5 tips for creating a memorable whitepaper in 2026
As you start thinking about next year’s content strategy, we’ve got some tips that’ll make your whitepaper stand out from the crowd.
With millions of pieces of content published every day, it’s more important than ever to create insight that cuts through the noise. Easier said than done, right?
As a more thoughtful, detailed, and considered approach to thought leadership, whitepapers are a go-to for B2B marketers. People like them, too. In fact, Content Marketing Institute’s outlook for 2025 showed that e-books and whitepapers are the third most effective type of content for B2B marketers.
Want to get them right next year? Read on.
Put some time into planning
You might be itching to put pen to paper but before you do, it’s important to ask a few important questions.
Who would you like to read this whitepaper? How do you want them to find it? Are you sure your audience would even enjoy reading a whitepaper, and what would you like them to take away or learn from it? There's also the question of what you want them to do or interact with once they're finished reading.
Answering all of these won’t just make its production easier but help you determine the approach, the hook (more on that below), and where along the sales funnel it will live.
Make sure you've got a good hook
If you want to get anyone interested in what you have to say, a good hook is vital. You don’t have long to do that — typically just a sentence — but if you get it right, you’ll do most of the legwork in getting someone invested.
First, make sure the hook outlines the whitepaper's topic. Clarity is key. Second, make sure it’s bold to the point that it prompts people to stop scrolling. You don’t want it to be sensationalist, but you do want to pack a punch. Ideally, it’ll be something timely that people are talking and care about. Third, keep it direct. We don’t need dissertations here.
Think about the treatment
As a word, ‘whitepaper’ doesn’t fill someone with excitement. It conjures images of boardrooms and pages of writing, but you can change that.
The way you format simple elements like headlines and titles can help add flow to a whitepaper. Visual treatment can also bring insight to life.
We've talked before about the importance of whitespace in web design and the same can be said for whitepaper design. Especially if you present it as a webpage instead of a PDF, you can move beyond photographs to videos, interactives, GIFs, infographics, audio clips, or quote cards, and design the page in a way that lets every element breathe.
Scrollytelling is another approach, where elements on the page move, shift, and interact with the reader as they progress down the page, like they do here. It’s a way of elevating the content rather than having a reader hit a wall of text.
Bring in expert voices
No matter how alive the content looks, the insight needs to be strong, compelling, and packed with information that feels relevant.
A great way to do that is to bring in expert voices. That could be internal subject matter experts or, better, industry experts outside of your organization that can add a new perspective.
Identify who you would like to be involved, reach out, and get that interview scheduled. Once you get it published, external experts should share the feature, which will help introduce your thought leadership to a new audience.
While a whitepaper can be a vital tool in elevating your business and emphasizing its position as a thought-leader, outside voices also mean it’s not self-indulgent. This is an opportunity to share, not sell. If you are looking to sell, perhaps a product catalogue would be a better fit than a whitepaper.
Remember it’s part of something bigger
If you’re approaching marketing right, a whitepaper will be just one part of a bigger whole. It’ll be a single piece of content that lives alongside blogs, social media, your website, ecommerce, tradeshows, and perhaps more.
If you want to get maximum mileage out of it, think about its place in that ecosystem and where, along the funnel, you want to offer it. For example, think about how you'll use LinkedIn to drive to the whitepaper and, vice versa, how you can use the insight to create spin-off blogs, features, and social media content.
As whitepapers are an investment and a high-value piece of content, you may also choose to leverage it in exchange for email sign-up or for a select audience.
No matter what approach you take, remember that it’s part of something bigger.
Want a whitepaper that cuts through the noise?
Whether you need help with ideation, research, writing, or knowing how best to share it across social media, our content team is ready and waiting to make it happen. Start the conversation today.