you will find that the importance of thought leadership marketing is greater than in industries where the products have less of a knowledge component, such as manufacturing and retailing.However, every industry has an element of thought leadership potential, because all companies are eager for information about competitors, best practices, and process improvements. This post is from a real query I received from a client this week. The questions display a healthy distrust for accepted wisdom, which I like, and provide a good test of the thinking behind thought leadership marketing. MORE >>

In my experience, IT prospects tend to lie about their titles and their level of interest because they’re afraid that they won’t get the best content or treatment if they admit that they’re trapped on the help desk instead of wielding that big stick of decision-making. As social media becomes more prevalent in marketing, we’re going to have to rethink how we gather information from prospects. We’re starting to see social media have a positive impact on driving traffic to websites and on lead generation. In our recent Web 2.0 efforts so far (by 67% of respondents). for at least that long. MORE >>

Meanwhile, an overemphasis on leads causes salespeople to devalue the things that marketers really do best. We need to get past this battle over leads and get back to doing what we do best. What happens when you stake the value of your contribution to the company on something that you’ll never do as well as someone else? You could hear the proverbial pin drop in the room after he said it. On the one hand, what he was saying seemed ludicrous. How could emphasizing leads not improve the relationship? Most anecdotal estimates I’ve heard range from 10-35%. Seems doubtful. MORE >>

Some companies have companywide competitions for the best ideas or the best white paper. At the first of ITSMA’s series of road shows this week in Silicon Valley this week (there’s still time to sign up for New York and Boston next week!) I confirmed something I’ve been hearing in my research on idea marketing over the past month: idea marketing requires a deep commitment not just from marketing but from the entire organization. Eric Wittlake makes this point in a blog post this week and I heartily agree. What do I mean by an idea organization? Appeal to their egos. MORE >>

PR schedules interviews between the subject matter experts and the influencers and tries to influence the interaction to put the company and its offerings in the best light. The best way to get press and influencer attention these days is to write smart things that are easily discoverable. Thanks for the great comments on last week’s post, “Is the Era of PR Over.&# Okay, so if the traditional model for PR is failing, what do we do instead? Most journalists have discovered social media as an important research tool. m not saying we fire all PR people. Outreach. Gatekeeper. MORE >>