Unlock Thought Leadership Success with This Key Narrative Shift

Sara Payne [00:00:10]:

Welcome back to the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence. I'm your host, Sarah Payne, and I'm bringing you fascinating conversations with some of the industry's top marketing minds. If you work in health marketing, you know how crowded and noisy this space can be. So here's a question. What makes certain brands stand out while others struggle to get noticed? It's not just their products. It's not just their innovation. It's their narrative. Today, we're talking about how to build a strong thought leadership narrative and how to overcome the biggest challenges that get in the way.

Sara Payne [00:00:49]:

Joining me is Hilary Mayer, director of client strategy and growth at Inprela. She's worked with some of the biggest names in health care to build thought leadership platforms that actually make an impact. Welcome to the show, Hilary.

Hilary Mayer [00:01:01]:

Thanks for having me. Happy to be here. Yeah.

Sara Payne [00:01:04]:

Thrilled to have you. You've got a lot of great expertise to share today. So let's jump right in. What's one thing that brands commonly get wrong about thought leadership?

Hilary Mayer [00:01:16]:

You know, they really understand the importance of thought leadership and building brand awareness and trust. What they often think of thought leadership as a set of channels and activities and just creating brand awareness and going through the motions and creating content and overlook aligning on a strategic message to anchor to and tie everything together. And often, they're not seeing the results. They're going through the activities and spending time and money on all of this brand awareness and not seeing it result in meaningful opportunities. And I think it's because it's missing that critical strategic anchor of the compelling, cohesive, differentiated narrative, that you talked about.

Sara Payne [00:02:11]:

Yeah. That was so brilliantly stated. I love the way you're thinking and talking about this in terms of a strategic message to anchor to. And so I can't tell you how many times I have asked companies for their thought leadership narrative, and they don't have one. And I think that this is very it's a very common gap for many brands, and I wonder really why is that. And I think that it's just not textbook classic marketing to build a thought leadership narrative, you know, in the same way that it is to say, get your mission mission, vision, core values documented, to get your brand positioning, your differentiators, your proof points documented. And then we also have product level messaging that gets segmented by audiences. That's also, you know, something every brand has in place.

Sara Payne [00:03:03]:

But there is this missing piece that is, called thought thought leadership narrative. And and what's your take, Hilary, on why it is that that's missing for many brands today?

Hilary Mayer [00:03:15]:

Yeah. I think I think it's just what you said. They think they have it in their brand level framework, or in their product messaging. But often we find that these are very inward focused, and focused on the company and how awesome they are and their mission, their features and benefits, their achievements. And there's a time and a place for that messaging and setting the the vision and the getting people rallied around what you're doing as a company internally. And then for product messaging, definitely, you know, within the the sales cycle and understanding the features and benefits. But, when you're trying to build brand awareness and trust and breakthrough the noise and the clutter to a new audience, it can't be about you, and and it has to be about the audience and their pain points and providing value.

Sara Payne [00:04:15]:

Yeah. That's such a great point. And I think it's often common that when they don't have a clear thought leadership platform or narrative in place, a couple of things tend to happen. One, they try to build it on the fly, and it's, you know, it's in someone's head. Right? It hasn't been documented, but it's in someone's head. And so they, you know, get an opportunity to be on a stage or to be in an interview, and they kind of just do do it on the fly. And the problem with that is it leads to inconsistent messaging. And then as a result of that, I think there's diluted effectiveness.

Sara Payne [00:04:54]:

And then the marketing team is potentially scrambling to figure out what is happening in the executives had it at at that moment on that day rather than being focused on executing a consistent, steady drumbeat, which is the kind of drumbeat that you need to build that credibility over time. So I think that's that's one thing that, tends to happen. And the other thing, which you you touched on, is that people tend to talk about themselves too much. Right? So it's really common because what what is the thing most of us know best? Right? It's it's our company. It's our product. And you get that opportunity to stand on the stage and you start talking about your product. You start doing the sell. Well, the problem is that's not the right stage for that.

Sara Payne [00:05:46]:

Right? You have to be able to take off that company sales product hat and put on the thought leadership hat so that you can be credible on that stage and be invited back the next time. Right. So let's talk about, the payoff for, building a thought leadership narrative. What are your thoughts on that?

Hilary Mayer [00:06:12]:

Yeah. It's really about breaking through in this increasingly noisy, oversaturated media market that we're in and having a unique, bold, and point of view on industry issues and challenges that audiences are facing and differentiated messaging from the competition. So, it's about speaking to the pain points to break through and really resonate with audiences, and then it's also resonating with the industry and what the industry's seeing and the bigger conversation happening. So you just see better results with more media opportunities. You get those opportunities to be on stage at the big conferences because what you're seeing actually matters and is adding value to the conversation.

Sara Payne [00:07:03]:

Yeah. That yes. You're so right about that. Visibility is a huge piece of it. The right narrative is gonna get you noticed by the media, by conference organizers, but also by decision makers who are buying your products. Right? So this isn't just about visibility and awareness. It's also about adding value. When you focus on your target audience's needs, then you're going to attract their attention because they're thinking to themselves, oh, you you get me.

Sara Payne [00:07:35]:

You understand me. You know how to solve my problem. And that's what makes you and your content something that they want to to engage in. The other, reason to do this, and we sort of touched on when you don't have it, the problems that can arise around that. But when you do have it, there is this value in internal alignment. When everyone on the team really understands the bigger story you're telling, and then it leads to that, showing it more consistently in the market. Do you see the shift in in internal alignment as being a a big factor here in the value behind developing a thought leadership narrative?

Hilary Mayer [00:08:18]:

Yeah. Definitely. It gives all teams, customer facing teams, in addition to marketing, that messaging to anchor to. So you know everyone knows, k. This is where we stand on these industry issues, and this is how we speak to them. These are the key messages. And then, like you said, you show up consistently, and that's how trust compounds with your audiences. When you're saying the same thing across all marketing channels, earned, owned, paid, social, but every touch point from, you know, brand awareness to a sales meeting, people start to believe you have the answers and solutions to their problems.

Sara Payne [00:09:01]:

Yes. And I'm so glad that you brought up trust because this isn't just Hilary and Sarah saying this. This has actually been studied. Edelman's done a lot of work around this, and their research shows that trust in brands is heavily influenced by how much value the brands provide to their audience. So the more value you provide as a brand, the more trusted you are as a brand. So that strong thought leadership narrative really enhances your overall reputation, builds trust, and differentiate differentiates you in a credit credit space. Yes. For sure.

Sara Payne [00:09:40]:

And we know, of course, the conversation is always gonna go to ROI. We know marketing executives are are always gonna be asked what's the ROI. And, Hilary, how do you think about tying thought leadership back to tangible business outcomes? How should CMOs be thinking about the impact on on growth, in that sense?

Hilary Mayer [00:10:04]:

Yeah. I think it's, you know, it's a long term play. It's not gonna happen overnight. It's not, a lead capture play. It's it's more about creating future demand and breaking through to new audiences. So it's really about thinking about this longer term and kind of and you'll see it through indicators, the short term indicators, and you're reaching more people. You're getting more podiums and speaking engagements, and media is inviting you in, and you're building more relationships. Partners and bigger brands want to speak with you and partner with you.

Hilary Mayer [00:10:48]:

So you'll see it in those leading indicators. And then longer term, you'll start to see it creating that future demand and building trust with future buyers who will think of you top of mind when it they actually do have a need and and need to learn more about your products. But it's that product messaging isn't gonna resonate with people who aren't looking for it right now. Yes. I'm I'm so glad that you that you made that point. Let's let's get practical here. Let's talk about how you actually build a thought leadership narrative. Where do you think that brands should start in this exercise, Hilary? Yeah.

Hilary Mayer [00:11:29]:

It starts with your customers, understanding the audience, their pain points, doing voice of customer research if you are lucky enough to have access to customers, but, you know, that's sometimes harder for marketers. So even just talking with customer facing SMEs and and learning about what are the biggest challenges customers are facing today. What keeps them up at night? What are their biggest pain points? And then you have to look at the broader industry and the conversations happening. What's trending in the media that your customers are reading? What what are your competitors saying, and what topics are resonating? And what's you know, where's the white space? What aren't people talking about that would really add value? And then at the end of the day, it should really, you know, sit at the intersection of three things, and that's the the biggest problem you can uniquely solve as a brand and the pain points of your target audience, target customer, buyer, and then the broader industry conversations.

Sara Payne [00:12:37]:

I love that. I love thinking about it as a framework of those three things, and I think everything you set up to there is was a nice sort of precursor to that. You absolutely have to understand your customers super, super well, audience super well, and what their pain points are, and then get really clear on on the problem that you solve for them. So question for you, Hilary, because I think some some people may be thinking, what does this actually look like in practice. Right? Like, we know what a brand framework looks like. So what does the thought leadership narrative look like? Because, again, for many brands, it's not documented. It's in their head. And so in your, in your view and and from a effectiveness standpoint, is this, like, a static document that we we build it once and and and here it is and and and this is it? Or is this something that is a high level framework that continues to evolve over time?

Hilary Mayer [00:13:40]:

Yeah. I it definitely needs to evolve, with, you know, your customers and where they're at and then the industry conversation and what's happening there. And it needs to be living and breathing and updated continuously. So, you know, you're constantly testing new messaging and in the market, but, you know, there's there's a few core elements. Like, this this will look different depending on the brand and the messaging gaps within the current messaging framework and can take on different formats and flavors, but it should always have, you know, a clear problem solution, narrative. So, again, what's the big problem in your industry, and what's your unique bold point of view on how to solve it beyond just products, features, and benefits, and then, definitely proof points and examples that ladder up to that to bring the story to life and provide reasons to believe. This could include customer stories, testimonials, industry data and trends, and then always a focus on value again. So it should answer, like, why does this matter to our audience?

Sara Payne [00:14:56]:

Absolutely. Yeah. At its core, as we've said, it it it should introduce the key problem and your perspective on how to solve it. And that that high level problem solution framework needs to be clear, consistent, and repeatable in a way that it it's think of it as something that you should be able to introduce in almost any conversation. Right? Any relevant industry conversation, no matter what stage you're standing on, you should be able to lead with that, hey. There's this big problem that our industry is facing that hasn't yet been solved. But but here's the key. It has to also be flexible enough to be able to pivot to what's toward what's hot in the moment.

Sara Payne [00:15:48]:

What's newsworthy, what might be resonating the most. And you're not changing your stance, right, on what the problem or the core issue is. You're really adapting your your entry point and how you're going to be talking about that problem in the context of what happens to be super relevant, hot or timely or or fresh in that moment. So, I think to me, that's the difference between a brand that feels relevant and timely versus one that feels a little bit more sort of out of sync or sort of stuck in stuck in its ways maybe is a is a better way to to say that. And I think it's important for brands to really strike that balance between between that consistency and that adaptability. For sure. So let's talk about some of the challenges, common obstacles that brands might run into when trying to build a thought leadership narrative.

Hilary Mayer [00:16:47]:

Yeah. I think, one of the biggest challenges we see with clients is, you know, trying to fit all of their solutions, and represent the full breadth of what they do and, you know, maybe some key opinions too, like some louder voices in the the company. But it's it's tempting to try and fit it all in, but it can really dilute the messaging. So, we really need to focus in on what's, you know, what's gonna resonate with the audience and also, the industry.

Sara Payne [00:17:25]:

Yeah. I I agree with that. I think we it's it's very common, especially for pretty large enterprise organizations to want it's tempting to wanna represent the full breadth of everything they do, and I get it. Right? Because the marketing budget does need to support the full breadth of offering, but it becomes problematic because it gets too high level that we're talking about a a a really high level abstract problem or and then the it's not specific enough. And so think of it in terms of a specific problem or a specific set of problems, And it is okay. It is 100% absolutely okay, and you're going to see more success within your thought leadership as a result to pick two or three of those problem areas that you want to focus on for a period of time. Right? Because it's it's supportive of where the business is seeing the most growth from right now or because it is an alignment with where there's a particularly hot topic in the industry, and there's this moment in time where as a brand we should lean in, and participate in that conversation. So pick those priorities, those two to three problems that you're gonna be out there focusing on in your thought leadership for, say, six month period of time.

Sara Payne [00:18:44]:

And then after six months, come up for air and say, hey. How did that go? What did we learn? What can we take forward? Are there some of these how are we gonna be able to keep this fresh now as we pivot, you know, to the back half of the year? Is there something new we can bring to the mix, or is it time to swap some of these topics out for maybe support of another part of the business with, you know, another layer of that specific problem that you solve with a slightly different wrapper to it that happens to support this other product offering over here. Any thoughts around that, Hilary?

Hilary Mayer [00:19:22]:

Yeah. It it just brought me back to what we were talking about earlier in, like, this needs to be living and breathing, which also differentiates it from your brand framework. Like, that shouldn't change, you know, that frequently. Your mission, vision, values, like Yeah. That's that's your foundation, but this narrative needs to change with your business objectives and your sales and marketing objectives, and and that's it needs to flex and be adaptable. So, yeah, that was my thought there. And then, also, it brought up another challenge of when you were talking about it needs to be specific. It can't be generic, you know, and use cliches and just be you know, we're redefining care delivery.

Hilary Mayer [00:20:14]:

You need to show how you're doing it and provide specific examples and proof points and bring something new to the conversation.

Sara Payne [00:20:23]:

Yes. Yes. I'm so glad that that you mentioned that because that's so critically important, to being relevant as a brand is to say something different and new than what everyone else is is already saying. Okay. So let's talk about, to wrap up the conversation and and kinda put a nice bow on all of this, let's let's leave everybody with some quick takeaways. I will say a phrase, and, I'd like for just a one line answer, kind of a a quick fire format. Are you ready?

Hilary Mayer [00:20:55]:

Yes. Okay. So what

Sara Payne [00:20:56]:

is the biggest mistake brands make in thought leadership?

Hilary Mayer [00:21:00]:

Talking about themselves instead of industry problems.

Sara Payne [00:21:04]:

Love it. What is the first step in building a thought leadership narrative?

Hilary Mayer [00:21:08]:

Talk to customers. Find out what keeps them up at night.

Sara Payne [00:21:12]:

How do you avoid sounding like a sales pitch?

Hilary Mayer [00:21:15]:

Don't lead with the product. Lead with trends, insights, value.

Sara Payne [00:21:20]:

Yes. Okay. Last, what's one thing brands should start doing today if they don't have a thought leadership narrative?

Hilary Mayer [00:21:31]:

I think just identify one big conversation in the market that you wanna own and can own and be the authority on. Great advice.

Sara Payne [00:21:41]:

Love that. Yeah. And I would just say, folks listening, if you don't have a thought leadership narrative yet, now is the time to start. Start small. As Hilary said, talk to your customers. Identify the big industry questions no one is answering, and really build from there. Thought leadership isn't about being the loudest voice in the room. It's about being the most valuable voice in the room, and, I would encourage you to to get started in that today.

Sara Payne [00:22:07]:

Well, Hilary, thanks so much for joining me today in this conversation. I really appreciate it.

Hilary Mayer [00:22:12]:

Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Sara Payne [00:22:14]:

Absolutely. Well, that's it for today's episode of the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets excellence because the future of health depends on it. We'll see you next time.