Thought Leadership In The Buying Process

Thought leadership is increasingly important for fintech and financial services firms.

Financial technology providers have to challenge the status quo and build demand for unrecognized needs. At the same time, they need to articulate highly sophisticated value propositions and be heard above the noise in the markets.

Investment managers are facing significant headwinds due to continued growth in passive strategies and ongoing fee pressures. In order to grow, they have to communicate a differentiated story to distributors and advisors who are inundated with options.

Real estate asset managers are challenged to differentiate in a world where clients are more educated, want a more active role in their portfolios, spend more time assessing financial firms’ reputations. They do business with firms they trust.

Thought leadership programs are a powerful way to build credibility and market awareness. It can be used to support every phase in a buyer’s decision process.

What Is Thought Leadership?

Thought leadership is a broad (and often abused) term. It is content intended to educate a target audience about a specific issue, trend or topic in which the author has specialized knowledge. It should deliver facts, insights and SUBSTANCE in a digestible format. It should NOT be promotional.

Thought leadership can be delivered in many formats: white papers, research reports, articles in professional journals, blogs, conference presentations, webinars, Infographics and podcasts.
Thought leadership helps to shape executive decisions at all buying process stages.

When integrated into your overall content marketing strategy, thought leadership is a powerful way to build credibility and trust with your target market.

A 2017 Edelman and LinkedIn study proved that thought leadership influences executive purchasing decisions at every stage in the buying process.

The study was based on responses from 1329 senior level business decision-makers. You can find some of the results below.

Don’t Underestimate Thought Leadership’s Value

Creators of thought leadership underestimate its value and ability to influence sales. Most senior executives are life-long learners. They’re constantly looking for insight that will give them an edge in their businesses, investments and careers.

Awareness for decision makers: 50% spend more than an hour a week reviewing thought leadership; 9 of 10 believe thought leadership is very important or critical to their decisions.
Awawreness: 50% have reached out to a vendor  after reading thought leadership.

Thought leadership builds awareness and directly attracts high quality leads. But the content has to be findable. So publish where your target audience is most likely to find it. Public relations, conferences, private events, podcasts and webinars all help promote thought leadership.

What Is Thought Leadership?

Thought leadership is a broad (and often abused) term. It is content intended to educate a target audience about a specific issue, trend or topic in which the author has specialized knowledge. It should deliver facts, insights and SUBSTANCE in a digestible format. It should NOT be promotional.

Thought leadership can be delivered in many formats: white papers, research reports, articles in professional journals, blogs, conference presentations, webinars, Infographics and podcasts.