BtoB Technology PR, Marketing Firm Arketi Group Offers Tips On Attaining Thought Leadership

Learn how to create killer content, promote it and use it to generate leads for your business-to-business organization

05.26.2009 – Arketi Group ( www.arketi.com), a high-tech BtoB public relations and marketing firm consistently recognized as one of the nation's “Top BtoB Agencies”, offers tip to technology PR and marketing pros on how they can position their organization as thought leaders.

Business-to-business technology companies often face two combined hurdles: how to generate content for public relations and marketing campaigns, and how to increase leads for the sales team.

“In order to keep prospects energized and interested in your products or services, public relations and marketing teams must have relevant and compelling content to deliver,” said Mike Neumeier, APR, principal at Arketi Group. “Often companies struggle in developing original content to use for PR and marketing efforts because, simply put, they are focused on delivering their core business. This puts B2B marketers in a bind.”

1) Create killer content

One way to break out of this uncomfortable situation is to commit to a thought leadership strategy grounded in unique industry research. Architecting and executing focused survey campaigns is one of the strongest ways to deliver a unique form of thought leadership that generates persuasive content, and that can be leveraged across multiple marketing avenues.

Creating content your company can own also permits you to highlight your company’s expertise and differentiate it from the competition with fact-based data. By elevating the conversation to trends and issues – and away from features and benefits – you can stake a claim to a true thought leadership position. (For an example, click the Underwriter Survey on Xerox Mortgage Services’ homepage .)

2) Publish and promote your content

Now that the marketing team has content, how can they harness it?

From a PR perspective, news releases, bylined articles or interviews with subject matter experts rank high on the list for using your content. A series of presentations and panel events at trade shows are easy extensions and can be coupled with distributing the survey findings at the event.

In addition, thought leadership-based content also provides the information necessary to drive a series of webinars, whitepapers or direct mail efforts that extend beyond the usual product- or service-based marketing programs. These marketing efforts raise your organization above the expected marketplace messages and position you as a true industry discussion leader with new thinking and ideas. (See this in action for Sprint .)

3) Arm Sales with your content

Every industry has a unique sales cycle, but the common thread for most B2B companies is that the sales force always wants more leads. Today more marketers are using thought leadership-based content to generate leads.

Start by merchandising thought leadership content online. Create a sales sheet highlighting new industry insights and “fast facts” with professionally designed graphics and charts. This becomes a unique collateral piece for the sales team, as well as an effective website download offer that can attract site visitors, increase traffic and grow your leads database.

Survey findings can also be leveraged in customer and prospect e-marketing efforts. For example, pay-per-click campaigns can be constructed to help disseminate the information and also attract prospects to your website.

Thought leadership-based surveys support and complement other marketing tools such as whitepapers, presentations and media coverage. When using these calls-to-action on your website, don’t forget to employ the “give-to-get” model by adding a registration page for to capture the lead, before users can download the item. (Check out StatCom’s 2008 National Survey on Patient Flow Challenges and Technologies.)

With a smart thought leadership program, B2B companies of all sizes can create compelling and insightful content, repurpose it for multiple marketing efforts, and use it to support the lead generation efforts.

Source: http://www.pitchengine.com/