Thought leadership is a buzzword that’s used a lot lately. Many brands and people aspire to be thought leaders so they start creating content – whether that be writing blogs, posting on LinkedIn, making videos or podcasts. While creating content is great, it doesn’t necessarily make you a thought leader.
So, what is thought leadership?
Thought leadership isn’t about creating content for the sake of creating content. It’s about sharing ideas and expertise that are:
-Authentic
-Unique or differentiated
-Based on experience, knowledge or facts
-Has authority
-Valuable
Why should I create thought leadership content?
Good thought leadership content can help you:
-Create awareness of both your personal brand and your business
-Build trust with your target audience and your broader ecosystem. This can include customers, industry, investors and employees.
-Rise above the noise and have your perspective heard
To create good thought leadership content, it’s best to have a strategy in place.
How do I create a thought leadership strategy?
Like any good strategy, your thought leadership strategy should take into account:
- Your target audience: Consider who you want to communicate with and why you’re communicating to them. You will probably have more than one target audience, and these should prioritised.
- Your objectives: All good content starts with a clear goal in mind. This objective drives the type of content, its tone and what it should and shouldn’t say.
- Your voice: Authenticity is key to good thought leadership content. If your reader believes
its ghostwritten then you will lose authority. - Your narrative: This is the story that sets the tone for your content and how you position yourself.
- Your themes and topics: Like any content strategy, themes and topics should be identified so there’s a clear path as to what you’re communicating and why.
- Your distribution strategy: Where you distribute your content is just as important as what you say. This should be considered and chosen to suit both the type of content and the platforms you publish on.
What kind of thought leadership content can you create?
Thought leadership content can come in many forms. In this day and age, we can make the most of technology to develop good quality content for multiple platforms. Some examples of thought leadership content that we can create includes:
- Video-led content: Leveraging video gives you a unique of demonstrating authenticity and personality. We can also use it to build out longer-form written content by using an interview format. Videos can then be used in blog posts and articles and on social media platforms.
- Ghostwritten content: Based on detailed research and interviews, we create thought leadership content that is written in your voice. The written content can be used on their own or alongside video or audio content on your blog or social media
platforms, or published online or in print in other publications. - Audio content: Audio content can take many forms including interview style podcasts or narrative-led storylines. We work with you to determine the best type of content to meet your objectives and target audience.
Create quality thought leadership content with minimal time commitment
Creating good quality content takes time, especially when it comes to something as unique and expert as thought leadership content. We have worked with CEOs, legal and accounting partners, technical specialists, investors and non-executive directors, so we understand that your time is valuable.
Our processes are designed to minimise your investment and maximise your benefit. With an investment of an hour a month, we can create quality thought leadership content that helps you meet your objectives. If you’d like to know more about how we can help you create tailored thought leadership strategy and content, get in touch.