thought leadership marketing understand it, build it, benefit from it
TRANSCRIPT
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP MARKETING UNDERSTAND IT, BUILD IT, BENEFIT FROM IT
JULY 18, 2012
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Today’s 5 Topics
1 | Defining Thought Leadership & Its Growth in Marketing Thought leadership is fast becoming the most widely used and desired B2B marketing practice...
2 | Attaining Thought Leader Status –The Thought Leader’s Mindset Thought leaders set themselves apart using eight mandatory attributes.
3 | Thought Leadership @ Global Impact
4 | The Thought Leadership Marketing Toolkit The tools of the trade for thought leadership marketers.
5 | Building & Measuring the Thought Leadership Marketing Plan How to, pitfalls and how to know if you’re succeeding with thought leadership marketing.
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Defining Thought Leadership & Its Growth in Marketing
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What is Thought Leadership Marketing? “Thought leadership centers on earning trust and credibility. Thought
leaders get noticed by offering something different—information,
insights, and ideas, for instance. Thought leadership positions you and
your company as an industry authority and resource and trusted
advisor by establishing your reputation as a generous contributor to
your industry.”
www.raintoday.com
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Why Thought Leadership?
“Traditional approaches to B2B
marketing are losing their impact.
Today, B2B marketers are turning
towards thought leadership as a way to
differentiate their products and services
in an increasingly competitive market.”
Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008
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Why Thought Leadership? 6
Benefits of Thought Leadership
Change the pattern & terms of how people interact with you (buying or investing)
Diminish resistance
Prospects experience your value before buying/investing
Buyers/Investors invested in you before purchasing
Put yourself themselves further into the development cycle
Shorten the development cycle
Growth in media placements & requests
Search Marketing find-ability
Great content is good for search engines and customers
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Attaining Thought Leader Status –The Thought Leader’s Mindset
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Thought Leadership is Attained
“Thought leadership is the recognition from the outside world that the company deeply understands its business, the needs of its customers and the broader marketplace in which it operates.”
Elise Bauer
You can influence using TL tools & tactics
Your customers grant you TL status
It’s not about budget –it’s about Intellectual Capital and Content
Set yourself apart through mandatory TL attributes
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Thought Leadership Marketing Mindset
They love what they do –energy & motivation
They have the drive to teach –no strings attached
They reach out and communicate –to everyone
They take risks with messaging –on the edge
They balance confidence with curiosity & learning –learn from everyone
They put in the time today (TL activities) for tomorrow’s benefit
They never stop working, connecting and communicating –not drip marketing, but constant education
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Thought Leadership Marketing Attributes
Qualified
Body of Work (Activity Leadership)
Body of Knowledge (Intellectual Capital)
Continuous Improvement
The Network
The Physical Plant (staying fit – as a company)
Self-Management
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Thought Leadership Case Studies 12
The Plan
Thought Leadership is integrated into the strategic plan and outlined as a “Critical Success Factor”
Entire senior management buys into the goal of promoting Global Impact as a thought leader in the international philanthropy and workplace giving field
Marketing team supports the Global Impact executive team but they each have to own their own reputation development process.
“The credibility we are establishing is only achieved by taking risks and demonstrating, consistently and through variable channels, our expertise.”
Renee S. Acosta
President, Global Impact
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The Plan 14
The Plan
Entire senior management team is organized around the goal of promoting Cisco as a thought leader in the technology industry
Earning credibility by creating information that places company objectives second to the goal of educating prospects
Every Cisco executive must establish and nurture his or her own reputation for thought leadership, through blogging/engaging in social media, public speaking, and writing articles
“When you look at thought leadership you can break it out into a number of different areas. It must be visionary. It looks at the future. It must be provocative, and it must put the our customer’s needs first.”
Mark Peshoff,
Senior Director of Cisco’s Executive Thought Leadership
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The Outcome 16
The Thought Leadership Marketing Toolkit
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Mapping the Thought Leadership Toolkit
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Building & Measuring the Thought Leadership Marketing Plan
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Questions to Ask Before You Begin
Do you love what you do? Passionate enough to push TL
Sustain interest in years to come
Are you willing to teach? “Educate the market” mentality
Do you “enjoy helping your customers & prospects”?
Are you comfortable with “reaching outside”? Expand beyond your existing network
Are you will to take a stand with your message? Do you have a unique posit ion on industry issues?
Can you frame & express those views?
Can you get people to notice?
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Questions to Ask Before You Begin
Are you a “confident learner”? Balance your positions with listening
Ears to the ground for trend shifts & opportunities
Do you have a “long-term” perspective? Spend time today for reward tomorrow
“Faith in the future”
Are you comfortable with “no end point” to TL? Willing to work a long time toward this goal
Stay motivated!
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Your Process
Maintenance
Action
Intellectual Capital Industry Dialogue
Plan
TL Mindset
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Keys to Success
Be Generous With Your Knowledge Share beyond the marketing speak
Be Consistent Calendar your activities –daily, weekly, monthly routine
Always Deliver Value Listen, think, revise, teach, repeat
Take A Stand Take your strong positions to market
Focus On The Long-term Benefits Track your results in months & years
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Keys to Success
Reach How many hear your message?
Acquisition Who’s attention did you get?
Conversion What information did you gather?
Who can you contact as a “lead”?
Retention Who follows you after the acquisition?
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Thank You!
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Presentation Credits
This presentation was delivered by Christina B. Johnson. Christina has committed her life to serving others and for more than ten years has worked in the nonprofit sector, building brands and fundraising for some of the nation’s most well respected NGOs. She’s currently a Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications at Global Impact and her prior experience includes leadership positions with the United Way the University of Dallas and the Washington, D.C. Marketing Center.
www.linkedin.com/in/christinabjohnson
Most of this content was provided by Dana VanDen Heuvel. Dana is the founder of The MarketingSavant Group and a widely recognized specialist in thought leadership and emerging marketing technologies such as blogging, social media, RSS, Internet communities and interactive marketing trends and best practices and speaks regularly on these topics at industry events. Dana is the creator of the American Marketing Association “TechnoMarketing” training series and the author of the AMA Marketech ’08 guide to marketing technology.