One of the more common buzzwords in the communications field these days is the notion of "thought leadership."

As defined in Forbes magazine, a thought leader is:

"an individual or firm that prospects, clients, referral sources, intermediaries and even competitors recognize as one of the foremost authorities in selected areas of specialization, resulting in its being the go-to individual or organization for said expertise."

While most people and businesses strive to be the "go-to individual or organization" in their area of expertise, the hard truth is that establishing yourself as a credible thought leader cannot be achieved with a single blog post or by simply parroting what others say. To be viewed as a credible source of information, you need to establish a track record of consistently publishing interesting, helpful content that is not merely a prettied up sales pitch for your product or service.

Creating Effective White Papers

White papers are one of the most effective-yet also the most challenging-tools in your thought leadership tool belt. According to Michael Stelzner, author of Writing White Papers, "a white paper is a persuasive document that usually describes problems and how to solve them. It takes the objective and educational approach of an article and weaves in persuasive corporate messages typically found in brochures."

White papers can be a great way to establish trust among your target audience members. But to be effective they must be done correctly. I have seen many so-called white papers that are actually glorified brochures, rather than educational pieces that position a particular product, service or company as a solution to a problem. In some cases, I have seen a single two-sided document referred to as a white paper. In my humble opinion, that is a fact sheet, an article, or a brochure, but not a white paper.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in creating an effective white paper is deciding what, exactly, you want to communicate. In my experience, the idea to create a white paper usually comes from someone high up in the corporate food chain who proclaims that "We need to establish ourselves as thought leaders in the financial services industry."

This idea trickles down and ultimately lands in the lap of a marketing director who is then tasked with creating a white paper. Since this is a time consuming, research heavy endeavor, the job often gets outsourced to an outside organization, such as yours truly, Bull's-eye Financial Communications.

In my opinion, the single most important stage of any white paper project is the discovery phase. This entails taking the necessary time to identify the specific target audience, the overall objective of the paper, and the key messages you want to communicate. You also need to identify "subject matter experts" with deep knowledge of the topic who can help the writer uncover and articulate information that is not already widely known.

Next, it's critical to gain agreement on an outline and define what's in scope and what's not before you move ahead. Otherwise, you may end up with a 10-page document that, while it may have some heft, does little to establish your thought leadership credentials.

Understand that, despite everyone's best efforts, the first draft may miss the mark. But as long as everyone is committed to providing clear feedback and direction, you will eventually produce something that will make you proud and make your customers and prospects smarter.  

This leads to my final point. Don't be afraid to take a position and say something original, provocative, or interesting. If you're simply regurgitating information that's already common knowledge, you're not a thought leader, you're merely a thought follower.

In the next issue of Hit Your Mark, I will delve further into some of the established best practices for creating effective white papers.

What about you? Have you had any experiences (good or bad) creating white papers? Share your thoughts on our blog.