Thought leadership is a buzzword that's gotten a bad rap recently, and rightly so—it’s been misused and abused by a range of industries. But B2B thought leadership is nothing more than a consistent commitment to being first, being different, and being right for client needs.
True thought leadership in the digital space also involves committing to an audience. For B2B companies, that means being available when people look for you, offering plausible solutions to their problems, and always being willing to engage. That can be a tall order for a B2B company, but the best brands have learned to merge their desire to stay innovative with the need to attract and keep business. The traditional B2B model involves commerce transactions between businesses, but influence and ideas can be commodities that are just as valuable. The following brands have B2B thought leadership down to a science—in a literal sense, in some cases.
This multinational tech corporation does a little bit of everything, but it’s so successful in part because the company stays ahead of the competition. IBM’s content marketing campaigns—covering everything from computers to biotech—illustrate how this company uses innovation to crush its competition. Consider the making of the world's smallest movie, A Boy And His Atom.
At first glance, this is just a fun video about making a film using the smallest particles in the universe; but it's also a demonstration of the advanced and game-changing technology and equipment IBM has developed. Public and private universities and research institutions, hospitals, and medical centers are IBM’s target audience groups—and with something this catchy and intriguing, it's a safe bet that they're listening.
Netflix has been in a heated battle with Amazon to nab exclusive streaming rights to several films and TV shows. And Amazon has won—at least when it comes to entertainment giant Viacom. But Netflix has managed to win a different round by making Hollywood their target audience, and a partner against big bad cable and telecom companies.
With hit shows like House of Cards and the new series Orange Is The New Black, Netflix is killing two birds with one stone: it’s giving millions of customers a way to enjoy groundbreaking entertainment while providing Hollywood a new outlet for projects that may not otherwise see the light of day. This is how Netflix is becoming the king of original digital entertainment content. So while Amazon gobbles up Viacom’s catalog, Netflix is taking this opportunity to shape the future of entertainment—both the way it’s consumed and created.
TED is a brand built on B2B thought leadership. The nonprofit organization’s talks and conferences represent the world’s most relevant and influential thinkers, and the ideas distributed through videos and blog posts impact a widening range of industries and disciplines. Inbound marketing evangelist Seth Godin and gaming researcher Jane McGonigal are just two of many TED talkers who are prominent voices in their fields and shaping the way their industries do business.
The organization’s traditional audience is the general public, but its target audience is made up of individuals representing decision-makers in every aspect of business, education, technology, and other industries. Now TED is now branching out to create conferences centered on a range of subjects and locations; 2014’s TEDMED is serving as the brand’s first conference dedicated to one discipline. This is how TED is able to influence industries and audiences in ways that most brands only dream of.
Each of these three brands functions as thought leaders by touching their target audiences in a relevant way. They share a commitment to engage, try new things, and branch out after they’ve mastered an aspect of their business. Thought leadership for B2B brands doesn’t have to mean creating a certain amount of content or following a predetermined marketing plan—but it does need to yield results that help businesses run more smoothly.
