Growth Decoded: What is “Thought Leadership” anyway?

This article is a round-up of Growth Decoded, a show that explores the relationship between customer experience and business growth, one topic at a time. to register here and don’t miss an episode!

What is thought leadership?

If you enter the term “Thought Leadership” into Google, the first result you will get is the following: this blog by Michael Brenner. In it he defines thought leadership as:

“Kind of Content Marketing where you can use the talent, experience and passion in your company or in your community to consequent Answer the biggest questions on your mind target group on one special topic. “

Notice that Michael didn’t bold those particular words, I did. And here’s why – in the first episode of Growth decrypts season 2, we researched Thought Leadership to find out what it is and why it matters.

Thought leadership is in demand – companies want it. But it’s elusive and difficult to define. If you ask 10 different people what it is, you will get 10 different answers.

And that’s exactly what we did.

The team went to Content Marketing World 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio to learn about thought leadership from the thought leaders themselves.

Watch the following episode and hear from some of the brightest minds in content marketing:

• Michael Barber
• Melanie Deziel
• Joe Pulizzi
• Zontee Hou
• Ann Handley
• John Jantsch
• Carla Johnson
• Lee Odden
• Rachel Mann
• Jay bear

You will hear their answers to the questions:

• What is thought leadership?
• How important is thought leadership really?
• How do you get to thought leadership and what does that even mean?
• Is a “Unique Point of View” necessary?
• How do you get that unique perspective?
• Is Thought Leadership a Conversation?
• Can small brands or companies be “thought leaders”?
• Which brands do you consider “thought leaders”?

After speaking with these thought leaders, certain trends in thought leadership emerged:

First, thought leadership is not something that you can decide for yourself. Your audience decides that for you. This happens once you have achieved a certain level of expertise in a particular subject.

Audience participation is critical to thought leadership. Participation grows as you solve problems and answer questions that are relevant and important to your audience – within your niche or area of ​​expertise.

Second, thought leadership is a by-product of gradually and consistent Publication of content. It takes time. In some cases, thought leadership and recognition will not be achieved until you have consistently published high quality content for years.

Consistency does NOT mean “frequency” – do you know the difference between the two. You can be consistent by posting once a week or once a month – and you can also be consistent by posting 3 or 4 times a week. The key is to stick to cadence and put quality over quantity.

Third, you cannot be everything for everyone. Thought leadership occurs when you are able to demonstrate expertise in a particular topic or niche. Over time, your expertise and audience will grow – but you have to start small.

Starting small and getting specific will make it easier for you to establish yourself as a resource for information on that particular topic. Trust is critical to thought leadership, and once you’ve built it and built credibility, you can expand your expertise into other related topics.

Amazon started selling books online. They sold books for 3 years before putting something else in. Now Amazon is the first port of call if you want to buy, well … anything.

Anthony Bourdain started out as a dishwasher and line cook. Over time, he grew up to be a restaurant manager and then broke out with a book about the restaurant he ran. Over time, it has become the go-to place for information about food, culture and people around the world.

Facebook started out as an exclusive Harvard University social network. Over time and with consistent use, Facebook expanded to other universities and eventually to the general public. There are now Billions the Facebook user, and Facebook is synonymous with the term “social media”.

Thought leadership is a mindset – it’s a by-product of continually posting relevant, quality content that answers your audience’s questions and solves the problems.
It’s a process and characteristic of your content and work that should be incorporated into everything you post.

Thought leadership is not something that can be explained, but something that is given to you.

Finally, thought leadership is something that any brand, company, or individual can achieve.

This article is a round-up of Growth Decoded, a show that explores the relationship between customer experience and business growth, one topic at a time. to register here and don’t miss an episode!