Consulting, IT Services and Other Sectors Say Content Is King in Professional Services: The Key to Effective Marketing is ``Thought Leadership,'' New Study Finds.CLEVELAND Cleveland, former county, England Cleveland, former county, NE England, created under the Local Government Act of 1972 (effective 1974). It was composed of the county boroughs of Hartlepool and Teeside and parts of the former counties of Durham and & HOPKINTON Hopkinton is the name of several towns in the United States:
tr.v. im·pressed, im·press·ing, im·press·es 1. To affect strongly, often favorably: With the Quality of the Intellectual Capital They Have to Market U.S. professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. firms said having strong intellectual capital (IC) was the most important ingredient
An ingredient is something that forms part of a mixture (in a general sense). of effective marketing - more important than having a compelling brand, capable sales force, big marketing budget or a sound marketing strategy, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a survey report published today by The Bloom bloom 1. the general appearance of the surface. In carcass meat it is the glistening, transparent effect and the gentle pink color that gives a good bloom to the carcass. It is the result of proper tissue hydration coupled with the correct proportions of fat, connective tissue and Group, a marketing consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a for professional services organizations. And the firms claiming to have the best IC were far more likely than those reporting inferior INFERIOR. One who in relation to another has less power and is below him; one who is bound to obey another. He who makes the law is the superior; he who is bound to obey it, the inferior. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 8. IC to generate substantial market awareness and leads for their services. The study, "Attaining Thought Leadership," also found that managers and senior executives at 179 professional services firms on average do not rate the content of their marketing programs to be compelling -- achieving so-called so-called adj. 1. Commonly called: "new buildings ... in so-called modern style" Graham Greene. 2. "thought leadership" quality. As a whole, survey participants rated the intellectual capital they marketed through articles, books, presentations and other channels just better than average - a 3.61 on a scale of 1-to-5 (1=not at all successful in having strong intellectual capital, to 5=highly successful). When asked to rate their IC on seven criteria criteria (krītēr´ē  ),n. on a 1-to-5 scale (novelty Novelty is the quality of being new. Although it may be said to have an objective dimension (e.g. a new style of art coming into being, such as abstract art or impressionism) it essentially exists in the subjective perceptions of individuals. , rigor rigor /rig·or/ (rig´er) [L.] chill; rigidity. rigor mor´tis the stiffening of a dead body accompanying depletion of adenosine triphosphate in the muscle fibers. , depth, proof, relevance, practicality and clarity Clarity is the property of being clear or transparent. Clarity can refer to one's ability to clearly visualize an object or concept, as in thought, understanding, and the "mind's eye", as well as the traditional notion of visual perception, that is, with the ), the average survey respondent's grades were all between 3 and 4, with the lowest marks for rigor and depth. The survey featured a wide range of types and sizes of professional services firms: consulting, IT services, law, accounting, training and development, research and others. Some 25% had annual revenues of more than $1 billion, 35% were less than $25 million, 18% had $25 million to $100 million in revenues, and 22% had revenues between $101 million and $1 billion. Other major study findings include the following: --Content counts: Professional services firms with far superior IC as the content for their marketing programs were much more likely to generate substantial market awareness and business leads than were firms with inferior IC. Some 81% of the firms with far superior IC--compared with only 10% of firms with inferior or far inferior IC--said their marketing programs were very effective or had more than average effectiveness in creating substantial market awareness and leads. --The smaller the firm, the better the ideas: A much higher percentage of the smallest firms rated their IC to be far superior than did the largest firms. Some 47% of the firms with less than $25 million in revenue said their IC was far superior, while only 25% of organizations with more than $1 billion in revenue said the same thing. These findings suggest that attaining thought leadership isn't is·n't Contraction of is not. isn't is not isn't be dependent on resources, and that superior content can be a great equalizer between small and large firms in the competition for clients. --Attaining thought leadership requires focusing more resources on developing professionals' ideas than on marketing them. The firms that said they had the best intellectual capital estimated investing about 57% of their IC development and marketing resources in developing IC and about 43% in marketing it. The firms with the worst IC did the opposite: they spent only about 41% of their resources on developing ideas and about 59% on marketing them. The firms with the best IC were much more likely to use a research consortium and internal research groups as a primary IC development technique. --Marketing a firm's IC requires educational, not promotional, methods. Survey respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. as a whole rated giving presentations at educational conferences - their own and those hosted by third parties - and articles authored by their experts as the most effective ways to market their IC. They said the least effective ways to market their IC were advertising (print, broadcast, and online), sales brochures and conference exhibition booths. --Superior though leadership is increasingly critical. More than three-quarters Noun 1. three-quarters - three of four equal parts; "three-fourths of a pound" three-fourths common fraction, simple fraction - the quotient of two integers three-quarters npl → (77%) of the firms polled said having strong intellectual capital to take to market had grown in importance over the past five years, for three reasons more than any others: increasing competition and the need for differentiation differentiation, in biology, series of changes that occur in cells and tissues during development, resulting in their specialization. This, in turn, permits a greater variety of organisms. ; past success with marketing the firm's IC; and clients' demand for professional services firms to demonstrate greater expertise before they choose a firm. The study focused on thought leadership in professional services - its value in generating market awareness and revenue, how the ideas of a firm's experts are developed and captured for marketing purposes, and how those ideas are marketed. From July July: see month. to early September September: see month. , The Bloom Group conducted an online survey that generated 179 responses from marketing executives, CEOs, managing directors, heads of practice and service lines, and other professionals. In all, about half the respondents were marketing managers and one-third were non-marketing executives. "Since professional services firms are in the business of providing expertise, it shouldn't should·n't Contraction of should not. shouldn't should not shouldn't should be surprising that they feel the key to generating marketplace interest in their services is capturing and marketing strong intellectual capital," says Bloom Group co-founder Robert Robert, Henry Martyn 1837-1923. American army engineer and parliamentary authority. He designed the defenses for Washington, D.C., during the Civil War and later wrote Robert's Rules of Order (1876). Noun 1. Buday. "This survey shows that the content of their articles, websites, newsletters and other publications, public speeches, books and other marketing activities counts more than any other factor. We are not saying that brand and image is unimportant un·im·por·tant adj. Not important; petty. un  im·por tance n. , or
that advertising, brochures and other staples staplesU-shaped stainless steel or vitallium units with sharp points used for surgical fixation. epiphyseal staples used to staple epiphysis to metaphysis; have metal bracing at the corners. of marketing should not be used in professional services. We believe they can be instrumental to creating a brand image. But the survey indicates that marketing the ideas of a professional services firm through educational, rather than promotional, marketing channels is more important." About The Bloom Group The Bloom Group LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control is a consulting and marketing firm that helps fuel the growth of professional services firms. Since 1998, the firm has helped dozens of professional services firms (including consulting, IT services, education and research) significantly increase market awareness and demand for their services. For more information, see www.bloomgroup.com. Exhibits
Exhibit 1: Key Factors in Creating Effective
Professional Services Marketing
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1 Strong intellectual capital for the content of marketing
programs (4.40)
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2 Referenceable client work (4.29)
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3 Strong sales/business development capabilities (4.15)
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4 Sound marketing strategy (4.02)
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5 Strong brand and image (3.99)
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6 Firm focus: ability to channel and prioritize marketing
investments to support fewer ideas/services rather than more
(3.94)
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7 Sufficient financial resources (3.83)
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8 Marketing staff with professional services backgrounds (3.75)
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8 Recognized experts on staff: professionals already recognized
by the marketplace for their expertise (3.75)
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Scale of 1=not at all important to 5= of highest importance
Source: Bloom Group Research Report
Attaining Thought Leadership
Survey of 179 U.S. professional services firms
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Exhibit 2: Most Effective Methods for
Developing and Capturing
a Professional Services Firm's Intellectual Capital*
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1 Research groups: studies that PS firms conduct and fund
internally (3.69)
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2 Marketing's initiative: Marketing group in the firm helps
professionals develop and capture their ideas (3.48)
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3 Professionals' initiative: Firm experts develop and capture
their own ideas (3.47)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Outsourced model: Use of academics, research houses or other
third-parties to develop IC (3.09)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Research consortium: Firm conducts studies funded by its
clients and other companies (2.91)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* Effectiveness defined as "the ability to create content that
generates strong market awareness and business leads."
Rating of effectiveness on scale of 1= very ineffective to 5= very
effective
Source: Bloom Group Research Report
Attaining Thought Leadership
Survey of 179 U.S. professional services firms
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Exhibit 3: Most Effective Methods
for Marketing a Professional Services Firm's
Intellectual Capital*
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Seminars and other in-person marketing events conducted by the
professional services firm (3.93)
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2 Conference presentations at third-party events (3.52)
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3 Firm-bylined articles in third-party journals (3.41)
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4 Email newsletters (3.39)
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5 Articles posted on PS firms' websites (3.38)
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6 PR pitches to journalists (3.34)
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7 Articles in PS firms' print publications (3.32)
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8 Webinars (3.31)
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9 Books (3.14)
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10 Telemarketing (3.06)
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11 Sales brochures (2.87)
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12 Conference exhibition booths (2.72)
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13 Advertising (2.49)
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* Effectiveness defined as "their ability to generate significant
market awareness of your intellectual capital and business leads for
your services"
Rating of effectiveness on scale of 1= very ineffective to 5= very
effective
Source: Bloom Group Research Report
Attaining Thought Leadership
Survey of 179 U.S. professional services firms
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