Melonie Dodaro's July 10th, 2015 presentation at The Big Social Media Conference in Manchester, UK. In this presentation, Melonie Dodaro will show you how to establish thought leadership and effectively share relevant content, ­ both original and curated. In this session you'll learn how to: • Get more engagement on your status updates • Post to LinkedIn groups in a way that the group manager allows • Use content as a keep in touch strategy with hot prospects • Position yourself as an authority on your topic

1. July 10th

3. • Had every location organization contact me to
speak (Chamber, Women in Business,
Entrepreneurial Society etc.)
• Media coverage (local newspaper)
• Asked to be a guest blogger on a reputable social
media site
• Asked to do a half day workshop for a local
organization

4. Thought leadership is establishing a
relationship with and delivering something
of value to your customers.
In the process you go well beyond merely
selling a product or service and establish
yourself as an expert in your field.
This is the key to differentiating yourself
from your competitors.

5. • More than half of marketers who have been using social
media for two or more years have been able to establish
thought leadership.
• Most marketers gained thought leadership with at least 6
hours per week.
• B2B marketers were more likely to use social media to gain
thought leadership than B2C marketers.
SOURCE: 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Social Media Examiner

6. Help Your Prospects!

7. Content Marketing
Content marketing is creating and distributing
relevant and valuable content to attract,
acquire, and engage a clearly defined target
audience – with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.
“B2B companies that blog generate 67% more
leads per month than those who do not blog”
(Source: Hubspot)

8. Forrester found that 74% of business buyers
surveyed said they conduct more than half of
their research online before making an offline
purchase.
Buyers might be anywhere from two-thirds to
90% of the way through their buying journey
before they reach out to the vendor.

9. • Podcasts • Graphics
• Special Reports
• Checklists
• Infographics
• Blog posts
• eBooks
• Videos
• Whitepapers
• Case Studies

11. Original Content You Create
Content You have
Curated From Others

12. • 82% of consumers feel MORE positive about a
company after reading custom content, and
90% find custom content useful. In fact 60% of
people are inspired to seek out a product after
reading content about it. (Source: Demand Metric)
• 61% of consumers say they feel better about
and are more likely to buy from a company
that delivers custom content (Source: The Content Council)

15. 36 percent of B2B companies with a
documented content marketing strategy
considered themselves very effective, three
times more than those without a documented
strategy.
(Source: LinkedIn Technology Marketing Community)

18. • To stay top of mind
• Provide value to
your target audience
• Create the
opportunity for
engagement and
conversations with
your target audience

19. by Quick Sprout, LLC

20. • Ask a question
• Tell them why they
should read it
• Use photo posts that
include a link
• Keep it short (1-2
sentences)
• Tag your connections
(only when appropriate)

23. • Provide a brief
description of what’s
in the article
• Create a discussion around your content
by asking a question
• Encourage them
to share feedback
in comments

24. Companies often talk about ‘joining the
conversation’ and ‘establishing thought
leadership.’ By participating in discussions
taking place in established LinkedIn Groups,
you can join the conversation and establish
thought leadership for your company.
Source: The Sophisticated Marketer's Guide to
LinkedIn, Jason Miller, LinkedIn Corporation ©
2015

34. Share Status Update
Sent Message To New
Connections
Post & Participate In
LinkedIn Groups

38. “Experts are always in demand...creating great content is the fastest and
easiest way to position yourself as a expert.”
~Melonie Dodaro