Thought leadership is one of the most significant buzzwords to hit the marketing industry for some time now. However, while many people know about thought leadership – few business owners understand what it means to their company and their promotional methods.
Thought leadership is a specific kind of content marketing – designed to convince an audience of a company’s credibility. With thought leadership, marketing teams discuss specific topics that are relevant to their target market – often addressing these concepts from a unique perspective or talking about them with the use of specialist industry statistics.
Types of Thought Leadership
Almost all thought leadership content works best when it addresses the specific problems of a target market. When customers see that companies understand their issues and know how to solve them, they’re more likely to trust whatever it is that brand sells. Once a company finds a topic that they can demonstrate their leadership with, the key to success is knowing how to share that information in an insightful way.
Thought leadership marketing can appear in many different formats. Some of the most common options include:
· Articles and blogs
· eBooks or guides
· Tutorials
· Q&A Sessions
· Interviews
· Case Studies
When to Add Thought Leadership to Marketing
In a world where customers are having a harder time trusting the companies, they do business with – almost every company can benefit from a strategy that involves some manner of thought leadership. Ultimately, today’s clients and consumers are looking for evidence that the businesses they buy from can help them to solve their problems and live a better quality of life. While traditional methods of social proof can help with this, such as testimonials and reviews – thought leadership gives more weight to a business’s position in a niche.
With thought leadership – both B2B and B2C companies have the power to show their audiences, influencers, and investors that they understand their chosen marketplace and they know what it takes to get ahead of the competition. For customers, it’s the difference between doing business with someone who they just met – and reaching out for support from a specialist.
Of course, for thought leadership to be effective, companies need to make sure that they’re discussing the right issues and considering topics from the right perspective.
How to Create Effective Thought Leadership Content
To create the right thought leadership content for your business, begin by identifying the topic that is most likely to support the growth of a specific target audience. Identify the questions that customers are asking and find a way to answer those questions across multiple channels and formats.
Once businesses have created their thought leadership content, they also need to draw as much attention to it as possible. Often, this means collaborating with PR companies and influencers who can spread the word about their content through social media, industry publications, and specialist forums. The more people read the content, the more it will be shared, and the greater the company’s credibility levels will grow.
About Ronn Torossian
Ronn Torossian is the Founder and CEO of 5W Public Relations. He is one of the foremost Public Relations experts in the United States, with over 20 years of experience. He has won countless awards for leadership and entrepreneurship, and Ronn Torossian has transformed businesses through strategic and aggressive PR strategies.