what is a white paper 
a white paper is an informational document issued by a company or not for profit organization to promote or highlight the features of a solution product or service that it offers or plans to offer white papers are also used as a method of presenting government policies and legislation and gauging public opinion purpose of a white paperwhite papers are sales and marketing documents used to entice or persuade potential customers to learn more about a particular product service technology or methodology white papers are commonly designed for business to business b2b marketing purposes between a manufacturer and a wholesaler or between a wholesaler and a retailer it can provide an in depth report or guide about a specific product or topic and is meant to educate its readers the facts presented in white papers are often backed by research and statistics from reliable sources and can include charts graphs tables and other ways of visualizing data a white paper can communicate an organization s philosophy or present research findings related to an industry types of white papersa startup large corporation or government agency will use white papers differently there are three main types of white papers backgrounders numbered lists and problem solution white papers backgrounders detail the technical features of a new product or service designed to simplify complicated technical information they are used to numbered lists highlight the key takeaways of a new product or service and are often formatted with headings and bullet points such as the following familiar format problem solution papers identify specific problems faced by potential customers and suggest a data driven argument about how a featured product or service provides a solution to 