Thought leadership is a type of marketing in which you promote your company executives as experts in your industry in one of various ways: as innovators in bringing new products or services to the market to meet industry needs; as understanding the issues and trends in the market and leading changes in product development; or as having a high level of expertise in the technical realm of product or solution development that leads innovation in the market.
While company executives are often promoted as company thought leaders, it is also possible to position product developers, designers, or other subject matter experts in the company in thought leadership positions.
One of the best ways to establish authority—thought leadership—on a topic is to produce deep research on the subject and promote this information. The key is to promote your expertise. Otherwise, you are not really establishing thought leadership.
Several popular and effective ways to promote your expertise and content around it include:
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES
There are a variety of opportunities to publish contributed articles and opinion pieces in industry trade publications as well as many regional newspapers such as regional business journals. The former are typically looking for educational and trend or issue articles, while the latter will likely have more opportunities for opinion pieces.
Contact the editor of any publication in your market and ask if they accept contributed articles and how the process works. This information is also often included on the web in their media kit.
A strategic thought leadership campaign should include several articles placed in core publications that target your market audience. In addition to company brand awareness—which is strengthened each time an article is published by the media—contributed articles can also be repurposed as background materials for use in business development, sales, and lead nurturing campaigns as well as on the company website or as reprints in trade show press kits.
Keep in mind that once you have invested the time into developing your content, you really only need to repurpose that content in order to expand your reach and promote the same messages in other venues. It is important to make the upfront investment of your time in order to develop strong content that truly brings value to the market and raises the conversation around issues in your industry.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Your company’s attendance at industry and association tradeshows and conferences can be leveraged by lining up speaking engagements at these events. Show attendees and association members are always looking for high-level industry expertise related to product development, innovation, and information on industry best practices to help them meet their business challenges. Depending on the event, you do not always need to be an exhibitor in order to speak at it; this varies by conference.
Tradeshows and conferences accept submissions for speaking abstracts anywhere between five and 10 months before the event. They are posted on the event website with details regarding topic categories as well as requirements for length of submitted abstracts, deadlines, etc. You may also contact the conference or tradeshow management team and request they add you to their list of people to be alerted when the call for abstracts opens.
The attendees at your presentation will often give you their business card at the end of your presentation, and companies often gather a large number of potential leads this way.
Depending on where your company is located, there may also be high quality local or regional opportunities in chambers of commerce, regional business associations, or other business groups. In these cases, you may need to expand your focus beyond your industry-specific messages to include the broader market and the regional or national business climate.
WHITE PAPERS
Content can be repurposed into a white paper, or a white paper can be the initial vehicle for your messages. Require user registration on your website for white paper access so you benefit from obtaining readers’ contact information in the process.
WEBINARS
Although a webinar may be considered more of a sales or lead generation tool than a way to establish industry thought leadership, your topic may change this. If you already have a webinar program or service in place, use one of your monthly webinar slots to focus your message instead on topics like company expertise in a specific application, best practices or market leading innovation, or a CEO’s perspective on industry issues and developments.
COMPANY NEWSLETTER
If your company has an e-newsletter, include your article in an issue to make sure this audience also receives it.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Establishing thought leadership in your market also includes leading and participating in social media conversations about challenges, solutions, and opportunities in the industry. Focus your communication on messages around your company’s innovation, expertise, and best practices.
Using social media will expand your company’s pool of influencers beyond traditional media and existing customers to include a wider industry audience. These individuals all communicate and influence each other by sharing their opinions and experiences online.
LinkedIn also has a publishing tool as well as video opportunities. Your content becomes part of your professional profile and is displayed on the articles section of your LinkedIn profile. Published articles are shared with your connections and followers in their newsfeeds, and sometimes through notifications.
Lastly, in addition to thought leadership, there are many additional ways to communicate industry leadership including awards and participation in industry associations and committees.
