Trust Us, We’re Experts: Why Thought Leadership Marketing Works

Marketing is all about getting customers, sure, but the ultimate goal is keeping them. Before you can establish your set of loyal followers, you have to go through the steps of earning repeat customers: get on your buyers’ radar, attract them to your product, convince them to purchase, and ultimately, earn their favor over other brands to keep them coming back for more.

Thought leadership marketing is the art of establishing your brand as a leader in its industry through high-quality content. If you effectively produce and distribute exclusive insight in your particular field, you’ll become a go-to resource for your customers.

If you keep updated and educated on the latest and greatest in your given field, it’s only a matter of putting it on paper (or typing it in a blog post, filming it on a video, recording it on a voice memo…) and sharing it with the world.

 Sure, thought leadership marketing is easier said than done—and that’s coming from a content marketer—but it’s worth investing time and effort in. Here’s why:

Readers Mean Views, Views Mean Ranking, Ranking Means Readers, Readers Mean….

Let’s face it: modern marketing starts online. In order to reach the hyper-connected world, you’ll need to reach users through their device. Your business needs an attractive, optimized website in order to compete in the Digital Age.

 The easiest way to create and distribute thought leadership in your industry is through your website. Establish a blog and start writing. In order to have a competitive edge in your industry, you need to keep up with the latest trends to ensure your product stays relevant and in demand.

Approach your blog the same way you approach your product. Identify your customer’s pain points and address them. Do they have any questions? Answer them.

If you consistently produce valuable content for your readers—aka your customers—they’ll work their way through your blog and subscribe to keep up with your latest posts. Readers mean visits, visits mean page views, and page views mean business when it comes to search engine optimization. 

The next time a new customer googles your product, you can thank your loyal readership when you show up as the first result.

Better yet—thank your content marketing team.

Make Headlines

Establishing your brand as a reliable source of information for your industry will elevate your reputation with your audience, but it’ll also establish you as a potential source for media coverage. 

As a highly regarded expert in your field, you’re a resource. Other bloggers may refer back to your insight if you’re seen as credible. Journalists may cite a statistic you published in a research report. You could be asked to join a panel of experts at an industry event.

Thought leadership marketing provides organic publicity. If a potential customer reads a piece of content you’ve been featured in, they know off the bat that you’re a trusted source—and a reliable expert. 

Attract Top Talent

Finding qualified talent—and keeping it—is a challenge for SMEs. They’re never going to elbow their way to the top-ranking talent magnets like Alphabet, Facebook, or Salesforce. 

Thought leadership marketing is one of the most effective ways SMEs can attract top niche talent. If your reputation precedes you, potential new hires will actively seek out openings with your company.

An increase in applicants means a bigger talent pool, increasing competition—and hiring standards—among potential new employees.

Better talent means better business. It’s as simple as that.
 

Create Brand Advocates

 
Thought leadership marketing approaches the loyalty loop from a content perspective. If you effectively delight your audience—providing them with consistent, valuable insight—then they’re bound to share it.

Everyone knows that feeling: you’ve finished reading/watching/listening to your new favorite book/show/podcast, and you’re suddenly dying to tell someone about it.

So who do you tell? Your friends, family, colleagues, your mailman, the gas station attendant, your ride-share partner, your bartender…pretty much whoever will listen. You’ll tweet it to your followers, share the link on Facebook, maybe email it to that one anti-social media friend.

We have an intrinsic urge to share engaging content. If your audience values what you have to say, they’ll likely share it. More importantly, they’re likely to share it with those with similar interests—aka your targeted audience.

Creating consistent, valuable content will reinforce your reputation as a thought leader in your given field. Become the go-to source of information in your field, and leads will naturally follow.

How do you start? Don’t worry—we can help.

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