In the world that we live in today, with all the news, distractions, all of the offers, noises, and lights competing for our attention, how is anyone supposed to stand out from the crowd?
Here’s an idea that can allow you to get your message out there: Thought Leadership posts!
There are so many posts that are out there on thought leadership that it may seem like one of the latest buzzwords the marketers talk about. After all, if you look at the increase in Google listings from 2007 (around 100,000 links) to what we have now (‘about 939,000,000’ according to Google as of 11/11/2020), it’s no wonder that so many people see it as a buzzword and something to treat as a trend and not a serious idea.
Here’s where that logic fails though: if you wanted to be seen as an expert, what would you do? Would it take being called as an expert witness in a case to be that expert? Sure, that wouldn’t hurt – after all, a forensic accountant or psychologist could easily get major “street cred” after being an expert witness in a big-time case, but alas, for the majority of us, we will never be called as an expert witness in one of those major cases. Many of us probably dread the idea of even being called for jury duty, so the less time we’re in court the better, right?
Being seen as an expert, though, is not that difficult, but it takes effort and consistent attention. You want to be putting content out there – whether it’s in the form of written posts like this one or text posts. It can be an infographic or some other form, but the idea is that if you talk about a particular subject and people see that you know what you’re talking about with a clear degree of knowledge in your field, you will be seen as an expert in that field.
However, it’s more than that too – it’s about understanding your positioning of who you are in the marketplace today, establishing a messaging and content framework that will position you and your organization for success in the future. It’s about your audience – who you are trying to reach and influence with your content and knowing how to create that content that will be compelling and interesting for your audience to want to engage with. It’s about what platforms you will be using to share your content – is it through social media, your blog, direct mail, etc.? It’s about optimizing these platforms for your use and how you can maximize the time, money and resources you invest in your content that will make a difference. And it’s about identifying opportunities to get your content shared in the media – both local and farther-reaching media – and industry-related websites that your ideal prospects will be searching/reading.
By getting your message out there and being clear in what you’re trying to show the world what you are doing and why you are doing what you’re doing, you can help to shape your prospect’s mind and perceptions about you and your organization in a positive way. And the more you are seen as an expert in your field, the more likely someone will want to work with you instead of someone else because pretty much everyone wants to work with the one they see as an expert. You wouldn’t go to some heart surgeon who isn’t the expert in the surgery they’d be performing, right? So why would you go to a lawyer, accountant, contractor, coach, consultant, architect, etc. who isn’t the expert in their field either?
Now that you see the benefits of thought leadership and how it can play an important role in your organization’s marketing efforts, let’s talk and see how we can help you grow your thought leadership and make you stand out from the crowd to help you grow your business!
