Syndicate Your White Papers

Recent studies peg 87% to 90% of technology buyers as consulting a white paper before making a purchasing decision. It stands to reason that you:

1. Should have a well-written, informative and persuasive white paper.
2. Should place that well-written, informative and persuasive white paper in front of many thousands of qualified prospects.

Content syndication is an important factor in distributing your white paper to thousands-to-millions of qualified buyers. Content syndication:

1. Enables you to optimize your white papers and leverage your investment by reaching the largest audience of qualified readers that you can.

2. Extends market awareness for your company and products.

3. Yields a new lead with contact information every time a reader downloads your white paper.

And remember that content syndication isn’t just for white papers anymore. It’s also an excellent conduit for case studies, solution guides and other highly informative marketing collateral. (Breathless brochures don’t fill the bill.)

Sometimes companies balk at the cost of syndicating content, but look at it this way: if your product costs several thousands of dollars as many technology products do, you only need to make a few sales to recoup hosting costs. For example, let’s say you’re syndicating your content for $5000 a month. If your product costs just $2500, all you have to do is sell four copies a month to break even - and your sales will undoubtedly be many times that if you have syndicated properly and are following up on leads. And if your sales tend to come in at the $100K mark, $20,000 a month for hosting is a drop in the proverbial bucket.

Integrating the Core Collateral Message

Lee Odden, president of search marketing firm TopRank, visited Ad:Tech's recent conference in Chicago. He reported on a breakout session about the challenges of doing IMC (integrated marketing communications):

...there's still work to do for improved IMC between clients and multiple agencies. It's important that everyone needs to work off the same brand position. A clear vision, proper planning and effective communications are all key for effective integrated marketing communications.

Even when you're dealing with a subset of marketing communications like Core Collateral (white papers, bylined articles and case studies), the message stays the same: a clear vision for a consistent message across all types of collateral, good project planning, and effective communications between all parties involved in the project. (Parties include internal teams like marketing, sales and executives, as well as outside writers and agencies.)

I'm going to develop a form to use with my clients that will help to nail down a common marketing message, clear goal and brand identity across all Core Collateral formats; I'll share it as soon as I'm done.

Why People Like White Papers

White papers have an excellent track record of getting hot leads to call you, and warm leads to warm up fast. Here’s why:

Reason #1. Many people would rather die than talk to a sales representative right off the bat, but they will read a white paper. When people start researching a product, they are not prepared to talk to a salesperson. They have no idea if the product is for them, or if they even need the technology at all. They’ll also be resistant to new and innovative technologies. Well-written, benefit-laden white papers will qualify your product to the reader, and qualify the reader to you at the next stage in the sales cycle.

Reason #2. White papers build a bridge between the prospect and your organization’s salespeople. When the salesperson does call, it’s not out of the blue. If a user has downloaded a white paper, there is an established connection between user interest and your company. The call can even be welcome if the customer has more questions and is interested in moving forward.

Reason #3. White papers are simple to host on the Web, where people can easily download and read them. In addition to your own company Website, there are numerous sites that host white papers and make it easy for prospects to download the paper. Many companies take this opportunity to capture reader information, including if the reader wants to be contacted. If they do request contact, for heaven’s sake contact them! They are coming highly qualified.

Reason #4. You’re not just reaching prospective customers with white papers, you’re also reaching journalists. Or you should be. This is why you should always include a solid technical section in a white paper: journalists don't want to download a white paper and find a brochure, it makes them cranky. But if you deliver a valuable white paper, the journalist is far more likely to speak well of you and your product. (This, of course, is the essence of media relations.)

Reason #5. And speaking of journalists, what do they do when they pick up or receive expensive press kits? They throw them away, but they do keep valuable information like booklets and white papers. As a senior editor and editor-in-chief for data storage magazines, I can’t tell you how many beautiful and pricey press kits I picked up, then threw away. What did I keep? White papers. Who did I think of when I was writing a story on that technology? The company that wrote the white paper, of course.

Copywriting Does NOT Equal Direct Mail

Something I learned when searching the web for copywriting articles: the vast majority of articles out there are directed to B2C direct mail copywriting. Here's a quick sampling: "10 Eyepopping Ad Copy Secrets!" "3 Steps to Better Sales Copywriting!" and my personal favorite, "How to Get Your Prospects to Do Exactly What You Want by Tormenting their Brains." O.K.....

Don't get me wrong, B2B copywriting has ads and sales copywriting too, and it's all supposed to end ultimately in a sale. But B2B marketing collateral copywriting takes a different road towards the sale. That road is information. Real information, useful information. And a terrific way to draw reader attention and trust to you and your company.

• White paper: How to apply the vendor's technology to the reader's problems, and why that will make a positive difference to them. Benefit to you: Viral marketing, long shelf life in many cases.
• Bylined article: Inform the reader about a technology in a vendor-neutral atmosphere. Benefit to you: Legitimizes your technology and builds your reputation among highly targeted segments.
• Case study: Influence by presenting your technology in practical settings. Benefit to you: Proves that you know what you're doing in real-life implementations, builds reader confidence, terrific sales tool.

Technology marketers need all three types because they influence in different ways.