Whitepaper: Meaning, Examples, Purpose — Check Now!

Do you want to know what whitepapers are? What are its uses and purpose? Though white papers were initially used for government uses, they are now widely used in a wide range of industries, especially healthcare, finance, and technology. This authoritative document can be used for a wide range of purposes such as to establish thought leadership, influence decision-making of the industry leaders, educate stakeholders, and many more.

Now, let us explore its meaning, examples, purpose, and more.

What is a Whitepaper? Meaning

Whitepaper is an informative guide or report that is written by companies and other organisations. These detailed documents highlight or promote various features of a company or organisation’s solutions, services, or products.

These documents provide factual, important, and persuasive information to the users about the method of solving an issue or establishing the superiority of a product/service.

Usually, whitepapers are used for B2B (business-to-business) purposes. They are used by wholesalers, retailers, and manufacturers to attract more business and persuade target businesses to sell their products or services.

There are usually three types of whitepapers and they are problem or solution-based whitepapers, numbered lists, backgrounders, and others.

Whitepaper Examples: Top 3 Case Studies

Example #1: Cisco’s Networking related Whitepaper

The Cisco whitepaper we are discussing here is named “Networking and your competitive edge.” It explains why a business needs a state-of-the-art network edge and its importance.

This whitepaper helps its target audience to understand complex topics in an easier manner. Cisco has used essential statistics and major pointers to help you understand complex networking problems and solutions in an easy manner. The texts and graphics have been used in a balanced manner so that a reader can skim the whitepaper content easily.

Example #2: HSBC’s Thought Leadership Whitepaper

This is a thought leadership whitepaper in the finance domain. It thoroughly explains why the overvaluation of the equity market takes place. This document has used its internal data to show that the problem of overvaluation can be overcome through proper asset allocation. HSBC’s whitepaper has used a subject matter expert to write this document. This authority on the topic shows that the company has authority on the matter and also creates trust in the mind of the target audience.

Example #3: Aetna’s Healthcare Insurance Whitepaper

This whitepaper is named “The Forgotten Killer: Cardiovascular Disease.” Aetna, a leading health insurance provider, discusses about the innovative technologies that are being used for getting rid of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this whitepaper is to create top of the funnel (TOFU) content that places Aetna as a leader in the healthcare insurance sector.

When Should You Use Whitepaper? Purpose

To know how to use a white paper to your or company’s benefit, let us try to understand the various purposes and real-life uses.

Cryptocurrencies, for example, are using whitepapers to allure their investors and users for their projects. The crypto industry is mostly using whitepaper during ICOs or Initial Coin Offerings.

The most famous example is that of Bitcoin. 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.

For example, Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin, issued his famous whitepaper in October 2008. Only a few months later, Bitcoin was launched. This shows how important whitepapers are and how the cryptocurrency industry is using it to attract investors and users.

Final Words: How to Write and Use a White Paper?

You should use a whitepaper to inform your target audience about your products, technology, and methodology. Your aim should be to persuade your target audience with facts and evidence. However, it does not mean that you should sell or promote your products because it may turn off your target audience.

So, when you are writing or creating a white paper, try to create an advanced problem-solving guide with adequate facts, statistics, and real-life evidence. To make it easily skimable, use the right balance of words, visuals, tables, graphs, charts, and comparisons.

You may also use whitepapers for generating leads or as lead magnates. You may ask the reader's email address to download the informative whitepaper free of cost. This will help you get a large number of leads in a short period of time.