As construction firms start to re-contemplate growth after a tough economic phase and competition starts to hot up across the sector, almost every competitor is refocusing on marketing and winning. But is standard-type marketing enough? Many senior leaders think not. They recognise that to stand out from the crowd, they need to be thought leaders.
This is not a paywall. Registration allows us to enhance your experience across Construction Management and ensure we deliver you quality editorial content.
Registering also means you can manage your own CPDs, comments, newsletter sign-ups and privacy settings.
Today’s increasingly marketing-savvy audiences are looking for more: they want to see brand values shine through, and that a company is differentiated by more than just price. Demonstrating ideas, values, passion, insight and understanding of challenges are what will separate one company from another.
Thought leadership is an oft-used term, but it is less often well understood. It is wrapped up with creating authority and credibility, and is intrinsically linked to the visibility of a brand. Unfortunately it can seem nebulous; it isn’t something you can simply write into the company message or an attribute you can claim – or it sounds boastful and hollow. It is linked with behaviour and communication, with creating a climate in which a company is the obvious choice, based not on product or service, but on understanding, messages and insights.
Finding a place to start to create an effective thought leadership action plan can be very challenging but the following four steps will give you some pointers:
1. Tap into content demand
Fortunately, thought leadership has some tangible aspects which can be identified and focused upon. Today, for example, the creation of strong content is part and parcel of all marketers’ jobs, as they aim to capture web traffic, populate social streams, and pitch non-news stories to media which needs content to fill their sites, to meet reader needs, and fill their own social streams. Thought leadership themes make for great content, so tapping into the content marketing strategy of the company is one way that an executive can really contribute, but also find a ready platform to start to build personal thought leadership. Find out what questions the marketing team would love for you to answer, and you have a place to start.
2. Step away from your own concerns
Thought leadership is not about products and services. It is about showing smart thinking and insight – perhaps how those products and services are changing to meet a changing market. Thought leadership programmes are not about you at all, but about the problems and challenges faced by the customers. All customers have concerns around their own specialism, their people and their own marketplace – making this a rich field for creativity. Those in the supply chain might focus on the approach of the BIM deadlines, or changing processes and roles. Architects and designers may focus on the concerns of building owners around sustainability and weather resilience, or building productivity and usability, or people and their changing needs. Think of your target audience and ask yourself: what do THEY care about?
3. Imagine the debate
Effective thought leadership is something which engages, interests, and stimulates discussion and debate – that is why it has come so much to the fore in the age of the internet and social media. Vision and insight can be woven around any topic, limited only by the imagination, as long as they focus on what is interesting, demanded and needed. When identifying themes for thought leadership, some creative brainstorming can be useful. Thought leadership is not created by safe, obvious statements but by those that cause a stir, change minds and create debate.
4. Just get started
Because every company leader has a unique perspective, there is no “right” starting point. Each must find the themes that work for them. However, a useful starting list to consider is:
- What thing could I/we explain, expand, articulate better than others?
- What do I/we understand better than, deeper than, differently from others?
- Can I/we simplify, demystify, debunk, explain, contextualise, fulfil curiosity, predict?
- Can I/we help audiences understand, navigate, cope, reduce risk, see new options?
Leaders who step up to a thought leadership role can reap personal benefits as well as marketing benefits for their firms; they can build a higher personal profile, enhanced personal credibility and a track record of authoritative behaviour. It can have career benefits: what company would not wish to employ a leader with a demonstrable record of helping their companies stand out and win? Those who communicate well, with vision and passion, are leaders that employees want to work for too.
Thought leadership is a valid strategy that contributes strongly to any company’s self promotion. It is something which every business leader should understand in relation to their organisation and play some role in. That role can be titular – perhaps as the bylined author of an article or as the originator of official statements and quotes. Participation can be built over time, can engage and leverage all the existing skills of your marketing team, or it can be a new strand to your marketing activities.
Construction leaders are no different from other business leaders – it’s down to them to differentiate their organisations.
Sue Rizzello is a communications consultant with more than 20 years’ experience in helping companies and their leaders to stand out from the crowd through thought leading messages and PR/marketing strategies
