Thought Leadership and Credibility Content in Healthcare B2B

Content marketing and thought leadership are popular topics that have come up frequently in conversations lately. Savvy healthcare companies and business professionals are eager to demonstrate subject matter expertise in their fields as a means to strengthen their corporate or personal brands, and they’re wise to do so.

A 2014 Kentico Digital Experience Survey found that 74% of the general public trusts content from businesses that aim to educate readers about a particular topic.

As businesses map out 2015 content marketing and go-to-market strategies with a re-ignited emphasis on buyer education, a focus on credibility content has emerged as a vehicle to demonstrate thought leadership (which Forbes contributor Glenn Llopis recently dubbed the “New Strategy for Corporate Growth”) and attract knowledge-hungry buyers.

Porter Research has seen growth in the number of organizations interested in market research programs not only aimed at influencing internal product planning and development, but also as a foundation for building credible content that infuses new and meaningful insight into the thought leadership dialogue in the industry. By measuring market perceptions, adoption trends, and pain points that both they and their target-markets care about, many HIT companies have effectively used research findings to engage and establish credibility with buyers.

Sharing credible content through the right channels can carry equal weight in establishing brand reputability. It’s one thing for you to talk about your findings. It’s a whole new level when other trusted sources join that conversation. Some of the most successful client research programs have garnered coverage from the likes of The Wall Street Journal and CIO.com, which amplified the credibility of the content and helped solidify those brand as informed businesses worth paying attention to.

Our friends at Dodge Communications will be hosting a webinar panel discussion on Tuesday, Feb. 10th that will touch on the ways effective content distribution can support thought leadership and brand awareness.

Whether you’re sharing someone else’s content or promoting your own, the credibility of what’s being shared plays a major role in influencing buyer perception of your corporate or personal brand, and I can’t think of anywhere that credibility matters more than in the field of healthcare.

As the only conference dedicated solely to healthcare branding, the second annual Healthcare IT Marketing and PR Conference (taking place in Las Vegas May 7-9) will undoubtedly showcase lots of new, innovative approaches to building brand credibility through marketing. Hopefully I’ll see a few of you there.

If you’ve got a great research idea or content to share in the meantime, let’s connect!