Recessionary Tips for Today’s White Paper Writer

Recessionary Tips for Today’s White Paper Writer:

Ten years ago, the concept of using a white paper for non-technical business marketing was both a unique and innovative way of gaining a competitive advantage. Today, just about every business sector and company has embraced this medium. This fact has helped spawn an entire white paper writing industry.

In fact, if you execute a Twitter search for the word “White Paper” (or the European version, “Whitepaper”), you’ll quickly notice the number of companies that are actively tweeting about white papers to gain additional exposure for their solutions and organizations.

But along with the proliferation of white papers is the impact of the economic recession on white paper quality. As the price of developing a white paper has fallen in response to more price sensitive marketplace, the overall quality of white papers has plummeted. In an effort to appeal to price-sensitive customers and keep the price of white paper low, white papers writers are resorting to shorter sizes, or ‘all-text’ formats that are absent graphic elements or page layout design. As a result, the recession has lowered overall white paper quality and in some cases diminishes its marketing effectiveness.

Saving money is great in tough economic times, especially when it comes to commodity purchases. White papers aren’t one of them. White papers are the way that you represent your corporate image to your customer. What impression do you want to make? Don’t let the goal of reducing costs also reduce the effectiveness and general impression that your white paper will have on your customer.

In light of these challenges, here are some tips that can help your white papers and your white paper writing business in an recessionary era:

1. Differentiate Yourself! – This may seem trite, but no one gets ahead by mimicking their competitors. Look at what your competitors are doing with their white papers and establish a clear differentiated product. Will you that by topic? Design? Approach? Content Flow? Tone? Person? Once you have selected HOW you will differentiate, stick with it and keep at it! Over time your audience will see that clear differentiated strategy. Being the lowest price in town with a low quality product will only result in someone else pricing theirs lower than you.

2. Fully Understand Your Reader – Who is the target reader for your white paper? How do they assimilate information? If they are business decision makers like most white paper readers, chances are they don’t have a lot of available time to read a huge 20-page white paper. Instead they respond to images such as graphics, diagrams, graphics and charts.

Besides images, make sure you have items that appeal to their time-sensitive schedules. Aspects such as concise Executive and Concluding Summaries are essential. Add a case study to provide realistic business examples that will build affinity and engage them. On the other hand if your reader is a technical professional, make sure your content has the technical ‘nitty-gritty’ that they seek such as tables, technical diagrams (such as workflow or network) comparisons, and specifications.

3. Don’t Scoff at Design – Just because it’s a white paper doesn’t mean that your information has to be stark black Courier fonts on a white background. See samples of other similar forms of information that your target audience reads to gauge the type of design that will appeal to them. Examples such as similar websites, books, periodicals, and articles will provide you with a glimpse at the level of design your strategy must follow. Learn from those examples and come up some examples that you can call your own. Then repeat, repeat, repeat! Gain feedback along the way with friends you trust to make sure you are on track.

4. Remain Open to New Ideas – Any successful whitepaper writer will tell you that nothing stays the same, especially in today’s fast moving business market place. Expecting that your white paper formula will serve the test of time is a foolish endeavor. Therefore, expect change. Be open to new ideas that will push your marketing envelope. Never produced a video? Try one. Never build a concept graphic? Open up your drawing application and try one. As any highwayman will tell you, standing still in the middle of the road eventually means that you will be run over by oncoming traffic.

Recessions mean changing times. But as the old expression says, “It’s always darkest before the dawn”. Eventually things will turn around and when they do, by getting your white paper ‘ducks in a row’ now, you will be better prepared to reap the harvest when the dawn does come.