Choosing the right type of white paper for your company: 7 White paper examples and ideas

Are you looking for ways to elevate your content marketing game and showcase your organization’s expertise? Writing a white paper can help you achieve that. White papers are an excellent tool for providing valuable insights to your audience and positioning your company as an industry thought leader. There are various different types of white papers you can develop. 

Today, we’re exploring seven different types of white papers that can help move the needle for your business — and sharing white paper examples to inspire your next content marketing project.

1. The problem-solution white paper

This type of white paper identifies a specific problem that your audience is facing. And based on that, it lays out a detailed solution using your product or service. It’s a persuasive document that highlights the benefits of your offering while providing actionable advice. Think about business customers who are having issues with data protection in the cloud. A cybersecurity company could create a problem-solution white paper discussing these challenges and explaining how their encryption software addresses them.

2. The technical paper

Technical white papers dive deep into the fine details of your product or service, explaining its features, functionality, and underlying technology. These documents are ideal for targeting highly technical audiences like engineers or developers.

These days many businesses are looking to AI solutions to make data-driven decisions. AI adoption is expected to grow by 37.3% between 2023 and 2030. A software company can tap into this rapidly growing trend by writing a white paper on its AI-driven analytics platform. Their technical whitepaper will detail the machine learning algorithms and data processing techniques specific to their platform and how it delivers accurate, real-time insights.

3. The proprietary data white paper

A white paper based on proprietary data is another of the popular types of white paper examples that companies have found effective. It leverages the unique, in-house data or research that your company has conducted to provide valuable insights and promote the benefits of your product or service. Whether you’re publishing the results of a customer survey around business leaders’ industry sentiments, customer app usage data, or the results of qualitative customer interviews, these white papers showcase your organization’s expertise and commitment to research to stay ahead of the industry. This type of white paper example can give you a competitive edge by offering readers exclusive information. 

For example, through a comprehensive survey of their clients, a marketing automation platform provider could collect data on the most effective strategies customers use on the platform to boost their conversion rates. They could then create a proprietary data white paper analyzing these findings and offering recommendations on how businesses can optimize their marketing efforts using the platform’s features.

By adding a proprietary data white paper to your repertoire, your organization will not only strengthen your position as a thought leader, but you’ll also provide your target audience with exclusive insights backed by data. This will help you build trust and credibility while piquing the interest of potential clients who are eager to learn from your unique research and experiences.

4. The industry thought leadership paper

Thought leadership white papers showcase your company’s unique expertise and knowledge base by providing insights into industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies. Like other white paper examples, they can be a valuable resource for your audience.

Let’s consider social media. Many businesses are using social media to reach their audience and thus need to stay up to date on trends and the future direction of social media. A digital marketing agency might create a thought leadership white paper that discusses the future of social media advertising, exploring new platforms and advertising formats while sharing predictions for forthcoming trends.

5. The case study white paper

Case study white papers help you demonstrate the real-world applications and benefits of your product or service. By sharing the experiences of satisfied customers or clients, these white papers provide concrete evidence of the value of your offering. They can be particularly persuasive to potential clients. Case study white paper writing leverages the power of real-life experiences and storytelling. 

So, how does this work? A CRM company can leverage case study white paper writing to showcase how their platform has helped many businesses increase customer retention, streamline sales processes, and improve overall efficiency, publishing concrete statistics that show their real-world results. Such a resource will prove valuable to a business planning to adopt CRM software. To learn more about case study best practices, read our blog on writing B2B case studies that people want to read.

6. The comparative paper

Comparative white papers examine various solutions or approaches to a particular problem, positioning your product or service as the superior choice. By comparing different alternatives, these white papers can help guide your audience towards choosing your offering over competitors.

Let’s look at a white paper sample in the ever-growing cloud services industry. As cloud services continue to grow, more organizations and end-users will look to adopt a suitable service. To benefit from this, a cloud storage provider could create a comparative white paper discussing different data storage solutions, such as on-premises servers, public cloud storage, and hybrid solutions, ultimately positioning their service as the best option for specific use cases.

7. The checklist or best practices paper

Checklists or best practices white papers provide practical guidance and tips to help your audience achieve specific goals or improve their processes. These documents can be valuable for demonstrating your expertise and building trust with your readers.

Checklist white papers may be valuable to organizations that manage large projects or work remotely. Take this white paper sample: a project management software company could develop a best practices whitepaper that outlines strategies for remote team collaboration and project execution, including tips for using their platform to maximize productivity.

Showcase your company’s unique expertise with a white paper

White papers are a versatile and powerful content marketing tool for B2B companies. By choosing the right option for your business from the various white paper formats, you can create a diverse library of resources tailored to the needs and interests of your target audience.

So why not start brainstorming your next white paper project today? Your audience will thank you for the valuable insights, and your business will benefit from the increased credibility and authority that comes with being a thought leader in your industry. 

If you’re looking for expert assistance with white paper development, our white paper writing services have you covered. Learn more about how our white paper writing can help.