March 2009
Just what is a White Paper? Originally a government-issued statement of position or policy, the term White Paper has come to be a business tool for stating, well, a position or policy. Commonly, White Papers will explain a new technology or a unique approach that the sponsor feels is a competitive strength of their product.
The best White Papers are educational and company neutral. That is, there is real value for the reader and a definite lack of blatant “sales” language. The sales advantage comes in the fact that the technology or approach featured in the paper is a competitive strength of the company that issued the White Paper. Some years ago I wrote a paper describing Kaisen, a Japanese approach to tracking parts through the manufacturing process and a unique feature of the vendor’s software product. More recently, I wrote a paper discussing software quality for a company that believes that they do it better than just about anyone else. Another client has commissioned a series of shorter papers focused on specific product functions (non-promotional but focused on functions that are product strengths).
The topic of the White Paper should be something that people want to know. I wrote a paper 5 years ago that the the vendor is still distributing regularly as an incentive for people to sign up for webinars and other lead generation activities. The paper has the word “Lean” in the title (5 Ways ERP Supports Lean). Another White Paper explained a Lean variation that the company had invented using the key attributes of their software product. Yet another introduced a unique software funtion that increased visibility of priorities on the plant floor for better throughput and on-time shipments. That product went on to win an APICS Innovation Award of Excellence (for which I prepared the award application package).
White Papers can be ‘ghost written’ to carry the name of a company expert who might lack the time, inclination or writing skills to produce the document. It could also be authored by an acknowleded industry expert or thought leader (I include myself in that category). Other White Papers do not carry author identification. The sponsoring company decides how to handle authorship credit. There are good reasons supporting each choice.
There are a number of outlets for distributing White Papers (you propably see the e-mails regularly from these organizations) as well as your own lead generation activities and web site “resources” page. White papers also make great hand-outs for trade shows, incentives for attending webinars, and rewards for responding to surveys or other email outreach.
White papers provide great value to both the reader and to the sponsoring company. A modest investment in a White Paper can pay dividends for years. The product-neutral and educational nature of a well-written White Paper etablishes credibility and builds awareness of your product’s strengths and capabilities.
Call us or E-mail us to discuss how a White Paper can help stretch your marketing budget and further establish the value and worth of your products.
