Thought leadership in vet med: Leading the way to better marketing ROI

Jeanette (a fictitious pet owner) was new in town. She’d moved for a job, and her cat, Simon, had not fared well in the move. Jeanette wasn’t quite sure what was wrong with Simon, so she did what most people do—she went online to find a veterinarian, preferably one that was nearby.

Jeanette’s research revealed two options. But when she compared the two practices, Jeanette didn’t have a good sense of which practice was better, and the few online reviews she found didn’t help much. Oh well, she thought, I’ll just have to try one.

What can your practice learn about attracting new clients from Jeanette’s situation?

The hit-or-miss approach that Jeanette took was a marketing opportunity missed. Indeed, the reality is that potential clients like Jeanette—and future employees—do their own form of due diligence before deciding to engage with your practice, and consuming online content is how they do it.

Online content consumption has grown consistently over the past several years and will likely continue to do so. On average, American consumers spend about eight hours of every day consuming online content, according to Statista.

Given that statistic, how does a practice create content that not only rises above the noise, but also builds trust and creates an on-ramp before the prospective client or employee walks in the door?

The answer is not increasing your advertising or racking up social media likes. It is using the playbook from leading-edge companies to create thought leadership (TL) content. And there’s quantifiable research that shows its value.

What’s the return on investment of thought leadership?

IBM’s Institute for Business Value Chief Marketing Officer Cindy Anderson and Senior Research Director Anthony Marshall conducted a survey of over 4,000 executives to understand the influence TL content had on those executives’ purchases.

What they discovered is that leading companies such as McKinsey & Co., Accenture, and IBM invested resources to produce TL content for a reason. Not only were they held in higher regard and became “trusted advisors” with their audiences (who consume TL content two hours a week). These companies also saw that trust monetized in a return on their investment (ROI). In fact, the ROI was 16 times higher than a typical marketing campaign, the authors noted in The ROI of Thought Leadership: Calculating the Value that Sets Organizations Apart.

What is thought leadership?

Thought leadership content is serious content. It doesn’t share news about an award your practice receives, or a new product or service you’re offering. While that type of content is valuable, it isn’t TL content. And although your practice may want to share where you stand when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, that, too, isn’t TL content.

What TL content is, in fact, is what IBM’s Anderson and Marshall have labeled the eighth “P” of the marketing mix, Platform (along with such well-knowns as Price, Product, and Promotion). Platform is the stage your practice stands on. It tells the reader, given your experience and technical expertise, that you know what you are talking about.

TL content identifies a problem or challenge, often revealed through research studies. It then goes deeper, analyzing that research to offer insights about why, for instance, more patients are overweight. TL content then makes predictions and offers “what if…” solutions to the problem. And while TL content is not direct sales, it does outline a solution which, coincidentally, the TL producer offers.

The thought leader recipe in action

What do a graphic designer, a computer securities expert and a veterinary practice owner have in common? They are small businesses. They have expert knowledge—a platform—in their industry. They “see” where their industry might be going. And they have created an innovative approach, product, or process to solve the problem and act as an on-ramp to their products and/or services.

That’s what graphic designer Nancy Duarte did, noted corporate writer Grant Butler in Think, Write, Grow: How to Become a Thought Leader. Duarte had a unique approach to creating client presentations and she shared that approach—and the research that supported it—in books and presentations.

Computer securities expert Bruce Schneier used a similar TL recipe, noted Butler. Schneier’s technical expertise outlined the problem with computer security, often in humorous ways. He then introduced his innovative cryptographic algorithm to solve the problem, and shared that in content and presentations.

In the veterinary medicine industry, the late Sophia Yin, DVM, outlined the stresses patients have when visiting a clinic and developed a “Low-Stress Handling” methodology for resolving it. She then shared her views via online content, books, and media. Andy Roark, DVM, offers his humor and “personal wellbeing” slant to position himself as an authority and then shares that authority through his talks, books and content.

What these thought leaders show is that with the recipe, skills and vision, you or your staff can also create TL content.

How to create thought leadership content: Tips and first steps

Thought leaders are often hidden in plain sight. Yes, they are practice owners. But they can also be practice managers or veterinary technicians or other staff members. They have technical expertise as well as research and analysis skills. They know how to dig below the surface of a problem to identify its root cause, and have ideas on how to solve the problem. Granted, speaking and/or writing skills are necessary but those skills can be learned.

Step 1: identify a thought leader in your practice

Once you’ve identified a thought leader in your practice, set aside resources to take the first step to develop TL content. Research a problem you see, relying on industry experts and research studies, and come to some conclusions and solutions.

Step two: Decide where to share thought leadership insights

Then, identify how you’ll share your findings and conclusions, be it in the form of a blog or a short article on LinkedIn. (LinkedIn is more conducive to longer form articles, note Anderson and Marshall.)

Step three: Build your platform

Finally, practice makes perfect when it comes to TL content. Repeatedly produce TL content to build, over time, the trust and authority that potential clients like Jeanette, and future employees, will come to rely on.

Photo credit: © Olena Koliesnik + via iStock/Getty Images Plus

Disclaimer: Trends content is meant to inform, educate, and inspire by providing an array of diverse viewpoints. Any content published should not be viewed as an official stance, position, or endorsement by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) or its Board of Directors.