white paper essay outline

How to Write and Format a White Paper: The Definitive Guide

Table of Contents

What is a white paper, use and value, how to select a white paper topic:, white paper preparation, white paper format, final thoughts.

You’re ready to compile and share your company’s deep knowledge of your industry. A white paper seems like the perfect format. It’s a useful product to highlight your company’s expertise and a valuable tool in marketing.

But, how do you transform your knowledge into white paper content?

White papers are similar but distinct from business reports. In order to write a successful one, you need to understand the difference and include key elements. This article will help you decide if a white paper is right for you, and if yes, how to prepare and produce one.

To write a white paper, thoroughly research a topic and propose a comprehensive solution in a well-structured, factual, and persuasive document.

A white paper should include: 1. Title (accurate but enticing) 2. Abstract (including the Problem Statement) 3. Background (may be detailed and technical or broad and high-level, depending on audience) 4. Solution (the ‘ta-da’ moment of the white paper) 5. Conclusion (the summary of findings) 6. References (using correct industry format)

A white paper is an authoritative document intended to inform the reader on a particular topic fully. It combines expert knowledge and research into a document that argues for a specific solution or recommendation.

The white paper allows the reader to understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision.

White papers are data-centric, text-heavy business documents. Due to a large amount of data and research, white papers are deep reads and tend to have a formal tone.

Businesses write white papers both to record expertise and to market themselves to prospective customers.

White papers are generally written for an audience outside of the business. Therefore, they are a tool to attract readers to the company by offering top-quality, industry knowledge.

However, a white paper is not a sales pitch. It sells the company by highlighting the internal expertise and valuable recommendations, not by bidding for business.

Sales Pitch: 8 Ways ABC Marketing will save money on your social media budget

White paper: Social Media Advertising: Matching marketing needs and platforms

Write an actual white paper with individual instructor guidance.

Our Advanced Business Writing Course + Coaching includes written feedback and two live coaching sessions.

Choosing the right topic is essential to have your white paper read. There are three major factors:

1. Audience

As with any business writing, your audience is your first consideration. The white paper must be written with a target reader in mind. The audience may be long-time customers familiar with the industry or new prospective buyers who are entirely new to the field.

Reflect on the reader’s pain points or major questions. Within these topics, look for ones that have not been fully investigated or the available information is out-of-date.

2. Expertise

Your white paper should match and highlight your company’s expertise.

The entire document should provide a complete investigation, including external research and internal knowledge. The business’s own know-how informs the content that is included and how it is compiled.

3. Problem-based and solution-focused

White papers should identify and address a particular problem. The problem should be relevant and timely in your field. The document may focus on issues such as common dilemmas, new trends, changing techniques, and industry comparison.

The white paper must have a proposed solution or recommendation to answer the problem. This solution is based on thoroughly examining the problem and potential solutions.

The selected topic must be comprehensively researched. Pull information from online references, industry resources, and internal documents. White papers are data-focused, so they should be supported by significant research.

There’s no hard and fast rule on citations but you need to cite any information that is not public knowledge and that you didn’t know before beginning your research. However, understand that the reader’s confidence is likely to increase with an increasing number of cited references.

Of course, all resources must come from authoritative sites. In order to write a valuable document, all research materials must be from credible, reliable sources.

Read other white papers

Are there white papers covering your topic or area already? Read them to determine the knowledge gaps and the opportunities to build on existing content. This review will also ensure that your white paper is novel instead of redundant.

Use a mind-map

It can be overwhelming to keep track of the many sources, ideas, and content involved in preparing a white paper. A helpful organizational tool is the mind-map . A mind-map allows the writer to catalog and connect the many different pieces into one visual overview.

We suggest using the free tool MindMeister to organize your content. It’s simple to use and free.

FreeMind is another alternative but some organizations don't allow it to be used since it must be downloaded.

Don't forget visual elements

When designing a white paper, the written content is most important. However, taking the time to create an aesthetically pleasing design cannot be ignored. It should be remembered that the visuals used can greatly contribute to the overall impact of your white paper. By using visual elements such as images, animations, videos, charts, and graphs that reinforce and illustrate arguments, can greatly increase clarity for the reader while making key points stand out.

White papers generally follow a standard document format. The content order may seem similar to other business reports, but there is one major difference:

A white paper places the conclusion at the end.

Many business communications, such as technical reports or proposals, place the main conclusion at the beginning of the document. This order responds to the desires of the reader and their preference in receiving the information.

In a white paper, the content and research inform the reader and increase their understanding of the problem throughout the document. The final section provides the ‘ta-da!’ moment where the reader now receives the solution which is supported by the evidence in the document.

The reader’s journey and preferences in a white paper and business report differ. The major findings follow suit.

If you’re unsure of these distinctions or are looking to improve your business writing skills, consider enrolling in our online self-paced Technical Report Writing Course (see all of our courses here ).

And, no matter the journey, the document must be easy to understand and include informative headings for easy navigation.

Choose an accurate title

A good title is essential. It should clearly indicate what the reader will learn from the white paper. It should also be enticing.

Bland title example: White paper on Law 123.4 Referencing Environmental Impact Assessments.

Enticing title example: The Rules are Changing: White Paper on the Environmental Impact Assessment Legislation Proposals in 2018

The phrase ‘white paper’ does not necessarily need to be in the title at all. Some audiences are seeking that authoritative indicator. Other readers may be scared off from valuable content because of the term. As always, think of what your audience would prefer.

The abstract offers the reader a brief overview of the white paper’s main points. It allows the reader to ensure they have found a document relevant to their needs. After reading, the reader should be able to know if they are ‘in the right place.’

Problem statement

The problem statement specifies the issue the white paper will address. The problem needs to be defined and placed into a context to ensure it’s understood by the reader.

This section provides the background information required for the audience to grasp the problem and, ultimately, the solution. The content may be detailed and technical or broad and high-level. The content depends on the reader and the problem.

If original research is completed for the white paper, the methods should be communicated.

The ‘ta-da’ moment of the white paper.

Based on the preceding information, the solution is now presented. It is developed and argued for using the gathered evidence and the expertise of the author and their company.

This section summarizes the white paper’s major findings. Recommendations based on the solution are provided.

All sources used to develop the white paper must be collected and cited in this section. It adds validity to the document. It also gives the reader content for further research. Depending on your industry, follow MLA or APA citation formats. 

Write any complex document and get personal feedback on your actual business writing.

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Writing a good white paper is not a simple task. However, the investment of time and skill can produce a valuable document that shares your company’s knowledge, contributing to overall education and progress in your industry. And, a good white paper increases business opportunities. As you develop an informational document such as a white paper, it's helpful to strengthen your writing process with our Advanced Business Writing course. 

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How to Write a White Paper in 10 Steps [Plus 5 Examples]

Updated September 2023: Learning how to write a white paper is a crucial skill for SaaS marketers. Why? Because a white paper is one of the best ways to demonstrate your expertise while providing useful information to prospective clients. It’s also a great marketing tool for generating leads and nurturing them into customers. 

That’s why almost two-thirds of B2B marketers used white papers last year in their marketing mix. White papers also ranked fourth in terms of content that gave content marketers the best results , after in-person events, virtual events and webinars, and research reports. 

Because white papers are so important for lead generation, it’s important to understand how to write a white paper that gets results. In this post, we cover every step of the white paper writing process—from identifying your audience to writing and distributing the white paper for maximum leads. 

What is a white paper?

White paper vs. ebook: which one should you choose, importance of white papers for saas, 8 types of white papers, how to structure a white paper, how to write a white paper for saas in 10 steps.

• 6 mistakes to avoid when writing a white paper

White paper examples

Frequently asked questions (faqs), need a hand with your saas white paper.

A white paper is a lead magnet that covers a particular topic in depth. The goal is to create a content asset that educates your target audience and helps them understand and solve an issue that they’re having. The content needs to be valuable enough that your target audience is willing to trade you their email address for the information. 

Some people are confused about what a white paper is. If you look up “white paper definition,” here’s the general flavor of what you’ll see: 

Hubspot says, “A white paper is a persuasive, authoritative, in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution.” CoSchedule adds to the white paper definition with, “It’s a document that helps you establish topical authority and share original insights, data and expertise.” 

If lead generation is a priority for your SaaS company, then it’s likely that white papers are already part of your content strategy . They go beyond surface-level content, offering valuable solutions to specific industry challenges backed by independent research. And because white papers tend to have a higher perceived value than other content assets, they can be powerful lead magnets, incentivizing potential customers to share their contact details. 

When learning how to write a white paper that drives leads, you first need to be clear on your goals. And while the goal of white papers is often to nudge your target audience towards your product, they’re NOT a sales pitch. Instead, they focus on solving the reader’s problem by providing clear and useful information, unique insights and perspectives, and measurable data. 

Ultimately, a good white paper should: 

• Identify and validate the problem that needs to be solved 
• Impartially highlight ways to solve the problem 
• Pitch your SaaS product as a way to solve the problem 

Before you figure out how to write a white paper that drives sales, do you know if a white paper is the right choice? Maybe you’re debating whether you should write a white paper vs ebook . White papers are research-heavy reports that position your company as a thought leader in the industry. They provide new or unique information on a specific problem and solution. 

White papers also tend to dive deep into a narrowly defined topic and use evidence-based research to support the ideas and arguments. Most white papers are led by text and supplemented by diagrams or graphs for greater comprehension. 

eBooks also have the goal of educating their audience, except that they’re often written in a more casual tone and include more design elements and white space. This delivers more digestible chunks of content for a lighter read. 

eBooks are created with both eye-catching graphics and easy-to-read text so prospects can read and understand them easily. 

So which is right for you? 

Whether you choose a white paper or an ebook depends on your specific goals. eBooks may be better for providing general “how-to” information or getting people excited about the topic with a brief intro, while white papers are better suited for providing technical and detailed analysis on a specific topic. 

Read our post: White Paper vs eBook: Which One Should You Create?

Rarely are B2B buyers ready to purchase after reading a single blog post or watching a product explainer video. This is especially true for enterprise clients. They need to build trust with your brand and understand how your solution will help solve their particular pain point. 

White papers rank among the top content formats for B2B buyers, especially in the early and middle stages of the funnel, according to the 2023 Demand Gen Report .

When researching a solution, buyers gravitate to white papers because they want to validate the legitimacy of a solution through use cases and analytical data. White papers help develop thought leadership and move prospects through the sales funnel. 

White papers are also highly shareable. Content packed with quick-hitting facts and shareable stats are the number one driver for sharing content . When passed along to the C-suite, white papers can help influence stakeholders on the purchasing team. 

In SaaS marketing, 8 types of white papers exist. Some serve as how-to guides providing step-by-step instructions, while others function as industry reports that deliver valuable insights and in-depth analysis. When learning how to write a white paper that drives leads, choose which type of white paper to use based on your goals and objectives for the asset.

1. How-to or problem/solution white paper 

How-to or problem/solution white papers call out a nagging business problem and provide a new and improved solution. Use this type of white paper to attract and educate prospects, usually in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey. Your audience knows they have a problem and is researching solutions to overcome it. 

2. Technical white paper 

Technical white papers explain the technical aspects of a product and how it solves a problem. They’re tailored to tech-savvy audiences and feature elements such as technical specifications, flowcharts, tables and diagrams. 

3. Business benefits white paper 

Business benefits white papers focus on showcasing the specific advantages of a product. Unlike technical white papers that explore the working details of a solution, business benefits white papers focus on the big-picture business outcomes. They’re geared toward decision-makers and non-technical audiences. Sometimes, they provide a cost-benefit analysis and potential ROI to justify the value of the solution. 

4. Market research white paper 

You may have seen white papers titled “The State of…,” which offer big-picture insights into specific industries. For instance, an IT security company might create a market research paper called “The State of Cybersecurity: Threats, Challenges and Best Practices.” These papers delve deep into the industry’s latest trends, showcase what’s effective and address current challenges.

5. Visionary white paper 

Unlike market research white papers which focus on the current state of an industry, visionary white papers project out into the future. Visionary white papers are typically titled “The Future of…” These white papers are best for top-of-funnel prospects that want to learn more about the industry, or high-level professionals who want to stay up-to-date on predictions and trends. 

6. Product comparison white paper 

Product comparison white papers compare multiple products in a specific industry. Marketers use them strategically for the Decision Stage of the buyer’s journey when the prospects know they need a solution, but need help deciding between a few vendors. 

7. Educational white paper 

Educational white papers are designed to teach your audience something new. Since these white papers are grounded in factual evidence, you should dig into industry reports when doing your research. 

8. Thought leadership white paper 

Thought leadership white papers present original viewpoints that often go against conventional wisdom. The goal is to demonstrate expertise, establish credibility and gain influence, particularly among decision-makers or executives. You can put a spin on current issues or take a new approach to address your audience’s pain points. 

When crafting a white paper, it’s helpful to adhere to a white paper structure that sets the stage for the proposed solution. Here are the 9 elements you’ll want to include when formatting a white paper: 

1. Title page

Create an attention-grabbing title that highlights the problem you’ll solve or the topic covered in the white paper. Make it intriguing enough to entice readers to share their email addresses. 

2. Introduction and problem statement

Explain the purpose of your white paper and why your target audience should read it. The introduction describes the business problem your technology solves from the perspective of your target audience. It should be interesting enough to hook readers right away and keep them reading. 

3. Background 

Here’s where you can provide in-depth background information on the specific problem you’re discussing. This section is usually data and research-heavy. Dig into why the problem is a growing concern in the industry and what detrimental effects it may be having on the readers’ businesses. 

4. Proposed solution

This is the meat of your white paper. This section should propose a solution to the stated problem, typically a course of action, product or service. For SaaS companies, that means describing your technology and how it solves your audience’s pain point. It may also compare your solution with competing technologies. 

5. Graphics and other visual elements

Nobody enjoys reading a wall of text. White papers are much more engaging when you add visual elements like charts, tables and infographics. People retain information with visuals better than text, so using graphics is a great way to summarize your points in a digestible manner. 

6. Fact-based evidence 

Facts help to support your argument and reinforce why you believe something is true. Statistics, metrics and quotes can add context to your points, highlighting the importance of a problem or the effectiveness of your solution. Sprinkle in facts to help bolster your position. 

7. Conclusion

Wrap up with the most important points that you want your readers to remember. It should summarize the white paper’s findings and recommendations. Also, emphasize the benefits of your solutions and the risks to readers who don’t take action on resolving the issue. Conclude with the most important points that you want your readers to remember. 

8. Call to action

Add a call to action (CTA) to encourage readers to take the next step, whether that be booking a demo or signing up for a free trial. Frame it as a way to start solving their problems. Even the most fact-based research white paper should include some form of CTA to help readers take the next step. 

9. About the vendor 

The About section is where you can openly sell your solution. Clearly state what your technology does, who it helps and how. You can add another CTA at the end of this section.  While there’s no rigid white paper format you need to follow, these guidelines will provide a good starting point.

Now that you know the white paper structure to aim for, let’s get into the step-by-step process of how to create a white paper for your SaaS company. 

• Know your audience
• Strategize and plan
• Narrow your white paper topic
• Offer a unique point of view
• Do your research
• Create a white paper outline
• Write and edit your white paper
• Coordinate reviews and approvals
• Draft supporting content
• Design the white paper
• Develop a distribution strategy

1. Know your audience

When thinking about how to write a white paper, the most important step is making sure you know who you’re writing for.  

You can define your ideal customer profile (ICP) by asking a few questions: 

• What’s their role in the organization? Decision-makers wear multiple hats. Know their job title and company size and tailor your white paper content accordingly. 
• What stage are they at in the buying process? Prospects in the Awareness Stage know they have a problem but don’t yet have a solution. Prospects in the Consideration Stage are looking at different solutions. Lastly, prospects in the Decision Stage are ready to buy and looking for reasons to choose your product. 
• What are their primary pain points and challenges? Really knowing your prospects’ pain points and challenges enables you to write a white paper that is valuable to them—and one that they’re willing to give you their email address for.

2. Strategize and plan

Figuring out how to write a white paper is all about landing on a great topic. Sit down and brainstorm ideas for your white paper. What is it that your ideal customers want to know? What will help them solve a burning problem?

If you’re stuck for topic ideas, you can turn to a ready source—anyone in your company who speaks directly to customers or prospects. For you, that may be any employee from: 

• Marketing 
• Partnerships 
• Customer service
• Technical support 

Your sales department is having targeted conversations with prospects every day. Common questions and pain points come up on these calls every day. 

And the conversations don’t have to be a one-way street, either. Run some white paper topics by a focus group panel or your customer advisory board and see which topics intrigue them the most. 

3. Narrow your white paper topic

Prospective clients generally prefer topics that are more specific. Topics that are too broad dilute the overall effectiveness of the information. And don’t try to cram everything into one white paper. Instead, focus on the most important and relevant points.

If you know exactly who you’re writing the white paper for and how it fits into your content strategy , it should be easy to narrow your topic. If you want to generate leads in a specific vertical, you may focus on the topic of a new approach to a common industry challenge. However, if you want to support a new product launch, you may decide to discuss the technologies underlying your new solution.

Read our blog post: White Paper Topics: How to Choose the Right One to Generate More Leads

4. Offer a unique point of view

You want to avoid rehashing the same tired information as everyone else. Nobody gets excited about a white paper that covers the same topic as your competitors. This might seem like a no-brainer, but when thinking about how to write a white paper, you need to provide a fresh perspective. 

With so much content vying for your prospects’ attention, many companies struggle to stand out. Taking a stance that goes against conventional wisdom can help you win raving fans. Specifically, taking a stance that aligns with the buyer’s values can help to establish credibility and trust.

Even SaaS companies can create a brand identity around their values and causes. For example, Square and Stripe turned the payments industry upside down by creating online payment software tailored towards small businesses. Previously, small businesses relied on traditional merchant accounts that involved high fees, lengthy contracts and complex setups. 

Consider what your brand stands for and how it’s different from competitors. For example, how do you solve a problem differently than anybody else? 

Think about how to demonstrate your expertise in a way that encourages conversation. Often this unique point of view can come from the subject matter experts you chose to interview. Be sure to create a fully fleshed-out content brief so everyone is on the same page.

5. Do your research

The best white papers come from extensive research. If you want to establish your company as an authority and gain the trust of your target audience, you’ll want to base the claims you share on credible sources.  

First, determine where you might find the information you’ll need for the white paper. That will determine the research methods you’ll use. If you’re doing interviews, schedule them at least a day apart so you have time to prepare, as well as digest the information afterward.

You likely have an in-house SME that you can interview, such as a product developer, data analyst or CEO. However, sometimes you may want to find external industry experts or advisors to contribute their knowledge. 

When performing secondary research, read industry reports and other white papers on your topic. See what influencers have written about on the topic. Reading will help you discover content gaps and unique approaches your white paper can take. Keep all research material in a single folder. 

Be sure to find credible sources for your white paper. Using industry reports, journal articles and publications are great sources. 

You can also perform surveys with your customers, which allow you to collect opinions and data on specific topics related to your industry. For example, a project management company can collect specific data from its B2B clients to prove its effectiveness and success rates of completion. 

Once you’ve completed your research, be sure to create an outline. Don’t skip this step—it will help you stay more focused and save you time in the long run. Allow your manager and an SME to check that your outline is on track to meeting everyone’s expectations for the white paper.

6. Create a white paper outline

A. land on a working title or two.

You have two primary opportunities to convince your prospects to download your B2B SaaS white paper: the title and the cover. It’s crucial that these elements make a powerful impact. Use your white paper outline to capture a few ideas for persuasive, benefit-driven titles.

B. Brainstorm insights and actionable takeaways 

Ask yourself what you want your readers to gain from your white paper, then write down everything that pops into your mind. This section of your white paper outline doesn’t have to reflect your final draft. Rather, this exercise will help ensure that your content covers all the information you want to share with your audience, including educational insights and tips they can put into action immediately.

C. Lump ideas into sections

Your next step is to structure your brain dump into sections. This will help you identify a few major themes for your B2B SaaS white paper. Once you’re finished, if you feel like your topic is too broad, cut any themes that don’t support the main focus of your white paper.

D. Fill the gaps in each section

Review each section in your white paper outline to see what’s missing. Think about this from your prospect’s perspective. Include statistics to help illustrate the points you’re trying to make. Ensure that every question your reader might be wondering has an answer.

E. Edit and organize each section

Now that you’ve put all of the details around your major themes into your white paper outline, it’s time to edit your outline. Step away from your white paper for a while and return to it with fresh eyes to see if you can tighten up the content and ensure it flows as logically as possible without any redundancy.

F. Add links to source material such as data

Statistics help make your white paper as compelling as possible, and they support your credibility by showing that you use research from reputable sources. Add links to these sources to your white paper outline. Stats make great graphic design elements later down the road in the white paper production process.

G. Get feedback from subject matter experts 

Get a few sets of eyes on your white paper outline. Subject matter experts and other key stakeholders will likely have valuable feedback to offer that can improve your content. They can help you spot any gaps in information or point out confusing sections that require explanation. They can also provide feedback on the flow of your white paper outline.

6. Write and edit your white paper

Once your colleagues approve the outline, you’re ready to flesh out your SaaS white paper. Here are 3 quick tips to consider: 

• Valuable content: Pack your document with high-value content such as research, survey reports and recent statistics. 
• Examples: Share your case studies and real-world examples to make your white paper more relatable. 
• Quotes: Use quotes from industry experts and industry influencers to better engage your readers. 

Once you’ve completed the first draft, you should step away from your computer for at least 24 hours. Fresh eyes can help you rethink, rewrite and polish your work. Do this a few times until you’ve nailed it.

Edit the white paper for logic, key messages, grammar and style. Often, you’ll need to eliminate buzzwords and hype, improve readability with simpler language or make the text more crisp and compelling. Make every word count—avoid padding it with flabby writing or lazy thinking.  

Even the best writers need editors. Get a co-worker or editor to provide a fresh pair of eyes on your work. This can help you catch mistakes you didn’t see or provide a different perspective to strengthen your writing. 

7. Coordinate reviews and approvals

Reviews and approvals always take longer than you might think, so make sure you set aside enough time in the project timeline. Before the project even starts, you should determine exactly who will be reviewing and approving the SaaS white paper. 

Review by committee is tedious and tough. Conflicting opinions and personal preferences can dilute the original message and cause the review process to go on for far longer than it should. Aim for no more than 3 stakeholders to be involved in the review process. Set firm deadlines for review and approval cycles. 

You’ll have a smoother content approval process if you set up the following in advance of starting the white paper: 

• Brand guidelines: Brand guidelines ensure your white paper aligns with your brand identity, maintaining consistency across all marketing collateral. This is especially important to pass along to a SaaS content marketing agency if you decide to outsource the white paper writing. 
• Content brief: Your content brief should state the content goals, audience and a rough outline for the white paper. Be sure to create a fully fleshed-out content brief so everyone is on the same page.
• Editorial style guide: This is one of the most important documents during the writing and editing phase. It includes standards for tone, grammar, images and vocabulary. 
• Workflow: Use a project management tool to easily assign tasks, set deadlines and move the white paper through each stage to completion. The tool allows all team members to see where the project is at and ensures that the white paper gets completed on time. 

Once your white paper gets final approval, you’re ready for publishing. 

8. Draft supporting content

Opt-in pages are the entry point to gated content like white papers. However, so much can go wrong with the opt-in page that you may never collect your prospect’s email address. If you want to increase downloads, make sure you include 6 crucial elements in your opt-in page . 

When designing your opt-in page, make sure to place the unique value proposition, form and call to action above the fold. This helps readers take the desired action without having to scroll. 

Hook readers by driving curiosity with a compelling headline that explains the main benefit of downloading the white paper. In the body of the opt-in page, you can add short bullet points to tell them what they’ll learn in the white paper. 

The thank you email and thank you page should include a link to the downloadable white paper, along with the next step you’d like prospects to take, such as booking a demo call or signing up for a free trial.

9. Design the white paper

Appearances matter. Get your designer to create a memorable white paper design that is professional and easy to read—and plays into your branding.

If you’ve got some interesting data, don’t bury it in dense paragraphs. Instead, present it using visually engaging charts, graphs and infographics to captivate your audience and make the information more digestible.

When designing the graphics, you’ll need to know what types of graphics will best highlight your research. Start by defining your visualization goal for each graphic: 

• Inform: Convey an important data point or message that doesn’t require much context to understand
• Compare: Show differences or similarities 
• Show change: Visualize trends over time
• Organize: Categorize data to show trends
• Reveal relationships: Show correlations among variables

The types of visuals you use depends on the purpose. For example, horizontal bar charts are great for charting survey results. Or you can use infographics as a way to tell a story using facts and statistics. Even adding icons with corresponding text is a great way to make the information easier to read.  

If you don’t know how to design a white paper, we recommend reviewing the white paper examples below for inspiration. 

Read our blog post: 5 White Paper Design Best Practices to Strengthen Your Credibility

10. Develop a distribution strategy

Now you know how to prepare a white paper, but do you know how to promote it? A SaaS white paper isn’t valuable unless the right people see it, download it and read it. Think about how you will use owned channels (like your website, social media and email) and external channels (like conferences, advertising and public relations) to get your white paper in front of people.

Here are some tips to promote and distribute a white paper : 

• Strategically promote your white paper on your website: You should place the white paper in spots on your website where it makes sense as part of the buyer’s journey. Ask yourself when your target audience would be ready for this information. Consider adding it to the Resource section of your website or as a CTA at the end of related blog posts. 
• Post it on social channels: Your audience is probably scattered across various social media channels. Create a series of posts focused on key ideas from your white paper. Remember, white papers can be repurposed into different formats—blogs, tweets, social posts, slide decks and even sales material. 
• Send it out to your email list: Email marketing has stood the test of time and shows no signs of slowing down. Send a teaser email to your mailing list to build anticipation of the white paper before it’s published. Once published, you can include it in your newsletter or  email nurture sequences. You can even have customer-facing team members include it in their email signatures to get it in front of your target audience. 
• Develop partnerships: Leverage relationships with content marketers and journalists in your network to include links to your paper from their content. Perhaps, you’ve got original research that would fit perfectly to their content. Send them an email to see if they’ll include a link to your research into their blog content or an article. 

Never forget to promote and distribute a white paper. Content that gets lost in the shuffle results in lost opportunities and time that could’ve been spent elsewhere. 

Read our blog post: 8 Strategies on How to Promote a White Paper for B2B SaaS

6 mistakes you should avoid when writing a white paper

Many SaaS companies fall victim to common mistakes when writing a white paper, which can derail a stellar piece of content and turn off your readers. The good news is you can write valuable white papers by avoiding these costly mistakes.

Mistake #1: Being overly ‘salesy’

White papers use facts and logic-based evidence to prove a point. If the white paper is too salesy, readers will tune out once they realize it’s a marketing pitch. They’ll question the objectivity and credibility of the content, leading to a loss of trust. Instead, present a vendor-agnostic view of the problem and solution, and support claims with factual evidence. 

Mistake #2: Cutting corners with research 

The worst thing to do when writing a white paper is to slap in a few stats you find on Google and call it a day. A bunch of Google searches aren’t going to bring you any new insights on the topic. Not only that, repurposed statistics are blatantly obvious and can instantly undermine your credibility. 

Use a combination of primary and secondary research instead. Industry reports are trustworthy sources that add credibility. Primary research brings life to your white paper. Consider leveraging interviews, surveys and focus groups to gather unique and original data points. 

Mistake #3: Failing to consider your target audience  

White papers are meant to address specific industry challenges, provide solutions and offer valuable insights. If you don’t understand your target audience, you may miss the mark on addressing their needs. 

You can make your white paper more relevant by keeping your ideal customer profile (ICP) front and center when choosing a topic, figuring out what subtopics to cover, doing your research and writing the white paper.

Mistake #4: Not prioritizing design and readability 

Most people won’t read your entire white paper word for word. The key is to make your white paper scannable so that readers can still get the gist of your complex ideas without reading the entire document. 

Visual elements can help you tell a story with only a few words. Line graphs are great for showing comparisons, trends or patterns, while infographics help to summarize key ideas.  

Also, use headings, different size fonts and graphics to break up your white paper. This makes your document more easily digestible. With plenty of white paper templates out there, there’s no reason not to have a visually appealing white paper design . 

Mistake #5: Not focusing on the ‘how’

Placing too much emphasis on research findings is another mistake. Many white papers will stay in the realm of theory without covering how to use those findings on a practical level. 

For example, there are endless white papers discussing the importance of employee engagement. But very few give concrete strategies and examples in specific verticals to help the reader solve their problem.

Mistake #6: Forgetting to fact-check 

For your white paper to have its intended effect, it’s important to establish your content as a credible source of information. Spreading false or misleading information will cause you to lose trust and could have legal ramifications. 

You can verify statistics and quotes by ensuring you cite the original sources and that they’re accurately represented. Also, check that they’re cited from reputable sources and not just a random blog post from the internet. 

The best way to write exceptional white papers is to learn from successful ones. Pay close attention to their structure, design and how they infuse storytelling to persuasively argue their points. 

Here are 4 white paper examples to learn from: 

1. Databricks – Getting started with unstructured data

This white paper from Databricks gives B2B tech professionals plenty of real-world examples of how a structured data strategy can be used in businesses. 

Many tech solutions aren’t so “obvious” to new users. But by giving concrete examples of how customers can use your solution in a non-salesly way, you can nudge readers down the sales funnel toward a purchase.

2. Snowflake – Design patterns for building multi-tenant applications

This Snowflake white paper compares 3 ways to organize data for customers using one of the Snowflake products. 

The white paper provides clear recommendations to solve a specific problem. Giving clear recommendations can help tech buyers in the buying process because they often highlight the functionalities or features most relevant to the buyer’s use case. 

The white paper also uses workflows and charts to visually demonstrate the solution.

3. ActivTrack – Manager’s guide to productivity measurement

This ActivTrack white paper takes an educational approach by focusing entirely on giving value and only subtly promoting its product at the end. 

The white paper includes plenty of visual elements with minimal text to summarize the key points of the section. This allows readers to quickly scan the document and get the gist of what is said. 

4. AeroSpike – Streamlining data architectures for IoT analytics

AeroSpike sets the stage in this white paper by describing the importance of scalable and reliable data structures. It uses practical examples, such as connected healthcare for diabetes management and smart city initiatives, to showcase real-world applications of IoT and data architectures.

At the end of the white paper, AeroSpike presents its product and its benefits. It talks about how AeroSpike is a high-performance database that can handle the issues described in the paper. 

Should you gate your white paper?

Gating your white paper is great if you want leads, but there are some drawbacks as well. If your target audience has to provide their email address to access your white paper, fewer people will see it since not everyone is willing to give up their email addresses for a piece of content. 

If you don’t gate your white paper, you’re making the white paper barrier-free so more people are likely to read it. And by creating the white paper in HTML, rather than as a PDF, you can optimize the white paper for search and get traffic organically. 

When making the decision of whether or not to gate your white paper, it’s important to get really clear on your primary goal for the content asset. Are you trying to generate leads? Or are you trying to get the information in front of as many prospects as possible and grow your brand awareness?

How long should a white paper be? 

White papers are often 2,500 words or longer. They aim to be an in-depth exploration of a topic, providing comprehensive information and analysis to readers. However, your focus should be on creating a white paper that delivers on its promise and not the word count. 

How many pages is a white paper?

White papers should at least be 6 pages long, but on average are between 10 to 12 pages. Gone are the days of lengthy 30- to 50-page documents. Today’s time-pressed tech buyers and executives want shorter white pages. This is just enough content to cover a specific topic in-depth without losing readers’ interest. 

What does it mean to write a white paper?

Writing a white paper means crafting an authoritative document that uses logic and facts to promote a recommended solution to a problem. Technology buyers want to educate themselves on their problems and potential solutions before they can evaluate or justify a purchasing decision. Businesses offer white papers as downloadable content on their websites to generate leads. 

Can anyone write a white paper?

No, not anyone can write a white paper. To write a white paper, you need to be a strong writer and have experience in a particular topic or consult with subject matter experts. White papers are perceived as highly authoritative documents supported by research and data. As a writer, you need to understand the target audience’s pain points and possess the expertise to present information convincingly. 

How many hours does it take to write a white paper? 

Generally, it takes 20 to 40 hours, spaced out over 6 to 8 weeks, to complete a white paper. Writing a white paper is an extensive process that requires conducting thorough research, interviewing SMEs, writing the draft and collaborating with other stakeholders for input. Hiring experienced SaaS content writers can expedite the process since they can produce better quality work in less time, minimizing the need for extensive revisions. 

What’s next?

You’ve done the hard work of writing a white paper that will resonate with your audience and add value. Now you’re ready to make sure you cite your sources properly . 

This is the sixth post in a 9-part series called the Ultimate Guide to Writing a White Paper for B2B SaaS .

If you’re anything like our other SaaS customers, you’re probably slammed. We’re here to help. Check out our white paper writing service .

6 Elements of a High-Converting Opt-In Page Learn how to craft an opt-in page that drives downloads of your B2B SaaS lead magnet.

As the founder of Uplift Content, Emily leads her team in creating done-for-you case studies, ebooks and blog posts for high-growth SaaS companies like ClickUp, Calendly and WalkMe. Connect with Emily on Linkedin

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Writing a White Paper

• What is a White Paper?

White Paper Structure

• Additional Recommendations
• Citing Sources

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White Paper Style Guide

While there are no official guidelines to writing a white paper, there are many suggestions and best practices which may help in formatting an effective one.

White papers usually follow a similar structure consisting of the following elements:

-From Purdue OWL Writing Lab

Choosing a Title for the White Paper

The two key components of a white paper title are gaining attention and conveying a purpose. It is best to use the active voice when titling a white paper.

Instead of:

Food Delivery at the Notre Dame

Increasing Food Delivery Access Options at Notre Dame: Analyzing the Performance of Starship Delivery Robots

In this case, we reorient a more passive title to an active one with more specifics on a technology being investigated.

Consider the Audience

Consider who you are trying to attract as an audience. You may be trying to gain the attention of members of the general public, investors, or even other companies within an area of studies when writing a white paper. This will impact the language you want to use throughout the paper. Industry jargon and complex language could intimidate readers influencing them to opt out of reading your paper if the audience is outside of the industry. Since white papers often cover more specific forms of technology, there is a balance to strike between the use of complex internal industry terms and language more appealing to a broader audience. The tone should always be professional.

Advertising a Service

If you include advertising of a service within a white paper, it is generally best practice to include this at the end after the narrative of the paper itself. Including advertisements within the body of a white paper can turn off readers and call into question conflicts of interest potentially damaging the credibility of a paper.

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How to write and format a white paper

White papers are popping up in marketing campaigns even outside the tech industry — and for good reason. In this guide, we’ll go over what a white paper is, why creating one might be good for your business, how to write a white paper, and a few examples to check out. 

What is a white paper

A white paper is an in-depth report used to educate an audience on a specific topic. White papers often require an email address for access, which helps capture leads. It’s for this reason white papers should be a staple in your content marketing arsenal.

Here are a few white papers you can check out to get acquainted with the genre:

Microsoft + NetHope

AT&T Business

How white papers are used

White papers are used for a variety of purposes, but according to  Demand Gen Report , 71% of B2B buyers use them to research purchasing decisions. White papers are bonafide marketing collateral and should be used as such — to promote or highlight certain features of a product, service or a solution.

However, there are some common misconceptions about white papers… 

White paper myths

• Myth #1:  A white paper is a product pitch.
• Myth #2:  Addressing both technical and business audiences in a white paper saves you time and money.
• Myth #3:  Using the second-person point of view (“you”) in your white paper is inviting.
• Myth #4:  White papers should be more than 2,500 words long.

The biggest thing to worry about is whether or not a white paper is right for your purposes, and that’s an easy question to answer. Since a white paper can be considered  sales collateral , it’s most likely right for you. Ultimately, any business that is selling something new or complex (or even costly) can benefit from a white paper. 

What to consider before you get started

Keep the basics in mind before you get in the weeds of white-paper writing.

• WHO  is your audience?
• WHAT  are your goals?
• WHEN  do you need to complete this by?
• WHERE  will you promote and use this content?
• WHY  should your target audience care about this white paper?
• HOW  realistic are your expectations?

Steps to create a white paper

1. choose a format.

Most white papers follow a tried-and-true format. Here are the types you’ll run into the most.

Product overview   Also known as “The Backgrounder,” a product overview will explain how a product functions and the context surrounding it. Use this technical white-paper format to showcase a new product or service.  

Comparison  Best used towards the end of a sales cycle, a comparison white paper will weigh the pros and cons of competing vendors or solutions with a clear winner at the end.

How-to or list  Numbered lists or straightforward how-tos are aimed at a casual audience. This format is a useful introductory marketing tool to answer common questions or explain the benefits of a product or service.

Strategic narrative  This white paper format tells a story. It explains how your business got to this point, what your vision for the future is and how you’ll get there. 

2. Do your research

White papers are meant to be authoritative in tone, which means research is imperative to your success. When writing a white paper, you should provide information your readers won’t be able to get anywhere else. This can be done by, for example,  conducting an original survey.

3. Follow a standard outline

Nearly all white papers follow a basic structure:

• Problem statement

Following this format keeps your information tidy while also helping with readability.

4. Dedicate time to design

Don’t forget the impact your overall design will have. Use the same fonts, colors and overall branding you use for your other marketing collateral and go from there. You’ll also want to think about these design elements::

Supporting images and graphs Use images strategically to help break up the text and to make your data easy to visualize. Well-placed graphs, charts, illustrations and images will enhance the reading experience and make your white paper much simpler to digest.

Headings, subheads and white space Be sure to use clear headings and subheadings so your reader can quickly scan the white paper and find what they need. Using different fonts or colors for your headings and subheadings will create a clear distinction while allowing readers to focus on the points that matter most to them. And don’t be afraid to have white space around your main design elements either — this keeps your white paper from looking cluttered.

White paper templates You can also start your design with a  white paper template . Having something like a template can really help you envision things, so try starting with a white paper template if this is your first go-around.

White papers do’s and don’ts

Because the white paper format is pretty fluid, it’s easy for anyone to call anything a white paper. But that doesn’t necessarily mean yours will get the attention you want. To help your white paper stand out, consider these tips:

• Don’t stress the length.  Concision is more important than any minimum requirements you’ll see out there. If your topic requires a good amount of detail, then dive into that detail.
• Follow the white paper structure.  This will not only help with your concision but also with cutting out any fluff while producing an easy-to-read document.
• Consider the style.  Make sure your white paper is professional and well written. If you need to, reach out to someone to help edit and design your white paper.

Here are a few other do’s and don’ts to help your white paper stand out:

• Invest the time in good design.
• Tell a story.
• Make it a sales pitch.
• Forget the research.
• Leave it abstract.

We know writing a white paper isn’t all that easy, but the time you put into creating one will produce a valuable document your sales and marketing teams can leverage. If you follow our simple guide, you’ll be creating your first one in no time. And if you want to really cut that time in half, check out our free  white paper templates .

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The 2024 Ultimate Guide: How to Write and Format a White Paper

The step by step guide to succeeding with white paper marketing.

• 1 What is a white paper?
• 2. White paper examples
• 3 How to write a white paper
• 4 Mistakes a white paper should avoid
• 5 White paper Format
• 6 Gating your white papers
• 7 White paper distribution
• 8 Handling your white paper leads
• 9 Choosing the right white paper template
• 10 Final thoughts

Introduction

White papers are a popular and powerful tool for content marketers. They can be used to position your company as a thought leader and authority on a particular topic by presenting useful and persuasive research findings and technical information about your products and services.

White papers can also be used as a powerful asset to generate more leads when the information is valuable enough for readers to submit their personal details in order to access your findings. This ultimate guide will teach you everything you need to make white paper marketing a formidable addition to your content marketing strategy . 

1. What is a white paper and why is it important?

A white paper is an in-depth report or guide informing readers about a specific topic and its problems. It is meant to educate readers and help them to understand and solve an issue. It is important as it helps establish a company as an expert in its field, educates customers, and influences decisions. 

In the world of marketing, a white paper is a long-form piece of content , similar to an eBook . The difference between the two is that white papers tend to be more technical and in-depth. The facts and opinions expressed in white papers are often backed by original research or statistics that the publisher has aggregated from reliable sources. They often include data visualizations such as charts, graphs, tables, and more.

The term "white papers" originated in England as government-issued documents. One famous example is the Churchill White Paper , commissioned by Winston Churchill in 1922.

Today, the term is most commonly applied to “deep dive” style publications for marketing purposes. Businesses — especially in the consulting, financial, or B2B sectors — use them to communicate their organization’s philosophy on a topic, make the case for the superiority of their product, or simply to present important points related to their field.

White papers are no less editorial than other forms of content, but the depth of research lends them an authoritative tone. For this reason, they are good candidates for promoting thought leadership .

Who uses white papers?

In the past, white papers were most often produced by governmental agencies, NGOs, think tanks, consultancies, and financial institutions that needed to present the findings of their ongoing research in a succinct format.

With the widespread growth and adoption of content marketing (the creation and distribution of non-promotional content intended to generate interest in a business and its offerings), white papers have become more common in other industries as well. Any organization that engages in content marketing can benefit from producing white papers.

Their popularity across industries is due to their versatility. While all white papers have certain elements in common, a B2B startup will use them differently than a large consultancy, and both will use them differently from a governmental organization.

Types of white papers

There are numerous types of white papers a business might publish.

• One type is the backgrounder , in which the benefits of their product, service, or methodology are explained in depth.
• Another is a problem-solution approach, which walks the audience through the solution to a problem that is common in their industry.

Other types of white papers simply present a summary of useful statistics and information about the state of a particular field or industry. An example of this would be the Content Marketing Benchmarks Budgets and Trends from the Content Marketing Institute.

Whatever type you produce , the contents of your white paper should serve to showcase your expertise in a given area. Your audience is searching for an information document and will look for an authoritative source — a business they perceive as having in-depth knowledge of a subject.

The contents of your white paper should serve to showcase your expertise in a given area.

How can a white paper benefit businesses or organizations?

White papers enable you to build trust with your audience. They show readers that you're reliable, experienced, and adept in a given domain. When potential customers search for an informational document to help them understand a problem or opportunity they're facing, and you provide them with a quality white paper that helps, they'll turn to you again in the future.

This perception of authority can also serve to boost sales in an organization. More than half the respondents to the Eccolo Media B2B Technology Content Survey reported having read a white paper before making a buying decision. Buyers prefer to purchase from vendors they trust and see as experts in their field.

Finally, white papers are extremely useful for lead generation . The Content Preferences Survey from DemandGen found that more than three-fourths of survey respondents were willing to exchange personal information for a white paper — more than for eBooks , case studies, analyst reports , podcasts, brochures , or infographics.

With all of these potential benefits, utilizing white papers in your content marketing strategy can produce great results.

More than three-fourths of survey respondents were willing to exchange personal information for a white paper.

2. White paper examples

When you think about white papers, you probably think of PDF articles with thousands of words. But times are changing and so is the way we produce and consume content.

Nowadays, every marketing collateral (including white papers) needs to be well-written, well-structured, and designed for every type of visitor. 

Here are some great examples of white papers doing exactly that. 

This unique one-pager presenting findings from the Developers at Work Survey demonstrates how a white paper should be done. The animated, interactive data charts show off just what's possible with our embed feature .

Open white paper example #1  

Privacy and the GDPR - BDO

This well-produced special edition produced by BDO and creative agency Monte Media does an incredible job of turning a conventionally dull topic into a piece of content that's engaging and comes to life.

Open white paper example #2

This white paper is a step by step guide to succeeding with content marketing.

See more  white paper examples

Start creating white papers with Foleon

3. How to write a white paper

Starting a white paper can be a daunting task. So much information and research are required that it’s easy to get lost in that portion of the work and let it become a roadblock to actually putting things on paper.

Even after the writing itself has begun, white papers are tricky to do well. Simply listing statistics without some form of narrative arc is a surefire way to keep your white paper from ever being read. Luckily, following a few simple guidelines can help keep a white paper engaging and make the process of finishing it much easier.

Pick the right topic

This might seem obvious, but without a topic that resonates with your audience, your white paper is not likely to be read. When choosing the right topic, you should consider three important criteria:

• It should be something you are qualified to write about.
• It should be something your audience is interested in.
• It should address a topic around which little content has been written already and thus fill a " content gap ."

Naturally, finding a topic that brings points 1 and 2 together is vital. White papers are meant to be authoritative pieces of content based upon the author's experience and expertise, so it's important to write about what you know . But you must match this to the interests of your readers if you're to produce something they'll be eager to engage with .

Don't be afraid to crowdsource information from within your organization. If the topic of a white paper is related to engineering, why not interview an engineer or have them look over what you’ve written? The same goes for other roles. Crowdsourcing knowledge means having the power of a true expert in many fields.

Finally, filling a "content gap" will help your white paper get noticed and gain traction. By addressing a topic no one else has written about definitely, your white paper will be more likely to rank highly on search engines and even be featured elsewhere on the web.

Pro tip: You can even ask your audience what they would like to see in your upcoming white paper. You'll get ideas, make your topic more relevant, and you'll generate buzz around your content even before it's finished. In fact, we used the same method for this guide!

Define your audience

Defining your audience goes hand in hand with choosing the right topic. But moving beyond your audience's interests, it’s important to think of the kinds of people who will be reading your white paper.

• Are they fellow professionals, well versed in your subject?
• Are they likely to be reading something they are relatively unfamiliar with?

Knowing this helps establish the voice you should use and whether industry-specific jargon is appropriate. It also narrows the scope of the research you should include. It’s always important to ensure all arguments are logically sound and well supported, but the stats and information presented should be relevant to the specific audience you're targeting.

Part of defining an audience in the age of Google centers around how people will find the white paper. This means thinking about which platforms specific personas use for research and what search terms they put in. Not only will this help a white paper get found by the right people, but it is useful when outlining the white paper later on.

Optimizing for keywords is important, but remember to write for people, not for search engines. Google is getting better all the time at understanding and matching search intent with relevant content . This has become particularly important with the advent of AI-powered language models which can produce long-form content at scale. 

Wrap it in a great intro and outro

Ad with all good writing, your intro should serve to captivate your audience, pique their curiosity, and entice them to read further. It's good practice to provide a brief summary of what they'll find in the white paper and to emphasize exactly what benefit they'll get from reading it.

Your outro is equally important, especially if you're using your white paper to market your products or services. You should avoid any self-promotion in the body of your white paper, but you can certainly mention your relevant product offerings and how to obtain them — perhaps using a compelling call-to-action — at the end.

Pack it with value

White papers are not meant to be advertisements for your company, and you should avoid any overt promotion. Instead, you should provide plenty of useful information that will be valuable to readers even if they don't become customers. Emphasizing value is the key to a great white paper that will get shared and widely read.

Remember, white papers serve to showcase your expertise as a company or brand in a given field. Your readers should come away having learned something useful and with the impression that you're a reliable source of expert information. As pointed out earlier, generating this kind of reputation will lead to greater business success as buyers are more likely to purchase from companies they trust.

Emphasizing value is the key to a great white paper that will get shared and widely read.

Don’t be scared of multiple drafts

No first draft is ever a finished work. Elizabeth Bishop, the renowned and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, wrote seventeen drafts of her poem “One Art” before it was completed. It’s now considered one of the best villanelles ever written .

While a white paper may not need seventeen drafts, there will undoubtedly be points missed and logical inconsistencies in the first version. Finishing a draft, stepping away, and coming back to it with a fresh mind is the best way to ensure quality. If there’s another good writer at your company, getting another set of eyes on it is even better.

Keep it interesting

White papers should be more detailed and thorough than blog posts or eBooks . This may cause them to be more dry and formal, but this doesn't mean they have to be boring.

A trap that white papers easily fall into is using statistics as a crutch and not maintaining interest throughout. Technical as it may be, you still want your white paper to be read. To make this happen, it’s useful to borrow techniques from fiction and creative nonfiction writers.

There are lots of resources for learning about a plot, but generally, it has five parts, as illustrated in Freytag’s pyramid:

These won’t always correspond perfectly in a factual piece of writing like a white paper, but they can get you thinking about how to create and hold interest. Use those ideas to keep readers’ attention until the very end.

4. Mistakes a white paper should avoid

There are some pitfalls and common mistakes to avoid when writing a white paper. Each of these has the potential to make an otherwise stellar piece of content into a wasted effort. Here's a brief list of things to look out for.

Sounding like a sales pitch

When white papers are used as part of a marketing campaign where businesses showcase their product, a common mistake is to make them sound like a sales pitch . Don't let this happen; it will immediately turn your readers off. In a white paper, your audience is seeking unbiased, educational information that will help them, not try to persuade them. Save the sales pitches for other content, like product brochures .

Lack of adequate research

As previously mentioned, white papers should be well-researched documents. Conducting lengthy original research may indeed be outside a marketing team’s budget, but merely including a few stats from the first page of a Google search simply won’t cut it.

Aggregating statistics and searching through scholarly work may take time, but the result will be worth it. For your white paper to achieve its intended effect, It’s important to establish your content as an authoritative source to which the audience would want to return.

Poor design

We'll go in-depth into design in the next section, but it's worth mentioning here. The written content of a white paper is what matters most, but neglecting design is a big mistake. Design makes your salient points stand out and helps the reader understand what they're reading. Using visuals (like images, animations , videos, charts, and graphs) that support your arguments is crucial.

Check out this white paper example built with Foleon!. Open the white paper

Not telling a story

White papers are informative and factual. We’ve driven that point home already. That doesn’t mean they should be boring. Backgrounders, problem-solution white papers, and research findings all have a story to tell, and the reader is far less likely to make it through the entire piece without some form of narrative to keep them engaged.

Setting up a problem, elaborating on a solution, and including some type of success story is a proven formula for making any type of content more story-like.

Leaving it abstract

Because most white papers will involve sharing research findings, it can be easy to leave them in the realm of theory without explaining how to utilize those findings on a practical level. This is true more of backgrounders but can be the case with problem-solution white papers as well.

A good example is the abundant amount of content on employee engagement. Many B2B cases have covered the importance of employee engagement and the pitfalls of getting it wrong. Too little of this content goes further and gives concrete examples of what companies in specific verticals can do to alleviate the problem.

5. White paper format

Before addressing anything else, we first need to talk about the format you'll use.

A picture is no longer worth a thousand words. Today, its value is in the number of eyeballs it can keep glued to your content and the ratio of those viewers it convinces to click through to other sections of your website.

Your carefully crafted copy and painstakingly gathered statistics won’t earn those clicks on their own. The average human attention span is now less than that of a goldfish . And with 3.3 million Facebook posts, 448,800 tweets, and 149,513 emails sent every minute , competition for your readers' attention is intense, to say the least. Long form mediums like the white paper need serious sparkle just to compete.

How to format a white paper

You'll need more than just black text on a white background. Your design choices regarding things like color, typography, and the use of visuals will play a prominent role in the success of your white paper. Here are a few important principles to keep in mind for creating a quality white paper design.

Keeping mobile visitors in mind

More than 54% of internet traffic is now mobile , and web designers have adapted to this trend by creating what's known as responsive design . Before this, web pages simply scaled according to the size of a user's screen, retaining their layout. Naturally, this made most pages both unreadable and unnavigable on smaller devices.

Responsive design solved this by allowing elements on a page to rearrange, resize, or be completely hidden from view in response to the size of the screen. When a smaller screen is used, font-sizes increase, buttons become larger for touch screens, and the entire layout adjusts to make the page mobile-friendly.

But while this has become standard for web designers in a mobile-first world, producers of other digital content assets like white papers have generally not adapted . Surprisingly, most companies that offer white papers and eBooks on their websites still use PDF format .

The problem with PDFs is that they're unreadable on smaller screens . They're fixed-layout documents — they can't adjust or adapt to different screen sizes. Reading them on a mobile device requires excessive zooming and panning around, which is a terrible experience for users.

Mobile traffic is ever-increasing. If you decide to produce your white paper as a PDF , you risk excluding this vast segment of your audience. It's a design mistake that will cost you views and conversions.

See examples of responsive white papers

Emphasis and readability

Because in-depth white papers contain lots of text and visuals, as well as supplementary information like footnotes, figures, logos and copyright info, the danger is that your design becomes cluttered. Clutter accumulates before you realize it. You may choose a clean layout and color scheme, to begin with, but as you continue to add content, things can get crowded. Often, you must make tough choices about what not to include to strike the right balance between completeness and readability.

Good design makes bold choices and prioritizes important information. These choices and priorities affect layout, placement, color, font size, page order and more.

Use these design elements to create emphasis on vital pieces of information. But be careful. Emphasizing too many pieces of information — or too few — will cause readers to struggle to discern what’s important.

Good design makes bold choices and prioritizes important information.

Have a look at what's trending

Bold fonts and color schemes are in. If you look at the hippest tech companies right now, you’ll see lots of pastels and color gradients. Of course, all that might change tomorrow. But still, a great way to get inspiration when you're just starting is to take a look at what design trends are currently popular.

U2's frontman, Bono, sings "every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief." And he's right. Good designers are always drawing inspiration from other designers.

The best way to create a successful design is to spend a lot of time looking at what others are doing successfully. Use Evernote , or a bookmarking service to save white papers and other exceptional designs that you encounter for future reference.

Don’t know where to start looking? Dribbble and Behance are two networks where great designers share their latest work. They consistently have material that’s on the cutting edge of what’s trending.

Design for your audience

While trends may inspire you, it's more important to align your design with your audience and your subject matter.

• Will you be addressing suit-and-tie financial executives or blue-collar management at construction firms?
• Are you writing about changes to privacy regulations in the tech industry, or about the effects of farming on biodiversity?

Your design should support and strengthen your topic. The colors and typography should be consistent with what you're writing about, the tone you've chosen, and the audience you've defined.

Writing a white paper for a funeral parlor? Hot-pink headlines might be a bad choice. Taking color psychology into account can help you achieve the look and feel you're after.

Brush up on the basics

No prior knowledge of design? No problem.

If you don’t have a designer working with you in-house, you can still teach yourself the basics of design and check work against those principles. A big part of the battle is knowing the search terms that will get you the knowledge you need. Luckily, good primers on basic graphic design are abundant.

After doing a bit of reading, start creating. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. If you create a white paper and don’t like the design, try to pinpoint what it is about the design that needs improvement.

After the reading you’ve done, you’ll have the tools to critique your own work and the work of others. This is the best way to improve and create well designed white papers.

Choosing the right tools

At Foleon, we pride ourselves on providing a tool that makes creating responsive digital white papers easy, even for those with no prior graphic design experience.

Choosing a tool like this, which takes the guesswork out of design, will shorten the time it takes for you to produce great white papers. There is a vast ecosystem of tools out there, each of which is geared toward a different purpose and skillset. The right one will enable you as both a designer and a writer.

See how you can scale engaging content creation .

6. Gating your white papers

For most companies, lead generation and growing lists of contacts for the sales and marketing teams are important activities. Attracting visitors to your site and offering them something of value in exchange for their contact information is a proven method for filling the top of your funnel.

But for this type of inbound marketing to work, two things are needed: exceptional content that visitors are eager to acquire, and a method for gating (or walling off) that content behind a form.

Many brands skip the first part and move straight to the second. They quickly produce something mediocre and put it behind a form. This might work in the short term for generating lists, but keep in mind that users expect more from content they “pay” for. The quality of your gated content serves as an indicator of the quality of your brand will affect your ability to turn prospects into customers down the road.

So how do white papers fit into your b2b content marketing funnel ? They may act either as lead generation tools themselves or can be used to direct readers to other parts of a website that captures lead information.

What is gated content?

Walling expert content off behind a form designed to capture personal details is one of the most common techniques for generating leads. Gated content is any content that a reader cannot access until after they input some personal information, such as their name and email address. White papers and eBooks are two of the most common types of content used for this purpose.

Typically, a company will create a landing page that includes a description — and perhaps a preview — of what information readers can expect to find inside. The landing page will include a form for visitors to enter their personal information and thus gain access. After entering the required information, visitors are either presented with a download button or receive the gated content in their inbox.

There are plenty of variations on this formula, but the basic technique of providing “free” content and asking readers to “pay” by providing their personal information has been very important part of content marketing for a long time.

To gate or not to gate

While gating your best content is great for lead generation, there are some drawbacks as well. Walling off your white paper will mean it gets read by fewer people as not everyone is willing to give away their contact details.

An open-access white paper will be read by a wider audience. If it’s in-depth and authoritative, it may also do well organically and improve your search rankings. Gating it behind a form, however, will prevent search engines from indexing it.

It’s important to consider what the primary goal of your white paper is: disseminating information and gaining brand awareness or generating leads. If the latter is more important, then gating is a great option.

Semi-gating

Another variation on gated content — and one that’s growing in popularity — is semi-gating . This can give you the best of both worlds by allowing your white paper to reach a wider audience while still retaining the ability to generate leads.

Semi-gating gives readers a taste of your white paper without requiring them to give up any info. You can, for example, make the first few pages of your white paper open access, and then make visitors fill in a form to read more. This works well because digital content is so abundant and brands must offer more for free or risk visitors turning elsewhere.

Allow your white paper to reach a wider audience while still retaining the ability to generate leads.

Offering more content for free also builds trust and brand loyalty among your readers. Let them know your white papers are valuable and helpful, and they’ll be more interested in giving you their personal information. You’re also more likely to gain qualified leads if readers have a chance to sample your white paper before converting.

Of course, semi-gating doesn’t mean giving away your entire white paper. Typically, there’s at least one section of the white paper that is exclusive to those who go through the gating process. Semi-gating can help reach a wider audience, build trust and loyalty, increase lead quality, and still help you capture the contact information you need.

There’s a concept in marketing and design known as friction . Friction is anything that causes the sales process to slow down. It’s like a roadblock that makes it less likely prospects will convert, sign up, download, or purchase. It can be caused by a multitude of things including poor design, confusing navigation, subpar copy, too many form fields, and more.

Your ability to generate leads with a gated white paper will largely depend on how much friction is involved. Asking for more information than you really need is one common and unnecessary source of friction that can lead to losing potential readers.

The entire field of conversion rate optimization is geared toward removing friction — or making user interactions easier. CRO specialists make forms simpler, navigation more intuitive, and design CTAs that are more likely to be clicked. Optimizing your landing page for conversions is a vital part of any lead generation campaign.

But the reality is, asking for personal information will always be an obstacle for a large number of people. So the key here is to make the process easy and noninvasive as possible.

An excellent way to do this is by reducing the number of form fields to the bare minimum and using mid-gating to ensure your ask is timely and yields immediate value for the reader: "Fill out this form to get access to the rest of this white paper, we've saved the best for last!".

Create white papers and eBooks that integrate with your favorite CRM or marketing automation platform. Get started

7. White paper distribution

So, after following the tips in this guide, you create an engaging, informative white paper that inspires readers to take action and deepen their relationship with your company. You mid-gate (or semi-gate) it to capture readers’ information and gain valuable insight into the interests and demographics of your consumer base.

Now, you publish it on your website, sit back, and wait for your Pulitzer.

Only, the traffic never comes… Where did you go wrong? You didn't think about your white paper distribution strategy . 

The importance of distribution

The internet isn’t the same as it once was. Thanks to the massive amount of content produced every day for and an ever-growing number of channels, it’s a lot harder to get noticed. Unless you’re Gabriel García Márquez back from the dead, simply writing something and posting it online doesn’t guarantee readership.

To get eyes on your white paper, you need to be smart not only about writing and design but distribution as well. Some content marketing thought leaders go so far as to claim that you should spend 20% of your time on content creation and 80% on promotion.

Distribution is all about identifying traction channels where your ideal customers consume content and making your white paper highly visible on those channels. Depending on the audience you defined in the beginning, some will be more relevant for you than others.

Social promotion

If you’re at all familiar with marketing, advertising, or online media, chances are you’re aware of how important social media is to visibility. People from all walks of life, and from all over the world, are on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Ensuring that you share your content regularly on these platforms will give you a solid base of promotion on which to build.

But it's not enough to simply write a post and tweet it into the void. Try to find communities like Facebook and LinkedIn groups where your target audience is likely to congregate. Search for relevant hashtags on Twitter and Instagram . Find subreddits relevant to your industry.

Once you’ve found your audience, it’s much easier to connect with them. If you contribute to these spaces regularly, you’ll have an easier time keeping their attention and distributing your white paper.

Influencers and earned media

Public relations isn’t what it once was; influencer marketing has taken its place as the way to get noticed by the masses.

These days, influencers — people with large, engaged followings on social media and newsletters — are better equipped to amplify your content than traditional journalists. They play a growing role in shaping public opinion and even in setting business trends . Shares from an influencer can even help you land spots in major publications the way press releases used to.

Social media is the best place to find influencers in your vertical. When you investigate the best communities in which to promote your white paper, look for the content that people are already referencing and sharing. Eventually, you’ll start to get a picture of who’s putting out content that’s getting widespread traction. These are the people whose voices can amplify your brand.

Start by interacting with them. Begin a conversation, comment on their pieces with regularity, and give them feedback on their work. There are great tools, like Voila Norbert and ContactOut , to help you quickly track down email addresses.

After building enough rapport, try offering to collaborate on future white papers or other types of content. This process can take some time because your goal here is to build a relationship.

Eventually, you can ask an influencer to share your white paper. You might even consider quoting them in the white paper itself — anything that gives them an incentive to share your work is helpful.

Pro tip: Try to find an expert in your white paper related subject and interview them. It will add value to your white paper and you'll increase the chance that the expert shares your content with his or her extensive network.

Email marketing

The jungle of online content may thicken daily, but there are a few places you can still get readers’ attention. Email distribution has stood the test of time in this regard. It provides greater ROI than social , and it shows no signs of weakening.

If the purpose of your white paper is lead generation, email marketing will not be applicable. But for boosting sales, building trust, and establishing your brand as a trustworthy source of information, it's important not to neglect your existing contact base.

Although email may not have the appealing viral possibilities associated with social media, it does have other advantages. Namely, anyone who subscribed to your email list chose to be there. This means you can expect a higher level of engagement from this audience than those who come in via other channels. Capitalize on their loyalty and engagement by encouraging contacts to share your white paper with their networks and thus multiply your distribution efforts.

This was discussed in the previous section, but it's worth mentioning again here: another big advantage of Foleon's gating features is that when your existing contacts share your white paper with their contacts, those people will be confronted with a login form that will allow you to capture their info and expand your email list further.

Going beyond the basics

The techniques discussed above are essential items in your white paper distribution toolbox. However, they’re not the only ones. The best way to distribute your white paper depends largely on your target audience and the industry to which your content speaks.

Take some time to critically evaluate and research how knowledge is shared in your industry. Every industry will be slightly different. Reaching people in these places is the best guarantee of effective distribution.

8. Handling your white paper leads

As we've discussed, white papers can serve a variety of objectives. They’re commonly used for thought leadership and to disseminate important research, relevant to a specific industry.

When it comes to content marketing, however, the most common use for white papers over the last several years has become lead generation. In chapter 6, we discussed how to bring readers to your white paper and capture their information.

Once you've properly gated your white paper and set up a solid distribution strategy, it's time to think about how you'll handle the leads that come in. If not properly tracked and nurtured, leads will quickly become cold and won't lead to increased sales for your company. So how do you follow up with leads and maximize the opportunity you’ve created with your white paper?

How to track your white paper leads

The buyer’s journey outlines the steps a person goes through, from becoming aware of a problem they have, to learning about different solutions to that problem, to eventually purchasing a product or service (hopefully yours) that solves their problem.

To maximize the chances your new leads become paying customers, you must take the abstract concept of a buyer’s journey and map it to your specific content ecosystem. The actions your prospects take on your website can be indicative of what stage of the journey they're in.

For example, you may see someone read a blog post on your site, then come back a day later to get your white paper, and then finally sign up for a free trial or an email list. After that, they might decide to make a purchase. As patterns begin to emerge around the journey your customers take, you'll learn what actions on your part can help them to advance.

There are many tools available to help you analyze this journey for yourself. Google Analytics is probably the most widely used. It lets you track and compile data regarding user behavior on your website. You can define goals and generate reports that will show you steps users tend to take before completing those goals.

Targeting stages of the buyer’s journey

As it becomes more clear what actions visitors take before purchasing, you'll better understand where to use your white paper in the buyer's journey.

The question you should seek to answer is, where does it provide the most value to your potential customers? Do you see greater success when accessing your gated white paper is a prospect's first interaction with your company? Or is it perhaps more effective to use it as an offer once visitors have returned a second (or third) time to your site?

You can see that white papers don't exist in isolation but act as a member of an ecosystem. The related blog posts, landing pages, emails, social messages, and follow up sequences must all be carefully orchestrated and properly timed.

This process takes practice. It takes trial and error, and you must be a keen observer of trends . However, that effort will pay off.

...white papers don't exist in isolation but act as a member of a content ecosystem.

Following up with your leads

Depending on where in the buyer's journey you use your white paper, the way you'll want to follow up with leads will be different.

• If, for example, your white paper targets the awareness stage and the leads you gather are relatively unfamiliar with your company, it might be smart to enroll them in an email sequence that highlights other pieces of content on your site such as blog posts that are relevant to the topic they showed interest in.
• Suppose your white paper is for people in the consideration stage, and leads are already familiar with what you have to offer. In that case, you might consider following up by sending them special offers or exclusive deals — again, closely related to the topic of interest.
• If you're taking a highly targeted approach to distribution and using your white paper to generate hot leads that you think are already close to making a purchasing decision, the best way to follow up might be for a sales representative to reach out directly by phone.

This is what it means to nurture leads. By proactively keeping in touch with leads and offering them more relevant content, you maximize the likelihood of them becoming a customer.

9. Choosing the right white paper template

In 2021, Hubspot reported that 82% of marketers actively invest in content marketing. Thus, the need to create interactive content experiences that stand out amongst your competitors has never been more critical in your content marketing strategy as the volume of published white papers grows yearly. 

For this reason, the visual representation of your white paper has become increasingly crucial for retaining your audience's interest. In addition to the value your white paper content provides your audience, the single most significant factor at your disposal to maintain content engagement is how your white paper is visually presented. 

For whitepapers, the white paper template you opt for to present your content can significantly influence the success of your publication. The template is more than just a matter of aesthetics; it represents a strategic decision that affects user engagement, experience, and even how your brand is perceived.

Below are some factors you should carefully weigh when choosing your white paper template .

Target audience and content

The two biggest influences that will determine the selection of your white paper template are your target audience and the purpose of your content. 

For example, if you create an annual report that provides Financial Services information or a research piece exploring trends in Software & IT salaries, you’ll want to use a template that easily represents data-rich elements such as tables and eye-catching statistics. In contrast, visually-oriented templates containing hi-res imagery or videos are better suited for online catalogs or digital magazines . 

Think about your target audience's needs and how your template's layout can optimize your content's engagement. 

Creative control with flexible features 

You’ll get the most value out of your interactive white paper with a content creation platform that allows you to harness professionally designed white paper templates that are easy to use and fully customizable with a drag-and-drop interface. This will allow everyone in your team to create content quickly with no coding experience required. 

Custom templates set your white paper up for success by providing a starting foundation to help guide the layout and structure of your content. Custom features allow you to design your white paper any way you like by quickly changing blocks, fonts, and colors according to your brand guidelines with the added ability to add or remove sections. 

Mobile experience and device responsiveness

As of September 2023, over 55% of website traffic is from mobile devices. Therefore, it is essential that your white paper is responsive across all devices. 

Most content creation platforms have integrated tools that automatically adapt your content to different screen sizes. However, to ensure the best possible user experience, you should always test your white paper on multiple devices as part of your content creation process before publishing.

Finally, website speed is one of the most significant factors influencing user experience and playing a pivotal role in organic rankings. According to section.io , 32.3% of visitors bounce from a webpage if it takes more than 7 seconds to load. Ensuring that your content creation platform and hosting services are optimized for website performance is critical in maximizing your readership when choosing your white paper template.

10. Final thoughts

Be prepared to write a lot more content.

By this point, you should have all the ingredients you need to make your white paper a rousing success. However, you’ll notice by now the reality that your white paper fits into a larger ecosystem of marketing actions and content.

In today’s business world, producing quality content is one of the best ways to get your target market's attention. But not everyone will be ready for the same piece of content at the same time.

From white papers to blog posts, to podcasts, the type of content that will drive conversions for your business is something you'll discover over time. What’s certain is that one type won't satisfy all your audience's needs. Because of that, you should be prepared to fill the rest of your buyer’s journey with other appropriate content.

This means lots of writing. There’s no way around that. It means coming up with content ideas, creating them, distributing them, and measuring their success — then rinsing and repeating. After this primer, you should be fully equipped for success writing not only white papers but whatever content you choose along your journey.  

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A 2024 Guide to White Papers (with Templates and Examples)

White papers are an essential tool for establishing thought leadership, educating audiences, and generating leads. They offer a unique opportunity for companies to showcase their expertise and establish themselves as industry leaders. Plus, they’re not too difficult to create, especially with the right tools.

In this article, we’re going to look at what exactly white papers are and why they matter. We’re also going to give you white paper examples to inspire your next project, and what types of data visuals and designs you can include in your white paper to provide the most value.

If you want a hassle-free way to create these visuals, sign up for a free Piktochart account and use our platform to create professional-looking white papers in minutes.

Table of Contents

What is a white paper, types of white papers, elements of an effective white paper, compelling title and cover page, table of contents and executive summary, logical flow and organization, skimmable format, thought leadership and expertise, design and branding, call-to-action, white paper best practices and tips, inspiring white paper examples, conclusion and next steps, frequently asked questions.

A white paper presents information, research, or findings on a specific topic comprehensively and authoritatively. It presents research findings, incorporates expert opinions, and offers evidence-based recommendations. White papers are written in a clear, authoritative, and unbiased tone to establish the writer’s knowledge as respectable.

White papers are often used as marketing tools by businesses to show off their expertise and inform the target audience about a specific issue or solutions to a problem.

Because they provide valuable insight and solutions to problems that might be encountered by prospective customers, white papers are also a highly effective way of generating leads.

White papers are known for their in-depth analysis and research-based approach. They provide readers with a thorough understanding of the subject, supported by credible sources of information.

White papers can fit into four main categories, each with its own focus and purpose.

• Backgrounder/Product – Provides an in-depth look at a specific product/service.  Highlights key features, benefits, and successful use cases.
• Numbered List/How-to – Written in a step-by-step format and contains instructions for readers for solving a problem or achieving an objective.
• Problem/Solution – The most common type of white paper, they identify a specific issue or challenge faced by the target audience and present a solution offered by the company, often to promote a product or service.
• Survey Findings/Market Research – Presents data and information from surveys or market research carried out by the organization used to showcase industry trends and consumer preferences, or to promote a product or service.

The elements you should include in a well-drafted white paper are:

Your white paper’s title and cover design form readers’ vital first impression. Craft a compelling title that clearly conveys the value readers will get. Use meaningful keywords to help it get found.

An eye-catching cover image can also help hook readers and set your white paper apart. But keep it professional – avoid cheesy stock photos.

A table of contents makes it easy for readers to navigate through the document and allows them to jump quickly to sections of interest.

Follow this with a concise executive summary. An executive summary presents a short overview of key points covered by the white paper. Call out the key problem, main takeaways, and a teaser of the solution. This sets expectations and motivates readers to dive in.

A well-crafted white paper follows a logical flow and is organized in a way that makes it easy for the reader to follow. By flow, we mean it should have a clear introduction, main body, and conclusion. The main body should be divided into sections with catchy headings to keep the reader engaged. Then, these sections should “flow” into one another with transition words and sentences.

Having a logical flow not only improves readability but also adds credibility to your white paper. It shows that you have put thought and effort into creating the document, which reflects positively on your brand.

Not all readers will have the time or patience to read through your entire white paper. Use a skimmable format to make it easier to navigate and digest, no matter who your reader is.

Make an effort to include:

• Short paragraphs, centered around one idea at a time
• Bullet points, to emphasize lists that might get lost in paragraphs
• Headings and subheadings, to break up and organize your content
• Call outs and quotations, to highlight key points
• White space, to give your readers’ eyes a rest
• Visuals, to convey information quickly and make it easy to understand

White papers aren’t just about promoting your products or services – they should be well-researched and provide valuable insights and information. This is where thought leadership comes in. By showcasing your expertise, you establish credibility and trust with your readers.

For example, if you’re a software company specializing in data analytics, you can create a white paper discussing the latest trends and best practices in the industry. By referencing your data, you demonstrate that you have unique and valuable knowledge from the field.

It’s important to design and brand your white paper to draw attention and build credibility. Maintain consistency with the company image by following brand guidelines on color, font, and images. A professional and polished appearance will build trust with your audience and give your paper an authoritative feel.

In view of the growing popularity of digital formats, it is important to create interactive white papers that allow readers to engage with them through features like clickable links, videos, and animations. As a result, the reading experience is enhanced and sharing on social media platforms is made easier.

Ending your white paper with a clear call to action (CTA) is key. After reading, what are the next steps your reader should take? Prompt them to schedule a consultation, sign up for a newsletter, buy a product, or check out a resource. Whatever your paper hints at, this is the moment to bring it to the surface to make it easy for your reader to try.

White papers may also be gated, meaning that readers have to provide contact information before they can access the content. Businesses can use this to generate leads and build their email list.

Let’s take a look at some good practices and tips to create an efficient white paper.

You need to know the target audience and their pain points if you’re going to make it through your white papers.

What’s the challenge they’re facing? What’s the information they need to solve this problem? Use these insights to shape your white paper’s focus, structure, and language. The more relevant it is to readers’ needs, the more impact it will have.

A common mistake marketers make is to use white papers as a thinly veiled sales pitch. Instead, focus on educating the reader and providing them with valuable information. In this way, you build trust and demonstrate your credibility in your space.

Remember: you’re the authority, and you want to prove that, but your readers can’t always match that. Write clearly and simply without too much jargon or technical terminology to make your white paper accessible.

Don’t just post your white paper and pray. Actively promote it across multiple channels, such as:

• your websites
• email marketing
• social media platforms
• advertisements

The more touchpoints you create, the more likely it is that potential customers will read your white paper.

White papers are a valuable source of content because they are great for repurposing . You can, for example, turn key points from your white paper into blog posts, infographics, or even video content. This enables you to reach a variety of people and maximize the impact of your white paper.

Looking for inspiration for your next white paper? These examples from various industries showcase the diverse possibilities of the format.

Source: Infigo

1. “The State of Marketing Automation” by Ascend2

This paper highlights research on the current state of marketing automation and its implications for businesses. You’ll notice Ascend2 utilizes stacked bar charts to visualize the data they include, making it more accessible. Stacked bar charts are available with Piktochart’s functions.

2. “The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Advertising” by Mayple

This is an in-depth analysis of the trends, strategies, and best practices for businesses advertising on social media, made into an article. They know what they’re doing by posting this white paper as an article, using pre-written content to boost engagement on their blog. Piktochart has tons of templates that can help you do this for any format.

3. “The Future of Work” by ILR CAHRS

The future of work and how technology will shape it in the years to come is explored in this Cornell white paper. While it may not be the most dynamic of our examples, they use branding that carries through at the top and bottom of every page to keep things consistent.

4. “The Power of Personalisation” by Infigo

This white paper looks at how web-to-print software can help your printing business grow through personalization. It illustrates this point perfectly with stunning visuals and dynamic colors throughout that keep you engaged while reading, hence why they are our example above. Piktochart can help you create something just as visually beautiful that will keep your audience looking.

5. “The State of Cybersecurity 2023” by Sophos

This white paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of cybersecurity, its challenges, and emerging threats. Based on a survey of 3,000 IT professionals in 14 countries, it’s a report with lots of hype around it, but Sophos utilizes the paywall method to keep this valuable information to only those who give them more valuable information.

6. “The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing” by AWeber

A step-by-step guide on creating effective email marketing campaigns is presented in this white paper. It’s a lengthy document, so AWeber breaks it up using headers and a table of contents so you can navigate to the info you need quickly.

7. “The State of Virtual Events 2023” by Kaltura

The results of a survey that asked over 500 marketing professionals about event planning in the face of worldwide uncertainty can be found in this paper. This is another whitepaper that uses a pay/information wall, which positions their white paper as a method for gettting capital.

8. “Your Ultimate Guide to eCommerce SEO” by Pimberly

This white paper provides an in-depth analysis of search engine optimization (SEO) and its importance of online businesses. Pimberly does a great job of gauging interest up front, not only by asking for an email, but also by providing a summary and an expected read time, 15 minutes.

9. “Challenging the Modern Myths of Remote Working” by IBM

This white paper explores the rise of remote work and its potential benefits for businesses. IBM uses plenty of white space and visuals to keep their paper interesting, formatting you can recreate easily with Piktochart’s dynamic templates.

10. “The Power of Video Marketing” by Craig Charters

The benefits of video marketing for businesses, including the impact on customer engagement and brand awareness, are dealt with in this white paper. While video is hard to capture in a physical document, Charters uses links and tons of photos to get physical examples in his work, making it accessible and fun as well as informative.

White papers are a vital tool for businesses who seek to establish themselves as though leaders and draw up leads. Through research and a clear tone of voice, they provide useful information and solutions to audiences. If you take the advice given above, you’ll be well on your way to producing a persuasive and visually stunning white paper.

If you’d like some extra help, Piktochart provides any white paper template you might need to start your business, including the following:

• Simple white paper
• Government white paper
• Social media white paper
• One page white paper

Here’s an example of what your white paper could look like with our help:

Source: Piktochart

Our easy-to-use platform makes it simple for non-designers to create professional-looking white papers in minutes. And if you need additiona assistance or guidance, our team is always available to help.

A white paper shouldn’t be hard to make or read. Sign up with Piktochart today and start making next-level content that pushes your business further than ever before!

How to Write a Whitepaper?

Writing a white paper can be tough, but it can be an effective lead generation tool by providing valuable in-demand content to your target audience. We have a few steps to follow to help you start:

• Choose a Topic: Select an appropriate and efficient topic based on your business/industry experience.
• Research: Conduct extensive research on the selected topic so that you have solid data, statistics, and insights for your white paper.
• Outline: Create an outline that includes key points you want to cover in each section of the white paper.
• Introduction: There’s a reason you’re writing this white paper and why your audience is reading it, so start with an attractive introduction that clearly sets out the purpose.
• Body: Present your findings, data, and analysis in a logical order with supporting evidence and examples.
• Conclusion: Summarize your main points and come up with recommendations/solutions based on the information you provided.
• Design: Use graphics like graphs, charts, and illustrations to make your white paper more interactive and easier to read.
• Proofread: Prior to publication, make sure all grammatical and spelling errors have been rectified.

What is a White Paper Template?

A white paper template is a preplanned document which can be used as a starting point to draw up a paper. It’s composed of sections like

• introduction
• problem statement
• research and analysis
• recommendations

The time needed to complete the white paper can be reduced by using templates, with a view to ensuring that its structure is consistent. It is also a good way to ensure that you don’t miss anything of importance in each section.

What is the Difference Between a White Paper and a Report?

While both white papers and reports present information, there are some important differences.

Reports are often more factual and objective than white papers, while white papers usually use a more persuasive tone to convince readers of a specific point or solution. Compared to reports, white papers tend to be more detailed and complex.

They can also be used at different times. Reports are generally drawn up after a project is completed, while white papers are often used at the beginning of projects or for proposing solutions.

What are White Papers Examples?

White papers can cover a wide range of topics and industries. While we have some specific examples listed above, here is what they would generally look like in some of the most prominent industries:

• Technology – A white paper that discusses the benefits fo using cloud computing for businesses.
• Healthcare – A white paper that examines the impact of telemedicine on patient care.
• Finance – A white paper that analyzes the use of blockchain technology in financial transactions.

Why is it Called a White Paper?

The term “white paper” originated in the United Kingdom’s government as a way to present policy proposals. They were called white papers because they were typically printed on white paper and presented factual information without any bias or opinion, making them pure or “white”.

Who Writes White Papers?

White papers are usually written by experts in a specific field, such as industry professionals or academics. They have the knowledge and expertise to provide valuable insights and analysis on complex topics.

Within a company, white papers can be written by various departments, such as marketing, research and development, or product teams. It is important to have a strong understanding of the topic and access to relevant data when writing a white paper, so think about who in your company would be best qualified to talk about the task at hand authoritatively when deciding who will write your white paper.

How Long Should a Whitepaper be?

Typically, white papers range from 6 to 20 pages. However, the length can vary depending on the complexity of the topic and the amount of research and data presented. For simpler topics, or those that they plan to repurpose as a social media post, some companies prefer to use a one page white paper .

What are Good White Paper Topics?

White papers are usually focused on a specific industry or problem that your business addresses. Some examples of topics for white papers could be:

• The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
• The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer Behavior
• Sustainable Solutions for Environmental Conservation

It is essential to choose a topic that aligns with your business and can provide valuable insights to your target audience.

Nick Saraev is a writer & entrepreneur who pivoted from a path in medicine to forge a series of successful digital media businesses. He's been featured in Popular Mechanics, Apple News, & Bloomberg, and is an Amazon Kindle best-seller.

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Blog Marketing

20+ White Paper Examples [Design Guide + White Paper Templates]

By Sara McGuire , Jun 28, 2023

There’s a reason why white papers are a marketing staple. When created right, white papers boost your authority, solve problems for your clients and stakeholders and act as powerful lead magnets.

But how to you create a white paper that will drive results? In this guide and with the help of Venngage’s White Paper Maker , you’ll learn how to write and design white papers that engage readers, impress clients and generate sales leads.

To add an element of enjoyment to the process, you can explore our collection of white paper templates that offer captivating and informative formats for narrating your story.

[Watch] How to Create a White Paper with Venngage:

White paper examples we’ll cover (click to jump ahead):

Business white paper examples, marketing white paper examples, government white paper examples.

• Policy paper examples

Research white paper examples

Hr white paper examples.

• White paper FAQ

Without further ado, let’s dive right in.

Businesses write white papers for a number of reasons. It’s a great document to showcase a company’s expertise in the field and to win over investors. A white paper can also be used for marketing purposes and brand awareness (which I’ll discuss in the next section ).

Here’s an example of a business white paper:

This business white paper example by Google aims to persuade the reader into adopting AI by leveraging Google’s authority. It also contains a technical deep dive for more advanced readers.

This is a perfect case of a business using white papers to demonstrate its expertise and establish itself as the thought leader in the industry.

To create a business white paper like this one, you can use a white paper template . Here’s an example of one:

Just so you know, some of our templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee. Sign up is always free, as is access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor.

This business white paper template discusses the importance of employee engagement and different strategies to optimize engagement in a company. A staffing consultancy firm could create a business white paper like this one to demonstrate its expertise.

Now, if you already have a draft of your white paper content, you can just copy and paste it to a template you like. (If you haven’t written it yet, here’s a white paper writing guide you should definitely check out!)

But how do you make the most out of a business white paper template like the one above? Let’s take a look at some design tips you can apply:

1. Create an eye-catching white paper cover page

Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of an eye-catching cover page. Like the cover of a book, a captivating cover page will entice people to open it and read it further.

At first glance, your readers should have an idea of what the white paper will contain. Use a photo that reflects the theme of your white paper, or create a visual using diverse icons .

Let’s check out a B2B white paper example on employee engagement. The two men on the cover could easily be a manager speaking with one of his team members. 

Both look energized and engaged, indicating that this business white paper will offer valuable insight to companies looking to invigorate their employees.

2. Highlight key takeaways to summarize the information in your white paper

White papers tend to pack a ton of information within their pages. But in reality, many people aren’t going to take the time to read the whole paper cover to cover.

Try highlighting a few key takeaways that will get them excited about reading your white paper. Or outline exactly what they will trade their time to learn about.

As you can see in this white paper example, there’s a whole section that highlights the key takeaways in the report. Because it’s right on the front page, it’s hard to miss, which is a nice touch:

Pro Tip:  Not sure which template is right for your use case? Venngage has a massive catalog of 500+ professional and engaging templates you can customize today. No more boring Word documents or endlessly struggling with expensive design tools.  Browse our white paper templates.

3. Incorporate photos which resemble your target users in your white paper layout

Photos help create a connection between the information in your white paper and your reader. Using a photo on the cover also tells the reader what they can expect to find within the pages.

In this healthcare white paper template, the image of a child with a sugary dessert connects directly to the topic. The reader will instantly know what the paper is about.

If your goal with white papers is to promote your services and generate leads, your message needs to be memorable. Incorporating visuals resembling your target audience is one way to do so.

This content marketing white paper template depicts someone hard at work while downing a cup of coffee. The image would resonate most with professional marketers you’re trying to reach in a B2B capacity:

Businesses can use white papers as part of a content (and sales) marketing strategy such as lead generation . Most of the time, the white paper is gated — you need to insert your contact information before downloading/accessing the document. Here’s an example:

This white paper example by Frost & Sullivan (commissioned by Samsung Electronics America) explores the trends in the insurance industry. Specifically, it discusses the impact of digital transformation on this industry and how companies can deal with the change.

In order to access the white paper, you need to put in your contact information:

Now, let’s take a look at some more white paper design tips you can apply to make the best out of your marketing white paper:

4. Use high-quality photos with a consistent style

Photos, icons, and illustrations can play an important role in how effectively your white paper communicates information. It’s almost as important as knowing how to write a white paper that conveys information succinctly.

Don’t just use images for decoration. Instead, use photos to illustrate important concepts, to make information easier to understand, and to convey a mood. Marketing white paper examples, like this one, use bright, colorful photos to engage and excite readers.

Venngage’s integration with Pexels and Pixabay makes it easy to find thousands of high-quality stock photos. Check out our  guide to incorporating stock photos  seamlessly into your design. 

Pro Tip:  Use Venngage’s image swap button to change the images in a template in just 1-click. Your images and icons will be replaced with a new image that is already formatted to the template.

5. Use a neutral color scheme for a modern technology white paper design

Say you want to create a white paper to introduce new technology or explain tech-based solutions to problems. A white paper design with a sleek, modern and minimalistic design will likely appeal to techie people.

Pick a neutral background color like white or light grey. Then, pick visuals with similarly sleek color schemes. Tech white paper examples like this use a cool and muted grey palette:

But a great way to add some visual appeal to your white paper layout is to pick an accent color that you can use to make parts of your page pop. For example, this content marketing white paper template contrasts two cool corporate blue accents:

Pro Tip:  With Venngage, you can scale your white paper creation without sacrificing quality. How? Once you’ve created a white paper you like, save it as a template to reuse it again. Or hand the design reins to a team member. Want to create a white paper with your team? Our  real-time collaboration  feature (Business plan only) can help.

Learning how to write a white paper that speaks to your readers is important. For example, when selecting images for your white paper, keep an eye out for people who resemble your target audience .

This will help communicate that your white paper is actually relevant to the group you’re trying to reach.

That said, in some cases, including photos resembling your target audience might not make sense. If this happens, I’d recommend including non-generic stock photos or authentic product images. 

This modern business white paper template uses real product images as well as authentic stock photos to give it that visual flair:

Pro Tip: Need help with creating personas for your target audience? Our in-depth user persona guide  will help you quickly get upto speed.

6. Use creative backgrounds for a trendy white paper design

A simple design trick to make your white paper more engaging is to use the right background. You can opt for a simple background pattern design to add some visual impact to your white paper layout, or even try a trendy color gradient.

For example, take a look at how a color gradient background gives this content marketing white paper template some wow factor:

Here’s a simpler marketing white paper template that opts for a vibrant color gradient background but with simpler font choices to give it a sleek professional look:

Alternatively, you can use a different color gradient on your white paper template to make it stand out. Remember to keep your branding in mind when choosing the color combination so readers recognize the white paper as belonging to your brand.

It’s so easy to experiment with white paper backgrounds, so don’t be shy about trying out different options. With Venngage, you can change your white paper background with 1-click:

Pro Tip: Even if you don’t have any design experience (I don’t), the right background image can instantly make your white paper look more polished and professional. Keep this simple yet effective trick in mind, so you can create white papers that captivate readers.

7. Include calls to action throughout your white paper

If you’ve been wondering what makes a great white paper, it’s the strategic use of calls to action (CTAs).  It’s an important part of understanding how to write a white paper that readers will engage with.

In a white paper, there are plenty of opportunities to position your product or service as a solution to your target audience’s pain points. This means that there will be ample opportunities to include CTAs throughout your white paper.

For example, if you mention a feature of your product, you can place a clickable CTA button beside it:

CTAs are a great way to move people through the  sales pipeline , from your white paper to a  landing page  or blog post. 

Governmental organizations write white papers to outline policies before proposing new bills and legislations. A white paper is a good tool for gathering feedback from the public before implementing wide-reaching policy changes.

This is an example of a government white paper:

There are a lot of ways you can make your government white papers more engaging. Here are some design tips:

8. Make your page numbers stand out so your white paper is easy to scan

When designing your white paper, it’s important to keep your readers in mind. Don’t just think about what they want to read, but how they want to read it.

Your white paper isn’t the latest installment of Stranger Thing s , so it’s unlikely that every reader is going to sit down and read it cover to cover. In fact, there’s a good chance they’re going to want to skip ahead to specific sections that interest them. 

Making your page numbers easy to read will be appreciated by your readers who are trying to locate a particular topic in your white paper.

Take a look at the page numbers in this policy white paper template:

The above government white paper template can be used by a government to communicate complex social, political, and economic issues to an audience.

Healthcare white paper templates, for example, can be useful in proposing healthcare policies to the general public.

Governments can distribute healthcare white papers to communicate crucial healthcare policy changes to residents in an easy-to-read and accessible format (just like the one above by the American Heart Association).

The white paper example below has a format that’s easy to customize for any industry. Its straightforward table of contents and simple design elements keep the focus on the text.

Go ahead and customize this template with our intuitive drag-and-drop editor:

You can create a functional table of contents by adding hyperlinks to individual chapters and sections. This will help your readers navigate the white paper’s contents.

Select the text you’d like to turn into a link, then click the link icon in the top bar. Along with the option to add a URL, you can select pages within the eBook. When you download your design, download it as an  Interactive PDF .

9. Highlight themes in your white paper template using icons

This white paper template, from the cover page onwards highlights the cybersecurity topic it is focused on — phishing scams — by using a hook icon. The cover also introduces a circle motif that is used throughout this technical white paper, to give it a cohesive design and summarize information.

Pro Tip:  Do you work in a boring industry? Whether you’re in finance, law or health care, you can set yourself apart from the competition by creating engaging, yet informative white papers. A well-designed white paper can give you an unfair advantage when it comes to making technical information easy to understand and positioning the value of your business.

Policy white paper examples

Good policy white paper examples include a brief description of the scope of a problem or issue to be discussed, alongside recommendations.

This policy white paper from the Australian government is a good example:

Policy papers also include data to give context to issues. The Australian policy white paper above includes a bar graph describing the percentage of Australians born overseas to illustrate the country’s multicultural societies:

On that note, here’s some ways to best incorporate data visualizations to your white papers:

10. Visualize your white paper data using charts and pictograms

A common problem that marketers and consultants face when creating white papers is finding a way to make the data engaging and easy to understand. 

The solution? Visualize your data using charts and pictograms.

While everyone on your team is busy creating boring Word documents, you can be the creative genius that uses charts and pictograms to create visually engaging white papers.  

The type of charts you use will depend on the type of data you’re visualizing. Here’s a guide to picking what types of charts to use that can help you there. 

You could use a line graph to show revenue growth over time . Or you could use pie charts to show parts of a whole, like in policy white paper examples such as this.

Pro Tip: With our online graph maker, you can create charts and graphs that are more creative and engaging than standard Excel charts. A plain old bar graph won’t do much to inspire anyone, but a creative chart that tells a story can. 

Pictograms are also a creative and effective way to visualize statistical data. Take a look at how pictograms are used in technology white paper examples like the below. They act as visual aids to showcase key statistics and changes as it relates to the IT sector.

Don’t be afraid to mix it up. They say variety is the spice of life — the same can be said of white papers! This business white paper design, for example, combines both bar graphs and pie charts.

For more ways to add data visualizations to your white papers, check out this post: How to Visualize Data In Your White Papers

Just like other white papers, research white paper examples include reported facts and data aimed at educating readers around a particular topic. Research white papers are also written to help readers understand and address specific problems.

If you’re writing a research white paper for your business, here’s some ways to make it more engaging:

11. Highlight featured quotes using a big font

This is a design trick you’ve probably seen used in magazines and news publications. Well, guess what — it works great for white paper design as well! Pull particularly impactful and persuasive quotes and make them stand out from the rest of the text using big, bold fonts.

Not only will this draw readers’ eyes to the quotes, but it also gives your page design more visual variation. Company white paper examples like this one use a bright orange font to help their featured quotes stand out.

Human resources white papers tackle issues around employment, management, employee retention and churn. HR white papers can also be used to attract potential employees by showcasing the company culture and ethos.

12. Incorporate your branding into your white paper design

To improve brand recognition , you need to have consistent branding across all marketing collateral. This not only helps your marketing efforts  but also helps you maintain consistency in your internal and external comms.

Be sure to incorporate your logo , brand color palettes, and fonts into your white paper design.

Venngage’s Brand Kit makes it easy to save your logos, brand color palettes, and brand fonts for later. Then, you can easily apply them to your designs with one click. No designer needed:

Try thinking of creative opportunities to incorporate your branding . This white paper design, for instance, extends the use of its signature color beyond standard headers and icons.

It actually applies a transparent color overlay to the images, adding an additional punch of color and reinforcing its brand palette in an unexpected way.

Pro Tip: Need help with creating your own brand-style guide? Our guide on brand guidelines will help you create brand collateral that will dictate the look and feel of your brand and in the process, help you stand out from the herd.

13. Use icons to emphasize section headers in your white paper template

One of the primary purposes of a white paper is to visually communicate information in an engaging way. But many businesses end up creating something that reads like a college textbook. No one wants to read that…just ask any college student.

TechSmith studied over 4,500 office workers and found that people absorb information 7% faster when they’re given text with accompanying images, versus just plain text. When designing your white paper, look for opportunities to make the text easier to scan with visuals. 

An easy way to bring attention to important points is to place an icon beside the text. Government white paper examples like the one below are text-heavy. But the icons help direct the eye to each section header and break up the text.

This marketing white paper layout uses icons to punctuate the headers and add a dash of personality to reinforce its fun and lively color palette.

Here’s another example of a white paper design where icons are used to visualize points and make information easier to find.

14. Use a visual motif that reflects your white paper topic

A visual motif is a visual element that is repeated throughout your design. When you’re designing a multi-page document like a white paper or a report, your pages should have a cohesive look and flow.

To pick a motif for your white paper design, think of some themes reflected in your white paper. Is your white paper about social media engagement? Then a motif of birds (“tweeting”) or speech bubbles could work.

A white paper topic that is focused on establishing a sprint process could use a race track motif instead.

Hiring strategy white paper examples like the below use a leaf motif. Plants reflect the theme of growth associated with recruitment.

Or you can also use a simple shape motif throughout your white paper design. This approach is more subtle but can still lend to a cohesive and well-thought-out white paper design.

For example, this simple white paper template uses a hexagon motif (it kind of makes you think of a beehive, doesn’t it?).

15. Break up chunks of text with visuals when writing a white paper

When you’re laying out your white paper pages, put your storytelling cap on. Think: what kind of flow do I want my report to have? Where can I use visuals to emphasize certain points? Where can I illustrate an idea?

A common mistake novice designers make is to cram too much text into a page, rather than breaking up the text and giving it space to breathe.

Don’t hesitate to dedicate big chunks of your page–or the page in its entirety–to pictures. Images give the eyes a rest and help to reinforce information.

Visual headers are also a great way to break up expanses of text while still having the visuals serve a purpose (yay for purposeful design!). You can create your own illustrations using icons–they can make for some fun and quirky headers, like in workplace tech white paper examples.

16. Open your white paper with a boldly colored glossary

Like any design project, it’s important to start off on the right foot. You can do this by creating a glossary for your white paper. Think of it as a map that outlines exactly what your white paper will cover. 

In bright white paper examples like the one below, you can see how the designers used a bold color to bring attention to the glossary. This ensures that it will be seen by a reader, and actually used to navigate the content.

If you make your white paper design engaging, a lot more people are going to want to read it:

Try using a full-page color fill (like in this white paper example) for your glossary. Otherwise, readers may miss it when quickly flipping through the pages.

17. Include tables and boxes to emphasize key points and takeaways

Visualizing information or data isn’t limited to just graphs. When writing a white paper, you can also section off important pieces of information using tables and boxes.

In the white paper examples below, the designers used a table to organize key points and takeaways from each main section:

Here’s another example of a white paper layout that uses a table to highlight some key statistics:

Breaking up lengths of text with boxes will help make your white paper easier to read:

18. Vary the color, fonts, and styles of your headers

You can create a hierarchy by using a different font or color for your headers and sub-headers. This also helps give your page design more variety.

In this example, they use different fonts and colors for each level of header. This helps make the distinction between main and sub-headers more noticeable.

Your main design goal should be to create a white paper that’s engaging to readers and easy to navigate. When you are working with this much text, it’s important to make it easy to skim through.

19.  Dedicate pages to particularly important points

The primary goal of your white paper should be to educate readers. But you also want to strike a balance between being informative and entertaining.

If there is a central point that you want readers to remember, you may want to dedicate an entire page to that one point and an accompanying image to help drive the message home.

Pages like this should be used sparingly. That being said, they can deliver some real impact to readers.

Take this white paper example that dedicates a page to an evocative quote and photo:

20.  Allow for plenty of white space on your pages

Unlike one-page reports where you have to fit a lot of information into a small space, white papers allow for more freedom to spread the information out. That will allow you to create page designs with plenty of white space.

In the design world, white space is the empty space around design elements on the page. Leaving some room for your text and images to breathe will help your design look less cluttered.

Check out how this example uses plenty of white space on nearly every page. The result is an organized and modern white paper design.

21. Break chapters or sections into separate columns

Dividing your page into columns is a good way to organize your information and save space on the page. For example, in the white paper above, the Overview and the beginning of Chapter 1 are organized neatly into their own columns.

This makes it easy to jump from one point to the next, without getting lost.

22. Include a question on the front page of your white paper

Speaking directly to your readers can really grab their attention. Asking a question can get them to want to actually read your white paper.

In this white paper example, a simple question to the reader introduces what the report will cover. The designers even bolded it so it was the first thing readers would see!

Now they could have just said “We are going to cover Topic X” on the cover. But that doesn’t place their white paper in the perspective of the person it’s meant to help — the reader.

On the other hand, when you address a common problem people in your niche face, that will pique their interest.

23. Vary your page layouts to keep readers engaged

When people look at the same thing over and over again, it can cause visual fatigue. Their eyes glaze over and their attention drifts.

Varying your page layout will help keep readers engaged by going against their expectations. When the eyes have something new to look at, it’s easier to stay engaged.

This white paper template uses a few different page layouts. One page may have a featured image, another a large quote, and the next only includes written content. This white paper layout is fresh and interesting.

Use these white paper examples to create a design that reflects your brand

Use these examples of white papers as springboards for your own unique and brand-appropriate designs. Knowing how to write a white paper that considers your audience every step of the way will help you develop the perfect response to their questions and make your designs accessible .

FAQs about white papers

What is a white paper.

In the business world, a white paper (or whitepaper) is an in-depth informational report that explains a complex or technical concept in addition to providing a persuasive solution to a problem. 

For example, here’s what a technical white paper looks like:

Unlike ebooks , which may address a broader scope of topics, white papers have a singular focus. They’re designed to solve a specific problem for readers and build brand trust in the process.

White papers are also research-based and widely considered to be a valuable resource. In fact, Equinet reports that a whopping 75% of B2B would share information about themselves and their company in exchange for a white paper.

What is the format of a white paper?

White papers can be formatted in any number of ways, but depending on your industry, you may want to consider formatting your white paper for printing on standard printers. In that case, it’s best to stick to a letter-sized page, whether in portrait (8.5×11) or landscape (11×8.5).

These documents also are best in the PDF file format; this is the easiest way both to share them online and to have them printed.

Why should you create a white paper?

White papers can be extremely valuable documents to educate your stakeholders, clients, and top-of-funnel traffic — when the white papers are actually interesting. According to the Demand Gen 2018 Survey Report , 71% of B2B buyers used white papers in the last 12 months to research purchasing decisions.

How long is a white paper?

Typically, white papers are around 3 to 20 pages long. But some white papers can be longer. A white paper should be long enough to cover the concept or problem at hand. Since this usually includes case studies or new research, plus explanations and analyses, a good rule of thumb is writing white papers to provide enough evidence to back up your claims.

How to write a white paper that people will actually read?

If it doesn’t have an appealing design, your white paper probably isn’t going to work as well as you want it to. As with any type of content — from writing blog posts to making presentations to crafting ebooks —a lot of your white paper’s success comes down to the design.

Take this eye-catching hiring strategy white paper example; it uses dramatic images, colors, layouts, and icons to elevate its content to another level.

How to format a white paper with design in mind:

• Make sure your cover page immediately informs readers what your white paper is about.
• Summarize key takeaways at the start after writing your white papers.
• Don’t forget to think about your readers’ experience. Use clear page numbers to make it easier to scan your white paper.
• Visualize your data to make your white paper more engaging.
• Use consistent brand colors and fonts throughout your white paper format. This will make your design look more polished and professional.
• Use high-quality photos with a consistent style.
• Keep your target users in mind throughout the design process. If you’re using images of other people make sure they resemble your target users.
• Emphasize section headers in your white paper with icons.
• Break up walls of text with visuals like infographics and charts.
• Use a glossary to outline the specific topics you aim to address.
• Incorporate calls to action throughout your white paper design.
• Format your white paper to allow for plenty of white space. This will prevent your white paper design from looking cluttered.
• Switch up your page layouts to keep readers interested.

This article is also available in Spanish Más de 20 Ejemplos de White Paper Increíbles [Guía de Diseño + Plantillas] and Portuguese White paper: mais de 20 exemplos cativantes [guia de design + modelos]

You might also be interested in some of these helpful design guides:

• What is a White Paper? 15+ White Paper Examples to Get Started
• How to Write a White Paper (Tips & Templates)
• How to Visualize Data In Your White Papers
• What is a Marketing Plan & How to Create One [with Examples]
• 90+ Annual Report Design Templates, Inspirational Examples & Design Tips

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How to Write a Successful White Paper: Tips from the ODH 

Last updated april 2022, introduction .

The White Paper is one of two forms of documentation required of awardees from several programs at NEH, including the Digital Humanities Advancement Grant (DHAG) and Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities (IATDH). This resource was written for IATDH and DHAG awardees, but may be useful for others as well.

Interim or Annual Performance Reports and Final Performance Reports are internal documents read by NEH staff. We use these reports to confirm that you are in compliance with the grant program expectations. We also use them to keep track of all the projects we support and to evaluate our grant programs.

White Papers, in contrast, serve as the public record of your project after its completion. They are made available publicly through the NEH Funded Projects Query Form , and sometimes hosted on project websites. White Papers are a resource for future applicants and digital humanities project designers, as well as students, researchers, and a general public interested in learning about digital humanities at the NEH.

White papers are the responsibility of the Project Directors, but anyone involved in the project can serve as a co-author.

These guidelines are designed to help you think about how to write a white paper that documents your project in a way that will continue to serve the field. They are not program requirements. Please also refer to the Performance Reporting Requirements document in the Grants Management section of the NEH website for additional guidance.

Depending on your project, the audience of your white paper may include:

• Future grant applicants interested in learning about NEH awards.
• Digital Humanities project managers looking for insight into project design.
• Digital Humanities researchers interested in learning from your project and its outcomes.
• Digital Humanities project teams seeking collaborators on a new project.
• Undergraduate or graduate students learning about the digital humanities.
• Prospective attendees of Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities
• University administrators, community members, or other project stakeholders
• Staff at funding agencies like the NEH, NHPRC, and the IMLS

Length and Style 

Your white paper should be written in a style and tone appropriate to the audiences you have identified. In general, this will mean a simpler and more conversational style than a scholarly article.

We find that short paragraphs, subheadings, and limited jargon is helpful. Sometimes, applicants like to  produce stylish reports like this one written by a team at the University of Pittsburgh.

Many applicants organize the outcomes of their projects using bulleted lists, figures, tables, and diagrams. We encourage you to think carefully about how you are using data visualization to communicate outcomes. Annotating or captioning visuals may help.

When referring to other projects or research, make sure to provide attributions through citations, embedded links, or a bibliography. You may use whatever citation style you prefer.

When using links, we recommend that you include the full URL (perhaps in a footnote) as well as embedded links. The conversion to PDF occasionally corrupts link embeddings.

Be sure to think about accessibility when producing your white paper. Here are some resources for learning about accessible design:

• Adobe’s guidelines to accessible PDFs.
• Microsoft’s guidelines to making accessible Word documents
• The Diagram Center’s guidelines for accessible design

White papers are generally 5-15 pages in length, depending on the type of project. For example, a white paper from a Level I convening might be short, while a technically complex Level 3 DHAG could be extensive. IATDH white papers tend to be longer, because they often include the full curriculum, biographies of participants, and results of pre-, concurrent, and post-institute evaluations. The length might also increase if you are including numerous screenshots in an appendix.

Unlike grant applications, there are no requirements for the length of a white paper.

What follows is an outline that we recommend you use when organizing your white paper. The guiding questions are designed to help you think about what you want to write. Because ODH projects vary so widely, we expect that most awardees will need to modify this outline to meet the specifics of their project. Not every guiding question will apply to your project.

When writing the white paper, it can help to return to your original application as you reflect on what you proposed and how your project has changed. In fact, you are welcome to include content from your grant application in your white paper, especially if you conducted preliminary research when writing your proposal. This allows you to share the work you did in your initial application with a wider audience.

Begin with a brief 1-2 paragraph introduction that summarizes your project’s goals, outcomes, and primary collaborators. Include links to the project or institute website and any other key content available online.

You may wish to include a Table of Contents.

The primary purpose of this section is to introduce readers to your project, describe how it came to be, and summarize its impact on the field.

Guiding questions:

• What questions or needs motivated you to develop and seek funding for your project or institute?
• Who were the intended users/audiences for this project?
• What fields of study did your project or institute engage in?
• What past work did your project or institute build on?

The primary purpose of this section is to help readers understand how you did your project. This is particularly helpful for project managers looking for insight into project design. It’s also an opportunity to give credit to project participants.

• What were the concrete activities that you did during your project or institute?
• What was the timeline for those activities and how did it differ from what you originally proposed?
• If you directed an institute, how did you recruit participants? If you directed a project, how did you build the project team and identify stakeholders?
• What social, technical, or institutional challenges did you face that impacted your ability to implement your project or institute?
• Who was involved in your project? What kinds of expertise did your project or institute require?
• What challenges did you encounter relating to project management, collaboration, or labor that impacted your ability to implement your project or institute?

The primary purpose of this section is to help readers understand what you did or created during the course of your project.

Guiding Questions:

• What were the final products and outcomes at the end of the award (i.e. a series of workshops, an institute curriculum, a website, a piece of software, a workflow, a scholarly article, etc.)?
• Who are the actual audiences of the project (how did that change from your application) and how did you reach them?
• What technical decisions did you make during the design of your project? For example, what platform are you hosting your project on? What code libraries or packages did you build upon and where can others find them? How did you decide on metadata standards? How did you identify a repository system for the project’s digital assets?
• Did you face any challenges relating to documentation, accessibility, access, language use, copyright, or privacy?
• What personal or professional outcomes came from this project? For example, do you believe that your project helped members of your team to graduate, earn a promotion, get a job, or win additional grants?
• Where should readers look for more information about your project or institute (include URLs, future publication plans, citations, et al)?  What about any software developed?  Is it available in a code repository?

The primary purpose of this section is to reflect on the achievements and challenges that your project faced.

• How did you evaluate the process and/or results of your project or institute? What were the results?
• How did you evaluate the impact of your outreach strategies and your ability to recruit participants, engage community members, or connect with your audience?
• How did this evaluation or testing change the way you proceeded with your DH institute or digital project?
• What did you learn over the course of the project or institute? What lessons would you like to share with future project directors?

The primary purpose of this section is to help readers think about the future of this work.

• Will you continue working on this project? Why or why not?
• What are the next steps for your project or institute?
• How do you plan to fund ongoing research?
• What new research questions does this project introduce? How would you like to see other researchers follow up on your project outcomes?

How will you maintain relationships beyond the end of your workshop, institute, or project?

White Paper Examples 

The ODH first introduced guidelines for writing white papers in 2020. These examples come from before that time, so they may not follow the guidelines described here.

DHAG Level 1

HAA-266562-19 (Shift Design) Redesigning Historypin for Open-Source Digital Humanities

HAA-256175-17 (University of Virginia) The Development of Digital Documentary Editing Platforms.

DHAG Level 2

HAA-256122-17 (Johnson C. Smith University) Mapping the Historic West End: The Digital History of African American Neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina.

HAA-255990-17 (Cleveland State University) Curating East Africa: A Platform and Process for Location-Based Storytelling in the Developing World.

HAA-255999-17 (University of Pennsylvania) The Philadelphia Playbills Project.

DHAG Level 3 (and the former Digital Humanities Implementation Grants program)

HAA-263825-19 (Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum), Advancing Access to Transcribed Text in Citizen Humanities

HK-250641-16 (Carnegie Mellon University) Six Degrees of Francis Bacon: Reassembling the Early Modern Social Network.

HK-50181-14 (Old Dominion University) Archive What I See Now: Bringing Institutional Web Archiving Tools to the Individual Researcher

IATDH HT-267268-19 (University of Central Florida), Understanding Digital Culture: Humanist Lenses for Internet Research

HT-231816-15 (George Mason University) Doing Digital History 2016: An Institute for Mid-Career American Historians.

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Why and How to Create a Useful Outline

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Why create an outline? There are many reasons, but in general, it may be helpful to create an outline when you want to show the hierarchical relationship or logical ordering of information. For research papers, an outline may help you keep track of large amounts of information. For creative writing, an outline may help organize the various plot threads and help keep track of character traits. Many people find that organizing an oral report or presentation in outline form helps them speak more effectively in front of a crowd. Below are the primary reasons for creating an outline.

• Aids in the process of writing
• Helps you organize your ideas
• Presents your material in a logical form
• Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing
• Constructs an ordered overview of your writing
• Defines boundaries and groups

How do I create an outline?

• Determine the purpose of your paper.
• Determine the audience you are writing for.
• Develop the thesis of your paper.
• Brainstorm : List all the ideas that you want to include in your paper.
• Organize : Group related ideas together.
• Order : Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.
• Label : Create main and sub headings.

Remember: creating an outline before writing your paper will make organizing your thoughts a lot easier. Whether you follow the suggested guidelines is up to you, but making any kind of outline (even just some jotting down some main ideas) will be beneficial to your writing process.

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What Is a White Paper?

Purpose of a white paper, how to write a white paper.

• White Paper FAQs

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What Is a White Paper? Types, Purpose, and How To Write One

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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A white paper is an informational document issued by a company or not-for-profit organization to promote or highlight the features of a solution, product, or service that it offers or plans to offer.

White papers are also used as a method of presenting government policies and legislation and gauging public opinion.

Key Takeaways

• A white paper promotes a certain product, service, or methodology to influence current and prospective customer or investor decisions.
• Three main types of white papers include backgrounders, numbered lists, and problem/solution white papers.
• A white paper provides persuasive and factual evidence that a particular offering is a superior product or method of solving a problem.
• White papers are commonly designed for business-to-business marketing purposes between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. 

White papers are sales and marketing documents used to entice or persuade potential customers to learn more about a particular product, service, technology, or methodology.

White papers are commonly designed for business-to-business (B2B) marketing purposes between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. It can provide an in-depth report or guide about a specific product or topic and is meant to educate its readers.

The facts presented in white papers are often backed by research and statistics from reliable sources and can include charts, graphs, tables, and other ways of visualizing data. A white paper can communicate an organization’s philosophy or present research findings related to an industry.

Types of White Papers

A startup , large corporation, or government agency will use white papers differently. There are three main types of white papers, including backgrounders, numbered lists, and problem/solution white papers.

Backgrounders detail the technical features of a new product or service. Designed to simplify complicated technical information, they are used to:

•Support a technical evaluation

•Launch a product

•Promote a product or industry leader

Numbered lists highlight the key takeaways of a new product or service, and are often formatted with headings and bullet points such as the following familiar format:

•3 Questions to Ask

•5 Things You Need to Know

Problem/solution papers identify specific problems faced by potential customers and suggest a data-driven argument about how a featured product or service provides a solution to:

•Generate new sales

•Educate salespeople on product characteristics

•Build industry interest.

White papers differ from other marketing materials, such as brochures. Brochures and traditional marketing materials might be flashy and obvious, but a white paper is intended to provide persuasive and factual evidence that solves a problem or challenge.

White papers are commonly at least 2,500 words in length and written in an academic style.

A white paper should provide well-researched information that is not found with a simple internet search and have a compelling narrative to keep the reader's attention. The author of a white paper should:

• Research and fully define the topic.

• Create an accurate outline of information.

• Write an attention-grabbing introduction.

• Format the paper for easy reading.

• Revise and proofread.

What Is an Example of a White Paper?

All of these documents, publicly available on Microsoft’s website, focus on aspects of the company's suite of cloud services. In contrast with brochures, these white papers don’t have a clear sales pitch. Instead, they dive into relevant topics, such as cloud security, hybrid clouds, and the economic benefits of adopting cloud computing.

• An AI-First Infrastructure and Toolchain for Any Scale
• Moving your Mission Critical Mainframe Data to Azure
• Mesh and hub-and-spoke networks on Azure
• Backup and recovery overview for Azure users
• Backup and recovery overview for users new to Azure

How Have New Industries Used White Papers?

Cryptocurrencies have also been known to publish white papers during initial coin offerings (ICOs) and frequently issued white papers to entice users and "investors" to their projects.

Bitcoin famously launched a few months after the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto issued its famous white paper online in October 2008.

Why Is It Called a White Paper?

White Papers may have developed from the use of “Blue Papers” in 19th century Britain, where a Parliamentary report cover was blue. When a topic for the government was less serious, the blue cover was discarded and published with white covers. These reports were called White Papers. In the United States, the use of government white papers often means a background report or guidance on a specific issue.

A white paper is an informational document issued by a company, government agency, or not-for-profit organization to promote the features of a solution, product, or service that it offers or plans to offer. The facts presented in white papers are often backed by research and statistics from reliable sources and commonly written in one of three formats that include backgrounders, numbered lists, and problem/solution papers.

Copy Engineer. " The 3 Types of White Papers and When to Use Each One ."

Master Class. " How To Write a White Paper ."

Microsoft. " White Papers on the Cloud and Azure ."

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