Martin - I would agree that white papers are marketing tools.

Also, you are right that directors and up care about business issues.

Thanks for stopping in.

Mike

I think there's two points missing in this discussion.

1. CIO's, CTO's and IT directors are not solely technical people. They are also business people, and as such charged with delivering business results. They must provide support for the business.

So if business content is required for the white paper, it might easily server a primary audience, the CIO/CTO, and secondarily the CEO/CFO--even thought it's not directed at them.

2. No one's defined marketing collateral. Mike's made it clear in his book and other places that white papers sell indirectly. Hmmm ... that sounds like marketing collateral to me. It seems that any document you put in a customer's hands that can further a sale is.

Anyone else have a different definition?

Hi Mario;

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

To you point about emotion in white papers. I would love to see an example of one that you like (with emotion).

All my best!

Mike

I agree with John here and must add my own supplementary points.

What is a "white paper"? there is no definitive answer because these days it's used beyond the realm of science/tech, and a look at Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/white%20paper
will show diff. meanings based on the constituency. We shouldn't care what the authors/sponsoring org thinks the paper is or isn't. Only the recipients' opinions matter, and how they react is what we're trying to influence otherwise the producer's investment is wasted.

Garter, Deloitte, and Datamonitor write to get readers to buy their extensive reports and/or hire their consultants.
Vendors write to educate & pass on to purchasing decision makers so they'll buy.
Creatives and Academia write for recognition within a community so they'll be considered by someone for future opps (speaking gigs, advisory commitees, jobs, buy my book, etc).

So if the primary objective is to influence desired behavior, do whatever it takes to best realize that goal. There is no black or white...only good to great (cliche intended).

Michael:
With emotional appeal I mean writing that may have: an editorial feel, gentle ego stroking, self-help esque style, or some slight humor added to reduce the seriousness of the matter. Ex: If Seth Godin were to write a white paper, it would probably come off more as a "think piece", yet still achieve its objective...and we'd like it.
But unless the author/producer has the credibility to portray itself as such (by name recognition or a mini-bio at article end), emotional appeal can be risky and should be used sparingly. Otherwise one risks coming off like the junk mail "get rich quick by coming to my free seminar at the Marriott Nov 10th".

Hey Guys;

Good discussion!

One thing I would clarify.

Most white papers these days are marketing tools.

Not in the traditional sense. They are not ads, nor brochures or data sheets. But they ARE marketing weapons.

Having said that. There are two kinds in my opinion:

- One that focuses on business benefits
- One that focuses on technical "how to"

Key word here is focus.

They are used at different points of the buy cycle.

It IS possible to have a hybrid piece that attempts to do both.

But, back to targeting... Is that the best way to aim this marketing gun?

David you are right, I mistakenly said that. Mea Culpa.

I should have said that a white paper is a document that falls in between a technical primer and a piece of marketing collateral.

As I read Jonathan's first relpy, I read "a combination of a technical document and a piece of marketing collateral" which I happen to disagree with. THat's OK, its just my opinion.

I also think that a white paper for business audiences and for white paper for technical audiences are very different things. I think it is diffuclt to combine them. Just my opinion.

But of course, Jonathan is correct that what matters is RESULTS.

Cheers, David

I have to respectfully disagree with David's perspective.

First I NEVER said that a white paper was a piece of marketing collateral. What I DID say was that it was more technical than marketing collateral.

Second, people hire someone to produce a white paper because they want RESULTS-RESULTS-RESULTS. Targeting solely a technical audience with purely techical messages leaves the realm of teh document being considered as a white paper. It then becomes a technical primer, or a development document, but not a white paper.

The problem with too many companies today is that they think that a white paper is ONLY a technical document that should ONLY target the IT department. As a result they go to a guy in development to write it, thinking that's whats needed to get through to the technical reader. The result - yet another boring text only paper filled with techie jibberish that no one can understand. The reason most can't get beyond page 2 is because you lost the C-level business decision maker after the Introduction!

Technical white papers aren't about giving out free education on a subject just to appeal the IT department in the hopes that they will somehow influence the procurement cycle. That strategy may have worked in the 80's or in academia, but it doesn't fly in today's highly competitive commercial environment. Commercial businesses with a product or service to sell want white papers that will give them results and a provide them with return on their investment. If you doubt that then ask you client the next time you've been hired to write a white paper, "What do you want this paper to achieve for you?" I'm sure they'll respond, "I want this white paper to get results (leads, sales, etc) for us."

Bottom line - White papers in the technology sector are about generating results. If you're not including statements about the business benefits of technical attributes in your white paper (regardless of audience) then you're wasting your client's time and money, and falsely setting expectations for them that can't be achieved.

I have a different take and I agree with Michael.

I think the best white papers (and blogs, and podcasts, and ebooks and speeches and webinars) target a specific buyer persona. I think if you try to target both an IT audience and a business audience, you will fail to reach either.

A white paper, in my opinion, is not a piece of "marketing collateral" and done well, it does not talk about a product at all. Rather, it focuses on a PROBLEM and provides a solution and is typically for a business audience. A white paper by a CRM vendor targeting business people might talk about how CRM can shorten the sales cycle, But the IT guy doesn't give a rats ass about that. THe IT audience wants to know about bits and bytes and feeds and speeds and will this CRM system work on my network without making it crash. And if you address the IT guy's concerns the business person will feel left out becasue of the technical mumbo-jumbo.

Target, target, target. 100 people really engaged in your white paper because the topic speaks directly to them is much better than 10,000 downloads with nobody reading beyond page 2 because it is too general.

David

Hi Mario;

Thanks for stopping by!

To your point number 1. The more focused the target audience, the more likely they will relate.

To your point number 2. Perhaps you can elaborate on the emotional appeal?

To your point number 3. One thing to keep in mind. The first few paragraphs will tell a reader if the paper is intended for them. So to include a section for "techies" deeper in the piece may not be appropriate. They may never get there because the whole document did not "speak" to them. Rather, it might make sense to include a section about "how it works." This would be of interest to a techie and might actually interest the non-techie as well. This will aid in the "pass around to the influencers" factor.

Your thoughts?

Mike

Both arguments are valid; for me three points stick out:

1) The greater targeted the audience, the more "hey, i can relate to that!"
2) If writing to different audiences within the same scope, a balance of subjectivity (emotional appeal) and detail (objective appeal) should be maintained so that each reader group will feel welcome.
3) If the paper is meant for different audiences, why not segment the paper as such as well by using unique sub headings? Ex: "The inner cogs and gears" for techies, "what the books tell us" for CFOs, "energizing the team" for sales/marketing. After all, when reading news articles on companies current profiles/status quo...we skip to the sections that interest us..quickly and easily if the authors gave us subheadings :)

Yes, I would agree with that perspective. It's depends on the audience, scope of the project, and marketing need. There is a point where too much emphasis in one direction or the other creates an increasingly diminished return for the entire paper.

But with many companies that do limited numbers of white papers, they want each project to have the most "bang for the buck". They also know that one paper will be passed along to several individuals within a target organization that are part of the decision making process. So the ability to mix both technical and business messages within one white paper means that they can have the widest audience and a chance at the greatest degree of effectiveness.

It is true that a white paper can target different audiences. The question is "Should it?"

I would argue that an IT director has very different interests than a VP of sales.

However, the IT director and CIO are both business processionals (with a technical slant) based on their titles, and they are both within the same unit of a company. The more technical systems engineer might not be appropriate for the same document.

Thanks Jonathan!

I agree that a white paper can target two different audiences, especially if you consider that a white paper is a combination of a technical document and a piece of marketing collateral.

A good white paper should appeal to both a technical professional (IT Director or CIO), and a business professional (CEO, VP, Manager) by presenting how technical attributes yield business benefits.

If done correctly, a single white paper should provide value to both audiences not only within the main content, but also in the concluding summary.