By Michael Stelzner
One of the most important first steps when preparing to write a white paper is to determine who will be reading the document. Often, marketing folks talk about target audience when discussing the early stages of a project. While the target audience is very important, for white papers it is important to distinguish the target reader. By simply asking, “Who is the ideal reader of this paper?”, an interesting discussion usually ensues.
When assessing the target reader, it is best to drive the discussion to a single ideal reader. Pinpointing the ideal reader will help develop the outline, mature the writing and guide discussions when things get off track.
Some questions to ask that will help your discussion include:
- In what industry does this person work?
- How big is the company this person is working at?
- What is the title of this person?
- How technical is the reader?
- What are his or her job responsibilities?
- What is the reader’s general disposition (busy, actively researching, …)
- How familiar is the topic to the reader?
Asking many questions to clearly define the ideal reader will not only help you bring clarity to your white paper project, it will also enhance your credibility. It is important to submit the ideal reader along with your outline for approval to key people within the company before you begin writing. Once you are armed with a clear ideal reader, be sure to constantly check yourself during your interviews and writing process to be certain you are collecting information and writing about topics that matter to this reader.
Often, ideal readers turn out to be IT directors or corporate executives. When writing to these high-level audiences, it is very important to focus more on business benefits and less on technical nuances. Similarly, if your ideal reader is a technical administrator, it is important to focus on processes, procedures and details that matter to these readers. Building a business case for a technical audience is less appropriate because these types of readers are usually influencers rather than decision-makers.
You will find yourself in situations where the folks you are interviewing are telling you to write about topics that seem misguided based on what you understand about the target reader. When this occurs, a simple way to get things back on track is to ask, “Why is this important to our target reader?” Frequently, silence will be the result, along with a confession that this may be off track. Another important tip is to start every interview by clearly stating who the ideal reader is.
When your target reader is clearly identified, you will always have a beacon to navigate by when your writing goes astray.
About the Author: Michael A. Stelzner is author of the popular paper entitled “How To Write a White Paper” and can be reached at mike@stelzner.com.
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