White Paper

A white paper is a paper where information about a product, service, technology is presented. Usually the main purpose of such documents is to promote and make potential customers buy the product etc. Unlike brochures, white papers provide coherent and factual information about the product, also it should contain no less than 2,000 words and be written in an academic style. Also may be written in one word - “whitepaper”.

Types of White Papers

While technical documents exist in order to give users detailed instruction, white papers are aimed to convince customers to acquire a certain product, service or technology or to learn information about it before purchasing. Usually white papers are regarded as a marketing tool or part of marketing techniques since it helps to create a customer. Most white papers are made for B2B (business-to-business) types of transactions and helps set communication between a wholesaler and a retailer, for example.

There are 3 kinds whitepapers:

1. Backgrounder (also called evaluator's guide or product briefing). It used to be internal documents that explain unfamiliar technologies or features.
2. Numbered list. The most popular type, explains an offering in small paragraphs, where the main points are highlighted.
3. Problem/solution. A white paper with the most profound information. It checks an industry problem and presents a better solution with convincing arguments.

It has quite a big difference from brochures. Brochures present attractive and tempting pieces of information and evident commercial offers. White papers aim to give a customer a persuasive argument why the written in the whitepaper solution or offering is better or superior. For these reasons whitepapers usually consist of more than 2,000 words and are written in an academic style.

Real examples of White Papers

JPMorgan, an American multinational investment bank, issues its own white papers on different topics to help people to understand more about investment, finance, business etc., for example:

• PAYMENTS are eating THE WORLD.
• A Merchant’s Guide to Preventing Card Testing Attacks.
• Opportunities in the metaverse.

After reading these papers a person, potential investor or not, will figure out how to prevent card testing attacks and explore opportunities the metaverse presents.