What’s the Right Length for a White Paper?

Over the past couple of years, many technology companies have begun requesting shorter white papers. While a typical thought leadership white paper might have once been 10-12 pages, today’s technology marketers are increasingly requesting 5-8 pages. This comes from the need to meet tight budgets and out of a belief that people are less interested than ever in devoting the time to reading longer documents.

My view is that the length of paper should depend on the topic and the audience. Here are some observations:

·     Length is not the issue as much as interest. Readers will read content if they’re interested in it, regardless of length. And some topics require more space than others. Often, technical white papers require more space than those geared to a general business audience.

·     Readability is key. To keep readers interested in a paper of any length, you need to make the content compelling. Obviously, content is only compelling if it addresses a problem or topic that’s relevant to the reader. That said, the content needs to be written clearly so readers can easily understand what you mean. Text also needs to be broken up so readers can easily scan each section to determine whether or not they’re interested in that section.

·     Some audiences have different tolerances for reading. As a general rule, technical audiences are more willing to pour through longer, detailed documents. Salespeople always hate text; they often prefer short, bulleted lists. Executives just want to see the high level points that focus on return on investment.

·      The tighter the focus, the shorter the document. One way to effectively create shorter papers is to tightly focus the paper. For example, one client created several white papers that answered certain questions that the salespeople kept getting from customers such as how does your product support RFID. Another paper discussed how the client supported SAS 70 Part II. Because the paper we created was so tightly focused, it was easy to create a very short document.

Overall, no matter how short, a white paper remains a significant investment. You don’t want to short change that message by leaving out valuable content that could help drive the point home, on the other hand, every word needs to support the important messages.

 

What are your thoughts about the correct length for white papers?

 

Comments

[Harvey Shapiro]

The right length is 8-12 pages, regardless of the subject matter. Less than eight pages and it's not taken seriously as a "white paper;" it needs a certain amount of heft. More than 12 pages and you're into MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over) territory with all but the wonkiest readers.

Best,
harvshap@juno.com

[Vijay]

6-8 pages with sufficient white space is good. I both read and write white papers and I definitely prefer a well laid out paper over a tightly crammed one. Anything over 8 pages in my experience simply repeats a lot of information from other sources.