The More Than Digital Conference about thought leadership in the digital age

Hester Gras

Last month, imgZine was Golden sponsor at the More Than Digital conference organized by our Belgian partner The Reference. The event covered digital themes such as the Internet of Things, Customer Experience Design and E-commerce. During one of the lectures, PR Professional Philippe Borremans shared his insights on thought leadership in the digital age. Check out a summary of his insights here!

In short, thought leadership takes a systematic approach to delivering a sustained stream of education and advisory content to prospects and customers through marketing, communications and media channels. When you communicate at the right channel at the right time and in the right format, thought leadership can help your organization to:

  • Cut through the advertising clutter and more effectively take advantage of high-growth media such as social networks, online video, mobile applications and search engine optimization;
  • Differentiate your offerings and value proposition from the competition by educating stakeholders, delivering good ideas and providing a unique perspective;
  • Demonstrate that you understand the needs, preferences and behaviors of your top stakeholders;
  • Increase ROI by better leveraging your marketing content in the go-to-market process;
  • Make it easier for content to be consumed in media, marketing and sales channels;

A cross-functional approach

You can only optimally serve customers throughout the customer journey if you serve different media activities. Therefore, effective thought leadership requires a cross functional approach, taking into account social media, email marketing, website/blog and mobile.

Your website is the headquarters on the web. It is the center of your digital strategy. Your social media channels are your outposts, attracting and converging users to your HQ via social content. In addition, a content marketing app gives your customers access to your knowledge on their own mobile devices, enabling you to engage with them anytime and anywhere (check the image below to see an example). These apps became a popular tool for companies that want to create an engaging dialogue with customers while gaining industry authority as resource-based advisors.

The content marketing app of Rabobank, which is named RaboKennis.
The content marketing app of Rabobank, which is named RaboKennis.

Rabobank: a great example in the digital age

Rabobank is one of the leading organizations in the digital age. For instance, they launched a content marketing app in which they share their knowledge with (potential) customers but also launched an app for their employees to share relevant news. During the More than Digital conference, Rabobank elaborated on their internal digital project #TheNewNearby. imgZine’s Relevance app proved to be one of the focal points in their new way of work, as mobile devices are able to reach employees anytime and anywhere with personalized news.

Marielle Oostveen during her presentation of the Rabobank.
Marielle Oostveen during her presentation of the Rabobank.

Which media channels do you use for content marketing and/or internal communications?
How are they serving different goals? Feel free to share your comments below!

 

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