Thought leadership ROADMAP

For optimal results, taking the right route to thought leadership is critical.

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TEAM

Every successful projects start with a 'dream team'

Every successful project starts with a ‘dream team’, where team members are deployed on the basis of their strengths and expertise. It’s important that multiple disciplines are represented in the team, such as product development, sales, marketing, and even finance. This team can also include contributors like external specialists. This agile team communicates via online tools and has two leaders: a process leader and a creative leader.
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OBJECTIVES

It's important to properly align objectives with expections

It’s important to properly align objectives with expectations. A goal like generating leads in the short term will require a different approach to a goal like influencing brand awareness. A thought leadership strategy also requires the formulation of SMART objectives.
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TARGET AUDIENCE

Formulate goals for external as well as internal target groups

A thought leadership strategy can be formulated for internal, as well as external, target groups. The target audience, for instance, could be made up of several sectors (C-level and first-line management), as well as employees (frontline), and stakeholders (press, suppliers).
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INSIGHTS JOURNEY

We want to know how we can connect to our audience

We set high standards for the topics and themes that need to be developed for the various target groups. The success of the approach depends on the relevance and ‘stickiness’ of the content. During the insights exploration, we look for business ‘pains’ and ‘pleasures’. We want to know which problems we can solve or how we can connect with themes that are relevant to the different target groups. The end result of this phase is an ‘insights matrix’, in which we also want to discover overlapping insights within the different target groups. During this phase, we also leverage media insights that provide us with more information about (online) media usage.
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INSIGHTS JOURNEY

Build an outline of topics and themes

Based on the information from the insights journey and Trendforce research, we will create a topics and themes plan. The insights obtained are linked to topics that give substance to the needs of the target groups and will become part of the ‘insights-topics’ mapping. During this phase, you identify the topics (like trends and sub-trends) that form the foundation of your Thought Leadership Strategy. In this phase, you can also brainstorm about apps and other forms of knowledge circulation or inspirational media, with which we can populate the insights. The thought leadership approach has an impact on the brand strategy of organisations, which is why we will link to the core values ​​of the brand strategy in this phase as well.
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TOPIC RESEARCH

We want to know how we can connect to our audience

The Trendforce Future Intelligence Team (FIT) will provide in-depth research related to the various topics identified, for which the team will make use of many sources and proprietary search and analysis algorithms. This research and the resulting analyses will provide the basis for the development of the strategy.
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STORY STRATEGY

We want to know how we can connect to our audience

A thought leadership strategy can be formulated for internal, as well as external, target groups. The target audience, for instance, could be made up of several sectors (C-level and first-line management), as well as employees (frontline), and stakeholders (press, suppliers).
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STORY LINES

We want to know how we can connect to our audience

During the story execution, all resources and activities will come together. Our designers and specialists will develop the whitepapers, landing pages, videos, animations, apps, and interaction starters on social media. PR agencies and internal teams will also be prepared and switch into first gear.
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STORY PRODUCTION

We want to know how we can connect to our audience

During the story execution, all resources and activities will come together. Our designers and specialists will develop the whitepapers, landing pages, videos, animations, apps, and interaction starters on social media. PR agencies and internal teams will also be prepared and switch into first gear.
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EXECUTION

We want to know how we can connect to our audience

In this phase, the thought leadership campaign will be underway. On the basis of the developed plan, the communication and meetings will be carried out and other departments of the organisation – like sales, marketing, and brand management – will get involved.
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REFLECTION & IMPROVEMENT

We want to know how we can connect to our audience

Due to the large number of resources and messages that are simultaneously deployed, a thought leadership approach can be complex. But continuous improvements and adjustments will eventually lead to success. The assembled team will, however, have to reflect on and assess the results, the process, and the quality of the execution on a regular basis. We will propose a structure for this reflection.

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