Marketing leaders can no longer afford to be one-dimensional. Digital marketing continues to evolve and thought leaders are aligning with the shifting tides. Digital marketing now encompasses marketing, public relations, SEO, business development, sales and more. This makes integrating an interdisciplinary thought leadership approach to digital marketing absolutely vital to your growth and success.
In my career thus far, from being on television to working with corporate clients and the startup world, I’ve learned that you must blend your personal brand alongside your business. Your personal goals and ideals must align with your company vision and mission statement. By taking advantage of digital marketing, you can help spread both visions as one cohesive message.
How do you use digital marketing to master the art of interdisciplinary thought leadership? The following can help you lay the foundation from which to build greatness.
Build a network of multitalented people in multiple industries.
Being a thought leader in the new era of digital marketing means having a strong network of people in your industry, or other industries you can access. For instance, you may need a bit of help integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into your digital marketing strategy. It just so happens you made a connection with someone in that field.
A strong network allows you to move laterally across industries, accomplish your goals and have success. Your network may also tap into your knowledge at times, leading to new business dealings, contracts and deeper connections.
Destroy the organizational walls that physically and metaphorically separate different digital marketing practices.
There are a lot of walls in place that can break down digital marketing communication. Many of these walls are traditional and really serve little purpose when it comes to interdisciplinary thought leadership.
Interestingly, I’ve seen that many successful entrepreneurs and business owners have destroyed these traditional organizational walls. For instance, they urge daily communication between marketers, the PR team, social media managers, business development/sales teams and SEO expert.
This creates a perfect storm that impacts efficiency, productivity and time to market. Here are a few quick interdisciplinary thought leadership tactics you can employ to do this:
• Implement group chats in which all team members can communicate, share feedback, brainstorm and more. Slack groups or even WhatsApp chat groups can serve as assets.
• Bring in SEO experts to add value to content, since they have keyword data and know how users interact with the business website.
• Hold weekly meetings that bring together PR, marketing and sales teams to find out what deals are being closed and what are the next targets in order to develop content for maximum results.
• Bring your PR and marketing team into the mix before client meetings and trade show events to assist in brand messaging and value proposition development.
• Let SEO experts create a backlink strategy that maximizes CTR via press releases, social media posts and paid advertisements.
These are just a few ways to break down the organizational walls and get everyone involved. This can have a significant positive impact on nearly every facet of your business.
Be a creative thought leader to manage a creative team.
Mastering the art of interdisciplinary thought leadership via digital marketing makes being more creative an absolute must. Leaders in digital marketing now need to utilize both sides of the brain to be relevant and successful. And this goes for every industry.
Becoming a creative allows you to connect and manage other creative people more effectively. This is important because by becoming part of the creative process, you ensure the marketing message is 100% aligned with the goal, whether it be to increase social media visibility or generate more quality leads.
Creative digital marketing thought leaders also have their finger on the pulse of innovation and up-and-coming technology. This is important, of course, since innovative changes are happening at a record pace. If you know what’s to come, you can plan and implement strategies ahead of competitors.
Make following digital marketing trends a number-one priority.
It is vital to have your finger on the pulse of innovation in your industry or the industries of your clients. However, don’t forget to follow the trends in digital marketing, too.
Remember, digital marketing now encompasses direct and web marketing, SEO, public relations, business development, sales and more. That may seem like a lot to stay up to date on, but if you truly want to master the art of interdisciplinary thought leadership, it’s a must.
Thought leaders, especially those in digital marketing, need to have knowledge in all areas. From AI in marketing to upcoming Google algorithms, you need to stay current.
Are you a thought leader of the future?
As digital marketing becomes more interdisciplinary, so should your knowledge. This can serve you well in multiple situations. The new era of digital marketing thought leaders can meet nearly any client need, be published across multiple online platforms in a variety of industries and have the ability to network in just about any situation.
Become a marketing thought leader of the future. You may be pleasantly surprised at the doors it opens.