By now, you’ve probably heard the phrase “thought leader” thrown around quite a bit.
But what exactly is a thought leader? And how can you become one in your field?
That’s what we talked about in this month’s #ContentWritingChat! So, if you’re ready to establish yourself as a well-known industry expert, keep reading for all the tips!
#ContentWritingChat Recap: Establishing Yourself as a Thought Leader in Your Field
Welcome to #ContentWritingChat! We're so excited to have you all here! 🥳
Today, we'll be talking all about how to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field.
— Express Writers | Your Content Writing Partner (@ExpWriters) October 4, 2022
Our community offered some valuable advice in this month’s chat. It’s everything you need to know if you want people to see you as a go-to resource.
Q1: In your opinion what does “thought leadership” actually mean?
A1. Thought leadership is new and unique information that provides insight into an industry, process, product or strategy. #contentwritingchat https://t.co/fVyeRei2T1
— Andrew C. Belton, MBA (@AndrewCBelton) October 4, 2022
To establish yourself as a thought leader, you want to consistently offer new and unique information for your community to consume.
A1: Thought leadership is proactively sharing your high-impact, innovative and/or useful ideas to show others how they can get involved with your work/movement. #ContentWritingChat
— Ross Romano 🚢 (@RossBRomano) October 4, 2022
A huge element of thought leadership is sharing your ideas and encouraging others to get involved at the same time, so don’t be afraid to speak up!
Q2: Why would someone want to establish themselves as a thought leader in their field? What benefits does it provide?
A2: Establishing yourself as a thought leader is also a great way to showcase your expertise and ultimately build trust with your audience. And of course, the Know, Like, and Trust Factor is essential for driving sales. #ContentWritingChat
— Rachel | Mindset Coach + NLP Practitioner (@rachmoffett) October 4, 2022
Building the Know, Like, and Trust Factor is crucial for creating success as a brand. When people view you as a thought leader in your industry, they have developed a trusting relationship with you and will be more inclined to support your business.
A2. Becoming a thought leader in an industry is desirable because a level of credibility and respect in that sector. It can be helpful for being able to pursue new opportunities, make new contacts, discover helpful resources. #contentwritingchat https://t.co/6HP7gpXi4q
— Andrew C. Belton, MBA (@AndrewCBelton) October 4, 2022
As a thought leader, you’ll have a certain level of credibility and respect in your field. This is great for getting your content shared widely, but it can also lead to tons of new opportunities for your brand.
Q3: What are some of the top qualities you feel thought leaders typically possess?
Q3: A desire to help others. Truly, to be a valuable thought leader, I believe you're motivated by the desire to share ideas/info that you believe will benefit those who hear them. #ContentWritingChat
— Ross Romano 🚢 (@RossBRomano) October 4, 2022
Q3: Also confidence, willingness to be "wrong," willingness to rethink/adapt. Some things may be good ideas now but not stand up over time. If they're well considered, TLs will share them and be okay later to amend based on new evidence. #contentwritingchat
— Ross Romano 🚢 (@RossBRomano) October 4, 2022
Thought leaders have a desire to help others through their content. They are also confident and willing to adapt over time.
A3. Top qualities that leaders typically have are adaptability, flexibility, focus, accountability, willingness to teach and continuously learn. #contentwritingchat https://t.co/xQUbmuDjQ7
— Andrew C. Belton, MBA (@AndrewCBelton) October 4, 2022
Adaptability, flexibility, focus, and accountability are all characteristics you’ll want to have if you desire to be a thought leader. You also need to have a willingness to teach others, plus a desire to learn and grow.
Q4: What are the first steps in building a thought leadership strategy?
A4: Set goals based on your business and the needs of your audience. Research thought leaders in that space. Identify thought leaders in your company, prep them, and launch your perspective. #ContentWritingChat
— Iron Horse (@ironhorseio) October 4, 2022
First, you need to set goals. What do you hope to achieve by becoming a thought leader? It’s also smart to research other thought leaders so you can learn from them.
Q4:
1. Identify your audience
2. Identify their pain points
3. Identify your expertise and your voice
4. Find areas where 2 and 3 match up
5. Consider what you want to say and why
5. Build a plan/topic list. Then consider medium. Social, articles, podcast?#ContentWritingChat— Ross Romano 🚢 (@RossBRomano) October 4, 2022
Creating a thought leadership strategy starts with knowing who your audience is, what their pain points are, and what kind of expertise you have that will serve them. From there, you can begin creating content that appeals to their needs.
A4: Start talking! IRL and go into spaces. Have conversations that help YOU figure out what you feel and what is important to you. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/TGUOLv3bN0
— DiKayo | dikayo.eth (@dikayodata) October 4, 2022
It’s important to have conversations with your community and other experts in your field. This is a powerful way to learn what others are looking for and what gaps currently exist in your industry that you can address.
Q5: Creating high-quality content is an effective way to position yourself as a thought leader. Is there a certain content format that’s best for doing this?
A5: The best content format for you is the one that plays to your strengths and appeals to your target audience. #ContentWritingChat
— Rachel | Mindset Coach + NLP Practitioner (@rachmoffett) October 4, 2022
Always create content that showcases your strengths while also appealing to how your audience likes to consume content. You can also repurpose your content into multiple formats to reach a wider audience, as we all like to learn in different ways.
A5: The types of content are flexible, according to audience and the format in which thought leader is most effective. For example, podcasts, white papers, blogs, TED Talks, Twitter are all thought leadership formats – but not all the best for each person. #ContentWritingChat
— Ross Romano 🚢 (@RossBRomano) October 4, 2022
Be flexible with your content formats and remain open to trying new things to see how they work for you. There are tons of options available to us today, so it’s smart to experiment.
Q6: Part of becoming a thought leader is getting your content noticed. How can you increase traffic and impressions on the content you’re publishing?
A6: SEO and unique (while still being good) perspectives. Obviously, you want to appear in search but don't make your content look or sound like everything else out there. #ContentWritingChat
— Iron Horse (@ironhorseio) October 4, 2022
Getting your content noticed starts with SEO. Make sure you’re taking the time to optimize your content so you can rank higher in Google’s search results.
A6: Start by focusing on quality of content. Once you're certain your content is worth people seeing, then work on having them see it.
Then you can work on SEO, cross-promotion with other blogs/podcasts, integrating 3rd party PR into your plan. #ContentWritingChat
— Ross Romano 🚢 (@RossBRomano) October 4, 2022
Cross-promotion is another great tactic. If you can collaborate with other bloggers or podcasts, you can generate tons of traction for your brand and its content.
A6. A few great ways to broaden the reach of your thought leadership content would be to create a robust digital marketing campaign, contribute to industry-leading publications, reach out to local or industry specific organizations to provide insights. #contentwritingchat https://t.co/jDAPmI4MVX
— Andrew C. Belton, MBA (@AndrewCBelton) October 4, 2022
Make sure you have a digital marketing campaign in place if you’re serious about generating brand awareness. You may also want to contribute to leading publications in your industry for more exposure.
Q7: How will you know if you’ve successfully established yourself as a thought leader? Is there any way to measure this?
A7: When people start to come to you asking for help/advisement related to the areas you communicate through thought leadership. You'll also see others start to discuss your ideas. #ContentWritingChat
— Ross Romano 🚢 (@RossBRomano) October 4, 2022
If you notice people are reaching out to you for help or advice, that’s a good sign! It shows they value your opinions and consider you a trustworthy source.
A7: Thought leaders think. If you're thinking, putting your audience first, and producing the best content you can create then you're a thought leader. Congrats! Keep it up and keep looking to optimize. #ContentWritingChat
— Iron Horse (@ironhorseio) October 4, 2022
Focus on putting your best content out there and serving your audience and you’re on the right track to becoming a true thought leader.
Want to join the next #ContentWritingChat? Mark your calendars for the first Tuesday of every month at 10 AM Central and meet us on the @ExpWriters Twitter account!