Turning Thoughts Into Thought Leadership

Turning Thoughts Into Thought Leadership

Traditional and social media channels are more crowded than ever before. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the average attention span is now eight seconds– one second less than a goldfish. As a result, today’s brands are left to figure out how they can cut through the noise without losing people’s interest. This can be an uphill battle.

At the same time, brand leaders have the opportunity to translate their expertise into authority and create meaningful engagement with the audiences they’re trying to reach. This is where thought leadership comes in.

Thought leaders are able to tap into the talent, experience, and passion inside their business to consistently answer the biggest questions on the minds of their target audiences. They harness their own thoughts and best practices to become a go-to expert in their respective industry and stand out in a cluttered market. Becoming a thought leader doesn’t happen overnight, but with the right approach and guidance, a leader who has valuable perspective to share can be a source of engagement and inspiration. 

At RAISE, thought leadership plays an integral role in our work with growth tech companies to elevate the profile of company leaders while building trust and credibility. Here are some of the secrets to our success:

Be a conversation starter.

It’s important to have a pulse on the hot topics in your broader industry and understand the major challenges that key audiences are facing. We focus on helping our clients share valuable knowledge on these topics to encourage a more active dialogue with their followers. Once the conversation is sparked, we then look for ways to keep it going to build even stronger, lasting relationships.

Engage and inspire.                                                                                                               

True thought leadership means informing and inspiring audiences, not selling to them. Instead of sharing content around products and services, we encourage clients to share expertise around broader challenges and trends. It’s about increasing brand value, not revenue. When thought leaders produce this type of content, they can better inform audiences and create more meaningful engagement.

Focus on credibility.

The more thought leaders can enhance their advice with personal experience, the more relatable they become. Our clients who offer practical and insightful advice based on their own learnings outperform leaders who just scratch the surface. In addition, we encourage clients to share other people’s ideas in addition to their own to show audiences that they’re aligned with other trusted industry resources.  

Make it actionable.

To take engagement to the next level, we work with our clients to make content actionable. Whether it’s providing links to past articles, educational pieces or webinar sign ups, or asking for audience comments and feedback, it’s important to provide a call-to-action message that encourages consistency and connection.

Generating excitement about topics that are relevant and timely helps provide inspiration and add credibility, both of which today’s brand leaders need to stand out in a crowded space. Thought leadership can start new conversations, refresh older ideas and be a trusted source of inspiration and engagement. 

If you’re thinking about raising your profile through a thought leadership strategy and aren’t sure how to get started, please reach out to discuss more.