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Copyright © 2006, Computing Technology Industry Association, Inc.
Reprinted with permission.
Author Mike Stelzner is one of the world's leading authorities
on white papers, having written well over 100 of them for technology
firms including HP, Microsoft, and SAP.
He's also the founder of
WhitePaperSource,
the biggest online forum for discussing every aspect of white papers.
Now he's crystallized all his experience into a helpful book called
"Writing
White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged."
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It's available as an e-book, a hardcover, and in several bundles with other
publications related to white papers.
Stelzner has produced a comprehensive, yet accessible, guide on how to create compelling
white papers. His book is packed with field-proven techniques and well-considered opinions
on how to write white papers that really work.
The book takes a practical, step-by-step approach, assuming the reader has never written
a white paper before. That's the ideal place to start.
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I would have loved to have seen this book 10 years ago, when I was struggling
with my first white paper project. Until now, there's been a painful lack of
high-quality information on how to write white papers. This book fills the gap.
Stelzner provides a 10-step process that kicks off with an all-important needs assessment to
clarify the topic, define the ideal reader, and pinpoint the goals of the piece.
This provides an essential guide through the rest of the publishing process.
Then he deals with the essentials of white paper outlines, interviews, research,
titles, contents, and formats. A final chapter covers how to promote your white paper
once it's finished: an essential detail that's too often forgotten.
If you absolutely, positively have to get started right away, a quickstart guide provides
a guide for how to jump right in and get to work.
This book is sure to become the standard reference in the field.
Anyone seeking to develop or publish white papers should buy this book, study its
approach, and follow its recommendations. You will be far ahead of the crowd.
That's why any new book devoted to building more understanding about white papers
is welcome.
In "The White Paper Marketing Handbook",
renowned copywriter Bob Bly covers a lot of territory.
In fact, he ties together everything from direct mail to webinars with the concept
of "edu-marketing."
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In short, today's buyers are burned out on sales pitches. So the best way to engage
prospects, generate trust, and draw them into your sales funnel is to give them
truly useful information.
In other words, the most effective tool for generating leads is content.
And the most popular marketing piece of this type,
at least in the B2B technology sector, is the white paper.
This approach means that technology marketers need to start thinking less like
sales people and more like publishers.
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Ask yourself: What kind of unbiased information could you provide to your prospects
that would really help them on the job?
And how could you maximize the "halo
effect" this would create, where prospects begin to see you less as a vendor
keen on selling them something, and more as a trusted partner interested in their
success?
For those just thinking about these issues for the first time,
Bly provides good guidance. When he says that white papers are a combination of
advertising and journalism, he's right on the money.
His list of ways to prove the assertions you make in a white paper should be
tattooed on the back of every marketing manager's hand for quick reference:
awards
benchmark test performances
case studies
customer testimonials
design innovations
number of users or installed systems
number of years the system has been in operation
reviews and third-party endorsements
After all, just telling people you have the best technology is
not persuasive; that's nothing but a sales pitch.
You have to prove it by creating a pile of credible
evidence built up from the items listed here.
Because of its far-flung content, this book will be useful to any marketing executive
responsible for all the campaigns that your company launches.
On the down side, this book includes a lot of issues that have nothing to do with
B2B technology. For instance, anecdotes about marketing mouthwash, prescription drugs,
and carpet cleaning may not be applicable to your business.
And if you're a white paper writer, or a marketing person seeking the definitive guide
to writing a white paper, you may be disappointed by the lack of specifics in this volume.
For a detailed how-to approach, you're better off with Stelzner's book.
Still, Bly's book has a lot of useful ideas, and we welcome any new resources
that can help anyone use white papers more effectively.
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