This article is by John Hall, CEO of Influence & Co., a company that specializes in expertise extraction and knowledge management that is used to fuel marketing efforts.
As the chief marketer for your company, it’s your job to bring marketing opportunities. How do you expect to do that without your own brand? Think about it: Would people prefer to deal with Beth Comstock or an unknown Fortune 500 CMO? You’ll naturally create more opportunities for your company by positioning yourself as an authority — people like working with people they respect and admire.
While you may know that raising your executive profile would pay dividends, it may feel like there’s a wall of problems to overcome before you can get started. Here are some common pain points you can expect to encounter and a few suggestions to overcome each one:
- Getting the C-Suite on Board
Resistance from colleagues is the biggest barrier to developing a key employee’s brand. Company leaders are reluctant to invest in building a well-known reputation for one person. And you may be reluctant, too — it can feel selfish to focus on raising your own profile when others within your company could also benefit from a higher profile.
Rather than get bogged down by what feels “fair,” you have to look at it from the standpoint of what benefits the company. It may be that your role as CMO — or others’ roles as CTO, CEO, or VP — positions you to lead important initiatives. You’re responsible for bringing branding and marketing opportunities, and you’re also the face of these efforts.
Because of this, it’s valuable for a company to have content coming from a variety of leaders. Your CPO can generate content for recruitment efforts while your CEO speaks about the future of the company. The CTO should write about industry-leading tech advancements. All of this content helps position the company as an authority, and it fuels other marketing and recruiting channels as well.
Once you’ve decided on a content strategy, you need to educate other departments on its benefits. For example, the head of sales could use this content to educate staff or leverage it when he confronts sales barriers. If everyone understands how content efforts benefit them, you’ll create brand advocates.
- Finding Time to Work on Your Brand
It takes much longer than a few weeks to see results from content; therefore, many CMOs put it on the back burner in favor of more immediate priorities.But if you keep putting off raising your executive profile, you’ll leave the door open for a competitor to get ahead of you.
Be honest with yourself about the resources it will take to do this well. Consider the team or outside resources that need to be in place to set this strategy up for success. This is especially appealing for people like me, who don’t enjoy writing full articles but love to share ideas.
Make a habit of spending 30 minutes a week writing your thoughts in a stream-of-consciousness style. Then, let the team you have in place take care of the rest. Delegating some of the work will help you crank out quality content while being efficient with your time. It allows everyone to play to their strengths, freeing you up to focus on more immediate marketing concerns.
- Knowing How to Position Yourself
You may have no idea what to write about, and developing topics can seem daunting. Start with a strategy blueprint that includes your target audience, the information that’s valuable to them, and the topics you enjoy discussing.
Be authentic.Follow the lead of Target’s CMO, Jeff Jones, and be genuine in your content. Honestly address your shortcomings and hard-earned lessons, and use those as teachable moments.
Don’t be general if you can position yourself in a unique way with a hook. I originally made the mistake of positioning myself as a content marketing expert, which put me up against a variety of people who’d been in the game for years. As I’ve focused on knowledge extraction and management and its effect on content marketing, I’ve been able to stand out quite a bit more.
- Tying the Benefits to Your Company’s ROI
How do you track the ROI of raising your profile? It may seem impossible to attach hard numbers to a content strategy, but it isn’t.
Your on-site content should be strategically aligned with the external content that’s raising your thought leaders’ profile. Pulling readers into your marketing funnel is a great way to track your ROI from content marketing efforts. If it’s done right, you’ll consistently attract an audience that will turn into new customers and brand advocates.
MasterCard’s CEO, Ajay Banga, is missing a big opportunity to build more influence within his industry. In 2013, he posted on his LinkedIn Influencer column, receiving more than 60,000 views and 100 comments; he now has 80,000 followers. These are impressive numbers that the company’s failed to take advantage of — he hasn’t posted since.
MasterCard isn’t capitalizing on Banga’s potential to influence others. His posts should be consistent and link back to specific articles that help readers gather more information. These articles should be educational so readers want to learn more from the company, which can draw them to its site or other company content that can be tracked.
Consumers don’t make purchase decisions based on products alone; they want to feel connected to a company and the individuals behind it. Don’t default to distant advertising efforts and expect to gain loyal customers. Publish insightful, authoritative content from key employees — you’ll inspire confidence in your company’s brand while giving your personal brand a boost.
