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Thought leaders are known in the digital industry for driving innovation and sharing new ideas. They are trailblazers, advocates, and, most importantly, trusted sources of information for their audiences. Thought leaders or influencers are so persuasive that “influencer marketing” is now a term with which most digital professionals are now au fait. Thought leaders have the power to convert a variety of customer segments across every industry – 70% of teenage YouTube subscribers trust influencer opinions over traditional celebrities. In comparison, 86% of women turn to social networks before purchasing.
Being influential has the potential to generate a significant amount of revenue for you and your business. Still, there’s much more to it than taking to Twitter and proclaiming yourself a thought leader. You can guarantee success in the digital space by mastering a few essential skills.
Build your brand
Personal brand building is the first integral step to securing your status as a successful thought leader. You need to be able to define your identity and determine how you will position yourself on digital channels. Your brand will need to convey your credibility and authority within your industry, and it will dictate how your target audience engages with you and the extent to which they choose to trust you.
Start by creating a straightforward brand narrative – a paragraph that defines you, your role, your specialisms, and your interests. It should encapsulate your strengths and Unique Selling Points as a thought leader and the breadth of your skills and experience. You can use this narrative to create your social media profiles and author bio for blogs and interviews.
Optimize your social profiles using a professional display picture that makes you appear approachable and relaxed. Use an all-in-one solution such as Squarespace to build your website using professionally pre-designed templates – this will keep costs low. You should consider investing in a graphic designer to create a professional logo that you can use on your website, social channels, and business cards. First impressions count and this will help you create a cohesive brand image to complement your narrative and means you can clearly articulate your message and aesthetic.
Create bold content
Once you have built a brand identity centered upon succinct descriptions and slick imagery, you will need to develop your thought leadership by creating and distributing content. Unfortunately, more is required to write a regular blog article and publish it on your website – with over 2 million blog articles published daily; it’s essential to approach relevant topics to set you apart from your competitors. This will involve infusing your blog articles with opinions, humor, and personal anecdotes. Make industry predictions and bold claims, and be honest about your business efforts. This will make your content uniquely relatable.
It would help if you tried substantiating your content with relevant references to a whitepaper or statistics. By doing this, you’ll be able to demonstrate that you are not only personable but also a knowledgeable and trustworthy industry figure.
Perfect your public speaking
Developing your competitive edge won’t simply stem from stimulating, sympathetic blog articles – as a thought leader, you need to be able to showcase your sense of innovation and incorporate different formats into your content strategy. This shows your willingness to drive innovation and can allow you to reach a much wider new audience, including mobile device users for whom long-form blog articles may be challenging to consume!
Podcasts and webinars are two staples for most digital thought leaders. Both are relatively inexpensive, easier, and quicker to produce than a written article and are increasingly establishing themselves as the easiest methods for establishing thought leadership. In the US alone, over 65 million people listen to podcasts every month, which provides you with an exciting opportunity to extend your brand. The fact that you are audible or, in the case of a webinar, visible means that your content instantly has a much more personal touch, which can be more engaging. Video and audio are much easier and more convenient to consume, further promoting engagement. Create a series of podcasts or webinars with a unique title that covers meaningful topics (you can research your best-performing blog posts for sources of inspiration) and generate a sense of anticipation amongst viewers and listeners for your next piece of content!
Reach out to other influencers
Effective content distribution is vital if you’re trying to establish your brand from scratch. It’s only possible to achieve successful thought leadership, which is why you should consider reaching out to other industry thought leaders who have already built a strong influence and loyal social following. These are the people from whom you can learn and are valuable connections to make.
If you still need to be made aware of the foremost thought leaders in your industry, you can use social listening tools to identify them. Again, if you’re not already, follow these individuals on Twitter and LinkedIn, and lay the foundations for fostering positive relationships with them. You can start by sharing their content and tagging them in your posts or quoting them in your content. When you feel comfortable, you can contact them directly to ask for input or advice that may help you improve your content’s quality or better understand your audience.
Always network
Elaborating on the previous point, you should connect with influencers in a capacity that goes beyond viewing them as a mentor. Building relationships with fellow thought leaders can help you to enhance your reputation by association. Feel free to respond to a Tweet with your insight or join industry-relevant LinkedIn Groups and forums (famous digital marketing examples would include inbound.org and Growth Hackers). If you read a blog article that resonates with you, connect with the author through social and tell them!
Though it may not feel natural, practice putting yourself out there and expanding your online network! The more extensive it is, the more visible you will become, naturally enhancing your credibility. Influencers will be more inclined to share your content and collaborate with you, which will expand your social following. You can complement your online efforts by attending offline networking events and conferences. You can even seek speaking opportunities to bolster your brand if you feel brave enough.
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