One of the biggest benefits of investing in thought leadership marketing is being able to tell others who you are, what you are doing, and how you see the world more quickly and effectively.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “ 红 杉 汇 ” (ID: Sequoiacap), author Hong Shan.
Every founder should consider doing: Thought Leadership Marketing
Compile / Hong Shan
How can a company survive longer? How to leave a name in the minds of consumers and even in business history? As a business operator, it’s not too early to start thinking about this issue.
Encouraging entrepreneurs to express their insights about the industry, continue to output valuable ideas, or become the spokesperson of their own brand, to a certain extent, can help companies achieve the goal of building a great cause.
Create instant and long-term products brand assets
Most marketing and advertising fall into the “instant” category.
For corporate brand marketing, real-time screen swiping is good, but only things that last forever can bring benefits. For example, when a founder ’s speech is widely disseminated, someone may see this article two years later and still actively contact and become his client. But the premise is that the content shared is not based on news or hot topics, but an opinion, idea, belief or industry insight that can stand the test of time.
With the efforts of thought leadership marketing, it may take you a month or two to determine the right direction at first, but in the long run, the media exposure will increase exponentially. The reason is that thought leadership will gradually increase in the course of this dynamic dissemination. The more content you share, the more successful you are, and the more likely it is that other communication platforms will consider you a reliable content publisher.
Establish the founding Expert image of people
Enterprises looking for media for interviews or advertising can certainly achieve the purpose of increasing brand exposure, but they are not very effective. Most people wouldn’t be interested in an article titled “This biotech company is disrupting a billion-dollar industry” because it doesn’t seem to matter to them. But if the company’s founder wrote his own article, “Biotech Investment Increases 300% in 2018, That’s Why Silicon Valley Goes All Out on Digital Health Platforms”?
Let the founders write their own industry analysis articles to reflect their insights and build an image of experts. Nurturing the public industryAt the same time of cognition, it can also form a deeper and more effective influence.
Today, more and more company founders register their accounts on social platforms, and express their opinions on issues that the public cares about and related to their business. Facts have proven that this strategy is often more effective.
Build a content library to attract spontaneous spread
The core of thought leadership marketing is not writing an article and making it “viral.” It’s about building a huge content library that will stand the test of time, that is, building a network. The bigger your network is, the more likely others will find you, read and like what you write, and help you spread it.
In other words, thought leadership marketing is the foundation that makes all other forms of marketing and advertising easier. For example, if an internet celebrity blogger has established a deep relationship with fans and established a positive image, out of trust, fans will persuade him to take more advertisements and recommend good things. The same is true for enterprises. The founder has established a credible and professional personal image, and consumers will have expectations. Once new products are launched, a small investment in communication will get more returns.
Let B2B companies stand out from the competition
For a long time, brand communication has been a priority for B2C companies. But thought leadership marketing is urgent for B2B companies. More and more competitors appear. Homogeneous products make customers do not know how to choose. They will do their homework when comparing two different companies. These materials are often It originates from the “digital brand image” established by enterprises. They will search the data and query the founding team to find out which one can help them to complete their work more effectively.
As the founder of a business, you are likely to receive a customer call like this: “I did my homework, and I searched for content related to you before making this call. It really impressed me.”
This is priceless.
Fastest and most effective corporate endorsement
As the founder of a business, how many times do you repeat the same information every day?
In the process of meeting with customers, you repeat almost literally: Who are you and what are you doing?
How many times have you called and the other party’s attitude is quite indifferent, and you have to spend 5 to 10 minutes telling your background?
One of the biggest benefits of investing in thought leadership marketing is the ability to tell others who you are, what you are doing, what your company is, and how you see the world more quickly and effectively. This is the most effective corporate endorsement.
The market value of a traditional cement or textile company is actually not lower than that of emerging Internet companies, but the latter’s investment in communication and thought leadership is often a hundred times that of the former. Homes are rare, and entrepreneurs in traditional industries are unheard of. This forAs a company, it is undoubtedly unwise. The logic of “fragrant wine is not afraid of alleys” is not fully applicable in this era.
Next, a book
If you have published a significant number of articles online, then the normal next step is to compile these materials into a book.
Dissemination data from previously published articles can provide a reference for marketing and positioning decisions for this book. For example, if one of the 50 articles you write is significantly better than all others, then you have “evidence” that people want to read your book. You can use articles to “test” what people are interested in, and then build your book around an article that has already caught people’s attention.
We have entered an era like this, and now the visibility on the Internet determines whether people will take your calls, whether they will reply to your emails, or whether you are allowed to attend an event.
If you haven’t started investing in your digital image, you should start doing it.
Most marketing and advertising fall into the “instant” category.
For corporate brand marketing, real-time screen swiping is good, but only things that last forever can bring benefits. For example, when a founder ’s speech is widely disseminated, someone may see this article two years later and still actively contact and become his client. But the premise is that the content shared is not based on news or hot topics, but an opinion, idea, belief or industry insight that can stand the test of time.
With the efforts of thought leadership marketing, it may take you a month or two to determine the right direction at first, but in the long run, the media exposure will increase exponentially. The reason is that thought leadership will gradually increase in the course of this dynamic dissemination. The more content you share, the more successful you are, and the more likely it is that other communication platforms will consider you a reliable content publisher.