thoughtleadership MARKETING
u What?
u Why?
u 40 Questions
u
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W
hat is thought leadership marketing?
Your customers and prospects
want insights into issues they really
care about. Thought leadership
marketing actively positions you or
AVENUES FOR
your organization as an authority, a resource, and a trusted THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
MARKETING
advisor on these issues. This positioning is accomplished u White papers
u Newsletters
using a variety of media, including books, newsletters, u Magazines
blogs, e-mail, events…. It allows you to earn trust and build u Books
u Blogs
credibility and recognition differentiating yourself as one u Websites
u Research reports
who clearly understands the business and needs of your u Journals
u Social media
audience. And most importantly, it mobilizes your audience
u E-mail marketing
to think and act — engaging with you over the long term. u Case studies
u Event materials
u
u
u
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W
hy thought leadership marketing?
A poll conducted by the Economist
Intelligence Unit showed that thought
leadership is fast becoming the most
BENEFITS OF
widely used business-to-business THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
MARKETING
marketing practice, ranking second only to building new u Generate leads
business as a key marketing objective. In addition, the top u Retain customers
u Differentiate you from
three most effective means of marketing are through thought competitors
u Open new markets
leadership-related methods. u Improve your brand
u Foster relationships
u When asked what their top marketing objectives are over the next 3 to 5 years, u Build trust, credibility
56% responded “Positioning our company as a thought leader.” u Target your market
u Stay relevant and on
u When asked what will be the best way for providers of services to market to you the radar
in the next 3 to 5 years, 43% said “Meetings/conferences,” 41% said “Original
u More pull — customers
research,” and 35% said “Thought leadership surveys and white papers.” come to you
SOURCE: “10 Megatrends in B2B Marketing,” Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008. u
u
u
610.883.7988
dancecommunications thought leadership u engaging content u superior results
dancecommunications.com

40
questions you need to answer
to have an effective thought
leadership marketing program.
A complex process, thought
leadership marketing requires STEPS TO EFFECTIVE
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
significant expertise to perform well. These forty questions MARKETING
u Exploring
demonstrate the depth of knowledge you’ll need — from u Creating
clearly understanding why you are creating a thought u Delivering
u Assessing
leadership marketing program to how you go about
determining whether you’ve met your goals.
What do you need to know? Keep reading.
u
u
u
610.883.7988
dancecommunications thought leadership u engaging content u superior results
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Exploring
• Why are you considering thought leadership? What are you trying to
accomplish — what are your goals and objectives? Who are you?
• Who is your audience? What issues are important to them? What do they
need?
• How do you know the answers to the questions above or how will you
find out?
• Will the thought leader be you, someone else in your organization, your
organization as a whole?
• Do you have the knowledge and expertise needed on issues that matter to
be a thought leader? If not, what do you do about it?
• Are you willing to take risks with your thought leadership position (be
controversial, live with public attention and judgment)?
Thought leadership
• Who in the organization do you need to involve in your thought
development begins leadership marketing program?
with the question Why? • How will you stay focused on delivering value? Are you willing to make
the long-term investment needed to succeed?
• How will you demonstrate that your thought leadership
position is valid and can be trusted?
• Will your organizational culture support thought leadership marketing?
u
u
u
610.883.7988
dancecommunications thought leadership u engaging content u superior results
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Creating
• Who’s responsible for the overall thought leadership marketing program,
making sure that everything is planned for and seeing that everything gets
done according to plan?
• Whose role is it to develop the ideas before they are put into articles,
books, speeches, etc?
• Who is going to create the thought leadership content (you, a subject
matter expert, an executive, a subcontractor)?
• What issues are you trying to address — what’s your point of view?
• What research is needed to support your thought leadership position?
You have your thought Who will engage in this research?
leadership marketing concept • If you need to rely on sources outside your organization, how will you
select them? Who will manage them?
developed — now how do
• Who in your organization needs to review and/or approve content? How
you implement it? will you manage this review process?
• How will you demonstrate your thought leadership — books, blogs, white
papers, speaking, e-mail, etc. — and which is your best choice?
• How will you ensure that you’re providing valuable information, insight,
and ideas to your market?
• And remember, all this work is constrained by a budget, a schedule,
a scope of work, and a certain level of quality expected — who’s
watching that you meet these constraints? u
u
u
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Delivering
• How will you determine which media to use to reach your market? Do
you know all the print, online, and event options that are available to you?
• If you use multiple media, how will you integrate the content so you
deliver a consistent message?
• Do you target your market (can you?) and possibly deliver different
versions of your thought leadership content to different targets?
• Do you sell your thought leadership content? If so, at what price? Do you
give it away? If so, how much?
• Who’s responsible for the ongoing management of delivery, making sure
that everything is getting done according to plan?
• Do you have the expertise needed to deliver your message effectively? If
You now have thought not, how do you get it?
leadership content — how do • How will you manage subcontractor relationships? Who evaluates the
you reach your audience? relationship and whether or not it should continue?
• How can you partner with others aligned with your message to reach your
market?
• How much will all this delivery cost?
• How will you know which distribution method is best — in terms of
image and delivering results as well as being cost effective?
u
u
u
610.883.7988
dancecommunications thought leadership u engaging content u superior results
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Assessing
• Are you getting the results you projected? What else do you have to do to
continue getting the results you need?
• Does your market understand what you are saying? What do they think
about it? How has it changed the way they think?
• Do you have the reach you want — How many received your message?
Who are they? Are they the right market? How many times have they
“touched” your content?
• Have you acquired new propects? Did you get their attention? Have they
Your audience has seen your become engaged with you?
thought leadership content — • Have you converted prospects into leads? Did you gather information
about them?
how do you determine whether • Is your thought leadership marketing helping you retain customers? Are
it’s doing what you hoped it they continuing to engage with you?
would do? • Do you have the data you need, in the format you need, to provide
information to others in your organization that explains the value of your
thought leadership marketing program?
• Have you built in ways for your audience to actively engage with
you — using surveys, premiums, website integration? Are you prepared to
deal with the feedback you get?
• Has the value of thought leadership marketing been ingrained
in your overall business culture? u
u
• Do you know how to improve your program? u
610.883.7988
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dancecommunications
u The effort required to produce successful thought
leadership marketing requires significant expertise.
Dance Communications can help you with each step of
this thought leadership development process to insure
that you get the results you expect.
u
u
610.883.7988
dancecommunications thought leadership u engaging content u superior results
dancecommunications.com