Pause for thought

Are you still sending out the same ‘on brand’ social media cards across your organisation, promoting your latest deal, your latest ranking and your latest award?

The churn that social media can encourage runs contrary to anything that speaks to your audience and potential clients. It can in fact do quite the opposite and disengage those you are trying to engage with.

Authentic content comes naturally to SMEs, which by their very nature, thrive on differentiating themselves from the norm, but it is just as vital to bigger more established brands. It is in fact what will make you stand out. 

Of course, authentic content requires original thought, something that time-poor professionals rarely have time for.

So how does a brand create that authenticity that will spark the conversations you want to be engaged in?

It’s worth considering LinkedIn and Edelman’s 2019 Impact Study at this point, highlighting the value of thought leadership content. Thanks to Andrew Rogerson of Grist, who drew my attention to it.

The study is based on a survey of just over 1,200 US business decision makers and purchase influencers and found that 89% believe that thought leadership enhanced their perceptions of an organisation. In addition, 55% use thought leadership as an important way to vet organisations they are considering working with, and 48% said it influenced their purchasing decisions.

So, what exactly is thought leadership?

The LinkedIn/Edelman study describes it as ‘free deliverables organisations…produce on a topic they know a lot about and feel others benefit from their perspective on’.

It is not content that is focused on promoting your services or products.

Creating quality content is key, as confirmed by the study, which found that US decision makers only rated 18% of the pieces they were reading as ‘excellent’.

So, it really is about being authentic and creating content that adds to the conversation and gives your readers valuable insights into their sector and competitors.

Thought leadership can take many different forms. Data-led marketing is the current buzzword, and will provide an invaluable insight into your target clients, allowing you to segment relevant markets and analyse them in greater depth, but there is similar if not more value in human conversations.

Some of the best thought leadership reports I have worked on have been a combination of data gained from surveys as well as data that already sits in your own internal databases, combined with C-suite interviews and conversations in the form of roundtables.

Interviews with sector leaders for a report can often provide an opportunity to link a target client or connection with your brand. Getting other sector commentators involved in the report can have a similar effect.

Creating a report which links the data, conversations and interviews in a meaningful is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle and provides the perfect platform for you to start conversations and give original insight into your market.

And, to come full circle, also provides the sort of social content, made up of original research, data and quotes from market leaders that will make you stand out in a crowded news feed.