Executive Branding For Teams

Ad views are down. Internet noise is up. How can a company cut through the clutter and be heard?

Prospective customers and employees may not pay attention to ads or company messaging any more, but they do listen to trusted friends and online influencers. An advanced marketing strategy today is turning your expert employees into influencers to connect to your important audiences.

Influencer marketing is hot – and with good reason. Nielsen reports that 97 percent of their respondents trust content shared by friends over company advertising. If nobody is responding to your ads, maybe its time to see if people will respond to people. Your people.

We’ve developed a proven, scalable corporate training program to move employees beyond mere company advocacy to true thought leadership. Our process has been battle-tested at small agencies and Fortuen 100 companies and we’re ready for your executive team to soar.

Our program is hands-on and we’ll be connected to you for every step of your success. Programs are generally a blend of group training, individual coaching, and administrative support to build your audience and promote your content.

Turn your executives into industry-leading authorities with the company that literally wrote the book on personal branding.
Contact Mark Schaefer today for a discussion on a tailored program that will work best for your company.

BUSINESS PURPOSE

Today, it is increasingly difficult to rise above the noise and gain attention for our company with customers, prospects, and top employment prospects …

  • Newspaper advertising has shriveled to a fraction of its peak.
  • Advertising reach at local radio and television channels is in a freefall.
  • More than a third of Americans use ad blockers, killing the effectiveness of advertising in many online channels.
  • The amount of competitive content on the web is exploding, making it difficult to get messages through.
  • Distrust of companies and advertising is at an all-time high. People will believe a review from a stranger before they would trust an ad from a company.

But there is one positive on the media landscape. “User generated content” –- content created by real people instead of institutions — has emerged as the most trusted source of information on the web. Research shows content exchanged between friends is even more trusted even than network news programs. People will avoid ads and marketing, but they will seek out their friends and industry experts for advice. Leveraging this trend is called “influence marketing.”

A growing strategy is leveraging the passion and expertise of internal company executives to help them build significant and effective personal online “brands.” This cumulative corporate presence will create a glow of authority, integrity, and trust for Jackson Healthcare in a media environment plagued by hype and fake news.

Executives with a profound internet presence will be “known” above other executives at competing companies, opening doors for more opportunities and the spread of positive content about Jackson Healthcare. A company who has employees who are “known” will get more returned calls, more qualified employment applications, and a higher level of industry press coverage.

This project will build, sustain, and amplify executive personal brands at Jackson Healthcare as an advanced marketing strategy.

THE TRAINING PROGRAM

Mark Schaefer is a globally-recognized marketing expert. He wrote the first book on influence marketing (“Return On Influence”) and has developed a proven process for personal brand-building which is described in his book “KNOWN: Building and Unleashing Your Personal Brand in the Digital Age.” This book is based on more than a year of research and interviews with nearly 100 people recognized as thought leaders in their industry.

Schaefer discovered that every person who has become known in their field today followed the same four steps:

  • Focus on a “sustainable interest” – what you want to be known for
  • Discover an unsaturated place on the web to tell your story
  • Create content to fill that space and drive your recognition
  • Systematically build a relevant and actionable audience

The training program will involve four one-hour modules dedicated to these subjects, followed by a light “homework” assignment after each module, and a personal coaching session with Mark Schaefer.

A representative schedule would be:
Week 1: Training module 1: Your sustainable interest (one hour)
Week 2: Coaching session with Mark (30 minutes)
Week 3: Training module 2: Discovering an unsaturated niche (one hour)
Week 4: Coaching session with Mark (30 minutes)
Week 5: Training module 3: Content (one hour)
Week 6: Personal content review with Mark Schaefer (30 minutes)
Week 7: Training module 4: Building an actionable audience (one hour)
Week 8: Coaching session on content and audience as needed

By the end of this period, the executive will have their own personal, branded website, a content plan, and their first published and promoted content.

THE SUPPORT SYSTEM

We recognize that busy executives need to stay focused on their daily activities. Beyond the training, ongoing administrative support includes:

  • Content editing
  • Personal coaching as needed
  • Social media management on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms
  • Audience building
  • Content distribution and promotion
  • Influencer outreach as appropriate
  • Proactive work to use content in industry journals and other relevant publications

By taking care of these administrative details, the executive is free to focus on their career and the core content behind the personal branding initiative.

DELIVERABLES

We provide a monthly dashboard that traces qualitative and quantitative measures related to a successful personal brand. Upon completing the program and entering the into the support phase, executives will be able to see an immediate improvement in awareness of their brand as expressed by:

  • Social media following
  • Social media mentions and content shares
  • Subscriptions to personal content pages

Longer term (after a year or more) deliverables might include:

  • Publication in relevant industry journals
  • Speaking invitations
  • Opportunities for external content contributions for industry sites
  • Requests for media interviews
  • Requests to participate in industry leadership events and organizations

Being known and building an audience may eventually set the stage for:

  • A book deal
  • Opportunities to speak at high level events
  • Opportunities to represent the company at prestigious industry events
  • Increases in sales leads and sales

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