Winning New Business Through Thought LeadershipA How-To Guide: Using Content Marketing for New Business Development

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Agenda• What is Thought Leadership?

• Defining Your Brand

• Developing Your Strategy

• Defining Your Target Audience

• Developing Subject Matter Content for Your Audiences

• Identifying Distribution Channels for Content Syndication

• Developing A Content Calendar, Best Practices

• Defining Metrics to Gauge Success

• Leveraging A Marketing Automation Platform or Service Provider

What Is Thought Leadership?• The Strategic Delivery of:

– Innovative Ideas– Relevant Advice– Experience-Based Solutions

• Typically Built Upon a Carefully Constructed Cache of Thought Leadership Assets– Custom Content– Distribution Tools– CRM and Analytics Tracking/Reporting Resources

• Examples of Thought Leadership Opportunities– Social Media– Selling Events, Webinars– Proprietary Research (i.e. Reports, Whitepapers, eBooks, Infographics, Video)– Subject Matter Expert Books and Blogs– Speaking Engagements

Why Is Thought Leadership Important?• Improves Visibility and Exposure to Your Target Audiences

• Establishes Opportunities for Engagement

• Generates Long-Term Opportunities for Sales, Leads

• Boosts Your Credibility in the Marketplace

Thought Leadership Content Marketing By The Numbers1:– 88% of B2B Marketers in North America use Content Marketing– 38% of B2B Marketers Claim Their Content Marketing is Effective to Highly-Effective– 76% of Marketers are Increasing Investment in Content Marketing Resources– 51% of Marketers Indicate They Will Increase Content Marketing Spend in Next 12 Months– 28% of Marketing Budget (Not Including Staff) is Spent on Content Marketing

12016 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

Defining Your Branding• Thought Leadership = Lots of Content – Be Sure Your Brand is Clearly Defined

– A Clearly Defined Brand Will Help Guide Strategy, Tactics, and Channels– Keep In Mind – All Published Content Becomes a Public Reflection of Your Brand

• How Do You Want to Be Viewed? What is Your Brand Takeaway?

• Understand Your Current Market Position – SWOT Analysis

• Identify Your Unique Value Proposition

• Develop a Brand Persona that is Authentic, Sustainable, and Scalable

• Keep Your Brand Consistent with Your Vision and Mission Statements

• NOTE: A Brand is Not Just a Logo, Tagline, or Colors – These Can All Contribute To Your Brand, but The “Brand” is the Collective Takeaway: It Can Be Visual, Emotional, or Cultural

• Examples, When You Think of “X” What is the “Brand Takeaway”– Volvo: Safety (Concept that Reassures) – Nike: “Just do it.” (Tagline that Inspires, Motivates)

Developing Your Strategy• Start By Defining Goals, Ideal Outcomes Based On Your Business Model (Examples):

– Build Awareness– Generate Preference– Drive Engagement– Increase Sales, Leads

• Determine Target Market and Audience Drivers– What are Your Typical Buyer Personas? What is Their Typical Buyer’s Journey?– What Challenges Are You Trying to Solve? – What Value Do You Intend to Provide?

• Identify Applicable Content Channels and Tactics– Where Does Your Target Audience Go for Trusted Information?– Where Do You Feel You Can Best Compete? – What Channels Can You “Own?”– Do You Have Existing Partnerships, Connections, or Affiliates That You Can Leverage?

• Evaluate Your Resources – Staff, Existing Content, Budget• Create a Measureable Plan that Maps to Your Strategy

Defining Your Target Audience• Create Buyer Personas

– Demographics, Geo-graphics– Attitudes, Values, and Lifestyle – Job Level/Seniority– Pain Points– Predispositions, Objections

• Define Each Buyer’s Journey– What Type of Research Do They Conduct?– Which Information Sources Do they Rely On, Trust?– What Do They Value (Popularity, Professional Reviews, Testimonials)?– How Many Sources of Information Contribute to Their Decision-Making Process?– How Do They Initiate Interest (Email, Phone, Online Form Submission or Purchase)?

Developing Effective Subject Matter Content• Strive to Become a Trusted Advisor

– Demonstrate Consistent, Essential, and Unique Value to Your Audience– Earn the Right to be Included in Their “Inner Circle of Trust”

• Quality over Quantity – One Well-Supported, Compelling Piece of Unique Insight Can Easily Outperform a Steady Stream of Clutter

• Keep It Relevant to Your Audience Segment – B2B vs B2C, CMO vs CTO, SME vs Researcher• Develop “Channel Ready” Content

– Bite-Sized, Easy-to-Consume Pieces Can Be Readily Spread on Social Media as Well as Marketing Materials

– Focus on Strong Headline, Appropriate Hero-Image, and Lead-in Paragraph for Social, Blogs• Be Timely and Remain Current with Culture and Trends• Maintain Visibility in Your Eco-system• Seek to Up-skill and Educate Your Followers• Push Boundaries in Your Areas of Expertise

Developing Effective Subject Matter Content• Have a Clear Purpose for Each Touchpoint

– Build Awareness – Social media, Content Syndication, Subject Matter Expert Blogs– Create Preference, Engagement – Selling Events, Webinars, Gated Content– Close Deals – Sales Enablement Tools, Collateral Materials

• Develop Themes Specific to Each Pain Point, Value Differentiator, and Point of Interest

• Deliver Your Brand Consistently Across all Channels

• Align Content Appropriately with Your Audiences’ Position in the Buyer Journey– Videos– Infographics– Copy Tone and Length– Images

Content Distribution Channels & TacticsMost Popular in 20151

12016 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

Content Distribution Channels & TacticsRated Most Effective (Social) in 20151 Rated Most Effective (Non-Social) in 20151

12016 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

Content Syndication Distribution Channels• Manual Syndication – A Targeted Approach for Free Thought Leadership Opportunities

– Example, Financial Businesses can Syndicate Content on SeekingAlpha.Com for Free– Industry-Specific Guest Blogging Opportunities – All Below Examples Solicit Guest Blogging:

• Health and Fitness: Psychology.com • Parenting: BabyCenter.com• Travel: InspiringTravelers.com

– Try to Get Industry-Specific Influencers with Large Followings to Share, Retweet, and Promote Your Content by Procuring a Relationship Over Time

• Many Industry-Specific Sites and Blogs Are Looking for Good, Quality Content that is Unique• Identifying Manual Syndication Opportunities: A Simple Place to Start

– Social Media Sites – Sites Like LinkedIn Have Many Groups that Post Frequently; Following Articles and Users Helps to Expose Guest Blog Opportunities, Industry Influencers, and More

– Search Engines – Googling Industry-Specific Terms Coupled with the Words, “Reviews,” “Groups,” “Community,” “Forums,” and More Can Identify Syndication Opportunities

• Bookmarks and Newsletters – Many of Your Current Industry News Sources May Already Accept Submissions and Can Help Identify Current Thought Leaders, Influencers in Your Industry

Content Syndication Distribution Channels• Non-Paid Syndication – Submission Process Can Range from Simply Submitting a Link to Your

Blog, to Creating a Full Profile and Directly Uploading Original Content with a Backlink– Scoop.it – a Content Curation Site That Organizes Posts in a Newspaper Format– Inbound.org – Largely Focused on the Marketing World, Covers Everything From SEO to Social– Reddit – Very Popular, A Wide Range of Content is Shared with a Large Online Community– Digg – One of the Most Popular Sites on the Web, Great Place to Get Traffic for Your Blog Posts– Blog Catalog – A Site Where People Go to Read the Best Blogs from Across the Web

• Blogging Influencers – Industry experts to share your content

• Email Through Industry Sources – Partner to have your content sent out through industry authorities and associations

• No Guarantees – Much Like Press Releases and Newswire Submissions, Non-Paid Syndication is Largely Subject to Pick-Up and Adoption; Attention Will Vary Greatly Based on the Quality of the Content and Relevancy to the Syndication Audience

Content Syndication Distribution Channels• Paid Syndication – There are Many Different Pricing Models, but Most Common are Based

on Cost Per Click or Cost Per Visit.– Outbrain – One of the Leaders in the Market with a Network Audience Reach of Over 550

Million; Average CPCs around $0.25 to $0.50– Zemanta – Similar to Outbrain, Posts are Syndicated Across a Network of Thousands of

Publishers, New Sites, and Blogs – Current Reach is 750 Million Monthly Users– Taboola – Has a Wide Variety of Publishers Large and Small, Currently Most Successful

with Video Marketing Content– SimpleReach – Focuses on Audience Targeting and Optimization– ARC – Works More Like a Newswire or Press Release, Content is Shared and Published on

Other Sites with Links Back to the Original Source• Keep in Mind – While Paid Syndication May Come in the Form of an Ad Placement, Typical Paid

Publication of Content is Written in the Format of an Informative Article, Not an Advertisement

Paid Syndication Examples

What It Looks Like

Developing A Content Calendar• A Comprehensive Calendar Helps Organize, Track, and Manage – Often Times It is Simply an

Excel Spreadsheet that Includes Some or All of the Following:– Content Title (Headline) – A Title Recommendation Can Be a Helpful Guide for the Author– Content Due Date – This is When the Content Should be Turned in for Review and Edit– Publish Date – The Date the Content is Intended to Go Live– Content Type – i.e. Blog Post, Infographic, Webinar, Video, Long-Form Article– Publishing Destination – i.e. Blog, Website, LinkedIn, Twitter, Media Entity, Email– Media Type – Owned (Corporate Blog, Social), Earned (Guest Blog, Press Pick-Up), Paid

(Outbrain, Taboola)– Assigned Writer/Author – The Person Responsible for Creating the Content – Target Audience, Buyer Persona – This is the Intended Audience and Will Help Guide the

Themes, Narrative, and Tone of the Content – Buying Stage, Buyer Journey – i.e. Top of Funnel (TOFU), Middle of Funnel (MOFU), Bottom

of Funnel (BOFU) – OR – Designate Goal as Awareness, Create Preference, Purchase, etc.

Best Times to Post on Social Media1

• LinkedIn – 93% of B2B Marketers Rate LinkedIn as the Top B2B Social Media for Lead Gen– Best Days: Tues through Thurs, (Worst Days are Monday and Friday)– Best Times of the Day: 10-11a Most Shares/Clicks, 7-8a and 5-6p Best Times to Post

• Twitter– Best Days: Mon-Fri (B2B), Wed-Sun (B2C)– Best Times of the Day: 12p and 6p Have Highest CTR, 5p has Highest Retweets

• Facebook– Best Days: Thursday and Friday – Specific Industries Vary Slightly, but Most are Successful

Towards the End of the Week– Best Times of the Day: 1p Gets Most Shares, 3p Gets Most Clicks

• Pintrest – Saturday, 8-11p (Friday at 3p for Fashion)

• Instagram – Monday, 3-4p is Best, but Fairly Consistent Throughout the Week

• Google+ – Mon-Fri, 9-11a 1QuickSprout.com (http://bit.ly/1pw8foA )

Defining Metrics to Gauge Success• Success Metrics Will Depend on Your Business and Goals – i.e. Leads vs Online Purchases,

Awareness vs Creating Preference, Audience Generation vs Brand Reputation• Thought Leadership Takes Time – Everyone Wants to Jump Straight to ROI, but Understanding

Reach, Frequency, and Engagement Will Tell You if You are on the Right Track– Pageviews – The Most Direct Way to Tell if Your Blog, Video, or Infographic are Attracting Visitors– New vs Returning Users – Which Content is Attracting New? Is Quality Bringing Them Back?– Average Time on Site, Bounce Rate – Good Indicators for Gauging Content Quality– Referring Traffic, Backlinking – Especially Helpful for Syndicated Content, Identifying Sources– Social Media Metrics – These Will Vary By Channel

• Shares, Retweets, Follows – Helps Measure Audience Reach, Adoption• Likes, Comments, Direct Messaging – Helps Measure Audience Engagement

– Email, Newsletter Subscribers – Good Indicator You Have Become a Trusted Information Source – Leads, Inquiries, Purchases – Yes, Often this is the Primary Goal, but Also Helps Guide Content– ROI – Perhaps the Ultimate Metric; Sometimes Hard to Quantify, but Can Be Typically Gauge if

Cost of Content Creation, Management, and Syndication are Remunerative

Marketing Automation, Service Provider Options • How Do You “Keep Up” and Scale? While Initially Manageable, Over Time the Volume of Content

Development, Scheduling, Follow-Up, and More May Become Overwhelming – Leveraging a Marketing Automation Platform or Digital Agency May Be Your Best Option

• Marketing Automation – Best for In-House Marketing Teams– What Is It? A Platform That Connects Multiple Touch Points and Marketing Channels Including

Social Media, Email Marketing, and Content Marketing Through A Single Interface– What are the Benefits? A Single-Point of Entry for Managing Content Scheduling,

Personalization, Cross Channel Attribution, Integration, Conversion Funnel Targeting, and More– Platform Examples: HubSpot, Marketo, Infusionsoft, Eloqua, Unica– Myth vs Fact – “Automation” Does Not Mean These Platforms are “Plug and Play” Autonomous

Entities That Do All the Work for You, You Still Need a Team to Run the Platform - The Platform Largely Helps You Drive More Value, Volume out of a Finite Team Resources

• Digital Marketing Agency – Agencies with Experience in Thought Leadership and Content Syndication can Provide a Turn-Key Solution for Supplementing Existing In-House Teams, or Handle All Content Marketing Needs for Companies that Lack Any Internal Resources, Platforms

In Summary• Thought Leadership is the Strategic Delivery of Innovative Ideas, Relevant Advice, and

Experience-Based Solutions Across Many Different Channels – Both Online and In-Person• Be Clear, Consistent with Your Brand – “You Are What You Publish” and You Will Publish A Lot• Develop a Strategy and Execute Your Plan Accordingly – Companies That Clearly Define a

Plan and Regularly Measure Against that Plan See 60% Faster Growth than Those who Don’t1

• Define Your Target Audience and Develop Relevant, Compelling Content Accordingly• Publish Where Your Audience Goes for News – Tap Into Industry-Specific Channels, Work to

Become a Trusted Advisor, Consider Paid Syndication as well as Organic Self-Publishing• Create a Content Calendar – Organize the Who, What, Where, and When; Be Sure to Allow

Enough Time Because Quality Trumps Quantity• Define Metrics to Gauge Measurable Success – Leading Indicators Like “Follows” and “Website

Visits” Can Be Helpful to Identify Channels and Tactics that are Resulting in Sales and Inquiries • Leverage a Marketing Automation Platform or Service Provider if Volume, Quantity, or

Engagement Become Overwhelming to Manage1Madill, C. & Osiyevskyy, O. (2013). State of the Business Owner Report.

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