Business buyers don’t buy your product or service; they buy into your perspective and approach to solving their pain points. Thought leadership shapes the perception of you, your company, and its offerings. By having a well-executed thought leadership strategy, you can frame your buyer’s thinking, spark conversations, and lead people down the decision-making path.
B2B buyers seek out those companies that bring forth new ideas, are visionary, and that they trust.
To build thought leadership, you need to be visible and forward-thinking. Buyers want to know where their industries are headed, what will influence industry dynamics, and how they can take advantage of these changes. By offering insight that is not readily available into controversial topics or emerging topics in their industry, you become the “go-to” resource on that topic.
The first thing you need to do is have clarity on the goal of your program. Your goal may be to drive market share, or it could be more specific such as securing the next round of financing, selling the company, garnering the attention of the big players (David vs. Goliath), or bringing the company public.
Without a stated goal, your program is likely to fail. Developing content for content sake, without a specific target audience, paired with tactics that don’t directly align to the goal is just wasted resources.
Once you understand the goal of your program, you need to understand who to influence. Just as you need to understand your buyer’s journey, you need to understand who is influential in your industry.
It is not always apparent who these influencers are. They may be the CTOs of a particular set of companies, the buyers of consumer electronics retailers, an industry analyst that is already considered an expert, or the dealmakers that spend their time negotiating in the background. These are the influencers, the true power brokers.
Here are a few examples:
We at Red Javelin believe that companies that rise to leadership positions excel at consistently communicating vision and validation across all channels. The same is true for thought leaders.
No single tactic will drive industry conversation. An ongoing and integrated program that consists of many integrated tactics that educate prospects, customers, and industry influencers is required.
These tactics include:
If your story is not differentiated, or if your story is too far-fetched, chances are your progress will be slow.
The following KPIs are indicators that your program is working. You can expect to see better brand visibility measured by:
During the first three months of a program, we help our clients hone in on their goals, develop the story, identify the appropriate influencers/power brokers, and map out targeted publications. We ensure that the program's foundation is solid and that the editorial calendar is ready to go. We are usually able to place the first one or two guest posts/bylined articles and begin pitching for speaking opportunities, which are typically 6-9 months out.
After six months, our clients will see a steady stream of blog content and social sharing. They can also expect to see some more of their guest content published in targeted outlets. Clients typically see an increase in website visitors as well as an increase in time on site.
At twelve months, by consistently publishing content in the form of blog posts and downloadable thought leadership assets such as ebooks, we expect to see our clients fill their top-of-funnel pipeline, secure press mentions regularly, and begin winning awards.
Real thought leadership can be as valuable to a brand as the products or services it sells. Buyers are fundamentally risk- adverse, and B2B buyers making large or strategic purchases are afraid of making a wrong decision. Making the wrong decision can be disastrous to their careers.
If done well, thought leadership builds trust, mitigating the inherent risk in making big purchase decisions. It helps your buyers be more successful. And that is what it is all about. Helping your buyers be successful.
Here's the thing with developing a thought leadership program in-house. If you have a strong leader, you are all drinking the same Kool Aid. It doesn't mean that it is wrong; it just means that your perspective may not be as objective as an outsider or someone that isn't directly associated with the company.