Whereas in the past, banks could get away with operating behind closed doors, in the modern day, customers, investors, and potential employees demand both transparency and guidance on prominent issues like inflation and even the transition to a cashless society.
Without having an active voice, banks risk losing stakeholder trust, becoming less profitable, and ultimately falling behind their competitors. This is especially true as they face the growing threat of fintech as technology evolves and consumer habits change.
As a result, banks are now investing more of their time and money in thought leadership to enhance their credibility and visibility. On social media and in trade publications, executives are everywhere representing their banks online.
Yet, not all banking thought leadership campaigns are successful. Many are led by innately prepared executives who fail to grasp how thought leadership differs from marketing. Their efforts often fall on deaf ears, and their content does little to spotlight their bank beneficially.
In this article, we explain why many banking thought leadership campaigns fail and outline five key questions executives should always ask themselves to maximise their chances of success.
What is thought leadership?
Most importantly, banking executives need to know what thought leadership is and how it works. Unlike marketing, thought leadership doesn’t exist to promote a product or service but to showcase the expertise of an executive and the business they represent.
Though thought leadership can hint at the services a bank provides, the language used and intent of a campaign should never be used as a tool for self-promotion.
Instead, thought leadership should offer timely and provocative insights and opinions to educate stakeholders or prompt a debate to increase audience engagement, such as by making a prediction, sharing a hot-take, or explaining an industry change to mark their stamp as a leading voice.
How will I reach audiences?
Experts say that multiple platforms should be adopted to communicate a banking thought leadership campaign, including multimedia, social media, online blogs, earned media coverage, and events to improve the reach and impact of a campaign.
However, depending on the target audience, the platforms an executive adopts may vary. For instance, when speaking about a recession, a banking executive might pitch their ideas to a broadcast producer since it’s a wide-interest issue, while more niche mortgage advice targeted to middle-aged customers might be better shared across a bank’s social media.
Over time, as thought leaders produce more and more content across various platforms, different audiences will know where to find them, their online profiles will improve, and the effectiveness of their thought leadership campaigns will snowball.
What unique perspectives can I offer?
Banking executives need to ensure that their thought leadership never recites what someone has previously said purely for engagement. The best campaigns always offer something novel and move the discussion on a prominent issue forward.
Executives should consider how their job title gives them authority to speak about specific issues that others cannot. It would make sense for a Chief Technology Officer to discuss AI implementation or open banking, while a Chief Design Officer might comment on branding or user experience.
As executives’ insights become more timely and distinctive, journalists will be more inclined to publish them, and their ideas will gain wider attention.
How will I support my claims?
Research should take precedence before undertaking anything else during a thought leadership campaign to ensure any insights are grounded.
Without substantiating thought leadership – especially bold predictions – with data, it’s unlikely that audiences will ever trust an executive’s insights. This is particularly true in the banking sector, which deals with numbers daily.
Executives should aim to use a mix of case studies and statistics to support their claims and tweak or abandon any ideas entirely if they can’t be supported. With the banking sector constantly evolving, it’s important to adjust strategies based on emerging data, market shifts, and evolving customer needs to always stay afoot of trends.
What action do I want my audiences to take?
Knowing the objective of a thought leadership campaign is incredibly important. It ensures all messages and the way that they are communicated have a purpose.
If a bank wants to attract investors it should consider speaking about sustainable investments, risk management practices, and market leadership to establish confidence and trust. On the other hand, if a bank wants to improve collaboration with fintech banks to improve its digital products and poor uptake, its executives should demonstrate the banks regulatory expertise and infrastructure to position it as a valuable partner.
Ultimately, banks can be highly influential given their vast resources and deep industry knowledge. But without a well-considered thought leadership strategy, they can still miss the mark. With banking executives particularly time-starved, thought leadership campaigns need to consistently deliver value.
