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How Virtual Events and Webinars Strengthen Your Thought Leadership Platform

May 4, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Thought leadership programs present an incredible opportunity for brands to earn their community’s trust, strengthen relationships, and ultimately drive sales. However, the rise in thought leadership content has made it harder to break through to buyers, and brands must decide which thought leadership activities are most worth the results.

Virtual events and webinars offer a unique and incredibly cost-effective way to reach new audiences, fueled by advanced event technology that makes presentations and engagement effortless⁠—but you can’t expect to drive meaningful results simply by logging into the online event platform and passively consuming content.

Let’s explore why virtual events and webinars are a smart thought leadership avenue and how to achieve your goals as either an attendee or speaker.

Thought Leadership Benefits of B2B Virtual Events and Webinars

Virtual events and webinars connect your thought leaders with a larger potential audience than most in-person events can provide. Further, the online environment can significantly boost the attendee and speaker diversity, helping you reach people you previously were unable to.

The following are a few reasons that virtual events or webinars are great thought leadership opportunities as both a speaker and an attendee:

Break through the digital noise. Executives are creating more thought leadership content than ever before, and 55% of buyers say that they will move on from a piece of thought leadership if it does not pique their interest within the first minute (according to the B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report). Virtual event audiences provide a stronger opportunity to capture your audience’s attention and engage them on your topic.
Social media engagement. Virtual events and webinars are a perfect opportunity to engage online with other attendees, boosting your follower count and connecting you with engaged industry professionals in your niche.
Content creation. Events provide multiple content creation opportunities. For example, you can promote your session or highlight the sessions you are most excited about through blog posts, customized video messages for social media, an email newsletter, and more. You can (and should!) recap your experience and learnings on social media or through a blog post during the event. After the event, you can summarize your session details or provide a recording, share an event debrief blog post or podcast episode, or expand on topics from the conference in your ongoing content.

Caroline “Cazi” James, a principal at technology public relations agency Aircover Communications, reinforces that virtual events can significantly boost your reach, and potentially benefit your public relations programs. “Organizers will use marketing or PR resources and industry channels to promote their events,” she said. “This can help build brand awareness, and position participating executives as thought leaders. Likewise, the thought leader can participate in event promotions and share them with their networks and communities, building credibility and standing. If the virtual event or webinar has some newsworthy aspects – such as a big announcement or product launch – the media may show some interest in reporting on it. This opens up even more avenues for the thought leader to have their voice heard.”

7 Tips To Drive Virtual Event and Webinar Value

To actually unlock the benefits of B2B virtual events and webinars, you need to engage with the event community and actively build connections. It doesn’t matter if you attend or speak at the event—you can only build thought leadership if you join conversations, trade tips, and provide genuine value to your connections (not just try to sell to them).

Drive the most value from your virtual event attendance or speaking slot by following these tips.

Complete Your Virtual Event Profile

Most virtual event platforms include attendee and speaker profiles. Complete your profile as early as possible, linking to your website and active social media channels. A thorough profile will help other attendees connect with you outside the event space and know how to best approach you with questions.

Engage and Connect with Attendees on Social Media

Social media is a vital tool throughout the event experience. Join any relevant event social media communities and confirm the event hashtag and social accounts that you can tag. Before the event, try to schedule meetups with other attendees, discuss sessions you’re excited about, or encourage people to join your session. At the event, tweet real-time takeaways from your sessions, tagging or @ mentioning the speaker, and engage with other attendee posts. After the event, share your learnings and feedback and connect with anyone you met at the event.

Use In-Platform Messaging Features

In every session you attend, try to engage with the speaker and audience through the in-platform messaging feature. Do not message simply to message. Ask insightful questions, express support, share examples, and meaningfully engage with the session material and your fellow session attendees. As a speaker, share additional tips with your attendees, answer their questions, and reinforce that you are an expert on your topic and excited to chat with your peers.

Attend Networking Sessions and Events

The best virtual event experiences have dedicated spaces and scheduled event times for attendees to mix and mingle. Seek out these opportunities and purposefully cycle through rooms or lobbies to meet new people and briefly share details. The purpose is to establish a light connection that you solidify in post-event follow-up.

Share Session Replays

If you speak at the event, ask the organizers if you can share your session recording and embed it within content on your website. In addition, create derivative content to expand on your session material and answer questions that came up during the event.

Create Session Recaps

Regardless of if you spoke at the event, write blog posts, film videos, or record podcast episodes that break down your key event learnings and your favorite sessions. Share this content on social media and tag any speakers or attendees as relevant.

Coordinate Ongoing Collaboration Opportunities.

After the event is over, find ways to partner with other event speakers and attendees for new content opportunities. Possibilities are endless here. You can contribute content for each other’s brand sites, host a live-streamed conversation on social media, or even partner on a research project that will uncover new insights for your industry.

When Should You Host Your Own Virtual Event or Webinar?

As you start engaging with more virtual events, you may be tempted to host your own online event. This can be a great opportunity for brands, but there are some challenges you’ll face. If you’re still new to the virtual event scene, we recommend you instead attend virtual events and webinars to understand what can elevate these experiences and where most fall short.

To successfully host a virtual event or webinar, you will need dedicated resources, including a budget and team time to build the agenda, invite attendees, and coordinate the entire experience. Simply put, hosting a virtual event or webinar can be a lot of work.

We recommend you partner with your organization’s partners, advocates, and customers to start your virtual event or webinar journey. Enlist a partner with complementary goals to help plan and execute your event. Organizations like CMSwire, which our Founder Erika Heald frequently collaborates with, can also streamline the process by managing a lot of the upfront work of a webinar or virtual experience.

Looking for some more considerations? Mike Allton, a virtual event strategist and head of strategic partnerships at Agorapulse, has hosted dozens of virtual events and webinars. He and the #ContentChat community shared their advice for designing engaging virtual or hybrid events in a recent conversation.

Thought Leadership Thrives on Consistency

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a reputation as a thought leader in your industry. You build your thought leadership profile over time. This makes it important to continue to provide value in your industry and stay active in your social media and content publishing channels. As you’re getting started, you should focus just on one or two channels so you can drive meaningful results, instead of trying to be in too many places at once.

If you’re interested in enhancing your thought leadership platform, our team has partnered with many B2B brand thought leaders over the past decade to build their profiles through content creation, social media, events, awards, etc. If you’re interested in learning more about how to evolve your profile through strategic content marketing opportunities—send us a message. We’d love to discuss your needs and see how we can help you reach your goals.

How To Empower B2B Marketing Consultants To Deliver On Your Brand Needs

April 21, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

The most successful B2B content marketing teams outsource a portion of their work, according to the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. Some marketers could even argue that outsourcing is an essential part of growth—looking at large enterprises from the research, nearly 75% partner with marketing agencies and consultants.

Outsourcing makes sense because there are clear benefits and many content marketing tasks ripe for outsourcing. But to reap the advantages of outsourcing, you must prioritize onboarding.

Failing to prepare your outsourced marketing support through an effective onboarding approach costs your team time, money, and patience. Here is how you can help your consultants thrive, based on our team’s decades of partnering with B2B brands.

How To Effectively Onboard a B2B Marketing Consultant

No matter what marketing task you’re outsourcing, start your working partnership on the right foot and help your consultant deliver on your brand needs by following these tips, including insights from a few of our friends in the #ContentChat community:

Establish A Marketing Strategy Before Engaging Consultants

Tod Cordill, principal of Moderno Strategies, says “a common problem is that nobody is driving the ship. Companies that don’t have a documented content and digital marketing strategy will not achieve desired results by hiring contractors specializing in content writing, SEO, design, and digital advertising. Be sure that someone on the team, either internal or contracted, can define the overall go-to-market plan and help prioritize the individual tasks.”

Create, Discuss, and Sign a Working Agreement

Before starting any work, meet with your consultant to document an agreed-upon scope of work. Explain everything they need to know about their project, including payment terms, invoicing, and whether their work must remain confidential. Talk through any questions or concerns. Once everyone understands and agrees with the conditions, you can both sign the contract. Rocket Lawyer’s independent contractor agreement template is a solid base to customize for each project.

11 Smart Data Sources to Strengthen Your Content Creation

April 13, 2022 by Erika Heald Leave a Comment

Trusted data sources and real-world examples bring stories to life—which is critical for strengthening trust in your brand and building your brand relationships.

Thoughtfully selected data fulfills the “show don’t tell” mantra, demonstrating impact and backing up your claims with reputable sources. In addition, the best data will tap into your readers’ emotions and humanize your brand.

My friend and former colleague Caroline “Cazi” James, a principal at the technology public relations agency Aircover Communications, shared that she uses quantitative data to build better stories and identify topical trends for her clients. “Data matters. Bringing hard statistics to the table can mean the difference between presenting a story that reads like ad copy and developing a credible hard news story that moves the needle for your company.”

But as any writer has learned, a Google search won’t always provide the relevant or punchy stats you’re looking for.

Don’t fret! Read on for my favorite ways to find authoritative data to enrich your marketing content.

11 Ways to Find Data for Your Marketing Content

These data sources are perfect for your content marketing needs—just be sure to use data from the last three years when possible, to ensure the findings are still relevant.

These sources can also help you refine your content strategy and uncover the best stories to tell next.

Audience Surveys

Using free survey tools like Google Forms, JotForm, Typeform, or SurveyMonkey allows you to quickly gather insights from a select audience. Simply share surveys across your existing communication channels, including email, online communities, and social media. For example, a marketing automation platform provider could survey its marketing audience to find statistics like “75% of marketers spend more than 3 hours a day on manual data entry.” Just be clear about how you gathered the data and who the sample represents.

Andy Crestodina and his Orbit Media Studios team survey bloggers annually to gauge the evolution of their content strategies. Similarly, when I worked at Achievers, I surveyed more than 800 of its community members to create this widely-viewed SlideShare presentation and an e-book while crafting my content strategy.

Customer Data

Anonymized and aggregated insights from your customers, the challenges they face, how they use your product, and their results from using your product can all make your claims feel more tangible. So don’t neglect this often-overlooked data source to enrich your content.

Mailchimp’s email marketing campaign benchmarks article is an excellent example of how to turn customer data into useful content, as is this SEO benchmarks by industry post based on First Page Sage’s proprietary data.

Customer Case Studies

When customers drive significant results using your product, put them on a pedestal. Showcase their results for prospective buyers hoping to accomplish similar goals. When crafting your customer case studies, ask questions like:

“How long did it previously take your team to complete [specific task]?”
“What were your main challenges when completing [specific task]?”
“What results did you achieve after adopting our solution?”

The answers to these questions can provide helpful anecdotes and data that will add color to your content and directly appeal to your customers’ challenges.

Take a page from customer case studies from Slack (like these I wrote about Autodesk and FOX Sports) and lead with attention-grabbing stats and relatable quotes that can add value to other content (like its customer support articles). See how Salesforce approaches customer case studies and includes key customer stats and accomplishments in other Salesforce content for more inspiration.

Government Data Sources

The U.S. and world governments provide access to regional data that is perfect for most types of marketing content. Check out the U.S. Census Bureau, Data.gov. UN Data, and World Bank Open Data to access a range of open data, tools, and resources.

Industry and Nongovernmental Research Groups

Brands like CB Insights have become wildly popular by aggregating and analyzing public data for specific industries. CB Insights, for example, focuses on business technology and has become known for its research on the state of venture capital and industry-specific breakdowns. Many marketers rely on ChiefMartec for trusted data, while Pew Research provides a wealth of data on hundreds of timely topics and publishes ongoing social media usage research.

Team Up With a Partner

Can’t find the data you’re looking for? Ask your business partners. They may have commissioned research or be willing to share data as long as you attribute it to them. Not only will they appreciate you sharing their data, but they may even return the favor if you eventually commission your own research (something we discuss below).

Another option is to field a proprietary survey with a complementary partner, like Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs do with their annual B2B Content Marketing research report.

Research Portals and Databases

Like industry and nongovernmental research groups, privately-owned research portals and databases are a reliable resource for data points across myriad topics, sectors, and regions. Notable sites include Statista, Netline, Ebsco, Pubmed, and Kaggle.

Social Media Polls

Many social media sites, including Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, have built-in polling features. Use these capabilities to gather quick insights from your social media communities.

We often share polls during our #ContentChat Twitter chat to gauge our community thoughts, and brands like Indeed have successfully driven engagement through polls on LinkedIn.

Consider creating ongoing polls to spark consistent engagement and enable you to compare data across your polls.

Partner with a Research Firm

Custom research is costly, but it can be an extremely effective way to raise your brand awareness and position you as a leader in your space. Research firms like Ipsos, Mantis, Researchscape, Vanson Bourne and countless others can help you create, commission, and analyze custom survey and research projects. This data can bolster your thought leadership and address a range of your content marketing and public relations goals.

Cazi reinforced the value of survey partners in a recent conversation with us. “Many executives do not want to share their data for marketing purposes,” she said. “There can be privacy concerns, and sometimes it requires a huge expenditure of internal resources to acquire and analyze the data. This is where outsourcing to third parties can help. Aircover Communications regularly partners with The Harris Poll to conduct surveys on our clients’ behalf. We’ve found this tactic effective for collecting data efficiently and adding an element of newsworthiness and credibility to our clients’ stories.”

Several subreddits focus on data, data visualization, or data analysis. Check out r/datasets, r/analytics, and r/dataisbeautiful as starting points.

Website Analytics

Your company website can show you what information your visitors best respond to, how they’re getting to your site, and where they’re going within and from your site. Google Analytics is beneficial for getting valuable website data, including its Tag Manager and Data Studio (which can visualize the same data from your Analytics page).

Consistently Create Data-Backed Content to Increase Your Reach

Savvy marketers know how to turn disparate data points into rich narratives that appeal to their community’s needs. As you continue working data into your content, you will have an easier time connecting the dots and knowing how to reinforce your points. To make this as easy as copy+paste, create an information repository working document to save all the best stats for ongoing reference.

Once you’ve created content with a rich blend of data and insights, nominate the piece or your entire content marketing program for a Content Marketing Award. The annual award program recognizes content marketing excellence across various categories, including best use of original research in content marketing. The 2022 submission cycle closes in May, so you’ve got plenty of time to get your winning submission together. And if you do, I hope it ends up in one of the categories I’m judging this year!

The Top Marketing Tasks to Outsource to Give Yourself the Gift of Time

March 21, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Content Marketing Institute’s B2B Content Marketing research found that nearly 70% of teams expect to do more with the same resources in 2022, which raises the question: How can content marketing teams, especially those with just one or two team members, create more content without any additional budget?

An initial step is to adopt marketing tools that streamline tasks and boost your efficiency, but that will only get you so far. In many cases, outside resources like marketing consultants, freelancers (or “stringers”), or support agencies are an ideal way to offset your growing list of to-dos.

To help you overcome the common challenges of outsourcing B2B content marketing tasks—like finding partners with the right topical expertise and who can understand and empathize with your audience, all in a cost-efficient manner—let’s explore how marketers can find and partner with outside help and why it’s the smart thing to do.

Why Should Marketing Teams Outsource Work?

Hiring external marketing support may seem counterintuitive as a more efficient use of your existing resources. However, outside expertise can provide lesser-known benefits that will drive lasting value for your brand.

The following are just a few reasons why marketing teams should outsource some of their work:

Outside perspectives inspire innovation. You don’t know what you don’t know. An expert consultant can view your brand and marketing strategy from a neutral perspective, meaning they will likely spot room for improvement. This outside thinking could overcome your team’s mental roadblocks and uncover vital insights that will fast-track your success.

Access to specialized resources and tools. Many agencies and consultants use tools that your team does not have access to. Instead of licensing a new marketing tool that your team will need only for a few projects, it is smart to partner with an agency or consultant with access to specialized tools.

Better time management. By providing clear expectations and mutually agreeing on the scope and timeline of work with your marketing support, your team can better coordinate resources to meet your campaign deadlines (especially if you’re in a time crunch).

Overworked teams lead to burnout and poor results. If your marketing team does not receive some support, they will likely need to work late hours or rush through tasks. This will detract from the quality of their work, despite their best efforts or intentions. Many of us have personally felt this fatigue or seen it happen. Strategic content marketing outsourcing means your team can focus on what matters, where they perform the best, and without the avoidable burnout of juggling too many things at once.

What B2B Content Marketing Tasks Are Smart to Outsource?

Before you race to offload your least-favorite work activities, remember that not every content marketing task should be outsourced.

The key to content marketing success is understanding where outside resources are most helpful and cost-efficient, balanced with your internal team’s skills and your business goals. This also involves understanding the best way to approach and manage your content marketing support (which we explore in the next section below).

The 18 Best Marketing Industry Conferences for Professional Development in 2022

March 14, 2022 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Marketing industry events are back in full swing this year, with hybrid, virtual, and in-person options for maximum flexibility. We love attending marketing events each year to reconnect with our peers, brush up on the latest marketing know-how, and find new tools and resources that we need to boost our marketing success.

To help you plan your 2022 marketing event strategy and find the right professional development opportunities this year, check out the upcoming marketing conferences below.

If you’re exploring events to bolster your executive thought leadership or as a brand activation, read through our post on when it’s best to exhibit, speak, attend, or skip that tempting industry event.

The latest in our series of must-attend content marketing and related industry conferences, revised for 2022.

LeadsCon

When: March 21-23

Where: Las Vegas, NV

What: LeadsCon connects the lead generation and performance marketing community to navigate the future of the industry. This is one of the few exclusively in-person events this year, which could make it a prime opportunity for you to engage face-to-face with your peers. Check out the speaker lineup here and grab your tickets today.

SearchLove

When: March 24-25

Where: San Diego, CA

What: Marketing managers and SEO specialists will want to check out SearchLove, an event focused on search engine optimization and digital marketing best practices. The single-track event will cover everything from analytics and optimization to content and paid promotions.

MarketingProfs B2B Forum

When: April 6-7

Where: Virtual

What: The MarketingProfs B2B forum is a must-attend event for B2B marketers, with topics spanning account-based marketing, branding, content marketing, demand generation, and more. Our consultancy founder Erika Heald will present during the conference’s Spring virtual edition on The Unexpected Opportunity of the Blind Case Study. You also don’t want to miss sessions from Ann Handley (who organizes the conference), Christopher S. Penn, and Tamsen Webster (just to name a few).

Death of the Teleprompter and the Three Keys to an Authentic Brand Voice in Video

January 19, 2022 by Eric Vejby Leave a Comment

Summary: With the exception of broadcast legend Ron Burgundy, mastery of the Teleprompter is limited to an elite few. For the most authentic and compelling narrative we recommend three keys; platform, alignment, and performance.

As demonstrated by the self proclaimed “kind of a big deal” Ron Burgundy, the Teleprompter serves as the ultimate tool for the anointed few, incredibly gifted (and coiffed), on-camera news readers. If you or your marketing team has this gift – congratulations!

But for the rest of us, the tempting glow of slow crawling text can actually rob us of our natural and authentic voice and turn even the most animated and compelling expert into an awkward eye-shifting robotic talking head. That’s why for most marketers the Teleprompter is dead and why we advocate for a better approach: three keys to an authentic brand voice for video.

Key #1: Video Platform

So, what’s the big idea?

Ultimately, to make the effort worthwhile, every well-crafted video should deliver a focused and compelling idea in the mind of the viewer. To get there, we use a simple template:

The Big Idea
Three Supporting Pillars
The Takeaway

Just as it sounds, The Big Idea is your single most important message that you want to live in the heads of your target audiences. It’s a simple concept but at times video creators can get lost in eye-popping production and 4k camera work, resulting in a missed opportunity to create meaningful and memorable impact. Once your simple declarative statement is established, the big idea should live at the top of your plan and also be top of mind for your production effort at all times. [Read more…] about Death of the Teleprompter and the Three Keys to an Authentic Brand Voice in Video