

It’s the easiest one to create, and great for quick content to publish online or in an e-newsletter. This white paper favor consists of a set of tips, questions, or points that explore a certain business issue. A numbered list is like strawberry ice creamĪ numbered list is a light and lively treat that’s easy to digest. You can send a vanilla white paper to journalists and bloggers while a new product is still news. It’s the difference between searching for “Acme ScanOMatic 3000” and “paper burden.”Ī product backgrounder is great to support a product launch, like when Acme unveils its brand-new ScanOMatic 4000. Many more will search for the problem they’re struggling with. That leaves out a huge number of prospects. The reason: The people who most likely encounter a product backgrounder already have your company or your product in mind. It’s a good flavor for a well-known company that doesn’t need to work hard to attract prospects… but not recommended for a smaller firm fighting for recognition.

This flavor of white paper pitches the technical or business benefits of a product or service.Īnd it uses a harder sell that’s best for prospects at the end of the customer journey.Ī plain-vanilla backgrounder is fairly easy to prepare, but it won’t generate as many leads as other flavors. You don’t get any surprises when you order vanilla. What’s more, I believe these are as easy to tell apart as vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream.Ī product backgrounder is like vanilla ice cream A problem/solution white paper is a persuasive essay that uses facts and logic to present a new solution to a widespread problem.A numbered list provides a numbered set of tips, questions, answers, or points about a certain topic.A product backgrounder details the features and benefits of a specific product or service.If you understand these three flavors-and when to use each for optimal results - you can quickly get on with the business of generating leads and building recognition. There are really only three main flavors of white paper. When I first started in white papers, I used to agree.īut after working on 306 of these documents, I’ve made a startling discovery. How many flavors of white papers are there? Most “white paper experts” list 8 or 10 types of white papers.
