9 top tips for writing great white papers

Is your white paper turning into a nightmare? Learn from our 30 years of experience to make white paper writing a piece of cake, says Kristel Brown, Operations Director at Writing Machine.

White papers are a hugely important part of the marketing mix. They can showcase your knowledge and experience in depth, while allowing you to demonstrate your thought leadership.

However, if not properly managed, it’s not unusual for them to take a lot of time, resources and rewrites (or blood, sweat and tears) before they are finally signed off. And even if you do get a paper approved, it may have morphed into something that no longer meets the original brief.

At Writing Machine, we know it doesn’t have to be this way. We’ve written hundreds of white papers of every type, and we use an effective and structured writing process to produce compelling, high-value white papers, without the stress, every time.

Read on to find out how we do it, and how you can take the headaches out of your own white paper creation process.

Tip 1. Make sure you have a good reason for writing a white paper

Before you even start the process of creating a white paper, you must make sure it is what you really need in the first place.

To check you have a sound reason for creating a white paper, ask yourself: why are you considering writing a white paper?  What are your goals? Who do you want to read it? How does it fit in with your wider marketing plans?

Some good reasons for writing a white paper include:

• You want to demonstrate your thought leadership in a particular area that’s relevant to your target market, and persuade your readers of something, or change their opinions
• You want to take a deep dive into a business/technical proposition
• You want to show your knowledge about a problem your readers might be facing, and present your solution

Whatever it is, make sure you’re clear on your objective from the outset.

Tip 2. Build a convincing/compelling argument

Often, you can start building your argument by challenging the status quo and by highlighting challenges that resonate with customers. Then it’s time to tell your readers how they should be rethinking their strategies, how a different approach could benefit their organisation and – if appropriate – where your solution fits into the picture. For purely thought leadership papers, don’t forget to reserve product or solution information for an outbox at the end.

Tip 3. Plan before you write

The way to get around this is to create a detailed editorial plan. At Writing Machine, we call this the Editorial Definition document, and we produce one at the start of every white paper project. This overviews:

• The document structure, section by section
• Key points and messages
• Tone of voice
• Target word count

We circulate this to key stakeholders, and get it signed off before any writing begins. In this way, all ideas and debates about the content of the paper can be addressed early on.

Tip 4. Make it credible

White papers are an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of your products and services, and the unique opportunities they offer for customers. But just saying your solutions are the best is never enough – especially as all your competitors are saying exactly the same thing.

This is the reason why credibility is so important in white papers. To ensure you maximise your impact, every claim about a product or service needs to be backed up with data – either from a real customer project, an analyst report, or another trusted source.

For example, don’t say “Our solutions have helped several of the world’s largest fleet management companies improve their efficiency”. Do say: “Our solutions have helped a large fleet management company reduce average repair times by 15 minutes, saving nearly $2 million a year.”

Tip 5. Grab readers’ interest and make sure they stay with you to the end

If your white paper isn’t entertaining and easy to read, no one will read it. Period.

This can be a major challenge, especially if you’re writing about a specific technology or process that doesn’t naturally lend itself to a light, airy treatment. But look for ways you can inject a bit of pace, and even fun, into your writing.

Try making analogies that make complex technology or processes more human, or at least easier to understand. Show that you understand the pressures your readers are under – and especially how busy they are. And don’t forget you’re writing for people, not machines.

In terms of style, here are a few tips for making your white paper more interesting:

• Keep the writing concise and easy to read
• Use attention-grabbing headings, that clearly explain what’s coming in the section beneath
• Put together attractive infographics to help you get your messages across at a glance
• If your tone of voice allows, don’t be afraid to be controversial, punchy and/or direct

It all adds up, keeping your reader hooked to the end.

Tip 6. Keep it clear

The point of your white paper is to communicate one or more key points or messages. If it’s not clear what you’re trying to say, your readers will quickly lose interest, and you won’t get the results you need.

The good news is that there are a number of simple editorial best practices you can follow to ensure your messages come across loud and clear. These include:

• Writing for readability
  This is all about structuring your document clearly, using headings and subheadings to help your readers follow your argument, and ensuring that each section follows on logically from the previous one.
• Writing for clarity
  This means avoiding long sentences and jargon and using simpler words like buy and start, rather than more complex ones like purchase and commence.
• Using reader-friendly formatting
  With bold text, standfirsts and outboxes to highlight key points and to make it easy for readers to understand the argument and flow of the document without reading every word.

Tip 7. Get the tone of voice right

Three decades ago when Writing Machine started out, most companies wanted to sound very clever – and that meant using long words and sentences. Now, even the most corporate organisations understand that conversational language is clearer, more easy to understand and – for these reasons – often more effective.

This isn’t to say that idioms, slang and other informal language is appropriate in corporate comms – it usually isn’t. However, most style and tone guidelines now emphasise the need for clarity first, usually combined with a consultative, expert tone of voice that readers can trust.

The key here is to write with ‘gravitas’ – literally, with weight – while also ensuring that your wording is as simple, straightforward, and easy to follow as possible. You can also use ‘you phrasing’ – i.e. talking directly to readers as ‘you’, to make your communications more direct and to acknowledge that your reader is a person, even in B2B communications.

Tip 8. Check everything before you send it for review

If you follow our tips on planning and writing your paper, it should be in great shape by the time you finish your first draft. However, it’s still worth checking that your paper meets the original brief in terms of what you’re trying to communicate, and that all sections are present and correct, with the right content and the right word counts.

It’s also critically important to proof your white paper thoroughly. After all, typos and other errors in the text could result in negative feedback and a poor first impression among the review team, even if the content is excellent.

Tip 9. Make sure the amends process is properly controlled

Wherever there’s a document, there’s a version control risk. This is amplified if you’ve submitted your white paper to multiple reviewers for feedback. To reduce your workloads and stress, try to control the process as much as possible.

One way to do this is to post the document on a share site and ask reviewers to add comments. Otherwise, you may choose to send out your white paper by email. But we still recommend saving all the feedback in one location and ensuring that changes are mapped onto a ‘master’ draft so all feedback and comments are captured and implemented.

Critically, you need to set a deadline for reviewers to ensure your project keeps moving. Don’t be afraid to chase them if they’re holding up the process!