By Gordon Graham
Honestly, which white paper would YOU sooner read: “Implications of Business Intelligence Methodologies on Operational Efficiencies: A Retrospective Study” or “Six Things You Must Know about Data Warehousing”?
If you’re like most IT people, the first title makes your eyes glaze over… while the second has a fighting chance at getting your attention.
Here are 11 tips on putting together compelling titles for white papers:
1. Understand that the title is critical for a white paper’s success.
Think about it: How do most prospective readers find your white paper? Most likely they run a Google search, or visit a site like Bitpipe.com or Knowledgestorm.com or ITPapers.com. In any case, what do they see? A list of titles, with two lines of text under each one. Your challenge is to compel prospects to pick your title out of the pack.
2. Learn to spot tired titles.
A boring title usually contains no active verbs and many lengthy buzzwords. Worst of all, it sounds just like 100 other titles you’ve heard before. It’s too generic, too careful, too corporate-sounding.
3. Use a number, like this article.
But remember: some say David Letterman ruined the Top 10 list forever. Everyone knows he only has six or seven good ones, and the rest are filler. So don’t be afraid to stop at fewer than 10.
4. Expect to spend time coming up with a dynamic name.
With so much at stake, don’t just grab the first title anyone suggests. Play around with some variations of your first idea until you have the punchiest possible name.
5. Touch on the benefits for readers.
Always tell your readers what your information can do for them. What will they gain from investing precious time in downloading and reading it?
6. Try addressing prospects by their job title.
That would look like “Six Things Every CIO Must Know about Data Warehousing.”
7. Call your document what it really is.
Not everything has to be a white paper. Perhaps you should call your document an executive overview, a technology backgrounder, an evaluator’s guide, a research report, or something else. You can slip this in as a subtitle: “Six Things Every CIO Must Know about Data Warehousing: An Executive Overview.”
8. Never mention a product name in a white paper title.
Putting a product name in a title makes it sound like a sales pitch. And if that’s what you’re writing, don’t pass if off as a white paper. Call it a brochure or a product brief. And remember that a sales pitch is the last thing most readers want.
9. Knock a tired suggestion down to a subtitle.
What if your manager or client hands you a boring title you’ve got to use? One tactic is to come up with a better title, then knock the original down to the subtitle. Say your manager wants to call a white paper “Making On-Board Sensors More Effective Through Information Infrastructure.” Holy yawn, Batman! You think of the intriguing image, “what was once a white elephant has now become an effective watchdog.” Combining these two gives you “From White Elephant to Watchdog: Making On-Board Sensors More Effective Through Information Infrastructure.”
10. Run possible titles past prospective readers.
After all, they can judge better than you or I what works for them. Don’t guess, field test.
11. Back up your lively title with lively content.
A title is like a promise. Don’t tack a great title on a humdrum document. Use your lively title to motivate you to create an exceptionally interesting white paper. You’ll be way ahead of the crowd!
About the Author: Gordon Graham is a 25-year veteran of technology who has written, edited or commissioned dozens of white papers as well as 750+ magazine articles. He recently launched www.ThatWhitePaperGuy.com to help technology firms tell their stories with facts, not fluff.
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