Executive Thought Leadership
Executive thought leadership should be viewed as a small project: if done successfully, it can grow into something more sustainable. There are a lot of founders who don’t have time to be “thought leaders,” and when given big thought leader plans, it’s just too much. Founders are growing the company and don’t have spare time. If they are going to do it, they — being alphas — want to do it right.
But you don’t have to do a lot to do it right! Ditto can plan and execute a simple but impactful thought leadership campaign in 90 days!
At Ditto, we’ve come up with a 4-month plan. 30 days planning and 90 days executing.
Month One — Planning
The first month is the most important, and the good news is that it doesn’t take that much time from the client or the founder. Ditto is taking over most of this work.
Three things to consider:
Target Audience — Who does he/she want to speak to?
Message — What’s the message he/she wants to say?
Presence — Where is he/she already present online and where do we need to create and grow presence?
Once we receive that information, Ditto can create a plan in 2 weeks, including:
- Conferences
- Content Creation
- Target Media
Months Two and Three — Execution
With an approved plan, Ditto is prepared to execute. And here’s what we can deliver:
Content Creation
- 6 pieces of written content to be published in a media outlet and/or your blog or Medium page
- 3 videos to support this content
Media relations
- 1 mainstream feature on the founder
- 1 mainstream story about the company
Events and Conferences
- Full breakdown of all appropriate conferences in the next 6–9 months
- Apply to 3 conferences
- Secure 1 speaking opportunity
- Create 1 company-owned event, like a panel or fireside chat
- A list of 50 people to follow on Twitter, to include reporters, peers, etc.
- Create and maintain appropriate online channels, to include Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit.
- Output: Ditto will push all content created and earned through the Founder’s channels, increasing awareness, following and establishing a strategic narrative.
By looking at executive thought leadership as a project, it’s more manageable and easier to measure.
