How to Write a White Paper in 25 Minutes

White Papers Are Here to Stay

You might be surprised to learn that nearly 90 percent of technology buyers surveyed by the CMO  (Chief Marketing Officer) Council start the buying process by researching products and services on the Web.  So we know that Internet-centric, B2B, technology buyers are in complete control of how, what and when they learn about your products or services. 

White papers are widely used by technology decision makers to educate themselves before making major purchase decisions.  The 2005 CMO survey also revealed that "vendor white papers" are the most-popular content downloaded by tech buyers and shared with peers. 

Let’s accept that the humble online white paper is a powerful tool for demonstrating your company’s unique expertise and the distinctive capabilities of your products. How can your business easily tap into the overwhelming interest in Web-based research? 

But, however wonderful and useful white papers are for buyers, penning these techno-educational tools can be a time-consuming, pick-and-shovel effort for the authors. White papers that will attract and inform buyers are not puff pieces churned out by your trusty marketers. Tech white papers must demonstrate that the expert author/company:

• understands the buyer’s problems and risks
• has a handle on all of the available, competitive products
• can make a valid case for the pros and cons of all options
• can explain why your product/service delivers the best solution

Forget Writing, Record An Audio White Paper

The difficulty for most technology companies is that the engineers, directors of R&D, vice presidents of product development, and user-interface specialists who are the best spokespersons are also very busy people.

Record your white paper in the form of a conversation that can be delivered as a Podcast via your Web site.   Instead of reading about a product or service feature, now your prospects and customers can:

• listen to your key message, in your voice,
• hear, firsthand, the reasons behind your product development rationale,
• understand how you solve problems better than anyone else.

Make It a Conversation

There are many benefits to sharing the knowledge of your product or service using an audio white paper.  Here are just five. Your Company can:

1. Have a conversation with your top engineers about the key features of your product instead of forcing them to write, in simple terms, a similar description. Remember, you should write at an 8^th grade level.  No one says you must have a conversation at an 8^th grade level!

    

2. Record a 20 minute Podcast in a fraction of the time it takes to outline, write, edit, and re-edit a multi-page white paper
3. Allow your experts to spend a fraction of their time preparing to answer the Podcast interviewer’s questions—compared to writing and editing a traditional white paper
4. Easily put your experts in the shoes of the decision maker—what do they need to know to make the best choice?   What are the factors to consider? Why did you select certain features and how do they work? What ROI can buyers expect?  What will reduce the risk in their decision making?
5. Make the entire experience conversational for your customers—let’s face it, most (not all) white papers can be pretty boring

The audio white paper, or Podcast, is the perfect method to introduce a new product or service.

Your entire design team can get together around the table, relax a bit and then explain how they approached the product’s development.  Just like they would if they were chatting with a customer, after hours, at a trade show or other event. 

Podcasting (some of) your white papers will help you stand out from your competitors.  After all, it’s really just a conversation