12 Ways to Establish a Thought Leadership Position
When asked to name the CEO of Tesla, most people would answer without any hesitation: Elon Musk. If you are one of these people, there’s a good chance that you are one of Musk’s 74.3 million Twitter followers as well. To put that number in perspective, that’s a little over 22 million more than CNN.
Now, if someone instead asked you who the CEO of General Motors is, you might struggle to come up with a name. The answer, by the way, is Mary Barra, whose Twitter account clocks in at around 61,500 followers.
So, where does this difference of 74 million come from? GM certainly sold more cars than Tesla this past year. What enables Elon Musk to reach 20 million more people than CNN through a simple click on his phone? How can innovative and skilled leaders like Mary Barra grow their audience to their fullest potential?
Well, simply put, he engages people with his content. He’s funny, outspoken, occasionally controversial, but above all, he has established himself as a Thought Leader in his field
Allan Gates, Co-Founder and President of Bonfire, spoke to our cohort last week about how to establish yourself as a Thought Leader using P/R and Content Marketing. We’ve highlighted the 12 key takeaways from his talk, including effective tactics, along with pitfalls to avoid.
To start things off, you might be asking...
What Exactly is Thought Leadership?
Thought Leadership is when an individual or organization establishes themselves as a leader within their field by demonstrating expertise, insights, and innovative thinking. C-Suite executives are inherently intertwined with the corporate brand, which means that their personal brand can be leveraged as a way of driving brand awareness, consumer engagement, and ultimately sales. Establishing a Thought Leadership position is the key to leveraging your personal brand to meet broader organization goals and enhance the corporate brand.
How/Why Does it Work?:
First, as all marketing should, it enables differentiation. It gives a sense of expertise that makes leaders stand out and in a manner more effective than advertising. We are so cognitively overloaded by ads nowadays that we’ve trained ourselves to avoid them. Thought Leadership leverages peer-shared content and media coverage to demonstrate expertise in far more influential ways.
The key caveat: thought leadership requires authenticity and a proven track record. Too many self-proclaimed leaders and gurus can be found on LinkedIn feeds promoting themselves as Thought Leaders, but it doesn’t feel real. Why? They haven’t put in the work, they don’t have anything to back it all up.
If you have put in the work and want to establish a Thought Leadership position, here are 12 effective tactics as recommended by Allan Gates:
12 Ways to Establish a Thought Leadership Position:
1. Stand Out with your POV (Don’t Play it Safe)
Having something substantial to say is essential to being a Thought Leader. Safe, corporate P/R talk doesn’t offend anybody, but it also isn’t memorable and it doesn’t start a conversation. This is why some leaders can’t establish a significant following, their POV tries to appease everyone and ends up attracting no one. As Allan likes to tell his marketing students, there is no general public; your target audience is not anyone. Figure out your audience, find your POV, and start a conversation.
Curious about the best ways to reach your audience?
2. Social Media
A bit of an obvious answer, but that’s because social media is unquestionably a great way to build your personal/corporate profile and share your POV. Choose sides on a topic and add value to the discussion within your industry. Engage with established thought leaders or media. Focus on platforms relevant to your audience: Twitter and LinkedIn are most effective for polished corporate content; Instagram and Tik-Tok to engage youth with fun and social content.
Speaking of content..
3. Blogging, Podcasts, and Video Content
Blogging is still a cornerstone of any content marketing program. It allows you to publish and share content without going through someone else (editor, etc.); it is your voice and your voice alone. Allan stresses the importance of not just doing it for SEO purposes. There’s a lot of keyword-ridden, low-quality content out there that was clearly written for the sake of SEO but amounts to nothing more than noise. Remember to be authentic.
Not a good writer? Podcasts and video content are effective alternatives. The world doesn’t need another podcast, but you will find an audience if you have an engaging POV. An added benefit of podcasting is the ability to add to your perceived expertise by having established Thought Leaders as guests. Guests with a big social media presence also means more listens. But remember, guests who add value won’t help much unless you add value too.
4. Develop Media Relations
Third-party media coverage evokes a sense of credibility that can’t be easily replicated on your own. But how do you develop the necessary relationships with journalists and media publishers needed to get coverage? Seek them out. Regional coverage and niche publications that cover your industry are good places to start. Find beat reporters relevant to your field; they’re looking for stuff to publish and will be drawn to you if you do interviews, respond quickly, and give them good quotes.
On that note, remember that media relations are supposed to be mutually beneficial, you have to give them something that their readers will care about. Too many companies forget that even the most groundbreaking news to them is not necessarily newsworthy to anyone else. If you develop relationships and provide good content, media coverage can be very effective for establishing yourself as a Thought Leader. Make sure to share everything on social media for the full effect.
5. Embrace the Criticism
The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s apathy. Criticism is a good thing because it shows that people are paying attention and care about what you’re saying. Any substantial POV will naturally attract some critics, so embrace it. Some people are negative for the sake of negativity, and they may go as far as attacking you. Don’t let the trolls stop you from sharing your POV. People will defend you in the comments if you add value to the community discussion. That being said, obviously you don’t want everyone to hate you. You just have to be smart: don’t go out and pick fights, don’t be overly obnoxious or humblebrag, but above all, don’t give in to criticism.
6. Seek out Awards
It’s true that awards are self-serving, but the reality is that Thought Leaders win awards. Awards shape how people think about you and do wonders for your perceived credibility; not to mention they make for excellent social content. Unfortunately, even if you deserve it, winning awards isn’t a guarantee. Just like media coverage, awards will come by easiest if you seek them out yourself. Scan for regional, national, and international award opportunities and nominate yourself or get someone to nominate you.
7. Contributed Articles, Op-Eds, Guest Blogs
Thought Leaders have something to say that people want to hear. To maximize who hears it, consider additional channels to put your voice out there. Write an op-ed and publish it in the paper, they’re always looking for content and this is a great way to reach an older demographic. Write a guest blog with someone with a bigger audience, it’ll add to your credibility and attract people back to you. Contributed articles in industry publications, business news, and even general media are great opportunities to expand your audience; don’t forget about these channels.
8. Speaking Opportunities
Whether virtual or in-person, speaking opportunities are fantastic for demonstrating your expertise and establishing a Thought Leadership position. You’re likely going to have to pitch yourself to event organizers when you’re starting off, paying a sponsorship fee might be needed as well. Speaking opportunities bring on more speaking opportunities, though, so that initial cost can be well worth it. A good tip from Allan is to record yourself at your first few speaking opportunities to use when pitching yourself for bigger events later on.
9. Cross-Promote your Efforts
To make the most of these tactics and maximize your impressions, be conscious and consistent in thinking “How else can I get this out there?” Publish a blog? Share it on LinkedIn. Speaking at a conference? Mention it on your podcast. Don’t be afraid to do “In Case You Missed It” posts from time-to-time to make sure your efforts are getting recognized, just avoid being obnoxious.
10. Don’t sell Directly
Even if the end goal of Thought Leadership is to drive sales and achieve organizational goals, you need to focus on being informative and creating conversation, not selling. Remember, this isn’t advertising, you don’t want people to assume it is (you’ll scare them away!) To boost conversions, ask people if they want to learn more about your company, or perhaps if they’d like to try a product demo, but never sell directly if you want to seem authentic.
11. Be Consistent, but Pick your Spots
Consistency is key, but don’t try to use all these tactics at once. Too much and you’ll overwork yourself and saturate your personal brand. Think about who you are, who your audience is, and the channel to reach them. From here, pick a few appropriate tactics, focus on doing them as best as you can, and others will follow as you become more established as a Thought Leader.
12. Stick with It
It takes a lot of time and effort to build a Thought Leadership position, it’s not something that can just happen overnight. Make sure you don’t get careless, stick with it and maintain your focus on doing it well. Be authentic and consistent, add value to the industry discussion, demonstrate expertise and innovative thinking, find an audience that your POV speaks to. It can be intimidating at first, but if you do it right it will be well worth the work.
If you want to drive the conversation in your industry and become recognized as a Thought Leader, using these Content Marketing and PR tactics can facilitate the growth of your personal brand, giving you the opportunity to engage a wider audience with your expertise and POV. Thought Leadership will make you sought-after for speaking opportunities, media coverage, and contributed articles. It will push your social following to the next level and add an aura of significance to your opinions and ideas. The impact on your personal brand will be reflected on your corporate brand, allowing you to reach individual and organizational goals.