Thought Leadership and the Opportunity in Adversity
FuturePrint’s readership for January 2024 is over 70% up on January 2023. We think this is because during volatile times people are looking for answers, insights and help to gain an understanding of trends and opportunities. This is also coupled with the fact that our content strategy is working! The point however is that there is opportunity in adversity for those of us willing to put the effort, commitment and time to be a thought leader.
A fast start for FuturePrint is an image generated by AI, which might explain the incorrect spelling :)
Back in the Autumn of 2023, I wrote an article about why marketing becomes more important in difficult times, but that despite this, many marketing leaders will likely face a tussle with the increased power wielded by what I call the Grim CFO. Marketing spreadsheets frequently get slashed to pieces, short-term decisions dominate and visibility becomes, well, it doesn’t I suppose. Many B2B brands seemingly disappear from the market overnight in terms of visibility. One could argue that this is a rather flakey way to behave.
For these businesses that make that disappearance, initially, nothing is that noticeable. Money is saved and no impact seems to have been made. But this kind of strategy is a kind of creeping death, and one led by the Grim CFO.
I also wrote a piece about how many B2B businesses then fall into a set of cliches such as ‘our product sells itself’ ‘everybody knows us and we know everybody anyway’ ‘we have a great sales team therefore we do not need to do any marketing’ all these kind of cliched and unfounded statements, and more, can be found here, in this piece ‘The Things We Say But Do Not Mean’. I love the Jerry Maguire film and the sentiment of discovering purpose, laying it all out there, and then having to battle to prove everyone wrong to create something new, something unique or better. I proposed a manifesto to help us all navigate these tumultuous times by being thought leaders, helping others to see a future, building resilience and frankly capitalising on the fact that when humans (buyers) feel vulnerable, they need comfort, insight, reassurance, guidance, validation, ideas and overall a sense of optimism. Storytellers, thought leaders and innovators can provide that!! And it offers a great opportunity, particularly when most of the market is diligently obeying the Grim CFO!
In my opinion, the narrative that comes from finance depts tends to be to ‘batten down the hatches’, ‘minimise decision making, and most of all not do anything at all that costs anything. Simply do nothing and wait until the storm is over. I'm hearing of travel bans, and people unable to do their jobs due to a lack of internal support. It's plain daft in my opinion.
Prudence is sensible, but panic and inertia is not! Anyhow, it recently came to my attention that FuturePrint has had an amazing start to the year in terms of our readership in January that is over 70% up on January 2023.
Why is this?
While it may be tempting to suggest our content is better and more frequent, this does have some truth to it. We do have a finely tuned team and a set of committed partners. We also have an event in a couple of weeks (although we do use a different website so the website traffic is separate from futureprint.tech) but I think it is mostly down to the fact people need connection, want insight, news, validation, hope and optimism. And these readers like what we do. We offer thought leadership and storytelling from a variety of reputable and inspiring sources.
So, if you are still reading this you may ask, how does one become a thought leader?
First off, what is thought leadership?
According to Edelman, “Thought leadership refers to content that offers expertise, guidance or a unique point of view on a topic or in a field. It includes content like thought pieces, essays, videos, webinars, live presentations, PowerPoint slides, and research reports that organisations make available to the public for free (or in return for registering or giving contact information). In this context, “thought leadership” does not include content that is primarily focused on describing an organisation’s products or services or thought leadership that you pay to receive — such as client deliverables, subscription services, or reports that must be purchased.”
Research shows that companies that commit to thought leadership are more profitable than those that do not.
How do we then become thought-leading?
It's not that complicated. Simply by doing. By committing to creating, sharing and visibly acting. By creating useful, insightful, actionable content, at times being controversial, interesting and maybe even fun. But it takes graft, you need to do it frequently and consistently, whether this is research-based, opinion, trend-based, or whatever. The channels we all have at our disposal are so accessible, whether it is an blog, article, podcast, TV feature, webinar, or talk at an event. Never before has it been so easy to become a thought leader.
In terms of buyers, why might they make a choice based on thought leadership?
Would you rather work with a future-focused, relatable, optimistic brand and business? One that visibly shows commitment and resilience, displays vision and dynamism?
Or one that disappears when the going gets tough as the CFO decides defence is the best strategy, claiming that there is no money and therefore triggers a confidence crisis and a vacuum of strategy?
Up to you. But it is as simple as that.
Thought leaders. Now is the time to make hay while most of the market hibernates.
There is opportunity in adversity :)
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