Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of organisations (many of whom should know better!) produce a great deal of research, white papers, and reports, only to host the information on their website without making the most of the juicy content.
As I’ve said before, I’m a bit of a ‘stato’, so I don’t need much of an excuse to create a story out of numbers. It’s also widely known that journalists love a bit of data on which they can hang a story, so it is eminently sensible to convert white papers into press releases.
With that in mind, here are some tips and tricks of the trade:
Timing
The press release needs to be issued before or as the white paper is uploaded to the site. Journalists need to be able to cover the story almost immediately and don’t take kindly to being sent a press release weeks or even months after the date it was initially published.
Headline
Lead with the data or the story – the white paper itself should virtually never be the focus! If you can get a strong statistic into the headline, that often means more recipients will open the email as you’ll have whet their appetite. Let the data do the talking – nothing clever, no puns, just clear and factual. And there is no point referencing the white paper name either, as that doesn’t mean anything to anyone at this point, except the creators.
First paragraph
Again, the white paper is usually a red herring here. It can be hard to explain that to the author, but the real news is the data. Select the strongest stats and use them in the first paragraph with a reference to the compiling organisation.
If the white paper doesn’t contain any new data but is more a pulling together of other reports, the headline and the first paragraph should instead contain a compelling point of view.
“ABC Ltd calls for / warns / is disappointed that / urges X to take action, etc.”
Ensure there is a link back to the homepage of the organisation’s website over the first citation of the organisation’s name.
If the white paper is neither new research nor a new opinion or point of view, then the opportunity to create coverage and links is somewhat limited. Depending on how sophisticated the target media is and whether the organisation in question already has some reliable journalist friends, it may still be possible to secure some column inches. However, if there is nothing new to speak of, it’s going to be an uphill struggle.
Second paragraph
The white paper is better referenced in the second paragraph, as hopefully by this point, the reader is sufficiently gripped to continue. However, it’s often best to include a couple more relevant statistics first and make the white paper an aside rather than the focus. An example might be:
“These findings are taken from ABC Ltd’s white paper ‘Title’, which is intended to highlight XYZ.”
Include a link back to the page where the white paper is hosted. This may not necessarily be published but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
The raison d’être
As alluded to in the above example, as well as the obvious brand awareness/sales/lead gen rationale for compiling the white paper, it’s important to have a more altruistic purpose behind the project. This also needs to be included in the press release.
This content is often found in the foreward or the summary sections (or should be) of the white paper and can be rewritten appropriately as the justification for the work and to persuade the receiver of its credibility and gravitas.
Quotes
The quote should be used as a backup for the facts and figures earlier in the press release. It gives the opportunity to highlight the impact of the statistics as well as introduce the point of view or perspective of the organisation.
The individual quoted should be the author of the white paper but it is also possible to quote a second spokesperson from a supporting organisation such as a partner or a contributor, if that is appropriate. It is unusual to quote two people from the same organisation within the same press release, though.
Call to action
At the end of the press release, it’s customary to give the journalist and their readers a chance to access the full report in all its glory. This differs from the more subtle link over the report title in the second paragraph.
“The full report can be read or downloaded at www.ABC.co.uk/whitepapers/Title”
It’s reasonably common to centralise and bold this text.
Producing a substantive white paper is hugely time-consuming and so it makes sense to sweat the asset as much as possible, including using it for email campaigns, on social media, as a blog post and of course, a press release.
