9 Powerful Goals to Pick From to Sharpen and Polish Your Next White Paper

Deb Monfette

White papers ​are valuable tools in a marketer’s toolbox. Your business success relies on the strength of your tools. White papers can help companies of any size to connect with decision makers, communicate an idea, explain a complex process, introduce a new trend, product, or service, and evaluate their solutions. They can still be persuasive, but will quickly become dull if they are focused on the sale. This article uncovers nine powerful goals to pick from to sharpen and polish your next white paper. 

Why do you want to create this white paper​

Recently, I had a discussion with a potential client about a white paper he was looking for help with.  So, I asked, "Why do you want to create this white paper?" 

He quickly replied, "Because our competitor has one on this subject." 

Unfortunately, that is not a good reason to put the time and money into creating a white paper that is supposed to inspire people to read it and take the next step. You need to dig deeper to make that white paper shine and rise above your competitor's content. 

Here is a quote from the oldest agricultural publication in the U.S., dating back to September, 1867. ​​

“Keep the tools sharp or they will not cut. A dull tool wastes time... The best turners are those who have the sharpest tools.”
The American Farmer: Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture and Rural Life.

Let's find out how you can sharpen that white paper and make it shine. 

Three Essential Ingredients

Planning is crucial in gathering the right information. To get the most out of your white paper, it should first be focused on three essential ingredients.

#1 Your Business Needs

Basically, what do you need to focus on to move your business forward with this white paper? Is it to introduce a new product, generate quality leads, or maybe help close the sale?

Ask yourself:

• What are we trying to achieve as a business with this white paper?
• Why are we doing a white paper instead of other content types?
• Where are our prospects in the sales cycle that we are most interested in reaching?
• Do we want a positive on negative spin on this white paper?
  (An example would be highlighting improvements instead of mistakes to avoid.)
• How do we want to handle our competitors and their solutions?

Keep in mind, white papers can be used from the awareness stage all the way to buyers considering to purchase. Your goal should be focused on one purpose and a specific audience. 

[Your competition.] This is also where your competitors' messages and solutions can become part of the process. See goals #4 and #6 below for more ideas.

#2. Your Audience

Who is the intended audience you are trying to reach?

Think about these questions:

• Who is your specific audience for this white paper and what is their role?

• What is their biggest pain point?
• Do they want facts or something more persuasive?
• Are they used to reading white papers?

​
A big question companies may forget to ask is this:

What do buyers really want to see in a white paper?

Let's revisit the latest trends to see exactly what buyers want. It's best to track the trends each year and compare them to your past white papers. Then, decide if you should make any changes for the future.

"97% of buyers place a higher emphasis on the trustworthiness of the sources in the content they read."
Demand Gen 2019 Content Preferences Report

So, what do they want to see?

Buyers want content they can trust. Content that uses more supporting data and research.

White papers are the perfect tool for this. They should be well-researched and provide data that supports insights into the problems, desires, and solutions discussed in the white paper. All research sources should be cited at the end of the paper.

Buyers also want content with less sales messages.

White papers can educate people about new possibilities and existing challenges without any sales messages, yet still be persuasive. You're sharing your expertise and building trust, first. Then, you're guiding them to learn more about your solutions.

#3 The Industry

It's important to understand the industry you are focused on for the white paper. 

Ask yourself these questions:

• What industry are we targeting?
• How competitive is it?
• Is it fast-moving?
• Are white papers common?
• What are the most popular channels for content (i.e. webinars, LinkedIn and Twitter, in person events, conferences)?

Once you narrow down your business needs, your audience, and the industry they are in, you will have a good foundation to build your white paper on.

To help narrow down your business goals, this article shares 9 ideas to pick from that will sharpen and polish your white paper to make it more effective. Each of these goals will give your audience new insights to help them make better decisions and, at the same time, achieve real business results for your company.

9 Powerful Business Goals for Your Next White Paper

Pick the top goal you want to achieve. There are many options to choose from. But to start, here are nine you can think about. 

1. Introduce a new industry trend, concept, or an idea
So, you see a new industry trend developing. Or maybe you have a disruptive concept or idea that you want to introduce. A white paper is the perfect way to share your knowledge, build an audience, and start interacting with them. You can examine the possibilities for change, the challenges they can overcome, and the benefits they can get from something new. Give them a brand new perspective.

2. Support a product launch
You're close to launching a new product or service. A white paper is a great way to introduce, educate, and explain the details of your new solution. Show your audience a different way to solve their challenges and make their lives easier. The key is to focus on helping instead of selling. The call to action will take them to the next step for more details.

3. Get noticed
Maybe you're a new startup or entering a new market. Your potential customers may not know anything about you. So, you must build awareness about your company, your expertise, and solutions by producing sharable content.

One example of a popular type of content that gets shared on social media is a numbered list white paper. "A 5 Step Process to..." "7 Things You Must Know About..." "3 Mistakes to Avoid..." 

It's a great way to attract attention on the web and get noticed. It's light and refreshing. It promises easy scanning for people with little time to read and still gives valuable advice. And it gets your name out there.

4. Educate, build trust, and generate more quality leads
​
Your goal is to generate more quality leads. But first, you have to educate your audience on why they need to change and get them to trust you.

Possible scenarios:

• You may have a complex process or a disruptive solution that you need to help people understand. 

• Maybe there is big nagging problem that your prospects are worried about. No one has been able to solve it and your company finally has the answer. 
• You have a solution that your prospects didn't know they needed, until now.

How do you educate your potential customers, earn their trust, and persuade them to consider your solutions?

A white paper is a great tool to do this, if written effectively. Educating them and building trust means not mentioning your products or services, your company, or other brands in the white paper. 

[Your competition.] Here's where you can compare the pros and cons of solutions that your competitors offer, but without mentioning brand names. Your company will be mentioned at the end and your call to action will take readers to the next step.

This type of white paper is focused on the prospect who is researching her challenges in the early to mid stages of the buying journey. It helps her to be more prepared, identify gaps, and to look at possible solutions. All without a sales pitch. You want her to trust in your expertise and listen to your advice. Once she feels good about what she's learned, she'll move to the next step for more details. 

So, you can create another white paper that dives into the details of your products and services and even offers a comparison chart of your competitors. See #6. 

It's a process.

​5. Simplify a complex process
After you educate your audience about a complex solution, go deep and simplify the process. This is where you can explain your solutions so that it's easier to understand and remember. A visual diagram of your process and solutions can be very helpful.

6. Evaluating your solution to help close the sale
White papers are known to attract decision makers who are ready to purchase. If written effectively, white papers can educate buyers to be prepared, eliminate objections, reduce risk, identify gaps, compare possible solutions, and persuade them to make a better decision in your favor. 

An evaluation white paper is a key piece of content at the later stages in the buyer's journey. This is where you focus on the details of your products and services.

[Your competition.] You also can compare your solutions to your competitors and include a comparison chart of all the brands.

7. Expert and thought leader status
​You have knowledge on a topic that is new and original. You want to share your expertise on it and become known as a thought leader in that space. White papers can give you the platform to dive into the data and research people need, so that you can be seen as a go-to trusted resource. Many people will give you their information in exchange for a white paper.

You can also pick a white paper apart to create other content and consistently share useful information in different ways to grow your audience.

8. Offer a "leave-behind"
Determine a topic that your sales team will find helpful for closing a sales meeting or to hand out at a conference. Create a white paper as a “leave behind” piece of content to give to a potential or current client. This helps reinforce your message, gives prospects more useful details, and enables you to stay in touch.

9. SEO Benefits 
There are two ways to look at SEO benefits and how your prospects do their research.

First, buyers search for their nagging business problem. For instance, "How to gain insights into customer behaviors" or "How do I know if I need a cloud PLM solution" or "How to solve problems with inaccurate data".

They don't search for the brand or product name, yet. They are just educating themselves on their issues and finding out what possible solutions, if any, are available. So, your white paper should be focused on the nagging problem, including the title. 

Once they understand what's possible, then they search for the brand products/services or companies to evaluate the best options for their situation. For example, buyer's search for brand specifics when they are considering a purchase. Such as, "Acme Software's PLM advantages" or "Acme app comparisons".

This is where an evaluation white paper is valuable to help your buyers make the decision to buy from you. In fact, you can even include a comparison chart or a buyers guide at the end.

In Summary
​
Buyers want content they can trust and that uses more supporting data and research. They also want content with less sales messages. White papers can give buyers what they expect, if planned and written effectively.

White papers can help companies of any size to communicate an idea, explain a complex process, introduce a new trend, product, or service, and evaluate their solutions. They can still be persuasive, but without focusing on the sale.

However, it's crucial to start with the right goals. To get the most out of your white paper, you must figure out three essential ingredients. Your business needs, your audience, and their industry.

If you're having challenges picking a goal for your white paper, this article dives into 9 Powerful Goals to get you started. ​

White papers can be complex and hard to organize the information. In the next article, I'll discuss how to simplify the type of white paper you create based on your goals. There are four main flavors for most white papers. So, stay tuned...

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