TODAY S AGENDA How the C-suite view and use thought leadership A survey of 210 senior executives (CEOs, FDs, HR Directors, CROs, CIOs, CTOs and Sales & Marketing Directors) at FTSE 350 firms What content marketing leaders do differently A survey of 150 senior client-facing personnel in financial services, professional services and technology firms Questions 01
HOW THE C-SUITE VIEW AND USE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 02
Audience needs 66 % 60 % Clients want to hear about ISSUES 52 % 48 % 39 % 36 % To keep me informed of emerging trends To enable me to make better decisions To help me understand best practice To give me the edge over competitors To help answer my most pressing problems To help me evaluate the expertise and insight of the advisor Firms want to talk about SOLUTIONS/ SERVICES 52% 03
Opinions CLIENTS 32% 36% 36% 42% 44% 53% 57% The government/ regulatory bodies Inspirational individuals outside the industry Peers The public Advisory firms Industry experts Clients The government/ regulatory bodies Inspirational individuals outside the industry Peers The public Advisory firms Industry experts Clients 40 % 32 % 56 % 26 % 24 % FIRMS 58 % 54 % 04
Formats CLIENTS PREFERRED FORMATS 63 % 57 % 45 % 33 % 31 % 31 % 29 % 28 % 28 % 26 % 26 % 26 % 25 % 24 % 24 % 21 % 20 % Short articles Blog posts Feature articles In-person briefings In-person slide presentations Online slide presentations Webinars White papers/reports e-books Video - talking heads Video - explainers Print magazines Podcasts Microsites Online magazines Apps Infographics PARTNERS PREFERRED FORMATS 30 % 34 % 22 % 42 % 34 % 12 % 36 % 30 % 30 % 34 % 34 % 28 % 22 % 28 % 34 % 22 % 36 % 05
Engaging the C-Suite PWC: FUTURE IN SIGHT SECTOR TRANSFORMATION In response to strategic imperative: Future-focused Developed with facilitated workshops for industry leadership teams Supported by snackable outputs 06
LESSONS FROM THE LEADERS 07
For which of the following do you use content marketing? To reinforce that clients have made the right decision To drive brand awareness To help clients discover solutions 55 % 56 % 56 % 92 % 85 % 77 % Leaders Others Average number of uses Leaders 5.5 Others 4.2 To communicate that your firm is better than competitors 50 % 77 % To keep in touch with current and potential clients 50 % 62 % To support the pitch process 54 % 53 % To help clients research an issue 54 % 53 % To drive lead generation 54 % 08
Who, in terms of the following job roles, is involved in the content planning process in your organisation? External content marketing agency PR and Communications Marketing Research teams Industry experts Sector/department heads In house content specialists Sales Freelance copywriters 38 % 38 % 51 % 47 % 39 % 38 % 54 % 42 % 41 % 35 % 62 % 62 % 62 % 62 % 69 % Leaders Others 69% Average number of groups involved Leaders 6.7 Others 5.2 Clients External agency Partners Freelance journalists 31 % 31 % 31 % 31 % 38 % 41 % 38 % 42 % *other than content marketing agency 09
How well is content aligned to your needs? Content is centrally produced and tailored to the needs of sales 58 % 77 % Leaders Others Content is centrally produced but is not aligned to the sales process 23 % 13 % Sales produce the content with 0 % help from marketing 13 % Sales produce all the content they use 0 % 12 % Sales produce content with help from freelancers/an agency 0 % 3 % 10
Which of the following best describes your distribution strategy? Leaders Others We know the channels clients frequent and test new ones systematically 44 % 100 % We don t know the channels for sure, and test new things whenever we can* 31 % We don't know the channels for sure, and tend not to test new things* 13 % We use the same channels we always have* 8 % Marketing deals with distribution* 4 % *Leaders = 0% 11
Who do you send the content marketing to? Clients 85 % 62 % The press 77 % 41 % Prospects 69 % Personal networks Influencers 54 % Colleagues (inside the company) Referrers Peers (outside the company) 40 % 54 % 58 % 62 % Leaders Average number of recipient groups Leaders 5 Others 4 Others 12
What do you measure? Sign-ups to specific callsto-action, like newsletters 44 % 92 % Leaders Others Analytics such as page views Anecdotal feedback from clients Formal brand awareness research for the firm 77 % 50 % 69 % 47 % 69 % 41 % 62 % Average number of measures used Leaders 6 Others 4 Leads generated Media coverage Personal measures of influence such as Klout Specific actions such as shares, likes and downloads Anecdotal feedback from colleagues 53 % 54 % 40 % 54 % 38 % 38 % 34 % 49 % 13
PwC: Annual Global CEO Survey PwC s flagship global research programme Broad engagement during planning stages to enable centralised approach Extensive impact analysis across 80 countries deploying 8 kpis: (4 on brand and 4 on sales kpis) 14
TAKE IT AWAY! FOCUS concentrate your efforts CENTRALISE and personalise ORGANISE all together now 15
TAKE IT AWAY! (COULDN T RESIST SHARING) HSBC s Points of View campaign Barclay s anti-fraud campaign and accompanying onsite content Legal & General personalised annual statements and online content BCG s research Why Aren t Banks Getting More from Digital? McKinsey PSD2: Taking advantage of open-banking disruption 16