THOUGHT LEADERSHIP AS A CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY

introductory guide and business case

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“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” - Tom Fishburne

CONTENT IS THE MOST SCALABLE DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

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There’s no digital marketing alternative quite as scalable as content marketing.

•  When you’re thinking about marketing strategy, there’s one reason that stands out above all others to do content marketing. That’s scalable revenue growth.

•  There’s a lot of marketing alternatives available to any business, and all of them should drive revenue growth to some degree. BUT there’s no marketing alternative quite as scalable as content marketing.

•  The best part is that each additional visitor comes at zero cost. Content has upfront costs, but no ongoing expenses as it continues to generate active leads for you. For this reason alone, great content has the ability to generate huge ROI.

•  Content is so scalable because you build it once, and then it continues to return over 5-10 years. There’s no incremental cost to go from 1,000 leads to 100,000 leads. Once the content is built, the marginal cost of leads is practically zero.

•  There’s other benefits from content. But none are as quantitative and compelling as the scalability of returns.

THE INVESTMENT CASE FOR CONTENT

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Content requires upfront investment, but delivers long term payoff

•  With most marketing, your lead generation is directly connected to your spending. So if $100 = 1 lead, then $100,000 = 1,000 leads. This is what you’re facing when you think about display advertising, SEM, radio, and increasingly social media.

•  These traffic sources can be great for driving traffic and building awareness, but every time it drives someone to your business, you’re paying for it. It’s an expensive addiction that many small and medium businesses struggle to break.

•  Content flips the equation the other way round. You invest upfront, but your content can last for years as an effective traffic magnet

Low upfront costs but expensive on per-click basis

Higher upfront costs but no per click

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ADVERTISING (PPC) SOCIAL CONTENT

CONTENT KEEPS YOU FRONT OF MIND WITH CLIENTS

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Content drives results by capturing “front of mind” expertise

•  There have never been so many competing distractions for your clients attention. This makes it hard for your business to stay front of mind.

•  By delivering more value, more frequently and you have significantly more chance of being in the right place at the right time. If you’re not staying in front of your clients with frequent content, your competitors will capture the ‘expert problem solver’ position of thought leadership.

•  When your clients think about the specific solutions you provide, you can’t afford for them to think of anyone else but you.

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In the age of Google, consumers go looking for solutions (not for brand names). It’s no longer enough to tell people you’re an expert- you have to prove it.

CONTENT HELPS YOU DEFINE THE INDUSTRY AGENDA

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As a content producer, you have a platform to define the industry agenda

•  Those who create content define the agenda. They’re the first to set the agenda of what needs to be discussed and what’s getting coverage.

•  Do you want to be responsible for defining the agenda, or do you want your competitors to do it?

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“We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in” - Craig Davis

CONTENT ENSURES THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND

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Content is critical for ensuring your business gets found on Google

•  When ranking websites, Google prioritises high-quality content over anything else. This dates back to the 2011 ‘Google Panda’ update when Google made changed their search algorithms. The outcome was that only high-quality, well-written, credible content would get the top spots in Google’s search rankings. (And the underhand tricks by scammy SEO companies would no longer work.)

•  As a small or medium business, people may not know your company name – so getting onto the first couple of pages of Google is even more important. When someone searches for a word or term that you specialise in, you need to be there.

"THE KEY TO CREATING A GREAT WEBSITE IS TO CREATE THE BEST POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR AUDIENCE WITH ORIGINAL AND HIGH QUALITY CONTENT.” "IF YOU WRITE ABOUT HOW TO TRAIN A DOG, MAKE SURE YOUR ARTICLE PROVIDES MORE VALUE OR A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN THE NUMEROUS ARTICLES ON THE WEB ON DOG TRAINING.” "YOUR SITE’S CONTENT SHOULD BE UNIQUE... SHOW YOUR SITE’S CREDIBILITY BY USING ORIGINAL RESEARCH.’’

WEBMASTER TOOLKIT 2016

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CONTENT CAN BE REUSED, AND REPURPOSED

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Content can be reformatted and reused across many different platforms

•  A great content plan has many opportunities for content repurposing.

•  This means identifying many ways to leverage developed content time and time again. There are many opportunities to get content reused and requoted many times (without ever incurring duplicate content penalties). Things like Ebooks, videos, presentations, blogs, podcasts and social media.

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About Thought leadership Partners

Expert focused content marketing makes sense for companies who have a high gross margin sale with a significant requirement for customer education, and an average pricepoint greater than $1000.

As a result, industries we do a lot of work with include finance/wealth, education, management consulting and tech. In addition, there are specific use cases where expert content makes sense, such as:> An individual executive looking to build profile to secure board roles

> As part of an employer brand campaign for recruitment.

At Thought Leadership Partners, we're experts in CEO blogging. Our clients are CEOs, NEDs and Executives looking to build front-of-mind market awareness, and make it pay.

We’ve got a unique specialisation in expert focused content marketing (also known as “CEO blogging” or “thought leadership marketing”).

At thought leadership Partners, We’re Experts in CEO blogging

Who we deliver for:

What our clients say about the impact:

Thought leadership / Expert content auditEarning returns from CEO content requires (a) the right

positioning, (b) great content execution, and (c) a cohesive digital sales funnel. We audit each element to

ensure you have the right foundation for success.

Supported CEO bloggingBuild a recognised, industry-leading blog, without the time

commitment. We turn a one-hour interview into five video supported blog articles, saving you at least 24 hours

of time each month.

“You will learn things about your customers that are worth many, many times the investment. This work has given us a strong foundation for all our future marketing.”

Dr. John CumminsDirector - Executive Medicine

"TLP are first rate. They're highly knowledgeable, responsive and accountable in delivering results..”

Gillian Fox, �MD - Gillian Fox Leadership Consultants

“TLP are impressive. They have aligned themselves with our company goals and exceeded expectations.”

Jon Windust, CEO – Cognology

How we build broad recognition of your expertise:

“The content audit was incredibly valuable in thinking about our positioning and how we use our website in a sales context… it’s an investment I have no hesitation in recommending to any B2B business.”

Chris Stevens, Managing Partner – Digital Frontier Partners

“Content has been an incredibly strong marketing investment for us. We’ve become the "go-to" source for updates on what's new in Australian HR, and promotes significant client engagement and inbound conversation.”

Mandy Loftus-Hills, �Head of Marketing -�People Ingenuity

OUR OFFERS AT TLP

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We deliver two offers, designed to benchmark, build, and outsource expert focused marketing capability

1. Thought Leadership / Expert Content AuditWe use analytics, client interviews and a detailed workshop process to review your website and blog from every perspective You receive a comprehensive 90 page report, with detailed analysis and concise recommendations.

2. Supported CEO BloggingBuild a recognised, industry-leading blog, without the time commitment. We turn a one-hour interview into five video supported blog articles, saving you at least 24 hours of time each month.

+61 3 9111 5659 | www.thoughtleadershippartners.com | Level 17 / 31 Queen St, Melbourne

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