blogging for thought leadership
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BLOGGING TO BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERTAKING THE HIGH ROAD TO MARKET LEADERSHIP
Rockford Social Media Bootcamp – 7/25/09
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.
Need help after the event? Email -
After-Event Slides & Resources
The slides and resource links are available electronically after the event:
clients.marketingsavant.com/socialmediabc
What is Thought Leadership?
RainToday.com
“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.”
Thought Leadership Marketing
Thought Leadership Marketing provides a sustainable
go-to-market strategy based on your competence and
point of view by developing intellectual capital
employing elements of insurgent marketing principles
and creating clarity in the marketplace through a
balanced digital and traditional channel approach to
achieve market share and demand generation.
Thought Leadership Marketing
Social Media & Digital Marketing
Insurgent/Underdog Marketing
Thought Leadership Marketing turns organizational activity into
intellectual capital that supports relevant advocacy positions, tacit domain
expertise and point-of-view platforms to shape and influence market
perceptions and establish your organization a thought leader, knowledge
resource, subject matter expert and ultimately, a trusted client advisor
Social media and digital marketing combine with trusted, classical
marketing tools to form a foundation for sharing and relevant dialogue with
clients and markets that builds market capital and provides the insights,
access, and influence required to create demand generation
Effective Thought Leadership Marketing employs insurgent marketing
principles that deliver immediate and measurable lead and prospect
opportunity improvements and drives demand generation by focusing on
delivering wins and competing on higher ideals, not lower prices, in the age of
the empowered buyer.
Insurgent Marketing
The Thought Leadership
Marketing Equation
Competence, purpose and
core market understanding
inform the point of view &
thought leadership
platform. Thought leaders
outshine their competitors
who compete on price and
advertising.
Strategic use of TLM
tools and channels with
media collaboration
garner your share voice in
the industry and spark the
industry dialogue around
your ideas.
As buyers seek out more
real market dialogue, SOV
is an increasingly important
factor contributing to
marketplace success.
Thought leaders and trusted
advisors occupy the
greatest share of mind
among business buyers.
Share of mind predicts
share of market. Thought
Leadership Marketing
steadily increases your SOM
with buyers, growing your
share of market.
Thought Leaders
Have a Point of
View
Too often, firms
capture their ‘thought
leadership’ expertise -
articles, speeches,
newsletters, books,
press pitches and so
on—without a point
of view.
Source: The Bloom Group‟s 2006 survey “Attaining Thought
Leadership”
Thought Leadership Delivers
Coherency out of marketplace chaos
Diminished price resistance
Valid and credible value proposition
Self-qualified leads & opportunities
Shortened sales cycles
Value-forward marketing & selling platform
Ongoing market dialogue
Prospects experience your value before buying
Buyers invested in your ideas before purchasing
Growth in media placements & requests
Search engine find-ability
“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.”
Thought Leadership is Attained
Your customers grant you TL status
You can influence using TLM tools & tactics
It’s not about budget – it’s about Intellectual Capital and Content
Set yourself apart through mandatory TLM attributes
Elise Bauer
Thought Leadership Marketing Mindset
1) They love what they do – energy & motivation2) They have the drive to teach – no strings attached3) They reach out and communicate – to everyone4) They take risks with messaging – on the edge5) They balance confidence with curiosity & learning –
learn from everyone6) They put in the time today (TLM activities) for
tomorrow’s benefit7) They never stop working, connecting and
communicating – not drip marketing, but constant education
Mapping the Thought Leadership Marketing Toolkit
Blogging for Thought Leaders
Get Blogging (Transparency)
STILL a hot topic for marketers
16% of Fortune 500 on board
Metaphor for:
Transparent communication
Authenticity
Responsibility
Reputation
Blogosphere doubles: 5-7mos
Thought Leader Blogging Process
Tune In! (It‟s NOT ABOUT YOU!)
Subscribe to content
Consume feeds
Share content right from reader
Form a reader-based social
network
Build Your “Blog Hub”
One place where your
content is housed
Contains real substance,
not just links
“Connectable platform”
(Wordpress, Typepad)
You online home base
Create Thought Leading Content
Instructional - Instructional posts tell
people how to do something. I find that Tips
posts are generally the ones that are
among my most popular both in the short
term
Informational - This is one of the more
common blog post types where you simply
give information on a topic. It could be a
definition post or a longer explanation of
some aspect of the niche that you‟re writing
on. This is the crux of successful sites like
Wikipedia.
Reviews - Another highly searched for
term on the web is „review‟ - I know every
time I‟m considering buying a new product
that I head to Google and search for a
review on it first. Reviews come in all
shapes and sizes and on virtually every
product or service you can think of.
Lists - One of the easiest ways to write a post
is to make a list. Posts with content like „The Top
Ten ways to….‟, „7 Reasons why….‟ „ 5 Favorite
….‟, are not only easy to write but are usually
very popular with readers and with getting
links from other bloggers.
Interviews - Sometimes when you‟ve run out of
insightful things to say it might be a good idea
to let someone else do the talking in an
interview (or a guest post). This is a great way
to not only give your readers a relevant
expert‟s opinion but to perhaps even learn
something about the topic you‟re writing
yourself.
Case Studies - Another popular type of post is
the case study where you profile a client, a
peer, an organization or person that you
admire either through direct contact or an
interview with them or by doing some of your
own benchmarking activity.
Create Thought Leading Content
Link Posts - The good old „link post‟ is a
favorite of many bloggers and is simply a
matter of finding a quality post on another
site or blog and linking up to it either with
an explanation of why you‟re linking up, a
comment on your take on the topic and/or
a quote from the post. You can also
automate this process.
Contrasting two options - Write a post
contrasting two products, services or
approaches that outlines the positives and
negatives of each choice.
Rant - get passionate, stir yourself up, say
what‟s on your mind and tell it like it is.
Rants are great for starting discussion and
causing a little controversy.
Research – Due some serious due diligence on
your industry, create a benchmarking report, or
compile data that your readers would find
value in. Research posts can take a lot of time
but they can also be well worth it if you come
up with interesting conclusions that inspire
people to link up to you.
Memes and Projects - write a post that
somehow involves your readers and gets them
to replicate it in someway. Start a poll, an
award, ask your readers to submit a post/link
or run a survey or quiz.
Hypothetical Posts – Write a „what if‟ or
hypothetical post by picking on something that
„could‟ happen down the track in your industry
and begin to unpack what the implications of it
would be. „What if….Google and Yahoo
merged?‟ „What if…
Hubspot says…
“Each thoughtful post on your blog is a public
demonstration of your thought leadership, personal
integrity, humor, and professional insights. You don’t have
to refute one of Einstein’s theories to get respect.”
Share, Link and Guide
What will your audience find useful?
Share competitors info –it drives them nuts, and gets them to link to you!
Easy, time-conscious way to stay relevant without creating original content
Make Your Content Work (Harder) For You
Syndicate & Synchronize
What is Thought Leadership Blogging?
Velocity (UK)
“Thought Leadership is exploiting your unique position in your markets to generate valuable insight and advice on issues your customers and prospects care most about.”
25% reduction in marketing spend
Major account wins
Entire organization involved
in the „community‟
Thought Leadership MarketerIndium Corporation
Thought Leadership MarketerIndium Corporation
“[Being a Thought Leader] is being considered the best, most authoritative, trusted source. It means being the “go to” people. It means being given the first look, being invited into a development project and asked for advice. It means being the organization that others MUST HAVE involved with a project. And it all leads to increased sales, profits, and image or it simply didn’t matter..”
Rick Short, Indium
The 4 A‟s of
Thought Leadership Marketing
Assets – Attitude – Acceptance – Alignment
Read the entire article: http://www.marketingsavant.com/articles/four-as-thought-leadership-marketing/
Are You Ready for Thought Leadership?
1) Do you love what you do?1) Passionate enough to push TL
2) Sustain interest in years to come
2) Are you willing to teach?1) “Educate the market” mentality
2) Do you “enjoy helping your customers & prospects”?
3) Are you comfortable with “reaching outside”?1) Expand beyond your existing network
4) Are you will to take a stand with your message?1) Do you have a unique position on industry issues?
2) Can you frame & express those views?
3) Can you get people to notice?
Are You Ready for Thought Leadership?
5) Are you a “confident learner”?
1) Balance your positions with listening
2) Ears to the ground for trend shifts & opportunities
6) Do you have a “long-term” perspective?
1) Spend time today for reward tomorrow
2) “Faith in the future”
7) Are you comfortable with “no end point” to TL?
1) Willing to work a long time toward this goal
2) Stay motivated!
Five Keys to Successful TLM
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
Altruism Before Capitalism
Dana VanDen Heuvel
“In short, this is simply an organization putting the
needs of its constituents ahead of its own needs. Or,
aligning itself with advancing the welfare of its
customers before (and while) advancing its own. “
Success Metrics
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?
