Post on 31-Oct-2014
description
Steps to Creating and Implementing a Thought Leadership Strategy 5
Presented by:
&
Meet your thought leadership tour guide:
Josh Johnson Vice President, Influence & Co.
What is Thought Leadership?Thought leadership is leveraging one’s expertise to
position oneself as a resource and authority in a specific field. Oftentimes, this is accomplished through
content marketing.
What is Content Marketing?Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and
consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.
So, why does all of this matter?
The conversion rate for brands that use content marketing is six to seven times higher than
traditional marketing tools. (Aberdeen Group) !!
Clients
Leads
Content matters because…
Content marketing costs 62 percent less than traditional marketing and generates about three
times as many leads. (Demand Metric)
Content matters because…
On average, you are 858 percent more likely to generate revenue from an inbound lead than
an outbound one. (HubSpot)
Content matters because…
Likelihood of revenue
generation from outbound
Likelihood of revenue generation from
inbound
Why do people love using content?
Enhancing Credibility
Building Brand Awareness
Generating, Nurturing, and Converting Leads
Educating and Retaining Customers
Attracting Talent, Partners, and Investors
Expanding Network Boosting SEO Managing Reputation Creating Marketing
Assets
! ! ! ! !
! ! ! !
Through content marketing and thought leadership, you have the ability to distinguish yourself as a
subject matter expert, which directly impacts your business.
Credibility AwarenessPrestige & Reputation
So, how do you get started?
First and foremost, like anything in business, know the result you’re hoping to get and have realistic expectations of how to achieve that. !
Step 1
Step 2Start with your audience, not you. Develop a persona (or three) representing whom you’re talking to.
Step 3Choose the publications your audience is actually engaging with. Niche, industry-specific publications are great outlets to hit your target.
Step 4After determining your audience and goals, start to think of topics that will be meaningful and engaging to your audience.
Step 5Get to work! It’s finally time to start writing. Make sure you edit and polish your work. Send it to the publication/editors and be sure to follow up.
Don’t forget!After all of your hard work is complete it is important to
leverage and distribute your own content.
Have your marketing people use it in their other campaigns.
Put your content in email n e w s l e t t e r s o r d r i p campaigns.
Make sure your salespeople send your published content to leads to help them address and overcome objections.
Add the badges to your site.
Put article’s links in your email signatures
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So, how has Influence & Co. leveraged our client expertise through content?
Meet Stephan AarstolStephan is the CEO and founder of Tower Paddle Boards, an online, manufacturer-direct brand in stand up paddle boarding. Tower Paddle Boards was invested in by Mark Cuban on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and was named one of the show's “Top 10 Success Stories” by Entrepreneur Magazine.
Stephan’s Goals with Influence & Co.
Position himself as a successful entrepreneur and
business expert to lend credibility to his current and
future businesses
Some of the ways Stephan has benefited from his content:
!
Content shared via social media sparked conversations with his
audience.
Google Rel=”Authorship”
Tags provided SEO benefits.
Badges on personal and company sites
enhanced his credibility.
His content was used to nurture
investors & potential partners
Highlight publications that Stephan as been featured in: !
Meet Andrew AngusAndrew Angus is the founder and CEO of Switch Video, a video animation company that produces simple videos that "explain what you do" in an engaging and compelling format.
Andrew’s Goals with Influence & Co.
Position himself as an expert, in front of medium to large
companies, in online video creation and the brain science behind creative, effective 60-
second pitches through engaging video content
!
Some of the ways Stephan has benefited from his content:
!
He built a blog following by
reposting article links with brief
summaries. !
He sent published content to current leads resulting in
more sales.
His published content resulted in an increase of natural inbound
leads
Highlight publications that Andrew as been featured in: !
Want to learn more?
Josh Johnson Vice President, Influence & Co. josh@influenceandco.com 314-601-4849
Contact Josh to discuss how we can help you.