CEO & Partner at CBC | Expert in International B2B Branding & Marketing | Strategic Communications Advisor | Inspirational Speaker
I am often approached by B2B brands wanting to build a thought leadership position – but is this always the right approach to take? In many situations, yes. Particularly for businesses battling for market share on a global stage or those in highly risk-averse industries like marine, it can be hugely valuable to be regarded as a dependable source of information and insight. People will look to you for guidance and turn to you for help – it’s the perfect way to build trust and loyalty. But in different situations, it may not be. Thought leadership is not a short-term strategy; it is resource-intensive, demanding significant investment in content creation, research, and maintaining a consistent presence. Budgets may be better spent on direct marketing and sales efforts, which often yield more immediate and measurable results. It all depends on a multitude of factors, such as the desired position of your brand, who and what you are up against, specific targets and KPIs, and, of course, your available resources. Thought leadership may offer influence and advantage for some, but for others there are better ways to drive marketing return. #thoughtleadership #2b2branding #b2bmarketing #trust
Humphrey Lau
5mo
So true
Great perspective! Iagree.Techniques with combination of experts experience of various combination work out good success.
Transformational Leader - VP Sales & Commercial Development - Digitalization - Change Catalyst - Driving Growth and Empowering Cross-Functional Team Excellence in MedTech
5moDear Ralph, I fully agree and have realized, too, that "thought leadership" and "insight selling/challenger selling" certainly require not only agency resources but also internal resources based on a very deep, cross functional understanding of our B2B customers' markets and strategic challenges. It also challenges our own clarity around clear value propositions to ensure that these fantastic "insight stories" delivered as a "Thought leader" actually do lead back to our company and our relevance to ensure a commercial impact. You and CBC have been strong in building our insights at Elos Medtech - and your message here resonate entirely with your work approach and your advices. Thank you.