D I G I T A L Thought Leadership

in a

W o r l d.

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Shrinking news holes:

• Dictate more direct strategies

• Means fewer outlets for SMEs

White papers too dense for time starved

world

Young decision makers = new channels

Changing conference formats with

dwindling attention

Current thought leadership environment

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Traditional thought leadership won’t cut it

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Thought leadership approach

Conference Support

• Email w/link to highlight video • Conference Twitter

- Speakers - Intra-conference

• “Un-session/un-conference” • Text reminders of sessions • V-cast follow-up

Content Syndication and Aggregation

• Branded RSS feed • Blogs • Communities • Industry-specific portals • Premium subscription service

(Example: WestLaw)

Business Community Build or Rent?

Branded: • Facilitate peer conversation • Capture voice of customer Rent: • Build long-tail

- LinkedIn (Dell) - Facebook groups

Editorially Independent Blog

• Sponsor or host independent blog of expert contributors (Customers, KOLs)

• Example: AppGap: Future of work, sponsor: Intuit

SMEs

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Lead generation is a social interaction

• Join groups on big social sites

• Explore niche social destinations

• Stimulate community formation with trade groups

Talk to personas… not to prospects

Build significant networks

• Post provocative Qs

• Offer smart insights

• Build relationships through conversation

Lead Generation: Put down virtual roots

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Lead generation: Put down virtual roots

Content Social Network Community Social

Bookmarking

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Think like a publisher

• Smart AND approachable: no need to be dry

• Build content around your personas

• You are what you publish: what do you want your buyer personas to think about you?

Content that people want to consume

and share:

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Think like a publisher

CPA Sings Happy Birthday to

Sarbanes Oxley

ILoveAGoodAudit.com

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Think like a publisher Content Syndication and Distribution

Syndicators:

• Clear, high-quality content from media sites, newspapers, news organizations and prestigious websites

• Distribute to independent website owners and online publishers

• Allow advertisers to self-select relevant matching content to place their ads

Content Syndication and Distribution

Systems:

• Contextual advertising system that matches ads to high-quality content

• On-demand content marketplace for online publishers

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Benefits of Content Syndication:

• Content owners can expand their exposure, reach and profitability

• Online publishers can add high-quality content to their sites, increasing their value to their readers while profiting from commissions on all the ads matched to such content

• Advertisers can enjoy highly targeted placement of their ads and a powerful distribution mechanism in which independent publishers become active marketing agents to very relevant and targeted audiences

Think like a publisher: Content Syndication and Distribution (continued)

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Think like a publisher: Content Aggregation

Tags and links spread the word: link

juice anyone?

Branded RSS Feeds

Branded Thought leader portals

Value-added repackaging of content:

potential to monetize

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Think Like a Publisher: Webinars/Webcasts/Podcasts

Deliver deep messaging directly to targets

Great lead generation tool

Help in category creation

Variety of ways to merchandise

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Think like a publisher: Independent Blogs

Sponsor or host

independent blog of expert contributors (Customers, KOLs)

Example AppGap: Future

of work, sponsored by Intuit

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Think like a publisher: eBooks are the new white paper

Highly engaging and colorful

Tell the story from the

personas perspective

Easy to consume; easy to

share

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Virtual experts

Conferences are shrinking: fewer

venues, fewer speaking slots, lower ROI

Dynamic conference formats: the age

of the “un-conference” and the “un-session”

Thought Leaders must understand

how to use social media before, during and after conferences

Merchandise speaker slots to:

• Build awareness

• Maximize attendance

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Bring people together Before , during and after the conference

Email with link to highlight video

Promote via conference page on

Facebook groups

• Announce conference on Twitter first

Conference Twitter

• Speakers

• Intra-conference

“Un-session/un-conference”

Text reminders of sessions

V-cast follow-up

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Communities: Feedback in action

Communities bring real time insights

into customers, trends, issues

Package community insights in new

ways (YouTube video, blog posts, etc.)

Use communities to recruit for surveys

and industry studies

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Community: Build, rent or buy

Branded: • Facilitate peer conversation

• Capture voice of customer

Rent: • Build long-tail

- LinkedIn

- Facebook groups

Buy: • Acquire existing community and build

brand presence

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Keeping thought leaders ahead of the game

Research channels today are different:

Trend spotting: blogs and tweets

• Analysts, reporters, organizations, government bodies and academics

• Follow specific elite groups of influencers and provide insights

• Use tweet streams to make contact

Studies and surveys

• Use private messaging on social networking and community sites

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Types of thought leadership social approaches

Community Marketing

Viral

Foot Print

Branded

Portals & Feeds

Social Networking

Webinars

Podcasts

Content Distribution

Strategy

Influencer Marketing

Conversation Insights

Awareness Preference Insight &

Innovation Relationship

Building

Leadership Topic or

Positioning

Category Creation

Lead Generation

Referrals & Pass Along

Sales Velocity

Sales Volume

M H H H H H H H H H

H H L M H H M H M M

H H L L M M M M L L

M H L H L M H H M M

M H L H H M H M H H

H H L M H H H M H M

M M M H H H M M M M

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Questions?

For further information, contact:

Kathy Baughman

ComBlu

312-649-1687

kbaughman@comblu.com

J:\Presentations\TL in a digital World