It’s an editor’s job to find the right expert for each article, blog, webinar and byline. And in today’s B2B space, those pieces should come together to tell a story about the product and shape the consumer’s beliefs about the brand. But that task can be daunting when NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and restrictions from legal and the PR department – both yours and the expert’s – stand in your way. How can you overcome these obstacles to build a thriving B2B thought leadership community?
In this presentation you’ll learn the steps SAS’ External Communications has put in
place to find and promote industry experts – practitioners from the field, analysts,
professional speakers, consultants and in-house experts – to build a thought
leadership platform that spans and supports all marketing editorial publications.
Planetary and Vedic Yagyas Bring Positive Impacts in Life
5 Steps Courting Thought Leaders B2B Community
1. 5 steps to happily ever after
Courting thought leaders for your B2B community
Waynette Tubbs
SAS
@WaynetteTubbs • #cmworld
#cmworld
2. The top five
2011 Nielsen survey
responses show
rising consumer
trust in thought
leadership!
#cmworld
@WaynetteTubbs
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
3. From 2009 – 2011,
trust in TV ads fell 24%,
magazines lost 20%,
newspapers fell 25%.
Global ad spend
increased 7% from
2010 - 2011, including
10% increase in TV ads.
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
5. Just as in the dating scene,
there are many places to search
for the perfect thought leader:
Become a stalker.
Subscribe to industry, customer,
analyst and thought leader blogs.
Connect with the authors on social.
Hang with the ‘in’ crowd.
Go to conferences, luncheons and
events hosted by your organization
or related to your industry.
Look in your backyard.
Take a look at the resumes in your org chart.
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
6. Know what is expected of
the relationship!
Can you live on love?
Your customers, amateur bloggers and
many industry analysts may only be looking
for increased exposure – a little extra blip
on their resume.
Is it the wedding chapel or nothing?
Many professional thought leaders and
speakers expect paid speaking
opportunities and payment for bylined
articles or white papers.
Before meeting, plan your pitch – your value
statement including metrics, placement, promotion.
@WaynetteTubbs
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
10. In relationships that last,
it is the extra touches
that make the difference.
Call just to say hello.
Give compliments
and send presents.
Think of great places
to go together.
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
11. Bumps along the way?
No budget
Professional opinions could be hired to say exactly what you’d like –
that would be great, but expensive.
Approval process
Industry practitioners must seek approval from legal and PR before
authoring and commenting.
Fear of offending
True expert opinion is often watered down for fear of offending peers
and customers.
The unknown
Fear of social media and few metrics in B2B to prove its value.
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
12. The happily ever after
Credibility
Improved authority and credibility for the brand.
Domino effect
Increased efforts from product marketing and field marketing to
surface thought leader content.
Encouragement
Improved social media engagement from internal thought
leaders. Encouraged more internal thought leaders to blog.
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
13. Keys to success
Be bold
Don’t be afraid to say hello.
Do your research
Learn what motivates people to know if you can provide it.
Coach, coach, coach
Money and time are usually not the roadblock. What often gets
in the way is fear.
Chin up
Don’t be afraid to ask. They can’t eat you.
Give ‘em a nudge
Never take the first no as the final answer.
@waynettetubbs
#cmworld
Your audience wants a heavy concentration of earned media, then owned media and THEN paid media. So, let’s go looking for thought leaders from those arenas. Stalker – Search the social sphere! Check out sites like Technorati, AllTop and Blog Catalog to find bloggers who write about your industry. There are many bloggers out there who are eager collaborate. Before asking for a relationship, get to know what this person does, writes, thinks. Have a firm understanding of how you’d like to collaborate – what will she gain, what will you gain?Hang out – This is where you will find analysts and your customers who are ready and willing to talk about your product OR the industry in general, and professional thought leaders. Make connections and write blog posts about the event content and presentations. Under the bed – These last two are hugely important! How many of you are still with your high school sweet heart? OK I didn’t bring statistics – blah blah – lasts.Maybe you were introduced by a friend, neighbor, etc. Your own event connections and in-house thought leaders shouldn’t be squandered. Certainly don’t neglect No. 1 up here – juggling these is the life of a community manager – but ensure that you are maximizing these two opportunities. Example:I recently had quite a surprise. One of my areas of coverage is financial services, and in the global market, Solvency II implementation is a huge topic for insurers. I was pulling together an editorial calendar for the next six months and looking for internal thought leaders to fill some of the dates. During one of the brainstorming sessions, I learned that one of our colleagues in Marlow is a former FSA employee – the FSA is the agency in Europe that is developing the regulation!! I had never known that this gentleman could play such a key role before. It is vital that you look for these players to help your with external contacts and help you with content!