Establishing thought leadership
First a group of techniques to upgrade your users, while establishing you as a thought leader on your subject.
#1 Blogs: the ideal method to build up audiences, to integrate your various content streams on the internet and to support your corporate web presence. With their natural fit to SEO and social bookmarking tools, a blog in your niche can be invaluable.
#2 White papers: build a library of white papers, i.e. persuasive briefing documents on issues in your sector. A white paper is typically 8-10 pages long, and contains about 15,000 characters in a simple, airy layout with ample functional graphics and tables.
#3 Application notes: similar to white papers, but giving guidance on technical issues, i.e. typical design problems, the application of new technologies, the use of instrumentation, software applications, …
#4 Case studies: similar to application notes, they provide examples of using a method or technology. Case studies can include technical, behavioural or economic elements.
#5 and 6 Conference & scientific papers: contributing a paper to a scientific conference or journal offers the opportunity for scientific validation of your approach.
#7 In-depth reports: for example market overviews, technology assessments, … The most difficult to develop, but therefore also positioning you uniquely.
#8 Briefing papers: tutorial introductions into a subject.
#9 Articles: longer blogposts can be used in article directories, and may eventually find their way in electronic (or printed) magazines. You can consider a media placement strategy similar to press releases.
#10 Interviews: a special form of article. Interviews fit well in today’s age of conversation marketing.
#11 eBooks: all white papers, briefing papers, etc can be published as downloadable pdf, but also as a hierarchy of web pages for online reading, or a browsable book on the internet, or a downloadable executable file.
#12 Micro-site: a new product, service or event often merits a microsite, either standalone, or an an integrated yet distinct section of your corporate site.
Becoming the reference
A second group of techniques helps you become the reference in your sector. The hard work of content development is now largely done, so with a relatively moderate effort, you can now add some valuable features for your users and boost your web presence.
#13 Vertical search: offer a search tool for your sector as a service to your visitor.
#14 Wikis: set up a dedicated industry wiki, or edit/create a section on Wikipedia or another 3rd party Wiki. In the latter case, check and comply carefully to the terms of use.
#15 and 16 Magazines: start a digital journal (example) or an e-journal, either deeply integrated into your website, or as a microsite.
#17 - 20 Newsletters: email marketers think of newsletters as targeted flash alerts, electronic newsletters (3-7 self-contained stories), ezines (3-5 stories linking to a landing page on your site) or variable newsletters (content-rich newsletters assembled according to the interest profile of a user).
#21 Community forums: quite difficult to start up and maintain, vertical forums can be a place where your industry / organisation meets and discusses. Some of the more interesting discussions or questions can feed your newsletter or other content streams.
#22 FAQ lists: based on your expertise and the community discussions, build a list of ‘frequently asked questions’ for your sector.
#23 Webinars: interactive web events can be used to (repeatedly) present to target audiences. For example, to support a product launch, a series of webinars can brief your sales organisation and dealers. In a second stage, you can use the same or similar material to brief key accounts. Or use webinars for lead generation. And webinars can also be used for market intelligence, testing messages, obtaining user feedback, …
#24 Webcasts: narrated presentations or recorded webinars can be made available for 24/7 viewing. A series of such webcasts builds up into a valuable e-learning resource.
#25 Event calendar: maintain a calendar on relevant events in your sector.
#26 Glossary: a glossary of relevant terms for your sector can develop into one of the more popular features on your site. Good definitions of concepts support your position as thought leader. Moreover, it does miracles to index your site on search engines. And it allows you a lean method of updating your site more regularly.
#27 Image library: similarly, a library of high resolution, relevant and royalty-free images provides a good service to your users. Do not upload a library all at once, but build it up gradually through a ‘picture of the week’ feature.
#28 Slide library: in a similar spirit, offer users a slide library to help them in their daily job.
#29 Content portal: finally, make sure that all above content streams are integrated into a single portal, acting as a one-stop-shop for information. Once you’ve made it to your user’s top 10 favourites, life will become easier, or at least more interesting.
Getting the word out
Finally, you need some content marketing techniques to promote your site.
#30 RSS feeds: basic, yet essential. Think about offering a single or multiple feeds.
#31 Email subscriptions: an alternative to RSS, but needed since only a fraction of internet users subscribe to RSS feeds. RSS to email converters allows you to reach these users.
#32 Podcasts: according to MarketingSherpa’s last benchmarking survey, a significant percentage of B2B technology buyers listen to podcasts. Many of your users may have some free time, but not free time to read. If you decide for a regular podcast, integrate it into an RSS feed.
#33 Vodcasts: podcasts with video. A different medium than podcasts, since you again need people’s full and undivided attention. So keep it short. Again, if you vodcast regularly, integrate your content stream into an RSS feeds.
#34 Media portals: with pod or vodcasts, you can set-up a media portal, integrated in your main site, or standalone.
#35 Social networking: individuals or organisations can build a siteless web presence, by promoting their content streams on various social platforms. This only works if your target users are there, or if you can get them there.
#36 - 39 Rapid elearning: see Articulate’s rapid elearning blog. This is a suite of techniques you can use to quickly introduce users into new subjects. They can work in a viral way. E.g. quiz, howto manuals, interactive software tools or short flash animations.
#40 Social bookmarking: when used appropriately, social bookmarking can be an invaluable component of your web marketing strategy.
It’s all in the mix
You need to select a suitable mix of above techniques, based on your messages, your audience and resources available. For some media, you need to develop the skill set, either in-house or through an agency. Some media might not be suitable for your type of content. And blogs, podcasts and vodcasts are very personal. They stand and fail with the person behind them.
To get started:
- It’s important to decide on a content management system that can integrate your various content streams, and that can grow with you
- It’s better to start with one or few things, and do them very well.
- Some experimentation is needed to see what works best, while considering resources used for each technique.
- All starts from content, but attention to building the portal and getting the word out needs to be always on your mind.
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