By Gordon Graham
Too many white papers today are falling victim to a global pandemic. Any afflicted white paper becomes so feeble it can’t raise its voice and be heard in a crowd. Sometimes it’s even trampled underfoot.
Let’s look at six germs that afflict the format of a white paper, and what you can do about them.
White paper disease #1: Obnoxious registration form.
All the research shows that the more questions you ask, the fewer people register for a white paper.
Of course you want to track any serious prospects. But do you really need to ask their age, budget, or how soon they intend to spend it? Are you actually planning to mail them something? Then why do you need their street address? And what sector the firm is in? And how many employees?
For maximum downloads, ask as few question as possible. “Email” and “name” and “title” and “company” are plenty to start with. To protect your white papers against this deadly disease, leave a few blanks in your CRM software screens, and get much healthier circulation of your white paper.
White paper disease #2: Boring, nondescript title.
Many people encounter your white paper in their search results, with only its title to go by. How can a white paper with a boring title get noticed in a crowd?
Make the title lively. Use numbers and action words. Pitch it to a specific job title. Suggest that you have inside information. Add time-specific words like “now” or “today.” You can even combine all these tips to create a winning title like “7 Things Every IT Director Must Know to Protect Your Network Today.”
But don’t just slap an intriguing title on a tired document. Energize your white paper, so it delivers on its promise. Otherwise, its health will fail early on.
White paper disease #3: No summary at the start.
Just about everyone working today has too much to read. If you don’t include an introduction or overview at the start of your white paper, do you honestly expect everyone to read to the end to find out what it’s about?
Help your readers decide if your white paper is what they want by providing an introduction, abstract, or executive summary at the start. Give them a one-page summary, and they will likely scan that much, and then decide whether to go on.
White paper disease #4: Too long for the intended audience.
If your white paper doesn’t make an impression in the first two or three pages, it never will. For most businesspeople, five to six pages is ample. Technical people can tolerate a longer white paper that offers more detail. But if you run on longer than 10 or 12 pages, you will likely lose your audience. This disease is sometimes called “verborrhea.”
Inoculate your longer documents against this threat by breaking them up into separate white papers of five or six pages each.
White paper disease #5: No action step at the end.
You’ve taken your prospects by the hand and led them through your whole white paper. Now, don’t just dump them at the curb! Walk them to their door, and tell them you’d really like to see them again.
Set up a landing page, a webinar, an ROI calculator, or whatever you need to keep them interested. Build your white paper into a multi-step marketing campaign that draws prospects into your sales funnel. If you don’t, your white paper will lead a very short and unromantic life.
White paper disease #6: Written by the wrong person.
People who never asked for the job, such as product managers, developers or even salespeople pressed to “write up something about our product,” write many white papers today. With no prior knowledge of what to include and what to leave out, these people are carriers of this deadly disease.
To prevent this, have your white paper written - or at least reviewed - by a white paper expert. They can make sure it isn’t suffering from any of these deadly, but curable, diseases.
About the Author: Gordon Graham is a respected freelance white paper writer (see ThatWhitePaperGuy.com) and editor of SoftwareCEO.com.
