How to write a white paper for multiple audiences
by Gordon Graham, That White Paper Guy
Ideally you create one white paper for every segment of an audience.
But what if you can't swing that?
What if, for some reason—time, money, or whatever—you need to reach more than one audience with the same white paper?
In a previous article, I described how to "clone" one basic document for various segments of an audience.
But what if you can't do that?
What if you absolutely have to write one white paper for people in different roles, such as technical vs. financial or top executive vs. line manager?
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What if you must send your white paper to people with vastly different levels of knowledge or experience? |
In this case, your white papers will need "layers" of information, one for each segment of your audience.
Here are six possible tactics for achieving this (you can mix and match these as needed).
♦ Information layering tactic #1: Definitions
In-line definitions (brief asides that define a term or acronym, just like this) are used after the first occurrence of a term that not all readers will know.
You can see this every day in any newspaper.
♦ Information layering tactic #2: Glossary
A glossary of terms may be useful if your white paper is peppered with terms that one segment of your audience may not know. In this case, gather together all of your in-line definitions on one page at the end of your paper.
♦ Information layering tactic #3: Links
Hyperlinks to background material can be useful for layering information.
For example, if you’re discussing "virtualization," you can include a link in your white paper to a good background article on that topic from a credible source.
You can even link to an illuminating discussion on a blog, although it's best if it takes the same dignified tone as your white paper.
If you’re distributing your white paper as a PDF, make sure to make the clickable text visible and test it before you send it out.
♦ Information layering tactic #4: Sidebars
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Sidebars are short lists or passages set off from the main narrative, often as tinted text boxes. These are useful for presenting background that more knowledgeable readers already know, or a list of bullets, steps in a process, or a mini case study. A sidebar can be as short as a single sentence, or as long as a whole page. |
♦ Information layering tactic #5: Summaries
Quick summaries are small text boxes that sum up an entire section or page in a few quick points.
For example, Scientific American magazine uses a little text box labeled "Key Concepts" with each of its major articles.
This tactic has the double benefit of boosting the "scan-ability" of your white paper.
♦ Information layering tactic #6: Appendix
An appendix is a separate section tucked in at the back of a white paper.
While we don't often see these in white papers, I've used them to help reach a second audience in the same document.
An appendix can present more or less technical information, procedures, describe the methodology used in your paper, or any other information that you think not every reader will want or need to know.
One or more of these tactics should help your white paper communicate to your different audiences.
These tactics may be useful in almost any white paper to provide different pathways through your document for readers who want more or less information.
Written by Gordon Graham, this article appeared in the
November 2009 edition of the WhitePaperSource Newsletter.
To repost this article on your Web site, please e-mail a request to
Gordon@ThatWhitePaperGuy.com.
