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November 4, 2019 Content Chat Recap: Where Executive Thought Leadership Fits Into Your 2020 Content Marketing Plan

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Company executives are prime candidates to champion your brand and reinforce your company’s purpose, especially in public-facing channels where their industry expertise and title carry significant credibility. But, not all executives are right for every thought leadership opportunity, and your activities need to stay aligned with any overarching business goals.

In this #ContentChat recap, we discuss the types of activities your executives can (and should) be involved in, hurdles you’ll likely face in the process, and best practices for staying strategic with your executives’ time.

Q1: Do you (or someone else at your company) work with your executives/leadership team to create thought leadership content that features their perspectives?

Per our poll, just over half (52%) of respondents work with their company executives on thought leadership content, and 29% said that someone else does that for their brand.

The community shared various types of content they’ve supported for executives, including blog posts, social media content, and presentations. We dive into this more in Q3.

Q2: Is your executive thought leadership strategy integrated into your content marketing strategy and marketing plan?

Ideally, your executive thought leadership program and content strategy should be integrated.

That does not mean that your executives should get every byline and speaking opportunity for your company. Your team should assess which opportunities should/should not have an executive name/platform attached to them.

Mirroring the p0ll results, not every company is investing time in its executive thought leadership.

However your team approaches its executive thought leadership, you should try to maximize the value of any executive activities. This means developing plans for any one-off activities, or bringing in outside experts to create content that can fit within an existing plan

Q3: What are some thought leadership activities that should be part of a content marketing plan?

The community shared their thoughts below. Some highlights? Owned blog posts, podcasts, webinars, social media activity, conference or event speaking opportunities, and more! Read all that we had to say:

Your executive does not have to go solo when they’re just starting out. Consider being a guest on a podcast, joining a panel discussion, or lending quotes for a partner company’s blog as a way to ease into thought leadership.

Amplification is crucial for all activities. Whatever you do, have a plan for social promotion, paid distribution, and repurposing the material to increase its reach.

Q4: What are some potential obstacles content marketers may have to overcome to integrate executive thought leadership into their content marketing plan?

A successful executive thought leadership plan requires being strategic in your activities. Execs often want to chase the latest shiny object or comment on the newest trends, but those may not align with your overarching plan.

Self-promotion is a common hurdle in thought leadership. Many executives simply are uncomfortable sharing their own content. If that’s the case, your team should explore a new spokesperson to be tied to the content or activity.

The time commitment for executive thought leadership is substantial. Scheduling meetings, navigating review timelines, and staying in alignment can become a burden, especially since most executives are incredibly busy. For highly regulated businesses, you should also factor review cycles for your legal and compliance teams.

Q5: How can the content marketing and PR teams best collaborate on executive thought leadership to meet both teams’ goals?

At a minimum, have marketing and PR representation during any planning meetings or editorial board meetings.

Further your alignment by having shared documents, including your content calendar.

Or, reach complete alignment by merging your PR and marketing teams.

Q6: What are some examples of companies whose executive thought leaders are engaged in activities that visibly supports the company’s brand and content marketing?

The community shared their examples below. Are we missing any? Comment below!

Q7: What is your elevator pitch for convincing an executive that developing a content marketing-supporting thought leadership platform is good for your business?

Check out these pitches the next time you have trouble selling an exec on thought leadership. Comment if you have other nuggets of wisdom to share.

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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