If you have acclimated yourself to the financial world and you continue to interact with it in some capacity, then you might have heard about white paper or some matching term being thrown over more than once. The white paper has become a solid term that business-minded people might come across at some point in their careers, it might be related to stocks, forex, or the crypto market, but the chances are that they are going to bump into it sometime in the future.
The crypto industry has seen multiple white papers being drafted over the years and submitted as the basis for the production of a new cryptocurrency or an ICO, otherwise known as an initial coin offering. White papers serve as complete information around a dedicated asset that is being traded publicly. It has all the information one could hope to find about a commodity they are interested in investing in.
Retail investors out there have become more streamlined with the process of investing their money in multiple commodities, and they have grown a habit of reviewing and reading white papers regarding a particular cryptocurrency before investing in it. It was not the case all along, but today, a white paper has become an important aspect of an IPO or ICO launch process because other than that, where do people be able to find all the information they require for that dedicated project or commodity.
You would be amazed to know that even some websites out there are entertaining the possibility of developing white papers for themselves. But one might ponder what actually is a white paper, and that is a question that needs to be answered right away before you go any further into the article.
Definition of White Paper
According to some professional analysts out there, the occurrence of white papers can be dated back to a complete century, and these were initially proposed and or introduced by the British government. These papers were earlier used to inform people about certain decisions that were made by specific government agencies, and it was considered an intricate part of developing a new wing or agency and or making changes to a present one.
But that has changed drastically over time; as of today, a white paper is basically a marketing tool that is used to persuade people to put their money into a specific commodity or asset, it contains all the basic information about a certain financial entity, and it basically influences decision-makers so they can go with that particular asset.
One might also question the fact why the white paper is indeed called white? It is called so because, according to the British government, the white colour indicates that the document is available for all, which means that it could be interpreted and accessed by the public without delving into any kind of ranks or superiority filters.
That is why still to this day, the paper remains a crucial aspect of the public domain. But later on, it was introduced into the commercial world, and it was taken as a bright concept that would enable brands and companies out there to really connect with people on the grounds of informing them about their business strategies brand vision and obtain the relevant information about the product or services they are bringing forward.
The end purpose of this white paper for commercial use was that it should be read by any potential customer as a means to procure factual information about the brand or business in question. Some might say that these papers are a bit flashy or they represent a proper sales pitch, but this is not the case with white paper at all. The original purpose of a white paper is to educate the masses, to provide them with factual information, as has been discussed multiple times previously, about the asset or commodity they are examining or exploring at the moment. Today these papers have been tailored to fit the commercial world in a scope that they usually educate people around the products and services a brand or company is putting forward.
Many financial gurus argue that white papers are actually a form of inbound marketing because usually, these are published on websites and online channels. Multiple purposes could be drawn out from white papers that are used in a B2B marketing environment. There could be multiple use cases of white paper for these industries and brands, such as they might have a goal to promote company leadership and or growing their email list and, if nothing else, then making it contribute towards the significant sale volume of a new product line up.
These also enhance the overall legitimacy of a business and make it sound more mature and proactive rather than being a conventional type of brand that is not luxurious but more of a common approach among people, thus having a limited clientele. Multiple government authorities around the world are still producing white papers, and these still have a lot of use cases around the private and public domains.
Important Things to Consider Before Writing a White Paper
Many people try their best to look for a template for the drafting of a white paper, but at the end of the day, templates are not necessary at all. Templates are only going to act as general guidelines that you should follow, but it all comes down to the message that you want people to read and reflect on. A writer should be able to understand the proper structure of the white paper and how different sections or attributes of the paper are going to work together in harmony.
If the writer could comprehend this task, then sure, the paper would be able to sell itself to the target audience in a more compassionate way. The paper needs to be concise and kept extremely simple remember; you are not writing a blog post, so instead of shortening it a bit, extend it and add relevant points to make it sound more confident and proper.
Another thing that you should wholeheartedly follow is that the actions mentioned within the white paper are not going to cost any money to the audience; therefore, the very aim of the writing and style of writing should be significant to the message that you want to deliver. In relation to the crypto market and or writing a white paper for the crypto-oriented audience, the paper or writing material must be used to persuade the users to buy or invest in one of the multiple digital currencies out there.
The writer who has been tasked with writing the white paper must conduct thorough research to identify the target audience, and this is the first thing that they should be doing when it comes to writing a white paper. This would help them to quickly understand the type of language they should be using within the paper as well as understand the psyche of the audience and therefore mould the sentences and words to fit their specific profile.
This specific approach should help them with the research that needs to be conducted for the paper. All the research essentials that you are going to mention within the white paper must be accurate and thorough. It doesn’t matter if you want to add some kind of information about the technical aspects of the crypto product or service or some other management-oriented information; just make sure that everything is accurate and properly cited within the paper.
You would not get a second chance with the white paper, and that is why you must proofread it multiple times before sending out the final draft because once it is printed and has been hurled into the outer world, there is no going back.
Key Contents of a White Paper
Multiple professionals out there have their own specific opinions when it comes to writing a white paper or the content that it should reflect on. But most of them agree on the fact that the very beginning of a white paper should include a problem or challenge that is out there and needs to be brought to the reader’s attention. This will help you to grab their attention by the throat from the get-go. The next step is to present them with a possible or plausible solution to the problem that you have mentioned earlier.
It needs to be done in a convincing manner because otherwise, they won’t be buying what you’re selling. They need to be convinced utterly of the fact that there is nothing else that could be the solution to their problems but the very thing that you are offering through this white paper. The very next step should be to represent the team behind the solution. You must not use sales-oriented language here, but some kind of persuasion can be used, though.
You need to make your point to the readers about the capability of the team on delivering the very promises that have been made earlier in the form of a solution that was discussed for the problem at hand. You can include real photographs of the team members, small biographies, and or profile links to social media platforms if they would allow it. These are called the trust signals, which give out a more appreciative vibe to the reader, and they begin to understand and connect with the information that you are throwing at them. This also shows that they can definitely trust you and that you as a team have nothing to hide.
Furthermore, your paper could present the reader with information regarding the release of the tokens, such as how much volume of it would be made available and or the marketplace considerations that the reader should take into account. You can mention the value of the token here, the number of tokens that you plan on putting into circulation the very platform on which these would be made available.
Another section could be provided within the white paper where you allow investors to be able to redeem their tokens and, at the same time, put out information regarding what will happen if your funds raising methods don’t bring in or meet the quota that you did set earlier as a financial goal. You can include terms and conditions regarding this in multiple other ventures and or sections within the white paper, or you could just present the reader with a link to your website where they would be able to discover more about it.
Finally, there should be a road map included within the white paper, and it can be broken into quarterly goals. These goals would help the reader to bring together the very essence of what they were reading earlier, primarily related to the problems that will get addressed and the solutions the project will be providing them. The road map is going to provide people with a proper conceptualization of the project so that they can begin to see multiple aspects of it in a tangible manner. Other than that, the road map is also going to help the team remain accountable for whatever promises have been made in terms of the solution presented for the problems mentioned within the white paper.
This will help in dissecting if the team is meeting its goals or not? This kind of puts multiple pairs of eyes directly over the shoulder of the team because they know that audience is watching them and analyzing their capability depending on the promises on the white paper. Missing a goal and or skipping one is going to have some serious repercussions on the overall reputation of the project.
White Paper Formatting
As explained earlier, you can’t send out a half-baked white paper that has not been proofread multiple times. Take out any form of errors present, either disarming the quality of information or its authenticity of it. That is why once the paper is complete, the next process should be formatting it.
Many white papers simply overlook the readability aspects, thus making them illegible in the long run. If your readers or intended audience can’t make sense of the words that you have put before them, then most likely, they are not going to take any kind of action from the white paper you just submitted to them.
The mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies is taking place right now, but at the same time, it is also significant to consider beginner-level audiences. These are the people who are equally interested in taking part in such crypto products but simply lack the information and or knowledge to begin with. You have to assume that people who are new to the crypto world might not know the meaning of a few terms, and therefore you have to make it easier for them.
It would only do you good, in the long run, to assume that your target audience doesn’t know much of the crypto terms and concepts; therefore writing technical terms, you have to make sure that most of them are readable and completely understandable because otherwise the very purpose of writing a white paper is lost. Another consideration regarding formatting that you should take into account is the whitespace. Some white papers simply become a burden to read because there isn’t much white space between the text, and this might sometimes overwhelm the reader.
There should be proper spacing between the text and or the lines along with the paragraphs and other specific elements as well. Other such elements that should be present and or made part of the white paper include illustrations, graphs, and other dedicated systems to make the white paper more convincing and understandable should be concise and readable. As you are putting enough whitespace within the paper, it is helping the reader to take a break and allow the information that they have just read to seep in before they move on to the next section.
After all, is said and done, the final thing that you should take care of is the design of the white paper. You obviously don’t want to chip in like a meticulous white text with double spacing and dividers between the paragraphs because it might not be able to tempt your intended audience; that is why you need to jazz it up a bit. The design of the white paper must not be neglected in any case; if you are after perfection and want a lot of people signing up to buy your products or services, then this is the part where you don’t skim off.
A suitable graphic designer or graphic design team could be able to help you with the formatting issues as having been described above. Other than that, they will also be able to help you to make sure that all the visual design elements out there align properly with the overall vision and or statement of the brand being put out with the help of the white paper. This will eventually ensure a smoother customer experience for your target audience, and at the end of the day, this is exactly what you should be opting for.
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