When it comes to building content that helps you achieve your SEO objectives, ”good” isn’t good enough. Your content has to be tailor-made to achieve your goals. It has to target the right keywords for the right audiences, supply the best information to satisfy the intent behind the queries, and help guide your audience to where they need to go next.

This doesn’t happen by chance. Thoughtful preparation and direction will help ensure that writers are able to create content that achieves its goals. Developing an SEO content brief is an important step, providing clear and data-informed drafting inputs that will guide the drafting process.

SEO content briefs: 8 key elements

Whether you’re planning and drafting content internally, or working with a partner for either or both, creating detailed briefs is a great way to transfer knowledge and collaborate. The content brief should ideally represent the expert insight of SEO professionals, setting the published page up for maximum impact in search.

These eight inputs are essential to a comprehensive yet concise SEO content brief.

Primary keywords

Generally speaking, every piece of SEO-driven content should target one or maybe two primary keywords, identified as part of your keyword strategy. These are the search engine result pages (SERPs) you want your brand to show up on. At TopRank Marketing, our briefs include keyword data derived from SEO analysis tools to help writers understand the context, SERP landscape, and intent behind these primary keywords.

Semantic keywords

Each primary keyword you will try to rank for has several semantic keywords connected to it. These are words semantically related to the primary keyword (think “bread,” “bacon,” “lettuce,” and “tomatoes” for the primary keyword “blt sandwich) that have become so frequently associated with the subject matter in other content online that search engines have learned to look for them when crawling for the primary keyword. If you include these semantic keywords in your content, Google will tend to find it faster and reward you with higher rank.

Conduct research to identify the most common semantic keywords associated with each primary keyword, then provide them as a list for the writer. Wherever natural, it’s valuable to include these phrases in copy and headers.

Audience insights

When it comes to content planning, everything begins and ends with the audience – including your approach to SEO. This section of the brief should provide information about who the content is intended to reach. Striking direct resonance with your intended audience is as important as any technical factor when it comes to ranking in (and getting results from) SEO.

Audience insights shared in your brief might include:

• Demographic info
• Buyer persona
• Job seniority
• Role or function
• Pain points

Search intent

Tools like Semrush generally sort the search intent of a keyword into one of four categories: informational, transactional, navigational, or commercial. While this provides a good start to understanding intent, it hardly tells the whole story.

Take the next step by elaborating on the common motivations for running the search query. Reviewing and analyzing the SERP can be very useful in this regard, because Google is telling you the results it (and thus searchers) find valuable. Speaking of which…

SERP features

While the most common feature of SERPs is a list of site links that pertain to the key phrase the searcher typed in, those links are not the only feature of most SERPs. Other SERP features include sponsored content, reviews, video carousels, “people also ask” sections, featured snippets, local pack listings (for businesses relevant to the query), and more. These features appear in SERPs based on how useful the search engine dictates they would be to the user.

Like semantic keywords, planning for SERP features can help inform how content is structured. For example, if you want to win a featured snippet, you’ll want to include a single paragraph beneath a clearly labeled header that comprehensively answers the question posed by the query in no more than 52 words.

Content objectives

Researching the attributes above should give you a good idea of what you’ll need your content to do and why. Summarize your findings here in the form of clearly articulated, measurable content objectives. (For example, “this blog post is targeting an upper-funnel keyword and is intended to grow brand awareness via newsletter sign-ups.”)

Content outline

In this section, provide an outline of the structure of your content. Include your title, meta description, recommended word count, headings and subheadings, and details about what should be covered in each section.

Linking recommendations

Links are vital to helping search engines understand how your content is organized and what it’s about. A smart link building strategy will account for internal linking (links to and from the new page on your own website) as well as outbound links and backlinks.

Be strategic in your approach to SEO

The more legwork you put into your SEO content brief, the easier the content will be to draft and publish, and the more effectively the completed work will serve your overall SEO strategy. Take the time to build out these briefs for every piece of content you create and you’ll start to see the benefits in no time.

When you’re ready to take your SEO content to the next level, check out our blog post: SEO Content Strategy: From Basic to Advanced.

The post Make Sure to Include These 8 Elements in an SEO Content Brief appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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In today’s market, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an avenue of marketing that’s both free and effective. Despite what some might lead you to believe, B2B influencers will expect more than brand exposure in exchange for their services.

Unlike B2C influencer marketing, B2B agencies and brands often cannot offer products in exchange for their work — not because of any rules, but because their offerings are simply not meant for individual consumers. Can you imagine asking someone to write a blog post in exchange for … cloud storage? Yeah, neither can we.

That brings us to the all-important subject of influencer agreements, now commonplace in today’s influencer marketplace.

Why do I need an influencer agreement?

An influencer contract, also known as an influencer agreement or influencer marketing agreement, is a legally binding document between a company or brand and an influencer. This contract outlines the terms and conditions of the partnership and sets clear expectations for both parties.

If you’re in the United States and you’re interested in onboarding influencers for your marketing program, you must familiarize yourself with the regulations set by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). These, of course, exist to safeguard consumers against false advertising. That’s why it’s so important that the drafted agreement makes it clear that there’s a material connection between the brand and the influencer. But what else should the agreement include?

What should an influencer agreement include?

• Parties Involved: The names and details of the company/brand and the influencer.
• Scope of Work: A detailed description of the campaign, including the specific deliverables (e.g., posts, stories, videos), platforms to be used (e.g., LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube), and the content requirements.
• Compensation: Information on how the influencer will be paid, including any fees, bonuses, and reimbursement for expenses. This section may also cover the payment schedule.
• Timeline and Deadlines: Important dates for content submission, posting schedules, and the duration of the partnership.
• Content Guidelines: Brand guidelines and creative direction to ensure the content aligns with the brand’s image and values. This might include style, tone, hashtags, and other branding elements.
• Approval Process: Procedures for content review and approval before it goes live. This can include deadlines for the brand to review and request changes.
• Usage Rights: Terms regarding the ownership and use of the content created by the influencer. This often covers how long the brand can use the content, in what contexts, and whether the influencer retains any rights.
• Exclusivity: Clauses that prevent the influencer from working with competing brands during and sometimes after the contract period.
• Compliance and Disclosure: Requirements for adhering to relevant laws and regulations, such as FTC guidelines for sponsored content disclosure.
• Termination Clause: Conditions under which either party can terminate the agreement and any notice period required.
• Confidentiality: Provisions for maintaining the confidentiality of any sensitive information shared between the parties.
• Indemnification and Liability: Clauses that protect each party from certain legal liabilities and outline the responsibilities in case of breaches or disputes.
• Miscellaneous Provisions: Any other terms and conditions relevant to the partnership, such as amendments to the contract, governing law, and dispute resolution methods.

While every contract will have its differences, they’ll always have the same purpose: to set expectations between the parties and reduce the risk of misunderstandings or legal woes.

Do lawyers need to get involved?

Today, handshake deals just don’t cut it. Careful legal review of agreements must be conducted to ensure all parties are protected and satisfied. In B2B influencer marketing, it’s standard practice to have the brand or the agency representing the brand draft the influencer agreement.

Once the agreement is drafted, it’s up to the influencer or their agency to review the document in its entirety. In some cases, the sender of the document may take the time to walk through the document with the influencer to once again review the specific terms of the agreement to ensure everyone is on the same page. While it may seem straightforward, influencers need to take the review a step further by forwarding the documents to their legal counsel to check for non-obvious issues, including ambiguities, incomplete provisions, punctuation, and undefined terms.

Influencer payment models to choose from

B2B marketers tend to pay influencers via three unique payment models. The one you choose will depend on several factors, including scope, budget, and campaign goals.

• Flat Fee: A fixed amount for specific deliverables (e.g., blog post, event attendance, podcast).
• Performance-Based: Payment is dependent on the success of the campaign (e.g., clicks, engagements, conversion rates).
• Retainers: Regular, ongoing payments for a series of activities or continuous collaboration over a period.

Deciding on payment form for influencers

Unfortunately, in the world of B2B marketing, distributing payments usually isn’t as simple as using an app like Venmo or CashApp. To ensure payments are protected and processed correctly, we recommend using bank transfers. That said, there are several alternative payment options available to accommodate all parties:

• Check: Yes, there are still plenty of folks who don’t mind waiting for a physical form of payment. Sometimes you can’t beat what’s familiar.
• Payment Platforms: Services like Bill.com automate invoicing, bill payments, and international payments.
• Affiliate Platforms: Consider ShareASale or Commission Junction for performance-based compensation.

Creating a payment process for influencers

In B2B marketing, the most common way to initiate payments is through invoicing. These can be submitted through email, a dedicated portal, or your preferred accounting software. To ensure there are no delays in the processing of payments, ensure your contracted influencers provide — at a minimum — the following information on the invoice: Name, company name, address, services rendered, payment amount, invoice number, and due date. Note this is a great time to ask your influencer for a W-9 so you can report payments to the IRS.

Scheduling, approving, and processing influencer payments

If done correctly, the payment schedule should be outlined in the agreement. Most often, payments are distributed weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or upon completion of all services. Take time to remind your influencers of the agreed-upon payment terms throughout the process. Much like everyone else, these are busy professionals who can lose track of timelines.

The approval process will vary depending on the contracting entity. Usually, brands and agencies will have an internal review workflow in place, where several groups of personnel review the influencer deliverables to ensure the full scope of the agreement is met. Most often, the buck stops with a finance manager, who will take final ownership of the review and distribute payment.

After the deliverables have been reviewed and approved, the finance manager or designated personnel will initiate the payment. We recommend using software such as Bill.com, Xero, or FreshBooks to efficiently manage and automate this process. Additionally, some influencer management tools, like Klear, offer integrated payment processing capabilities through third-party vendors, which could further streamline your workflow.

For record-keeping and customer service purposes, agencies and brands should send payment confirmation emails once payments are processed. Be sure to include details of the payment amount, method, and expected arrival time.

Overwhelmed with the thought of handling influencer contracts and payments?

Identifying influencers, nurturing them, conducting outreach, developing a strategy, and co-developing content is already an arduous list of tasks. Add in the process of influencer contracts and payments, and you have a whole lot of work on your hands. That’s where we come in. We’ve been handling the ever-evolving process of influencer marketing payments and contracts for nearly 20 years. Ask us about our B2B Influencer Marketing services today.

The post Everything You Need to Know about B2B Influencer Contracts and Payments appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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It’s undeniable that LinkedIn* is leading the pack for professional social networks. In fact, more than half of all of the businesses in the world have created a business page on LinkedIn. With over 61 million companies listed on LinkedIn, the competition for the attention of potential clients and job seekers is at an all-time high.

One way to take a critical look at your LinkedIn business page is to conduct a social media audit and identify areas for improvement. Understanding the elements that will help you build trust with your audience and provide a seamless brand experience for visitors navigating between your website and LinkedIn Page are incredibly important in creating a cohesive strategy.

If you know that your company’s LinkedIn Page could be better, but you don’t know where to start, this guide is for you. The social media audit below identifies nine important elements of LinkedIn business profiles that can be improved in order to get more engagement from your audience, and referral traffic back to your website.

Ready to see how many of these items you’re executing successfully and how many are an opportunity for improvement as part of your social media marketing strategy?

9 Step LinkedIn Company Page Audit

#1 – Identify the Right Content Mix

“Content mix” refers to the different types of content posted on your LinkedIn Page. The first step is to analyze what types of content are regularly published on your business page.

Content types can include:

• Promotional content
• Industry news
• Images
• Carousels/flipbooks
• Videos
• Links to helpful articles

Ideally, all of these content types should be present in your content mix. Posting only one or two types of content will bore your audience. Engage your audience by posting a variety of content to your LinkedIn business page. Don’t forget to include visual content in your mix: status updates posted with images generally get as much as twice the engagement and comments as updates without images.

#2 – Establish a Cadence

How often does your brand post on LinkedIn? Are your updates posted regularly, or do days or weeks pass by with no content? Aim to post at least one message a day on your LinkedIn business page in order to begin engaging your audience and create the expectation that visitors can discover new content on a daily basis. Per LinkedIn, Pages that post at least weekly earn up to 5.6x more followers on average than Pages that post less frequently.

#3 – Post at Optimal Times of Day

Now that you know how often you’re posting, consider what time of day updates are typically posted. Do you use a social media management tool to schedule updates at specific times, or do you post updates whenever you can find the time?

Scheduling your updates to post at a time of day when the majority of your followers are on LinkedIn is a great way to increase engagement with your content.

According to research conducted by Hootsuite, the best time to post on LinkedIn overall is 1 pm CST on Mondays, though their research also found posting earlier in the day was highly successful.

Hootsuite’s research even determined the best time to post on LinkedIn each day:

Source: Hootsuite

#4 – Create Consistency with Your Company Name

This seems like an easy one, but it can have a huge impact on how visitors find and perceive your LinkedIn Page. First, search for your company’s name on LinkedIn. How many results appear? Some brands have multiple Pages on LinkedIn, which can make it very difficult for visitors to know which page is the “correct” LinkedIn business page to visit.

If your brand has multiple LinkedIn Pages, consider consolidating into one just one page. If your brand has multiple markets, products, or business units, create showcase pages to speak to those different segments.

Finally, ensure that the spelling/aesthetics on your LinkedIn business page match the branding on your website. This will provide a consistent experience for visitors, and help them understand that this page is the “official” LinkedIn page for your brand.

#5 – Find the Perfect Profile Picture

Take a critical look at the profile picture on your LinkedIn company page. It should be a clear, well-cropped image that showcases what your brand is all about. What’s most important is to ensure that your audience can easily recognize the profile image. Most companies opt to use the brand logo for their LinkedIn profile. This is a great way to improve brand recognition.

The image should be high resolution, and perfectly cropped. Grainy, off-centered images may give your business page an unprofessional or sloppy appearance. The size of LinkedIn profile pictures is 50×50 pixels.

#6 – Use a Cover Image to Create Continuity

The cover image is the long, banner-like photo that appears behind your brand’s profile image on your Page. The cover image should in some way indicate what your company does. If you work for a healthcare organization, an image of a hospital may be appropriate.

They say that one image is worth 1,000 words, so use an image that speaks to your company’s area of expertise. Create a custom image that overlays text on an image in order to include a message, tagline, or information about your brand in the banner image.

LinkedIn recommends your background photo be a JPG or PNG file, less than 3MB, and 1128 (w) x 191 (h) pixels. As with your profile picture, make sure your background picture is high resolution.

Consider changing the cover image on your LinkedIn business page on a quarterly basis to give your page a fresh, updated appearance. The cover image may correspond to a season, event, or important product offering.

#7 – Provide a Detailed Description

Use the description section of your profile to explain what your company does. Avoid vague, industry jargon in favor of precise language and keywords that explain how your company provides value to your customers. Don’t forget that LinkedIn Page descriptions are crawled by Google, which means that you should include keywords in the description section.

Make sure to complete your Page by filling out the sections provided for specialties, website, industry, type of business, address, and company size. LinkedIn shares that Pages with complete information get 30% more weekly views.

#8 – Include a URL in the First Sentence of the Description

When you visit LinkedIn company pages, you’ll notice that only the first one or two sentences of the description appear, unless you click “see more” or “show all details.” If you’d like to drive more referral traffic to your website, either include your brand’s URL in the first sentence of the description, or keep the description short enough that visitors won’t have to click “see more” to find your website URL.

#9 – Dive into LinkedIn Analytics

LinkedIn business page administrators should take advantage of the data collected within LinkedIn Analytics. Get insight into which updates are performing best by viewing impression, click, and engagement metrics for each update. You can also see how much reach and engagement your updates receive over time. LinkedIn’s unique demographic data can show you what industries your fans and visitors are from, what their job functions are, what their seniority level is, and what size company they work for. This information can help you understand more about your audience, and their interests.

Know when to call in the professionals

If you’re overwhelmed by how much time and effort it takes to conduct a social media audit or optimize your LinkedIn company page, it may be a sign that it’s time to call in the reinforcements.

Do you feel that your LinkedIn Page could be better but don’t have the time it takes to update and maintain it? Do you crave more expert insights and tips for improving your brand’s social media profiles? Contact TopRank Marketing to learn more about our social media audit services .

*Disclosure: LinkedIn is a TopRankMarketing client.

The post 9 Step Social Media Audit for Improving LinkedIn Business Page Results appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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“We want to do influencer marketing!” We hear this a lot. But it tends to come with other questions: “How do we go about it? What will go into it? And, how will we measure it?”

Sound familiar?

It’s like when you say, I want to go on an overseas trip for vacation this year. But, where do you want to go and when?

Your vacation planning needs to include a destination, airline tickets, accommodations and some idea of what you want to do and see. Otherwise, the vacation anxiety will set in and the exciting trip abroad may never happen.

Just like a well-planned vacation, any good influencer marketing campaign or program starts with a thoughtful strategy. About one-third (34%) of respondents in our 2023 B2B Influencer Marketing Report said their B2B influencer marketing strategy is “extremely effective.” Don’t you want to be a part of this group? There’s no reason you can’t! But jumping in without clear objectives and planning will cause a lot of anxiety and, usually, a lackluster program.

If you are considering an influencer program or campaign, you will need a strategy. Let’s review the key elements of that strategy.

Why influencer marketing for your brand?

Markets are crowded, and as you try to stand out from the crowd, you need new avenues to be seen by your audience. Knowing that people want to hear from people, instead of brands, opens up the possibility for influencers to bring a more human perspective to your audience.

Benefits of Influencer Marketing:

• Increase brand awareness by reaching new audiences
• Garner trust
• Grow credibility and brand reputation
• Support content and social media marketing strategies
• Add to your brand thought leadership
• Improve brand advocacy
• Build long-term relationships with industry professionals

As with any good tactic, having the strategic plan to help guide your team gives a clear roadmap to follow. It will guide the way to success, much like mapping out your vacation will help you find your way in an unfamiliar land.

Creating your influencer strategy

Are you ready to break through the content clutter with great B2B influencer content? Then it’s time to create your strategy. Similar to your overall marketing plan, a good influencer strategy will include:

• Goals and KPIs
• Program objectives
• Audience identification
• Influencer types, tiers and selection criteria
• Outreach plan
• Content plan
• Reporting, measurement and optimization

Your influencer marketing strategy needs to hone in on the specifics of your approach, and who will be involved in the plan.

Setting achievable goals

Where do you plan to go on your exciting trip abroad? I might say I want to go to Bali, and then I set a goal to get there. That’s achievable, if I have the budget for the airfare and accommodations.

The same goes for a good influencer strategy. It begins with setting goals. And, with that, understanding how you achieve that goal and measure your success.

A common goal for influencer marketing is increasing brand awareness. As mentioned, influencers bring a new audience to your messages, helping you grow awareness and share of voice in your industry. Remember, it is important to measure the current level of awareness for your brand so you can identify the changes that come from your campaigns. The key to success is setting achievable, measurable goals that aren’t shrouded in ambiguity.

Be honest about your goals and make sure the tactics match up. If your plan says you are looking to increase awareness, but in reality you really need leads, don’t be surprised if you do not see leads coming into the funnel. Lead generation can happen, but that needs to be planned upfront with the tactics you choose.

Helpful tip: Be sure to set benchmarks upfront, so you can accurately measure success and impact. Influencers can help you understand the results to expect from working with them. So, don’t be afraid to ask them upfront for benchmarking purposes.

Audience identification

Most brands have documentation on who their primary audience is, but you may want to narrow in on a particular segment of that audience. Documenting the audience helps you identify the right influencers. It also helps the influencers understand who they are trying to reach.

Influencer types, tiers and selection criteria

Who do you want to engage with for your influencer program?

Strategy development is a key time to review the type of influencer you will want to reach out to for involvement in your campaign. This is not the time to create a full list of influencers. Instead, set your focus by deciding if you want to include thought leaders, niche experts, practitioners or internal influencers, and what percentage of the total for each profile.

This is also a time to set your selection criteria. Beyond the type of influencer, what do they need to be talking about? What can’t they be talking about? What platforms are they active on? These are just a few of the questions you should address in the strategy.

And, don’t forget to consider employees or executive leadership into your mix. Social media posts from employees, that are personalized, generate 64% more engagement than brand content. Plus, the clickthrough rate on the same piece of content is two times higher when it’s shared by an employee versus a company according to Business2Community.

Don’t forget to account for word of mouth!

Have you ever had a friend come home from an amazing vacation, and then you find yourself planning to go to the same location on your next trip? They were a fan of that amazing place, and now you want to be a fan, too.

Who are your brand’s fans? Consider adding your clients and customers as part of your influencer mix. Finding advocates or fans is more authentic and impactful for your potential clients.

Outreach plan

How will you connect with potential influencers? Even though you don’t yet have your final list of influencers, you need to think strategically about how you will engage them.

Some questions to address with your outreach:

• How will you contact the influencers?
  • Are you building in time to understand who they are and how to nurture them in advance?
  • What channels will you use?
• What are the key points that your outreach message includes?
• What are you asking the influencers to do?
• Who will be doing the outreach?
• How will you keep track of the correspondence and activations?

This is a good time to recognize the value of an influencer brief, and plan for that creation before you contact the influencers.

Content planning

Depending on your objectives, the tactics and types of content you include may vary. But this is a great time to work through themes as well as the look and feel of the content. Design is important for any brand content. It is also a nice share if you plan to ask influencers to use any brand images.

Content planning is the first step in developing the influencer brief. The aim is to help the influencers understand what you are asking them to create or do.

Review and optimize

Sometimes while you are on vacation, a wonderful opportunity – like an amazing tour or a cooking class with a local chef – becomes available. Even though it was not in the original plan, you wouldn’t want to miss out on that experience. So, you adapt your vacation plans and make room for the new experience.

As you are analyzing your influencer marketing program, you will often find new opportunities along the way. Or you might see that a particular tactic is not working, so your team pivots. Understanding this upfront is key, so the team is prepared to stay agile and take advantage of the learnings as the program unfolds.

Through measurement and reporting reviews, you can see patterns and actions that lead to your desired outcomes. Be ready to ideate on your plan and consider your next steps.

Measurement metrics you can use to track the success of your influencer marketing campaign may include: engagement rates, website traffic, and conversions. Use tools like Google Analytics and social media insights to gather data.

Is your B2B influencer marketing strategy ready to take off?

Now that you have your plan of action, it’s time to go! The vacation anxiety is gone because you know exactly how your vacation should play out.

The same goes for your influencer program. The plan is in place and that strategy will guide you to success.

Need help with your influencer marketing strategy? Check out our services and let our team of experts guide you to high-flying success.

The post Why You Need an Influencer Strategy (and How to Build One) appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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B2B thought leadership shows potential buyers that your brand is a credible authority. It helps keep you top of mind even when a buyer isn’t in market yet. Essentially, it earns equity that will mature into sales and repeat business.

The 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report shows that thought leadership is more crucial now than ever. The report says that 90% of decision makers are more likely to be receptive to sales and marketing outreach from companies that produce high-quality thought leadership. More than half of CEOs and other decision makers spend an hour or more per week reading thought leadership content.

But there’s a catch: The overall quality of thought leadership isn’t filling these decision makers‘ hunger for new and useful ideas. Only 15% of those surveyed said the quality of thought leadership they read is “very good” or “excellent.” This represents a major opportunity to do thought leadership better than your competition.

What Makes B2B Thought Leadership the Most Effective?

The term ‘thought leadership‘ can mean everything from ‘scrupulously sourced original research‘ to ‘an opinion article from our CEO.‘ Here’s how to make sure yours fits your potential buyer’s definition of great thought leadership.

What is B2B thought leadership?

B2B thought leadership is content created to showcase a company’s unique insights, ideas and best practices. It’s intended to provide meaningful value to a specific audience in order to build relationships with potential buyers.

You can contrast thought leadership content with:

• How-to/educational content (practical but not necesssarily insightful)
• Entertainment content (Engaging but not useful from a business standpoint)
• Promotional content (intended to promote your solution’s benefits and features)

What business purposes does B2B thought leadership serve?

At first glance, thought leadership seems like a purely top-of-funnel tactic. But when it’s executed properly, it can affect business outcomes all the way through the buyer journey. It can:

• Build share of mind. Research shows that 95% of your potential buyers are not in-market at any given time. Thought leadership keeps your brand in their thoughts until they’re ready to research.
• Build credibility. Brand awareness is a good first step. Making sure people associate your brand with smart, novel and useful ideas is the next part of the journey.
• Establish reciprocity. Offering value is a key way to build relationships with potential buyers. Great thought leadership is a gift that can inspire people to give back.
• Ward off competitors. If your brand isn’t putting out quality thought leadership, you’re at risk from a brand that is. Great thought leadership inoculates your existing customers against pitches from competitors.
• Drive more sales and premium pricing. In the Edelman-LinkedIn study, 60% said good thought leadership makes them willing to pay a premium to work with an organization, and 86% said they’d be likely to invite a thought leader company to participate in the RFP process.

With this list of benefits, it’s not hard to see why B2B companies are prioritizing thought leadership. But it takes a strategic effort to hit the mark for high-quality content that earns these results.

Four essential elements for great B2B thought leadership

Great thought leadership can take many forms: Videos, ebooks, resource hubs, and even social media posts. Regardless of the format, these elements can elevate your thought leadership above the rest.

Cites credible data

Original research is the holy grail of credible data; if your team has the resources to partner with a credible researcher to produce a brand-exclusive report, you’re golden.

Even if you can’t create your own report, however, you can still establish credibility through the sources you use. Look to peers in the industry, research firms like Forrester and Edelman, and public resources like government agencies to inform your thought leadership.

Includes NOVEL insights

Too often, brands forget the ‘leader‘ part of thought leadership. It’s easy to write a detailed piece on the current best practices in your industry—easy enough that anyone could do it and already has.

True thought leadership should question the status quo, suggest new ways of doing things, or explore how and why the current methods are successful and how they can be optimized. It doesn’t always have to be contrarian or reactionary, but it does need to be something new.

Speaks from experience

If a grocery store clerk wrote a book about being a successful CEO, their conclusions might seem suspect. Ditto if a CEO wrote a book about being a better grocery store clerk. In either case, speculation and supposition are no substitute for actual, lived experience.

In other words, if you’re trying to write useful content for CEOs, your C-suite should be contributing their own insights. If your executives aren’t keen on writing their own content, try for at least a brief interview or two that can inform your drafting.

Is genuinely helpful

I vividly remember the first eBook I downloaded as a newbie marketer. It promised useful insights on marketing—something I desperately needed. But it was mostly platitudes and a heaping helping of brand promotion. This type of “helpful” content is all too common.

Truly helpful content begins with the intention of being helpful. Ask yourself: How will this content benefit someone who has never bought from us, and may never buy from us in the future? Starting with this question ensures your content will be useful to potential buyers as well.

How to develop a thought leadership strategy

Here’s a quick overview of how to approach thought leadership planning, conception, creation and promotion.

#1 Understand your audience

Conduct market research to understand the needs, challenges, and interests of your audience. Use keyword research, social listening, input from your customer service and sales departments, and direct customer feedback to inform your personas.

#2 Define your objectives

Determine what you want to achieve with your thought leadership efforts. Common goals include raising awareness, share of voice, engagement with thought leadership content, and even sales leads generated.

Key metrics for top-of-funnel might include website traffic, social media interactions, new social media followers, and content shares. Lower-funnel metrics might include lead quality, the ratio of MQLs converted to SQLs, and increase in repeat business.

#3 Identify key topics and themes

A mix of internal and external sources can help ensure your content is relevant, knowledgeable and topical. Tap into the knowledge and experience of your executive and managerial teams, as well as those on the front lines with your customers.

You can augment that internal research with external—look at competitors‘ content, third-party research and social media posts from industry leaders.

#4 Create high-quality content

Outline a schedule for content creation and publication, ensuring consistency and variety in formats (blogs, whitepapers, webinars, podcasts, etc.). It’s better to publish a smaller amount of higher-quality content at a less frequent cadence than to opt for speed and quantity over quality.

It’s also crucial to ensure your content has useful, actionable advice designed to help your audience excel at their work.

#5 Engage and collaborate

One easy way to expand your reach and help establish credibility is to partner with industry influencers, guest bloggers, and other thought leaders.

As your content earns comments and engagement, continue to interact with your audience and encourage them to participate in a dialog. These conversations can help fuel the next round of thought leadership content.

#6 Promote across channels

It’s important that the right audience sees your thought leadership—without promotion, even the best content can fail to connect. Start by optimizing text content for SEO. Then use social media to share the content organically, and consider paid promotion for more relevant reach.

LinkedIn is most likely the best place to sponsor your content. You’re most likely to find the executive audience you’re looking for on their platform.

#7 Monitor and adjust

As with any content, it’s important to track performance and continually optimize. It’s a good idea to supplement your quantifiable metrics with actual audience feedback.

It’s also important to make thought leadership a long-term commitment. It takes value and consistency to build credibility and stake out real estate in your audience’s minds.

Take the lead with your potential buyers

Ask anyone on the sales team: Relationship-building is a key part of turning browsers into buyers into repeat customers. Thought leadership can help kickstart a profitable relationship by showing buyers exactly who they should be working with.

Need help with content that converts? Explore our content marketing services.

The post What Makes B2B Thought Leadership Actually Work? appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

Source:: toprankblog.com