Defining Thought Leadership

Ticket to Biotech’s February focus area is thought leadership – sometimes a nebulous term.

We define it as proactively yet opportunistically positioning a brand, whether that’s a company or a person, as a foremost expert in a given field among predefined audiences to create influence.

This week we’re sharing in broad strokes how we think about it:

Get to know the person or entity – what are they all about? Program should be related to what they’re good at or what they’re passionate about.

Platform, what you stand for or what you want to be known for?

Gauge what your guardrails are – are you working with a CEO who’s never been on social media and doesn’t want to start, or the opposite, someone who’s a loose cannon. Be realistic about what you’re working with.

Now that you have all these inputs, it’s time to determine the outputs.

Look at priority social media platforms and content cadence.

Volunteering and community involvement – whether in a professional or medical society or in a local organization.

Awards – what better way to demonstrate expertise than to get a third-party stamp of approval.

Bylined articles and op-eds in outlets that are important to your predetermined key audiences.

Organic media engagement – appropriate to incorporate the platform into your broader corp affairs strategy?

Don’t forget about the internal aspect with colleagues too – is there a plug and play opp like an ERG or culture group, or is there value in creating a new forum?

Make sure you have both quantitative and qualitative measurement mechanisms in place for the long term, and don’t necessarily expect quick wins. Sample considerations could be related to business goal achievement, more inbound speaking opportunities, increased engagement on social media or even with employees.

Tell us how you think about thought leadership and what your must-haves are for creating influence.