Thought Leadership and Its Importance in Marketing

Transcription

1 1 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP MARKETING UNDERSTAND IT, BUILD IT, BENEFIT FROM IT JULY 18, 2012

2 Today s 5 Topics 2 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 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.

3 3 Defining Thought Leadership & Its Growth in Marketing

4 4 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.

5 Why Thought Leadership? 5 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

6 6 Why Thought Leadership?

7 Benefits of Thought Leadership 7 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

8 8 Attaining Thought Leader Status The Thought Leader s Mindset

9 Thought Leadership is Attained 9 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

10 Thought Leadership Marketing Mindset 10 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

11 11 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

12 12 Thought Leadership Case Studies

13 The Plan 13 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

14 14 The Plan

15 The Plan 15 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

16 16 The Outcome

17 17 The Thought Leadership Marketing Toolkit

18 18 Mapping the Thought Leadership Toolkit

19 19 Building & Measuring the Thought Leadership Marketing Plan

20 Questions to Ask Before You Begin 20 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 position on industry issues? Can you frame & express those views? Can you get people to notice?

21 Questions to Ask Before You Begin 21 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!

22 Your Process 22 Maintenance Action Intellectual Capital Industry Dialogue Plan TL Mindset

23 Keys to Success 23 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

24 Keys to Success 24 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?

25 25 Thank You!

26 Presentation Credits 26 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. faithcbj@aol.com 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. dana@marketingsavant.com