Tear Down Barriers to Supercharged White Papers and eBooks
For many technology verticals, meaty white papers and eBooks are content gold. But deep-dive documents can also be a content nightmare if subject matter experts are hard to wrangle and the review/approval process spirals out of control.
Normally, this is the part where you would expect “3 steps” to successfully executing engaging and results-driven content. But instead of steps, I want you to think of a shape. In this case, an inverted pyramid is the key to pulling the stress out of your content-heavy projects and producing a vehicle to connect audience to revenue.
Start Wide
When supplying background to a writer to build out the refined content you need, there is no such thing as too much. Interviews with multiple subject matter experts are fine. Reams of previous documentation—no matter how disorganized and complex—are fine. Don’t hold up the project kickoff over-thinking how to prep the writer and concerned that you’ll overwhelm them with too much information.
It’s a content developer’s job to organize multiple streams of thought and create a through-line to engage the reader and take them on a journey. What’s needed is access to raw information, but it doesn’t need to be pretty.
Tip: If you have trouble getting on the calendar with one of your SMEs, bypass their input temporarily. But you can still offer the chance to review the initial draft. When someone is too busy for a 30 minute phone call, the ability to add a few comments to a working document might make the difference.
Finish Tight
As you move along in the process, the number of internal contributors after the production of the first draft should start to shrink. Multiple opinions provide a wealth of information at the start, but those same opinions can drag the paper in competing directions if too many enter the review phase. As work on the white paper or eBook progresses, tighten the input loop continually until only 1 or 2 at most have a say on the finished product. The remaining review should comprise of individuals who know the content and business goals, and whose opinion is the voice that you want to be heard by the audience at the end.
This approach makes all the difference in simplifying what can be an intimidating project—not only at launch, but also in maintaining a tight trajectory through to a timely public release.