By Michael Stelzner
I remember watching Donald Trump’s hit reality show “The Apprentice.” It was early in the season and the men – team Versacorp – were suffering a crushing defeat by the women – team Protégé. The task was to develop an ad campaign for an airline while under an extreme deadline. Team Versacorp made a fatal error that ultimately led to their demise: they decided to forgo calling the airline to understand its needs. They sacrificed clarity for time. Versacorp chose not to ask the questions that would have produced a targeted result. The women did the right thing and ultimately prevailed. Whether you work for an agency, are an independent writer or have been tasked by your company to write a white paper, skipping the needs assessment is akin to swimming blindfolded.
The essence of the assessment involves asking questions about the target audience and the paper’s objectives. For example, while recently writing a white paper for a large mobile phone manufacturer, I determined that their primary target audience was analysts and the media, while their secondary audience was small-business users. Had I incorrectly assumed the target audience was carriers, the entire paper would have been written from the wrong perspective. Secondly, I discovered that their objective was to convince the media that their new technology was important and worth writing about. Having that information was critical to help me develop a targeted and relevant white paper.
Here are a few needs assessment tips that will help you avoid a Versacorp blunder:
- Identify the primary and secondary target audiences for the paper.
- Ask lots questions about the audience: what is their typical title, average age, general disposition and so on.
- Determine the objective of the paper: to educate, sell, inform, differentiate, introduce, etc.
- What are the big level issues, problems or needs that must be addressed in the paper?
- Develop an outline that will guide future discussions.
- Who are the key players who must be interviewed?
- Who are the key competitors to analyze?
- What is the schedule and timeline?
By understanding and agreeing up front on the direction of the paper, you will save yourself from team Versacorp’s fate.
Michael A. Stelzner is author of the popular paper entitled “How to Write a White Paper” and has successfully conducted needs assessments for the most challenging of projects. He can be reached at mike@stelzner.com.
DISCUSSION: Discuss this topic at the WhitePaperSource forum
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I have been very surprised at the number of clients who want to hire me and have me create a finished product out of thin air. When I was a rookie I used to have clients say things like “We are too busy to give you this information,” and “If you need me to tell you, why am I paying you?” When these hair-pulling, frustrating assignments were finally over I got lukewarm reviews from these clients, who apparently think that “magician” and “mind-reader” are part of my job description too.
Now I make sure that clients understand THEIR responsibility to the project before we even strike an agreement. Managing your client is one of the easiest skills to overlook and can be the most deadly to your success.