Leveraging White Papers
Part I: The Basics of White Papers
There are countless vendors vying to sell their products and services to the federal government. Competition has increased even more in recent years as federal contracting shops have consolidated and communication channels continue to increase. It can be hard to figure out the best ways for your organization to rise above others and find success – especially when many products and services tasks have limited variability.
One marketing tool that plays a vital role in federal sales success is the white paper. The Pulse has created a guide to the ins and outs of white papers so your organization can put its best foot forward and distinguish itself.
What is a White Paper?
The term “white paper” originated with the British government, with the Churchill White Paper of 1922 being an early example. In the British government, the color of the government document’s cover indicated distribution, with white designated for public access. Thus, white papers are used in politics and business, as well as in technical fields, to educate readers and help people make decisions.
Today, a white paper can be generally defined as a persuasive essay that uses facts and logic to promote a certain product, service, or viewpoint. White papers come in various forms, each serving different purposes, audiences, and industries.
Each type of white paper varies in length, depth, and format, and they’re used across many industries due to their versatility. While all white papers have certain elements in common, the development of white papers in federal sales is a unique art.
White Papers in Federal Sales
In sales, a white paper is a persuasive document that educates potential customers about a particular issue, problem, or challenge relevant to their industry or business. It aims to position a company as a thought leader and expert in solving a particular issue through its product or service.
Unlike traditional marketing collateral, white papers delve deeper into the problem – similar to a case study – providing an evidence-based presentation of the “who, what, where, when, and how.” This approach showcases how your capabilities provide a solution to your federal buyer’s problem, requirement, or initiative.
White papers used for federal sales are solution-oriented, evidence-based, educationally-driven, and contain a call to action.
Purpose of White Papers
Demonstrate Expertise.
The number one objective of federal buyers is to reduce risk as much as possible. White papers allow federal vendors to showcase the depth and breadth of their expertise, capabilities, and familiarity with complex issues relevant to the federal buyer’s needs.
Educate Decision-Makers.
White papers provide detailed insights, analysis, and evidence that educate these decision-makers about potential solutions, innovations, or methodologies. When potential buyers are looking to understand a certain topic, and you provide them with a quality, informational document that answers their questions, they’ll turn to you again in the future.
Build Trust and Credibility.
White papers establish credibility by demonstrating a contractor’s depth of knowledge and commitment to addressing key challenges or opportunities faced by federal agencies. They show that the contractor has done thorough research and has a well-considered approach to solving problems.
Influence Policy and Requirements.
White papers can influence the development of policies, requirements, and specifications for federal contracts. By providing evidence-based examples, federal vendors can shape the discourse around what solutions are needed and how they should be implemented.
Generate Leads.
Well-written white papers can attract attention and generate leads from federal buyers seeking federal vendors with specific expertise or solutions. They serve as a starting point for discussions and potential collaborations.
Raise Awareness.
White papers are a great way to bring awareness to subjects that have failed to gain the proper attention. When you are an expert in your field, you have a unique view of the challenges. They are meant to provide a deep dive into a specific subject, teach the reader things they would have never even thought about, and be the one to start the conversation.
Explain the Complexity.
White papers are not only great tools to generate leads, they are also helpful in selling a complex product, idea, solution, or service. Federal vendors that provide convenient, easy-to-understand information make it easy for potential buyers to understand what you do and how it benefits them.
Pivot Your Business Strategy.
Being flexible and adaptable is key in any industry; especially in federal contracting where the risk of shutdowns and stale budgets loom annually. White papers can help showcase your product, service, or people and how they can be utilized during challenging times.
Boost Your Search-Engine Results.
Online research is now a foundational aspect of any purchasing decisions – even for federal buyers. By publishing relevant, quality content, federal vendors can boost their search-engine rankings, results, and click-through rates, which in-turn helps buyers find you sooner.
To white paper or…not?
Federal contractors must consider their audience, goals, and the complexity of the topic when determining when to develop a white paper.
Before investing in the creation of a white paper, consider the following factors:
- Audience Needs: Your audience should consist of industry professionals, decision-makers, policymakers, or stakeholders that require detailed information, research findings, or a comprehensive understanding of a certain topic.
- Educational or Persuasive Intent: Your goal in white papers is to educate about a complex issue, propose a solution, present research findings, or persuade stakeholders to take a specific action.
- Timeliness and Relevance: Your topic is timely, has significant relevance, and is effective for addressing current or emerging issues, trends, innovations, or challenges within an industry.
- Long-Term Impact and Distribution: The information you want to present is likely to remain relevant, valuable, and accurate for an extended period of time.
If you answered “true” to all points, then a white paper is the appropriate format to effectively showcase thought leadership, influence stakeholders, contribute valuable insights to your industry or field, and achieve your strategic goals.
Types of White Papers
There are some variations of white paper formats that are commonly found in federal contracting including:
1. Technical white papers
Purpose: Technical white papers provide detailed information about a product, service, or solution. They often include specifications, technical details, system architecture, and how the proposed solution meets specific requirements or standards set by the government.
Audience: Typically targeted at technical evaluators, engineers, and project managers who need to understand the technical aspects and capabilities of a proposed solution.
2. Policy white papers
Purpose: Policy white papers discuss regulatory compliance, policy implications, or legislative impacts related to a specific industry or government initiative. They may analyze how a proposed solution aligns with current policies, regulations, or government mandates.
Audience: Government officials, policymakers, and compliance officers responsible for ensuring adherence to regulations and policies.
3. Thought Leadership white papers
Purpose: Position the author (usually a company or individual) as an authority on a particular topic within the federal contracting space. They may explore emerging trends, innovative solutions, or strategic insights relevant to the industry.
Audience: Senior executives, policymakers, and stakeholders interested in gaining a deeper understanding of industry trends and thought-provoking perspectives.
4. Best Practices white papers
Purpose: Offer recommendations, strategies, or methodologies that have proven successful in similar government contracts or projects. They may highlight lessons learned, case studies, and actionable insights.
Audience: Project managers, procurement officers, and government officials interested in optimizing processes, improving efficiencies, or achieving better outcomes in their projects.
5. Market Research white papers
Purpose: Provide insights into market trends, industry benchmarks, competitive analysis, and market opportunities relevant to a specific government sector or agency.
Audience: Business development professionals, strategists, and decision-makers who use these white papers to understand market dynamics and identify potential opportunities for growth or expansion.
6. Educational white papers
Purpose: Informative, authoritative, and objective documents that provide valuable knowledge and actionable insights to empower stakeholders to make informed decisions and drive positive outcomes in government procurement processes.
Audience: Government decision makers, procurement officers, contracting specialists, technical professionals, business developers, sales professionals, industry consultants and advisors, academics, and researchers.
7. Product Comparison white papers
Purpose: Provide transparency, clarity, and evidence-based analysis to assist government agencies in the decision-making process when evaluating competing products or solutions. They present options objectively so federal buyers can choose the most suitable product or solution that aligns with their requirements and priorities.
Audience: Government procurement officers, technical evaluators, project managers, policymakers, industry partners, contractors, and researchers.
Remember: A white paper is NOT…
An unsolicited proposal. A blog post. A capabilities statement.
Keep in mind the differences in content, length, audience, and distribution methods. These other types of documents, while all beneficial for your organization, have vastly different purposes and should not be confused with a white paper.
Part II: Developing White Papers for Federal Sales
White Paper Development
Format: There are no fixed rules or industry standards to define a white paper or its format. With no formal standards, here are a few of our recommended conventions and key characteristics for a federal white paper format:
- At least 5-6 pages long (2,500+ words)
- Portrait format
- Objective in tone and meticulously researched, including cited sources
- Educational, practical, useful information – not a sales pitch
- Used before, not after a sale (info after a sale is documentation)
- Provides facts, not just opinion
Content: Even though the purpose is to educate, a white paper doesn’t have to be boring. The best white papers are engaging, cohesive, and thought-provoking. Hook your audience with a clear and interesting storyline accompanied by helping statistics, facts, figures, and visual aids. Make yourself stand out with a prepared call to action and plan. When done well, a white paper brings the reader along and, if persuasive enough, ends with the reader convinced you’re right.
Persuasion: Persuasion 101 is focusing on your audience’s needs. If you can address the problems that your readers want to solve, they will read your white paper for a solution. Otherwise, your white paper may not be read. It’s important to emphasize your readers’ interests and needs rather than your company’s interests.
Distribution: A big consideration when it comes to the distribution of a white paper is gating. Gated content is any content that a reader cannot access until after they input some personal information, such as their name and email address. Walling expert content off behind a form designed to capture personal details is one of the most common techniques for generating leads.
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.
Promotion: To get important 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. The key here is to work smarter, not harder.
Once developed, white papers can be distributed in different formats – use the content to develop short form blog posts, pull-quote graphics, or other social media posts. Send these smaller versions of your content out to your business mailing list, ensuring to link through to the source content.
From White Paper to Federal Sale
So, let’s connect the dots…
- Awareness: The federal government sees you are establishing yourself as an expert in customer experience (CX).
- Interaction: A potential federal buyer reads your white paper and attends your free event to learn more about the subject.
- Interest: After your event, the federal buyer starts internal conversations about how to implement CX into their current infrastructure based on your recommendations. The federal buyer even references your literature as a source of knowledge.
- Action: The buyer’s contracting office releases market research to evaluate potential vendors.
Shaping an Opportunity
Shaping is the art of using the pre-RFP period of an opportunity to make recommendations to your federal customer. These recommendations will help them put together a better solicitation, while also increasing your chance of winning by moving the solicitation in a direction that benefits you.
You can shape numerous things about an opportunity:
- Statement of Work (SOW) or Performance Work Statement (PWS): Help your federal customer define what tasks and objectives need to be accomplished, performance schedule, what metrics need to be applied, and how the requirements appear in the solicitation.
- Proposal Instructions and Evaluation Criteria: Provide suggestions on award process, pricing structure, contract type, the number of past performance references, key personnel, resume requirements, and specific infrastructure (i.e. facility clearance) or certifications (i.e. CMMI, CMMC, ISO).
- Legal Requirements: Make suggestions on conflict of interest, intellectual property rights, and license agreements that will favor your solution and preclude others from bidding.
“Shaping” an opportunity requires more than just awareness and understanding of drivers, data, trends and forecasts. To be effective, a federal contractor must be an active participant in the process by consistently being aware of external and internal drivers. Internal Drivers include Requests for Information (RFI), Sources Sought, or Expression of Interest (EOI), and GAO findings for protests or reports for deficiencies and improvements. External drivers include proposed and actual federal budgets (i.e., budget justifications and Congressional appropriations), WH/OMB/OFPP memos, GAO Recommendation Reports, and Agency or Department/Office performance documents.
- Providing resources that document external drivers, data, and trends to inform and educate buyers, and to justify the acquisition strategy.
- Educating and training stakeholders on the correct acquisition strategy (i.e., socio-economic set-asides, NAICS competition or vehicle used) by using the FAR, DFARS, historical precedence, and other resources as guides.
- Providing justification for why the acquisition strategy is relevant and critical to that particular contracting/procurement office and opportunity.
White papers for GovCon serve as marketing collateral, shaping catalysts, and credibility indicators. Though they are versatile in their uses and benefits, there are plenty of do’s and don’ts. By understanding their purpose and audience, and utilizing best practices for format, development, and delivery, your organization can set itself apart and win with white papers.