Thought leadership is likely every tech firm's most useful tool right now

Probably no secret to you, but at the moment the tech industry is experiencing difficult times. It might be the ongoing fallout of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the end of the digital transformation boom--it might be the wider economy, it might be something more structural.

We've seen slumps before--certainly in my 20-plus years in B2B tech PR, I've witnessed more than a few highs and lows in the tech market. This feels maybe a little bit different, but let’s see. In any case, software and services companies are being encouraged, often by their VC or PE backers, to reduce costs across the board in ways I’ve not seen here before.

We and our clients are rolling with the punch fine, but I do see that there’s some hard thinking going on marketing-wise about what offers the greatest return for comms dollar right now. What I am seeing is that thought leadership is coming to the fore for a lot of these companies.

That’s the right answer.

Done well, a consistent and worthwhile thought leadership campaign is the perfect way to showcase your authority and expertise. Executed properly, it demonstrates credibility, authority, and depth of knowledge. And importantly, it can influence buyers and does influence buyers on the buying journey.

And it should only ever be about the topics most pertinent to what you offer as a service or solution, but which also resonate most loudly with your buyers--and ideally, from Sarum’s perspective, that resonate with press (which, whatever else it does or is ‘for,’ is the main marketplace for what any particular industry is most interested/concerned about right now).

Thought leaders need to help serious people make decisions that help their organisations navigate our turbulent times

So--we've got a lot of people approaching us to advise on and indeed lead their thought leadership work. We’re delighted to be asked—but we always start with the gatekeeping question, What do you think thought leadership actually is?

After all, it’s a phrase with many different meanings, so we need to be sure we all mean the same thing. I'm not saying any one is right or wrong, but I think we have to agree it starts with identification of your best internal thought leaders--because to do thought leadership, you need thought leaders.

And these are, of course, people who, based on their expertise can offer stakeholders guidance and insight; they know what the pain points are and what to do about them, they are up to date with the latest research and thinking in the field, and so inspire innovation and help serious people make decisions that help their organisations navigate our turbulent times.

That's typically what we're looking for in a thought leader. We will help you identify such individuals and then work to create and promote their thought leadership content. Sometimes, that can feel like a lot of work, and not everyone feels immediately confident about getting stuck in here—which is when we gently remind you that their work can be game-changing for the company, is lead generating and a great form of brand awareness.

Therefore—it has a link directly to your marketing strategy. Your new (or reinvigorated) thought leaders must contribute to the conversation that's happening today. They need to be speculating in public on what's going to happen tomorrow and offer intelligent insights and informed opinions online and on the air (TV or podcast). With us, a well-designed thought leadership programme always needs to include thought leader blogs, webinars, keynote, and panel discussion appearances, white papers, LinkedIn articles/discussions, comments and interviews. And in earned media, we need to see you in news and features and press and opinion opportunities, in both broadcast and print; these after all, are channels that are independent, authoritative, and reach an audience of thousands if not potentially millions of potential buyers.

So, tee up your thought leaders and your thought leadership programme, but never see this as a euphemism for a lot of self-praise. Think less, ‘How clever we are!’ and more ‘These problems are bothering you right now, as they are me—what’s the smart move to get beyond them?’ (Which is never nakedly, Buy from me—but setting up why a solution like we offer might make sense.)

Summing up: Right now, thought leadership is a top priority for tech companies looking to make every penny count.

Carina