The Art of Original Thinking the Making of a Thought Leader Audiobook
Thought leadership
A step-by-step guide to planning and building your thought leadership strategy
Whether you're new to thought leadership or an experienced practitioner, this definitive guide is your get-to resource for step-by-step direction on how to plan, develop and execute a idea leadership strategy.
Starting with the basics, we explain what thought leadership is and how it tin can assist, and then share applied communication that you can apply throughout the planning and creation procedure.
What is thought leadership?
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Thought leadership means different things to dissimilar people, but the reality is that much of the content that describes itself as "idea leadership" falls broad of every marking.
In its purest class, thought leadership consists of genuine insight that cuts through the ataxia and has a real, lasting touch on its audience. Content that fails to connect with people, by definition, cannot be classed as idea leadership.
Thought leadership is original thinking that helps brands to engage top conclusion-makers and back up their broader commercial and marketing goals.
Rob Mitchell, CEO of Longitude, defines the commonly misunderstood term of thought leadership and explains a few of the hallmarks of corking thought leadership.
half-dozen Hallmarks of Bully Idea Leadership
Download the infographic
At Longitude, nosotros piece of work with brands to create thought leadership strategies, campaigns and original B2B content that engages, educates and influences hard-to-attain audiences.
We believe thought leadership should deliver against the following criteria:
- Prize quality over quantity
- Have a clear marketing rationale
- Have evidence at its core
- Require smart, creative activation
- Add to the conversation
- Make audiences think
Download the infographic to encounter all vi hallmarks in one identify, with an actionable checklist to ensure you're on the right rails to groovy thought leadership.
Making the example
How tin thought leadership help my brand?
Is your company famous in its industry equally a source of innovative ideas and thinking? Does information technology take unusual depth of insight and expertise on the issues that are reshaping the global economy? Tin it deliver that cognition to its customers in a style that is compelling and actionable, and that reinforces your make as the get-to provider of solutions to today's biggest business concern problems?
This is what it means to be a thought leader.
In each industry, there are a handful of companies that customers automatically plow to for new perspectives and expert advice on the challenges they confront. By publishing fresh enquiry and insights into the topics their customers intendance about, these organisations build up their reputations as leaders in their sectors. This strengthens their brands and, even more than chiefly, leads to positive commercial outcomes for their businesses: stronger pricing power, better customer memory and more rapid client acquisition.
For thought leadership to be successful, it needs to truly engage and inspire your audience.
Learning from Leaders
New enquiry on consumers of thought leadership
The challenge of engaging and influencing business organization audiences is getting harder and more than and more than circuitous.
So how practice you market to this elusive audience? Our exclusive Learning from Leaders report shows the value of thought leadership content to senior business leaders, and how that engagement can do good your brand.
The benefits of thought leadership content are clear. Furthermore, our Learning from Leaders data shows that, when customers come across your visitor every bit a thought leader, they are much more likely to:
- Prove a preference for your brand over your competitors in all engagements;
- Exist willing to come across and engage in dialogue with representatives from your visitor;
- Automatically consider your company when it comes to selecting a partner for a business opportunity.
These days, it is non enough to publish a few white papers and hope that this establishes your business'southward intellectual brand. In order to leverage the benefits of thought leadership content, organisations need a sustained strategy, focusing on topics where they have something fresh and compelling to say, and building campaigns that truly engage and inspire their audience. This is an system-wide activity that requires input from multiple functions and specialists – from board-level down.
Emma Wheeler, former consultant at Clyde & Co and currently responsible for driving female client strategy for UBS Global Wealth Management, shares what idea leadership means to her, and what it ways to run a B2B content programme.
Building a thought leadership strategy
Getting the thought leadership recipe right
Members of the C-suite and other senior conclusion-makers are typically time-poor and take many competing claims on their attention. Despite this, our Learning from Leaders inquiry shows they still dedicate pregnant time to reading thought leadership content – upwardly to five hours a week, co-ordinate to a cohort of 1,000 senior executives we surveyed. This means that your audience is willing to read your content – but only if information technology meets their needs.
This enquiry, likewise every bit our applied experience of working with over 50 global brands, tells us that iii things really matter if you're trying to engage an executive audience: interesting data, slap-up storytelling and design that brings your ideas to life.
Why strong information is essential
Business organization audiences are looking for the data point that gives them a new perspective on their businesses and the environments in which they operate. When business executives search for interesting content, they're primarily looking for unique insights, backed by credible research; that asset of information that provides actionable insight and business value. This is likewise the component that helps your work pass the credibility examination with executives. In other words, yous have the evidence to support what you're trying to say.
Why nifty storytelling matters
Skillful storytelling makes sense of the information and answers the "so what?" question in relation to your thought leadership. A logical and compelling structure helps transform abstract concepts into something that resonates with your audience. A good story volition also bring coherence to even the most complex topics and turn ideas and insights into something that can be absorbed and acted on. Information on its own is just noise without narrative – and weak storytelling is why many idea leadership strategies neglect.
Why intelligent and engaging design is disquisitional
Great information design is sorely lacking in a lot of B2B content. The vast majority of branded corporate content looks dull and unimaginative. This is not just an effect of aesthetics, although, of form, it's important to make your piece of work visually appealing. Ultimately, it's well-nigh visual storytelling: finding the most impactful and efficient way to communicate your message, rather than just distracting the audience with flashy imagery.
The all-time thought leadership strategies apply blueprint thinking to the whole audience experience, enticing the reader and making it easier for them to empathize and blot your ideas. Bang-up pattern is what brings your information and stories to life in a manner that's provocative and engaging. Read more about successfully combining data, storytelling and design here.
From strategy to planning: where do I beginning?
While clearly a crucial role of developing a thought leadership strategy, the option of themes and topics is only i step in the planning process. And, in our view, it is a mistake to starting time thinking about themes before you have answered a few key questions.
We often encourage our clients to think of this equally a straightforward 'Why?', 'Who?', 'What?' and 'How?' exercise:
1. Why? – think almost your marketing objectives. Which outcomes are you hoping to achieve? How volition y'all know if your idea leadership strategy has been successful? Which metrics and KPIs can you track to ensure that your project is meeting its goals?
ii. Who? – once you have your objectives, you lot can target your audience. Who do I want to read my content? Who are the decision-makers I want to influence?
3. What? – merely now should you showtime to discuss topics and themes. Which topics do my audience want to read about? What do I want my company to be associated with?
four. How – finally, yous should think about activation. How does my audience consume content? Which platforms resonate the most with my audience and how should I classify budget across channels?
We go into more than detail about the why, who, what and how of thought leadership in a past web log mail service, and click here to explore our idea leadership strategy offer.
Stage one: Your thought leadership objectives
1. Matching idea leadership strategy with your commercial objectives
When planning your thought leadership strategy, the get-go question you must ask yourself is: which outcomes am I hoping to achieve? Many companies take multiple commercial objectives for their thought leadership and often marketers are expected to deliver on a combination of these.
The overall strategy consists of several campaigns and, on meridian of this, B2B content often needs to satisfy a diverse range of internal stakeholders, adding a further layer of complication. Observe out more than nigh the advantages of early stakeholder appointment in this past commodity. Firstly, consider the following objectives that thought leadership can help you achieve, and and then highlight your priorities:
- Enhance a brand'due south contour and reputation
- Align your organisation with an emerging concern theme
- Support lead and revenue generation
- Retain customers and build loyalty
- Deliver printing and media coverage
- Be an effective conversation starter for sales
- Serve as the key input and rationale for an outcome
Your objectives will inform and influence your idea leadership planning process (the audience, the topics and your activation), and will bear upon how your campaign is structured.
Information technology's vital to exist able to track performance against these metrics. This can be complex, as there are so many unlike possible KPIs to choose from, but the golden dominion is to worry less about the immediate, activeness-based metrics (downloads, page visits, press coverage and and so on) and to focus instead on genuine business organization impact: number of sales meetings, customer loyalty, brand awareness and other, more than meaningful metrics.
For case, a 'country of the nation' study, such as DNV GL's Oil & Gas Manufacture Outlook, which uses year-on-year research to provide valuable manufacture insights, is probable to play more to your make's profile and reputation. In contrast, a enquiry plan that utilises an online benchmarking tool, such every bit law firm Simmons & Simmons' Big Information Race entrada, is very effective at capturing new leads for the business organization and supporting revenue generation. Deport in listen, however, that these objectives are rarely mutually exclusive. Make-focused projects can reinforce commercial goals, but as commercially focused projects can reinforce the make.
More on idea leadership objectives
PR maven, Alistair Gornall discusses how companies should be using thought leadership content as a way to increment brand awareness
This annual industry outlook report continues to exist oil and gas assurance provider DNV's most influential content campaign to date
Research shows that Thought-Leading Brands align their internal and external stakeholders around clear and measurable goals and objectives
Phase ii: Your thought leadership audience
2. How to target the right audition with your thought leadership
When thinking about the target audience for your thought leadership, it is important to deport in listen that large purchasing decisions within large corporations are typically made across a leadership squad. Every bit such, B2B content campaigns need to speak to each of these different stakeholders equally individuals. What matters to a CEO will be unlike from what matters to a CTO or a CFO. Idea leadership geared to the C-suite must accept these different perspectives into account, often with separate, targeted messaging. This is an essential role of planning your campaign.
It's important to recognise the role that these different individuals play in a purchasing decision. In many cases, the C-suite will influence the selection of suppliers, only they are very rarely the buyers making the concluding call. These decisions are made ane, ii or three levels below the board so, if the goal of your idea leadership entrada is to deliver commercial benefits, then it's much better to target those individuals. Depending on the objectives, messaging and the nature of your client base of operations, it might be all-time to target the C-suite or another grouping entirely.
We have also explored why constabulary firms are investing in thought leadership to meliorate serve their audience, every bit well as what the tech audition really wants to hear.
More on reaching the right audience
Our legal proficient, Thomas Sturge explains the issues effectually creating content in the legal industry – and how the audience dictates the type of content
The C-suite is a highly desirable target audition – only is it the most price-constructive audience for your content? If then, how do you reach them?
Stage three: Your thought leadership content
iii. Observe fresh angles on your thought leadership themes and topics
Choose your topics carefully
Your idea leadership campaign is much more likely to attain its goals if you lot focus on the areas where executives have the greatest appetite for fresh insight and knowledge. An innovative idea that shapes a topic or throws new lite on a well-trodden bailiwick is the essence of stiff thought leadership. Even so, many B2B organisations struggle to place and clear genuinely new ideas.
To create impactful B2B content, companies demand to seek out the "white space" in terms of themes, and set research hypotheses that are likely to yield findings that crusade audiences to sit upwardly and take notice.
Asking hard questions at the outset of planning your thought leadership strategy – What practise you take to say that is different? How can you discover a new bending or source new information? – will ensure that the content you publish elevates your make in the eyes of your target audition.
Learning from Leaders: Topic heatmap
Explore the data
We surveyed i,000 senior business leaders to find out which topics are especially hot on the corporate agenda… and which are not.
Explore the data below to see what your audience wants to read well-nigh, export your personalised view, and share the insights with your team.
Where practice your topics rank?
Back to pinnacle
Employ your own lens to every topic
It'south true that many companies want to write near the same topics, and there are sound commercial reasons to want to associate your brand with the biggest business themes of the day. Just that doesn't mean y'all take to say the aforementioned things every bit anybody else.
Every business concern has its unique identity, capabilities and strategic goals. This identity should dictate the lens through which y'all perceive your subject field matter. A police force firm writing almost cyber risk, for example, should take a very unlike perspective from a tech consultancy. Merely, beyond your subject field, your concern volition also have specific characteristics and capabilities that yous can apply to ensure that your thought leadership content is distinctive.
Volume your complimentary strategy call
We'll help y'all to navigate and overcome whatsoever challenges y'all currently face and learn how to become more out of your content.
Book a Strategy Call
Hear Brian Bannister, erstwhile Head of Communications at KPMG, discuss how to navigate a crowded landscape past challenging conventional thinking and outsmarting the contest. Also, read his exclusive Q&A with Longitude here.
Stage four: Your idea leadership activation
4. How to take your thought leadership content to marketplace
The concluding phase of the thought leadership planning process is activation.
The way brands nowadays their content can make or pause a campaign. Our research shows that, for campaigns to succeed, thought leadership activation must exist a top priority.
Brands that are successful at thought leadership are increasingly taking a campaign-focused approach to activating their content assets. Promoting insights in a way that engages an audience requires investment in delivery methods that capture interest and inspire creative thought.
Using content marketing techniques with thought leadership
Although they have a number of similarities, content marketing and thought leadership take traditionally been poles apart. But these two techniques are increasingly beingness combined, with original B2B content as the cadre and content marketing techniques being practical to amplify the bulletin, extend reach and deliver tangible commercial outcomes.
"Successful thought leadership is about nifty insights and provocative stories, only likewise requires innovative activation to a targeted audience."
Gareth Lofthouse, Co-founder, Longitude
Borrowing platforms, formats and techniques from content marketing is dragging thought leadership away from the staid white paper format and towards a more interactive and engaging content experience for the reader. Content is at present produced in a range of dissimilar formats, such as podcasts and videos, and is being activated using account-based marketing techniques.
Supporting these formats, the platforms are also evolving. More ofttimes than not, campaigns now get a dedicated microsite or content hub on which to live, and marketers are using these flagship sites as the spearheads of their online marketing button. Content marketing has also shown the way forwards, with mobile-first content, and now B2B firms such as Dentsu Aegis Network are producing mobile-first thought leadership campaigns.
Find out more nearly how you can make your B2B content campaigns more engaging past exploring our thought leadership content solutions.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, senior business leaders share ideas and visionary thinking. Nosotros asked the world'south most influential executives how they consume thought leadership content. Watch the video below to hear how content that focuses on new ideas, big topics and powerful messages resonates the nearly, leading to an increase in brand credibility and trust.
More on activating thought leadership
Radisson Hotel Group launched its first thought leadership program to assistance launch their new events and meetings arm: Radisson Meetings
Erstwhile head of digital and content and Capgemini, Parker Ward, discusses key factors essential to edifice a successful idea leadership entrada
In an attempt to clear up the confusion, here is Longitude's view of the key factors that distinguish thought leadership from content marketing
Resourcing your idea leadership strategy
Which thought leadership skills does my team need?
A successful thought leadership strategy requires access to a broad range of skills and expertise. Marketing teams may demand to upskill or outsource in new areas in order to keep footstep with trends in B2B content marketing and develop constructive campaigns. These skills typically autumn into three wide areas:
1. Storytelling expertise
You demand to find serious journalistic talent – people who can sustain an argument and go to grips with the most circuitous subjects; writers who can distil the most powerful storyline from a mass of facts and information. But they also need to be pragmatic and commercially minded; a great writer who cannot get to grips with your marketing and brand objectives is of no use to yous.
"We're living in an era of storytelling, and content is critical."
Goldy Hyder, President & CEO, The Concern Council of Canada
Volume your gratuitous strategy call
We'll help yous to navigate and overcome any challenges you currently confront and learn how to get more than out of your content.
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At our 2018 breakfast briefing, associate VP at tech firm Cognizant, Euan Davis describes the scope of the thought leadership he produces, and what his trends for the coming years are.
What to avoid in your thought leadership strategy
V biggest idea leadership pitfalls
We've shared what we view to be thought leadership best practices, but what most some common mistakes to avoid? Below are 5 pitfalls to be wary of:
ane. The research is not apparent
Inquiry is the backbone of original thought leadership, whether it be quantitative, qualitative, or something a piddling more technical. Our inquiry says that poor research is the number one complaint from audiences, and is a huge factor in whether or not thought leadership makes an impact. Don't let your enquiry let you downward; ensure that it matches upward to the quality of the content y'all produce.
two. Uninspiring visuals
Visual storytelling and information blueprint are key. Not only does your content need to stand out in an body of water of B2B content, but you besides need to bring your data to life. Interesting information visualisation is just as important as visual storytelling when it comes to making your thought leadership engaging.
iii. It lacks practical guidance
Actionable insight is what drives thought leadership. Companies need to provide solutions to their clients using campaigns that hook the audience, and thought leadership is no different. If there are no key takeaways, what'due south making the readers come back for another helping?
4. The report is dull and predictable
The staid, long-form white newspaper is expressionless, merely you can nevertheless brand your long-form content work well – even in PDF form, for example. Make sure that your content is laced with interesting narrative and storytelling. Your copy should exist a joy to read – non a chore.
5. The conclusions are expected or uninspiring
Your concluding comments knit your thought leadership campaign together, and will linger in your readers' minds longest – ideally. Make certain that your decision isn't also heavy; reflect on the points made rather than introducing new ideas. It should round off your entrada with key takeaways and an inspiring call-to-activity to ensure maximum resonance.
Eddie Bowman, director of marketing and business development at law firm Simmons & Simmons, shares how he gets the nigh out of his thought leadership, and what to avoid.
Why partner with Longitude on your thought leadership strategy?
How can our idea leadership expertise assistance you?
Our founders gained their experience working at some of the earth'due south most prestigious publishers, including The Economist and The Financial Times, before forming Longitude, a specialist idea leadership agency that does things differently.
Our elevation-class editors, inquiry professionals and planners are what set united states of america apart. Our commonage experience of producing high-impact campaigns for more than 50 of the world's about respected brands makes u.s.a. an authority in our field.
This is why nosotros call ourselves 'the idea leadership specialists'.
- Formed in 2011 with a unique thought leadership offering
- Highly experienced team, including editorial, inquiry, project management and client service specialists
- Serving global clients in professional services, financial services, engineering, manufacturing, energy and structure
- Laurels-winning company
- Offices in London and New York
- Function of the Financial Times Group
Why work with us?
Lookout the video
How advanced is your idea leadership?
Accept our test to notice out how you rank on our maturity calibration
The bar for success is rising, and new demands are reshaping the marketing and idea leadership function.
We created this simple cess to approximate your knowledge, skills and understanding of the fundamentals of thought leadership. Based on your score, nosotros highlight your strengths and weaknesses and brand recommendations on where best to focus your energy to brand your thought leadership more than effective.
Click here see how you lot perform.
Learning from Leaders
Our survey of 1000 senior business leaders shows how to engage, inform and influence concern audiences.
Proving our value: How to measure thought leadership success
Marketers tell us that they struggle to measure the effectiveness of their idea leadership. Why is information technology and then difficult, and what could they do differently?
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Source: https://www.longitude.co.uk/resources/thought-leadership/
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