What to Include in a Marketing White Paper

Having already discussed what a white paper is in online marketing, and how to utilize it as a powerful marketing tool to increase your sales. What should you include in a marketing white paper?

Problem Identification

A white paper targets a market segment that you have identified to benefit from your product. The first step is a highlight of the problems in their day to day (or professional) life that your product will fix.

For a customer to buy your product/service, they need an assurance that they will get value in return. For well designed products, this is not an issue as problem identification is the first step in product development process.

All you need to do is to effectively communicate this to your potential client base.

Product Details

This is the most important part and the skeleton of white paper in marketing realm. Basically,it tells your potential clients what is it that you are marketing to them. What product or service have you developed that will solve the identified problem or market gap?

Note, that white papers differ from most of the other marketing efforts from companies since they are largely ‘scientific’ in nature. Your aim is not to convince the clients by using persuasive language, but by using academic evidence.

Therefore, the product details section is a regular advertisement (despite the fact that it is supposed to serve the same purpose). Product specifications is among the contents of this this chapter. For example, marketing a new computer tablets, provide dimensions, screen size, battery type, battery life, camera, processor, ram, internal memory…etc.

List all the technical features of your product. If it has revolutionary features (such as a new type of long lasting battery for out tablet example) then highlight it. If it beats other competing products in terms of other aspects of performance, highlight this in the product specification.

What makes it unique? Is it waterproof? Does it have a particularly large internal storage capacity? Anything that differentiates it from competitor's products is a highlight in the product details section.

Product Suitability

This is the section that you convince the potential buyer to make a purchase. identify the problems that your product intends to solve. You have highlighted its features, now explain how these features solve the problem in question.

Sticking with the hypothetical innovative tablet computer, let’s say that you had identified a problem for researchers who travel to rural areas all over the world which do not have electricity. Their problem is that they do not have a suitable computer to facilitate their research efforts when in these remote areas.

Your product details section has shown that your tablet, not only has a large capacity battery but can also be solar powered. In the product suitability section, highlight the practical advantages that the jungle researcher will enjoy if they use your product.

How will it make their work easier? How does it measure up to the existing products on the market? What makes it superior? All these is what your whitepaper needs to capture.

Product Manual

Finally, your white paper needs to provide information and usage guidelines by the consumer. This section needs to be comprehensive to paint a picture of what the customer should experience if they make a purchase.

Important information includes: what other products do you need to properly utilize for the product in market? What are the storage conditions that it requires? Maintenance? Under what circumstances should you not use the product?

The user should understand their responsibilities if they choose to purchase the product.