New BrightTALK B2B Content Marketing Summit August 8, 2018 … · 2018. 8. 7. · Reaching the C...

Reaching the C-Suite: Engaging Executives with Ideas and InnovationRob Leavitt Senior Vice President, ITSMA@Robleavitt@ITSMA_B2B

BrightTALK B2B Content Marketing SummitAugust 8, 2018

BrightTALK B2B Content Marketing Summit | Reaching the C-Suite | August 8, 2018 | EV180808 © 2018 ITSMA. All rights reserved. www.itsma.com 2

Today’s Agenda

• The executive engagement imperative

• Key trends in thought leadership for executive engagement

• What leaders do differently

Rob LeavittSenior Vice President

ITSMA


Engaging with C-suite executives is no longer an option for most B2B providers

“Opening up new (non-IT) buying centers”

“Increasing numbers of competitors”

“Shifting from selling products to selling solutions”

“Important to develop and nurture advocates”

“More business-level decision makers are now in the mix”

“Digital transformation is a board-level decision”

More important to our sales strategy than two years ago

92%

% of respondents (N=50) Source: ITSMA, 2017 Sales and Executive Engagement Survey


Polling Question!

o Not important, just marketing fluff

o It helps but other programs more important

o Important, good complement to other programs

o Essential, is there any other way?

How important is thought leadership to engage with executives?


Marketers are taking a broad-based portfolio approach

Source: ITSMA 2017 Sales and Executive Engagement Survey

Executive events

Social/ charity programs

Executive sponsorship programs

Alumni programs

Industry associations

Executive briefing centers/ programs

Online community/ social networking

Thought leadership promotion

Reference/ advocacy programs

Executive education

Account-based marketing

Executive councils/ advisory boards

Innovation programs

Key 90%+ 80%+ 65%+


Exploring solution providers

At the C-level, thought leadership is central for engagement at every relationship stage

Source: ITSMA, How Buyers Choose Survey, 2017 (N=73)

86% view thought leadership as critical or important

Expert POVs, vision, and business understanding

Education, best practices, innovation

Selecting and evaluating the short list

Building relationships


Key trends in thought leadership for executive engagement


ITSMA 2018 Thought Leadership StudyWeb-Based Survey

Primarily marketers at B2B technology and business services companies

Unique companies represented44 38

Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

Participating companies (select)

• Senior-level marketers with broad thought leadership responsibility

• 66% from companies $5B+

• 52% from B2B service companies

• 48% from B2B product and service companies

• 82% from North America


Most of us see thought leadership as important, if not critical, for building executive relationships

Note: Mean rating based on a 5-point scale where 1=of no importance and 5=critical.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

Mean rating =4.1

Critical or important85%


Dynamic(e.g., podcasts/video/webcasts/ interactive webpages)

Visual(e.g., infographics, slide decks)

Text-Based(e.g., articles, whitepapers, website copy)

Short-form content (e.g., bite-sized summaries, infographics, white papers/articles, podcasts, video or other formats that are 3 pages or 3 minutes or less)

Medium-form content (e.g., white papers/articles/video or other formats that are more than 3 pages or 3 minutes, but less than 8 pages or 8 minutes)

Deep-dive, long-form content (e.g., white papers/articles/video or other formats that are 8 pages or 8 minutes or more)

We’re moving to shorter and more dynamic content formats


% of respondents increasing investments (N~42)

83

42

22

91

83

42


And we’re customizing content for different sectors, geos, and rolesDo you customize thought leadership for different segments such as industry sectors, geographies, personas, or job functions/roles?

% of respondents (N=44)

Yes89%

No11%


Industry sectors

Geographies

Job functions/roles

Personas (based on primary research onwhy and how they buy specific solutions)

100

59

53

41

Note: Multiple responses allowed.

% of respondents (N=34)


But we’re heavily focused on near-term thought leadershipWhat percentage of your thought leadership portfolio falls in each of the following categories?

% of portfolio (N=44)

Ideas and approaches that can be implemented today

Emerging ideas or approaches that could be implemented in 1−2 years

Aspirational ideas that should be part of customers’ longer-range planning


52%

30%

18%


We’re struggling to differentiate!


And we’re struggling to strengthen executive relationships and drive revenueTo what extent has your thought leadership contributed to improvement in each of these business outcomes over the last two years?

Mean rating (N~35)

Note: Mean rating based on a 5-point scale where 1=no improvement and 5=significant improvement.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

1No improvement

5Significant improvement

Mean rating

4.0

3.4

3.0

Brand andreputation

Executive relationships

Revenue acceleration


Offline channels are still far more effective than online

.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

Top five channels for engaging executives with thought leadership

In-person events and meetings

Executive briefings and innovation centers

Executive-level innovation programs

Client executive sponsorship and relationship programs

Online academic journals (e.g., Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Knowledge @ Wharton)

12345


What leaders do differently


Meet the thought leader…leaders

Leaders*(N=17)

*Leader group is everyone 3.6 and aboveSource: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

Thought Leadership Impact

Brand and reputation

Executive relationships*

Revenue acceleration*

1No improvement

5Significant improvement

Mean rating

4.1

3.9

3.8

3.9

2.9

2.4

Followers(N=27)

Overall effectiveness in achieving thought leadership objectives

* Indicates a statistically significant difference.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

Leaders (N~16)

Followers (N~20)

3.92.8


What’s NOT different: Content formats, types, or channels


Leaders are more likely to have a centralized thought leadership program


Followers(N=27)

Leaders(N=17) 82%

Have a completely or substantially centralized program48%


A comprehensive model for thought leadership program management

Thought Leadership Strategy, Planning, and Governance

Thought Leadership Development Thought Leadership Engagement

Define Issues Agenda(Business and marketing strategy)

Develop Points of View(Research and analysis)

Produce Thought Leadership Assets (Multiple formats, channels, target audiences, and buying process stages)

Engage Internally(Executives, sales, SMEs, and delivery staff)

Engage Externally(Clients, prospects, and influencers)

Measure Results (Reputation, relationships, and revenue)



Polling Question!

o Not at all: Random acts of thought leadership

o Mixed bag: Some integrated efforts, some ad hoc

o Pretty good: Mostly integrated from R&D to engagement

o World class: I should be leading this webcast!

o Not sure/don’t know

How well-integrated is your thought leadership program?


Leaders with thought leadership for executive engagement stand apart in five key areas

Relationship Focus

R&D Approach

Client Collaboration

Field Enablement

Executive Metrics


Develop or strengthen relationships with existing customers*

Collaborate with clients to develop new insights and innovations*

Leaders focus on using thought leadership to strengthen executive relationshipsImportance of Program Objectives

Mean rating

1Not at all important

5Extremely important

Mean rating

4.5

4.4

4.0

3.4

Leaders (N=17)Followers (N=27)

* Indicates a statistically significant difference.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018


Leaders work more effectively across a range of sources for idea and issue development


One-on-one client

meetings

Client events

Client advisory boards/ councils

Industry events

Industry associations

Sales and account teams


Leaders collaborate with clients to co-create thought leadership

Differences are statistically significant.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

Followers(N=24)

Leaders(N=16) 75%

Have collaborative thought leadership development programs with executives*

33%


Leaders better enable the field with briefing, innovation, and relationship programs

Executive briefing and innovation centers*

Executive-level innovation programs*

Client executive sponsorship/relationship programs*

Advisory boards*Note: Mean rating based on a 5-point scale where 1=not at all effective and 5=extremely effective.* Indicates a statistically significant difference.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018

1Not at all effective

5Extremely effective

Mean rating

4.6

4.4

4.5

4.2

4.0

3.8

3.7

3.6

Mean rating

Leaders (N~14)Followers (N~21)


Leaders (N=14)

Followers (N=30)

1Not at all well

5Extremely well

Mean rating

3.1

2.1

Leaders do a better job measuring the impact of thought leadership on executive engagement (but still not great!)

Note: Mean Rating based on a 5-point scale where 1=not at all well and 5=extremely well.* Indicates a statistically significant difference.Source: ITSMA Thought Leadership Survey, March 2018


1. Thought leadership reality check: We’re all moving to digital but offline channels remain most effective for the C-suite

2. The most effective thought leadership marketers consider all 3 R’s: Reputation, Relationships, and Revenue, not just reputation

3. The best thought leadership programs cast a wide net for idea development, not just internal experts

4. Leaders in thought leadership engagement prioritize collaboration and co-creation with clients and prospects

5. Enabling the field is key to bring thought leadership to the C-suite; content is for conversation, not just reading and watching

#ITSMA18#thoughtleadership#executiveengagement

Tweetable takeaways


Q&A


Join the conversation: Register today at itsma.com

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October 3 Webcast Online

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October 17–18

Workshop London, UK

2018 ANNUAL MARKETING VISION CONFERENCE

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Marketing Excellence Seminar: Stories from the 2018 Award Finalists

November 14

Briefing London, UK

How Executives Engage: Connecting with Customers at Every Stage of the Relationship Lifecycle

November 15

Webcast Online

How Executives Engage: National Variations & European Focus

December 4

Webcast Online

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Workshop Boston, MA

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Thank You!

Rob LeavittSenior Vice PresidentITSMA [email protected]+1 508 654 7181 @RobLeavittLinkedin.com/in/rleavitt

mailto:[email protected]

New BrightTALK B2B Content Marketing Summit August 8, 2018 … · 2018. 8. 7. · Reaching the C...

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