10 Days to a Better White Paper – Day 2: Choosing a Winning Topic

In day one, we talked about clearly defining the objectives of your white paper. Once you’ve established clear goals and objectives for your white paper, the next step is to narrow and refine your topic.

Choosing the topic

The decision to create a white paper often stems from specific features of a product or service. These features may separate an organization from the competition or the power of these features are not fully understood in the marketplace. Whatever the situation, there is a need to educate or inform potential buyers on the benefits of these features.

It is at this point that many white papers go astray. The desire to discuss product features overwhelms the need to educate and inform and as a result, the white paper reads like a sales brochure. The reader quickly switches from student/learning mode to customer mode and responds with a certain level of skepticism (even if subconscious) as they read.

Good white papers work because they build trust with the reader. Talk about the product too soon and you lose that trust.

Solve a Problem

Successful white papers help the reader solve a problem. They work because they demonstrate a viable solution. The fact that your product meets the demands of the proposed solution is secondary to solving the problem at hand. When choosing a topic for your white paper look at how the product solves your client’s problem. Focus on the process as opposed to the product.

For example, I recently worked with a client who sells high-end printers. At this level, the standard printer uses six inks and prints to a flexible medium such as paper, plastic, whatever. In order to create display graphics, once the print is made, a second process is needed to affix the print to the final medium (foam, wood, or other materials) as needed for the display. However, my client’s printer has the ability to print directly to the medium eliminating a crucial, labor intensive step in the process.

Instead of focusing on the features of the printer, the white paper focuses on the benefits of printing directly to medium. The paper demonstrates reduction in costs and increase in productivity that results from eliminating a step in the traditional process. The white paper doesn’t even mention my client’s printer — at least not until the very end of the paper. Instead, it sells the reader on the process which ultimately will save the client time, money and possibly open new business opportunities.

My client’s advantage is that they are one of the few out there with a printer of this sort. By selling potential clients on the process, they have eliminated the majority of the competition. After reading the white paper, the client can visualize a solution and my client’s printer provides that solution.

Keep it Simple

Try to cover too much and you’ll lose the reader. It is much better to develop one key point then to confuse or overwhelm the reader. Stick to the process which solves the problem at hand. Other features can be worked in as added benefits to the process.

Returning to my above example, unlike competitors’ products, my client’s printer uses four inks as opposed to six. This provides a number of benefits as there is less waste and saves money. However, going into a discussion on the benefits of four-ink printing would distract from the main point of the paper. There are two ways to deal with this situation. The first would be to suggest that in looking for a printer which prints directly to medium, the reader consider also switching to four-ink printing. The second would be to create a separate white paper discussing the process and benefits of four-ink printing.

Remember Your Objectives

Finally, in narrowing your topic, be sure to remember the goals and objectives you defined in Day 1. As the paper moves forward and research is completed, you may find that your original topic or objectives need to be adjusted or refined. That’s o.k. They’re not set in stone. However, the original objectives should act as a guide when narrowing and honing in on the white paper topic.

This is the second in a 10-post series on creating better white papers. You can read Day 1 by clicking here or click here to read Day 3. Be sure to check back in the coming days for more tips on the process of creating powerful white papers. Click here to subscribe to the RSS feed today.

Want to learn more about the power of marketing with white papers? Read my special report, “Utilizing White Papers to Generate Leads and Establish Industry Prominence.”