Focus Forward - Features or Solutions: What Makes a Quality White Paper? An e-newsletter published by Tim Rosa Associates October 2004 Vol. 1, No. 8 ***Features or Solutions: What Makes a Quality White Paper?*** In previous issues (http://www.timrosaassociates.com/L1_newsletter.html) of Focus Forward, I have discussed the important elements of effective white papers, including defining your target audience, establishing your communication goals, and setting the right tone. This issue expands on some of these themes by investigating these essential topics: - What is the Best Topic for a White Paper? - What is the Best Content for a White Paper? - Summary - Resources - Learn More Do you have a comment or question? Send me your ideas (newsletter@timrosaasssociates.com). To view a web version of this newsletter, click on the following link: http://timrosaassociates.com/newsletter/archive_html/oct2004_vol1no8.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***For New Subscribers*** Welcome to Focus Forward, the monthly e-newsletter of Tim Rosa Associates. If you like what you're reading, stay with us. You can also forward this newsletter to a colleague by clicking the Forward email link at the bottom of this newsletter. If you don't like what you see, go to the same location, and click SafeUnSubscribe (TM). Each issue of Focus Forward features a viewpoint on a critical customer topic. We'll focus on what's happening and what's coming down the line. These are issues that you've told us keep you up at night. Though we work with clients in the technology, healthcare, and financial services industries, we hope the newsletter will be informative to all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***What is the Best Topic for a White Paper*** In March, 2004 a Google search of "white papers" yielded 7.99 million hits; seven months later, that number is almost 1.5 million more at 9.33 million hits! (1) This issue of Focus Forward addresses a basic question: Should a quality white paper focus on features or solutions? I am often asked: When you interview clients at the start of a white paper project, have they already figured out the problems their product addresses? Surprisingly, in more than 13 years developing white papers, the answer is "no" more often than you might think. Some clients are unclear about their target customers' problems, while others have initial ideas, but no clear-cut direction. It is very common for engineering-driven companies-large and small-to be feature-driven, since these businesses are usually founded by the engineering team. At Tim Rosa Associates (http://www.timrosaassociates.com/?WhatIsSection), our primary value is in helping our clients identify and prioritize the real business needs their solutions address, and to write compelling white papers that show prospects how our client's solution uniquely meets these needs. As with any pre-sales tool, the white paper needs to play a specific role in the sales cycle. When we start each white paper project, we map out the sales cycle to understand how each marketing communications tool-the website, datasheets, brochures, case studies, other white papers that may already exist, article reprints, and the like-are used to convert prospects into buying customers. Through this effort, we can help the team establish clear goals for the new white paper. If a topic has already been covered in other materials, how can this white paper help? If other documents focus on one area of technology, how can this white paper introduce a new capability? If buying decisions are made by more than one party, how can this white paper explain your product's value to this new audience? Identifying the role the white paper will play in the sales cycle ensures that the white paper will be valuable to the intended readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***What is the Best Content for a White Paper?*** Now that you've established the role of the white paper, you need to determine what to write about. Should your white paper address enhanced and/or new product features or should it address business solutions? Let's start with a hypothetical example. A technology company that develops anti-spam software is adding new features that block the steady influx of annoying and potentially harmful e-mail messages. The product is a desktop application with enhancements that are both back-end (administrative) and customer-facing (user interface). Do you start writing the white paper about the new software features? Or, do you think about the solutions that the new features provide to business customers and write the white paper using this approach? In our experience, a white paper isn't the best vehicle for communicating product features in detail. A datasheet, product brochure, or technical specification would be better suited to this task. These documents present quick summaries of each capability, and are often designed with color and graphics to illustrate how the features work. Typically, a brochure identifies a prospect's need and introduces a company's solution. It often lists the features of a particular product and includes benefits of each feature for prospective customers. And, if this is an established product-such as an updated release of an existing application-brochures often include testimonials from satisfied customers to endorse the value of the features in the workplace. The format of a white paper generally provides 8 to 10 pages where you can summarize the overall value and supporting capabilities of a solution or service. The best white papers "hook" readers with an informative title and engage them in the first few paragraphs. Quality white papers develop an affinity with readers and identify the business challenges the readers are facing. To be effective, white papers must uncover real issues and real needs that are an accurate reflection of the reader's own experience. The issues must be of the highest priority and directly relevant to the target audience. By contrast, if the premise of the white paper is weak, readers will stop reading, which results in a lost opportunity for a new customer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Summary*** As a piece of marketing collateral, a white paper picks up where a brochure leaves off. White papers make the case for a specific position or solution to a problem. A white paper explains the "why" and "how" of that solution so the prospect can make a proper evaluation. Returning to our anti-spam product example, one problem IT administrators need to consider is the potential for spammers overwhelming the company's e-mail servers. A white paper might begin by appealing to IT administrators who are responsible for addressing this problem, and then proceed to show how they can control spam, improve network performance, reduce network infrastructure costs, and protect their valuable storage assets by deploying our hypothetical company's solution. Writing effective white papers isn't easy. To be successful requires a solid grasp of the underlying science or technology, an in-depth understanding of business and regulatory issues, and wide-ranging experience communicating with diverse and highly sophisticated audiences. A quality white paper that focuses on business solutions confirms your keen understanding of real-world problems, validates your expertise in the field, and delineates the benefits of your company's unique approach to prospects and customers alike. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Notes*** (1) Google search results on March 1, 2004 and October 12, 2004. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Resources*** - TechTarget-Targeted IT media and events company (http://www.techtarget.com/) - Bitpipe-IT information resource center (http://www.bitpipe.com/) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Learn More*** Tim Rosa Associates has been developing white papers since 1991. Using our industry-proven 3-D Process, our company can provide you with an 8- to 10-page white paper from scratch in three weeks. You can learn more about the 3-D Process at www.timrosaassociates.com/L1_services.html. Of course, if this schedule is too aggressive, we can adapt it to meet your timeline. Every white paper is customized to your requirements. We work together to define your needs and we deliver-on time and on budget. To see some examples of white papers we've created, go to www.timrosaassociates.com/portfolio/samples.html. - Send us your feedback (newsletter@timrosaassociates.com) - Read about our services (http://www.timrosaassociates.com/L1_services.html) - Read about Tim Rosa Associates (http://www.timrosaassociates.com/L1_aboutus.html) - Contact us (http://www.timrosaassociates.com/form_contact.html) Thanks for reading, Tim Rosa Founder and President Focus Forward Copyright (c) 2004 Tim Rosa Associates. All rights reserved.