In this article, you will learn how thought leadership can be used as a tool to help you drive sales through large-level stakeholder engagement.
Early sales in most organizations come via personal networks. But as your company grows, sales will need to be driven through large-level stakeholder engagement. Thought leadership is the tool that allows you to do just that.
You might be asking, what can thought leadership do for me? It takes a lot of time, energy, and effort, and for what?
Thought leadership can help you create a compelling executive presence online. This can help you build your brand and amplify yourself and your business.
Here are 4 reasons we think you should bother with thought leadership:
Not enough? Here’s another reason to bother with thought leadership.
40% of people are more likely to purchase from a brand when they follow one of its leaders.
The term “thought leadership” has become watered down. Most people don’t believe thought leadership has value anymore.
How do you help people see value in your content?
As a thought leader, your goal is to land in the orange quadrant of the chart. Creating engaging and uncommon content will be especially easy if you’re creating your own category or niche.
Once you’ve found a good topic, you can work on your voice.
Here are the 4 major voices seen in thought leadership:
We recommend that early-stage founders devote their content to 2 of these voices. The first is the Industry-focused Visionary.
Why? This will help your expertise to shine through in your content.
The second? The Product-focused Guide. The teaching approach in this voice will help you share what’s made you successful and portray legitimacy.
You should follow industry-relevant hashtags and peers so you can stay on top of conversations.
Thought leadership is not about existing in an echo chamber.
Speaking of echo chambers, commenting and conversing are great ways to engage with other people online. Join conversations and share your thoughts.
Not a fan of creating content? That’s okay.
Thought leadership isn’t just about creating content. You can still offer perspective on industry trends and events by sharing content that’s relevant to your networks.
Ready to start sharing some of your thoughts? Here’s a checklist of next steps so you can get started right away.
And as a final item on your checklist, we challenge you to find 1 article on your favorite social media platform and comment on it with your point of view. Keep it to 3 sentences or less.
Have questions? Thoughts? Comments? We’d love to answer them right in the comments of this post’s accompanying video. We’ll see you there!