In a recent academic article on thought leadership for B2B marketing it was said that “…content resonance is partially influenced by the operational helpfulness offered by the marketer’s content. A marketer’s thought leadership competencies, in turn, are influenced by their perceived operational helpfulness, market foresight, dialogic responsiveness, and sharing generosity.”
There’s a fair bit to unpack there so lets break it down to show how you can get the most out of thought leadership, to ultimately earn trust and win customers.
1: Offer value to your reader
It’s impossible to stress this enough: talking about yourself and your products is not thought leadership. That idea of ‘operational helpfulness’ and ‘sharing generosity’ boils down to how much of your wisdom you’re willing to share with the reader.
The more insight you can provide, the more successful you’ll be at thought leadership. If someone is going to take the time to read or listen to what you have to say, then it really needs to offer a real benefit. Think about what you can offer to improve their workday and structure your content around that.
2: Take your time to research
Thought leadership is a deeper, more considered aspect of marketing. Your opinion doesn’t need to be first, but it does need to be relevant, right and based on fact.
There’s a balance to strike here. You can’t spend years perfecting a take on every trend that emerges and ultimately missing your opportunity. Consider a mix of medium-paced and slower-paced content but avoid the fast and transient.
3: Experiment with content format and distribution
Mix up your content to target different people. Videos, podcasts, infographics, resources, webinars; the list is as varied as your audience. In most cases, you can present the same content in multiple formats and on different channels, so that it works as hard as possible for you.
And of course, don’t assume people will come running to engage with your opinion. Thought leadership needs to be posted strategically and shared widely. Work with the people within your business whose expertise you’re showcasing. Incentivise them to share content on their own channels. The key to this is quality content, aim to create relevant and beneficial content that your employees with actively want to share to their network.
4: Engage with the conversation
The academic article discusses “dialogic responsiveness.” If you invite someone to engage with your opinion, it’s polite to respond to that engagement. People replying to your posts is a very good thing, especially if they want to expand on what you’re saying.
By empowering your social media people with the confidence to hold genuine conversations about your content you are turning interested observers into advocates for your brand.
And on a related note, never forget that these conversations are valuable, cheap sources of first-party market data. Take a step back, look at what topics people are engaging with most. You could translate that information into a market advantage.
5: Don’t shy away from a fight
Humanity has struggled over what ‘leadership’ truly means for thousands of years. But when it comes to thought leadership, it certainly doesn’t mean sticking with the herd and mimicking the latest acceptable opinions you saw on someone else’s post.
Thought leadership has the power to disrupt, provoke, and dissent. We’re not talking about deliberately starting arguments online, but engaging in respectful, informed debate is a very good look.
Plus, if you’re only saying what everyone else is already saying… is it thought leadership? Is it worth saying at all? If you’re finding that this is what you’re offering, then it may be time to go back to the drawing board and find an area where you an offer actionable insight.
Turning your expertise into a clear marketing message
As part of a healthy marketing mix, thought leadership can be the vital missing step between leads and conversions. Mature, complex businesses are sitting on vast troves of expertise that they can start turning into customer goodwill right now. Let us show you how.