5 Steps to a Sensible White Paper Strategy for Startups
White papers are a popular marketing tool that is implemented in a variety of industries, including IT, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and any organization focused on selling to other companies.
These documents tend to be extremely detailed and contain useful information. In particular, a white paper can be an invaluable document for startups that highlights the benefits of their product/service to investors and potential buyers.
When people come across white papers that they find useful, they email these documents to other people in their company. For buyers, a white paper can easily sum up a vendor’s best thinking and best argument and their best case against their competitors.
If you decide to create a white paper for your startup, here are five steps to a sensible white paper strategy:
1. Determine if you need a white paper
When considering a white paper for your startup, you must first determine if you need one. While most B2C companies don’t need a white paper to communicate their value to customers, most B2B companies can benefit from a white paper, especially companies in high-tech industries like SaaS, IoT, or Blockchain.
If you’re the marketing manager or VP of sales for a B2B company, you may wonder if you should be using white papers. To make that decision, ask these questions about your company:
Am I selling something new?
Am I selling something complex?
Am I selling something expensive?
If you can answer “Yes” to at least one of these questions, your company probably needs a white paper. If you can answer “Yes” to two or more of these questions, your company definitely needs white papers.
Be sure to research your competitors and see if they have any white paper resources on their website. If your competitors have white papers, then your prospects will definitely be expecting them.
2. Determine if you will use an in-house writer or outsource
Alright, so you’ve decided that your startup could use a white paper. Now you must determine who will write it. You may want to write your white paper in-house because you feel your employees know your products and services better than an outside writer. However, asking a product manager, sales executive, developer or engineer to handle the project comes with hidden costs.
For one, researching, writing, and designing a white paper can be a time-consuming task that your team members may be unequipped to handle. Not only will they have to take time out of their regular responsibilities, but they probably don’t have any previous experience writing a white paper or promoting it.
This is where an outside white paper writer can help your business. By outsourcing to a professional who knows their craft, you can rest assured knowing that your white paper is written by a experienced copywriter who will deliver good writing and meet your deadlines.
Also, you should know if your writer will be designing the white paper. A crisp design shows off your professionalism and keeps your readers engaged. Don't settle for boring walls of text on your pages. You should look to incorporate some interesting images and graphics. If you have data to present, make them simple to read and easy to digest.
3. Plan and research your white paper
Once you have a writer for your white paper, you need to plan it. The best thing you can do is to search for white papers in your industry and find out the types of white papers that your competitors are writing. During this phase, you’ll want to determine the ideal reader(s) for your paper, the topic and potential content, and the desired call to action. Do you want readers to go to specific landing page, view a short demo, or request a free trial? Make sure you know the intended outcome of your paper.
When planning, you should also establish the intended objective of your white paper. Do you want to attract attention, nurture prospects through a complex sale, cast FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) on competitors, or influence a buying committee? Each of these objectives will require slightly different elements in your paper.
Before you begin writing, you will likely need to do some research. You may need to set up interviews with experts on your intended topic. Even if these subject matter experts are your employees, you will still need to plan an hour here and there to interview them. You should also research any industry-specific publication, reports, or studies that may be relevant to your topic.
4. Produce your white paper
Now that you have a writer and a plan, you need to write the paper. Depending on the experience level of your writer and the complexity of your topic, producing a typical white paper document (between 6 to 12 pages) can take between a few weeks or a few months. It’s important to give your writer time, as it may take time to create crisp, compelling copy.
When the initial writing is finished, take a day off before going back to fine-tune the paper. Be sure that your research is accurate, that your data is cited correctly, and that any misspellings are eliminated. If the writing is subpar and choppy, then the finished white paper won’t be as effective in engaging readers and accomplishing your intended objectives.
Once you’re happy with the text of the white paper, you can move on to designing it. It’s important you know how your readers will be accessing your finished paper. Will they be downloading it as a PDF, or will they be picking up printed versions? If you are creating a white paper for online consumption, then you can incorporate more pictures and graphics, as you won’t need to worry about the printing costs.
5. Promote your white paper
Finally, your brand new white paper is finished. But the paper won’t do much good for your company without a plan to promote it. The first thing you should do is host your white paper on your website on a dedicated landing page. Your landing page should clearly explain what value your white paper provides them and why the reader should download and read it.
After that, you should look to share your white paper via email and on social media channels. Let your network of partners know about your new paper through a newsletter email and by posting it on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Fortunately, white paper content can easily be repurposed as blog posts, making it easier to post blogs or articles about it.
If you have the time, repurpose your white paper into other formats, such as an infographic, a slide deck, a video, or even a podcast. You can even release a press release about your white paper. Since a white paper is a big investment, you should promote it like you would any other new product.
Conclusion
For startups, a white paper can be an excellent marketing tool that offers a great return on your investment. Not only can it bring lots of positive attention to your company, but it can also level the playing field between you and a bigger competitor. With a white paper ready for download on your website, you will also seem like a bigger company with more credibility, which will get you more interested buyers.
If you do decide that a white paper would benefit your startup, make sure you plan in advance your target audience for the paper, who’s going to write and design the paper, what your objectives are with the paper, and how you’ll be promoting the paper. Without proper planning, it’s likely that your white paper project will be a source of frustration throughout the production and writing process.
This post is an excerpt from a longer white paper. To download the whole paper and learn more, click here.
