Why aren’t I going to read your white paper? So many reasons. Let’s alphabetize them!
- Absence of hard numbers, facts, tangible proofs
- Buzz words litter the landscape, lacking legibility
- Credibility is questionable, with sketchy sourcing and a tone that lacks authority
- Driving leads is transparently your only goal; it’s too self-serving
- Engaging the audience with wit, candor, clarity – or failing to?
- Format fail. Where are the graphics, boxes and bullet points to help us find our way through the morass of text?
- Garbled headline loses me before I’ve even gotten started
- Half of this would have been plenty: Pare down the padding and hone what’s left
Solvable problems? Absolutely. We’ll reiterate our by-now boring theme, on the grounds that you cannot overstate the obvious. (O = Overstating the obvious? Lol!)
The solution is…planning.
White papers shine when marketing, editorial, business line owners and other stakeholders all come together ahead of time to lay the ground work, establishing the rationale and determining the key elements of success. Know where you are going and how you plan to get there.
