How White Papers Can Boost Your Business
Posted on April 20, 2008
What the heck is a white paper anyway? At one time, the term referred to government issued policy documents. Today, white papers include authoritative reports or technical writings used to educate clients and help them make decisions. In some cases, they’re really marketing tools used to collect leads and keep in touch with customers.
A white paper must be clearly targeted to the reader. You must understand the customer’s concerns and problems. The most effective white papers will show how the product or service you’re writing about will solve the reader’s problem or somehow make his life easier.
White papers can be written about almost any item–from a highly sophisticated piece of equipment to a time management seminar. The key is to start by creating affinity with your reader by showing that you understand his or her challenges. Then demonstrate how your product will help to meet those challenges.
As an example, let’s say you’re trying to sell a new project management software. You could write a white paper to educate potential customers about this useful program. But don’t start your paper with a list of the program’s attributes, or how the software works. Instead, open your paper with an example of a problem the software helps to solve–
“If you’ve ever had an important project fall behind schedule because a critical element was overlooked . . . or exceeded the budget because different departments weren’t coordinated . . . “
Now the customer knows that you’re not just listing boring facts about your product. You actually understand what he’s going through and might have valuable information to make his job easier and help him succeed. This means you gain credibility, and the customer will be interested to read more about the software.
Donna Kaluzniak is the owner of Copywriting Solutions, a freelance writing business. For a copy of her free e-zine, Words Matter, go to http://CopywritingSolutionsServices.com
Tags: articles, credibility, marketing, reports, technical writing, White paper
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