Adding a pinch of thought leadership marketing to your recipe can increase your brand's influence and credibility.
In today's highly competitive marketplace, leveraging thought leadership marketing is critical for business leaders. why? Because buyers aren't just looking for products and services, they're also looking for trusted insights from industry pioneers.
According to the 2022 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 61% of business leaders believe thought leadership is more effective than traditional product-oriented marketing. The report also found that 55% of buyers take the next step within the first minute if thought leadership content doesn't pique their interest, and 47% of users say thought leadership content dissuades them from making a purchase. He also said he believes it helps in decision-making.
This is the heart of thought leadership marketing. It increases brand value and opens up future opportunities. However, capturing a customer's momentary attention is not easy.
Now, before we share 8 great tips for thought leadership marketing, let’s understand what thought leadership marketing is.
What is thought leadership marketing?
Thought leadership marketing is the promotion of a brand (a business or an individual) online and offline to establish a reputation as an industry expert. The goal of thought leadership marketing is to provide credibility, authentic knowledge, and expert insight with subject matter expertise. As a thought leader, you aim to educate, enlighten, and captivate your audience.
You can experiment with different content formats to demonstrate your expertise. Notably, 91.4% of companies write articles on thought leadership. Additionally, 44.1% of thought leaders created video content, 33.2% wrote research papers, and 21.7% of companies turned to podcast production.
8 tips to excel at thought leadership marketing
Thought leadership marketing has many potential benefits for businesses, as long as the content resonates and exudes a unique perspective and digestibility. It should include robust research and hard supporting data to support your claims and insights.
- Carve out a niche of expertise
The first step in an effective B2C or B2B thought leadership marketing strategy is to define what gets your company talked about. As a starting point, focus on your company's unique selling proposition (USP). This ensures that your thought leadership content is focused, relevant, and specific to your industry and audience.
- Scout subject matter experts
Creating engaging content is a team sport. When creating thought leadership content, we recommend gathering information from multiple sources. If you have a dynamic team with varying levels of education and experience, leverage their expertise to scale your content strategy.
For example, reach out to sales, product, and marketing teams to derive insights and contribute to content planning. Build clear guidelines for how you create, edit, and publish content, and create a unified brand voice that resonates across all your content.
- Know your target audience
Thought leadership marketing content answers all your customers' questions and improves your brand image. Creating content without knowing who it's for is like shooting an arrow into the darkness. To get around this, try creating buyer personas.
Here are some tips for creating a buyer contact:
- Interview loyal customers and prospects (i.e., potential customers) to gain insight into product features, usability, UI/UX, customer support, and more.
- Consider the feedback your sales team receives from leads and leads.
- Use tools like Google Trends to focus on industry-specific needs.
- List information about your potential customers, including demographics, pain points, and preferences.
- Assess the competition
Paying attention to your competitors is a key strategy for accelerating growth and gathering inspiration for your content. Spending more time observing your competitors will also help you identify “content gaps” that can be filled with your leader's content.
However, instead of simply creating the same content as your competitors, you need to provide insights that are unique yet useful with thought leadership.
Here are some tips for evaluating your competitors:
- Analyze marketing channels to identify gaps and opportunities.
- Consider the timing and frequency of publication.
- Track keywords using marketing and SEO tools like Ahrefs and Wincher.
- Create valuable content with a powerful voice
Especially for B2B, your audience is looking for valuable industry insights and educational content. This need drives thought leadership marketing strategies. Think about providing your audience with insights they can't get anywhere else. This opens the door to content such as research, statistics, various POVs of trending topics, case studies, and customer experiences.
And remember, a little humor and an informal tone can turn dry content into an enjoyable read. 87% of buyers prefer consuming thought leadership content that is fun and thought-provoking.
- Increase your social media presence
In 2024, thought leaders should only have blog pages and video content. You should also focus on increasing your social media presence by staying informed about trends and engaging with your followers. A social media presence increases brand awareness while promoting customer trust and brand loyalty.
Choose the best social media that fits your brand ethos and consistently interact with your audience with a mix of thought leadership content like photos, videos, and interactive content.
- Beyond blogging
Blogs are the simplest form of thought leadership content. Most B2B thought leaders believe that blogs are the most valuable content tool. However, many viewers also want content in different formats, such as videos and podcasts.
Experimenting with different content styles and formats not only helps you meet your audience's evolving tastes, but also expands your reach. For example, case studies, whitepapers, and ebooks are great for providing insightful and educational content. Tracking analytics and engagement across different content forms opens the door to insights that can help you refine your content calendar and navigate your audience's interests.
- Review and update regularly
Successful thought leaders stay up-to-date on industry news, trends, audience preferences, and expectations. That's why it's of utmost importance to regularly review and revise your content strategy and calendar to stay relevant. Also, keep an eye on changes in your website, engagement analytics, and competitor tactics to hone your approach.
4 best examples of mastering thought leadership
- prediction Nutanix, the cloud computing giant, publishes an online magazine about industry news, trends, technology, and new ideas shaping the cloud computing environment.
- Round 1 review is a thought leader blog from venture capital firm First Round Capital. We focus on interviews, business insights, best practices from industry experts, and more.
- design & makeup by Autodesk publishes thought leadership content on design, architecture, manufacturing, industry insights, and more.
- story Microsoft says it's focused on storytelling. From Microsoft events and initiatives to employee profiles and stories, this thought leader covers a wide range of insights into the technology space.
end note
Thought leadership marketing is an essential toolkit for any business. Increase brand awareness, build strong relationships with your customers, and stand out in a noisy digital environment. An influential thought leadership strategy not only demonstrates your expertise, but also opens the door to new opportunities and customers. Are you ready to lead your thoughts and take action?
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