Four tips for writing an engaging white paper

First of all, what is a whitepaper?

More, shorter, faster. For a Twitter message, you have 280 characters, TikTok videos are ideally around 15 seconds long, and when it comes to written content, the credo 'quantity over quality' sometimes seems to prevail. Anything to achieve that coveted number one position in the Google rankings. But to brand yourself as an expert in your field, you need to be able to whistle something more than 280 characters. A whitepaper lends itself perfectly to this. But what exactly is a whitepaper? A white paper - also called white paper, white paper or e-paper - is the ideal method to carefully explain your product, service or working method. With a substantive and informative story, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your sector and build a reliable image and a strong long-term customer relationship. That it is also an excellent way to generate leads and attract new customers is of course a bonus. But how do you create a white paper?

Tip 1: Put facts first in a white paper

Whitepapers were originally the medium for governments to explain the views and problem-solving policies of political leaders. For companies, this form of content is also a valuable form of marketing. Not a shouty, sigh-inducing form of attracting attention, but an objective and powerful way to convince the reader of your product or service. Citing facts is paramount here. Don't be tempted by statements like, "We have the solution to all your problems!" Or pushy sales talk like, "With our product, all your worries are history!" Instead, present the situation within your field objectively. This way, the reader will gradually discover the value of the knowledge and expertise your company has to offer.

Tip 2: Define the goal and adapt the structure accordingly

Decide beforehand what the purpose of your white paper is, who you want to address with it and what structure best suits it. You can address the paper to potential customers, but not necessarily. You can also write for partners, existing customers, journalists or - who knows - potential investors! Once you have this in focus, you can choose one of the following approaches:

Informative white paper

In this paper, you offer background information and specifications about your service or product. You explain how it works and its technical or business benefits.

Solution-oriented white paper

Next, the solution-oriented whitepaper, where you first conclude that there is a particular problem within your target audience's field that they often stub their toes about. Then you slowly build up to the solution and redemption of this problem. This way, you can show that you are aware of the challenges in your field, that you understand its complexity and that your company is actively doing something to solve the problems. After all, you are the party with the know-how.

Point by point whitepaper

In the third variant, you list, point by point, some tips, tricks, benefits or highlights of the product or service you offer. These papers are often short, clear, effective and somewhat more informal in nature.

Tip 3: Find the right intonation and content

This tip is important with any text, but all the more so here because of the size and character of the whitepaper: find the right intonation! It should match the purpose of the paper and the preferences of your target audience. Find a balance between informative and businesslike on the one hand and light-hearted and smooth on the other. You don't want your paper to read like a boring report. The white paper allows you to informatively deliver a commercial message to an audience that is genuinely interested in your story. Otherwise, they wouldn't have requested and downloaded the whole epistle. Therefore, make sure that your paper does not become a glorified brochure and that you therefore offer the reader more content.

Tip 4: Keep your whitepaper small!

A well-known pitfall of specialists is that they often overwhelm the reader with details. In principle, there is no set rule for the length of a white paper, which can therefore be just as much as two or as many as 10 pages. But keep as a rule of thumb that all the information in the paper is useful and actionable for the reader. Don't tell in five hundred words what you can also summarise in two sentences.

Need help creating a whitepaper?

We understand better than anyone that creating a white paper can be quite a chore. Do you want your target audience to sit down with a hearty cup of coffee to read your text? Then these four tips are a great place to start! But there is more to writing a compelling white paper. Could you use some help with that? Then contact us or join our inspiration session on Thursday 28 May! We can help you anyway.