
About Author:
Hugh Taylor is President of Taylor Communications. A twenty-year veteran of marketing communications, Taylor writes marketing copy for technology companies. Check out Hugh’s new white paper, Getting to Yes with Business Decision Makers.
In Brief – A guide to thinking through the process of writing a white paper to ensure the best marketing outcomes:
I’ve been writing white papers for B2B technology marketers for many years. It’s a variegated format, one that serves different purposes in the marketing process. That variety is both a strength and a weakness for marketers, however. It’s versatile, which is great. At the same time, the size of the blank canvas can be intimidating. Without good planning and direction, the white paper can become a costly document that does not achieve its desired marketing objectives. To help my clients avoid this trap, I’ve developed a white paper discovery process that consists of five questions. It pays to go through this discovery process before commencing the work itself. It’s not overly elaborate. Rather, these five questions comprise a simple concept and positioning exercise that sets the project on course for best results with the paper’s intended audience.
These five white paper discovery questions run together. If you do the process right, you’ll answer each one more than once, learning and reshaping your answers as you hone in on the mix of topic, depth, audience and theme that will give your paper the most impact. Ultimately, the process is designed to give you the best results for your investment in a paper, landing your most important messages with the right people.
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