Posted By Kathy Wilson on September 13, 2024
Thought leaders don’t appear out of thin air — they’re born from a person’s desire for increased awareness of their deep subject-matter expertise. Through carefully crafted thought leadership platforms, these individuals differentiate themselves in their market and highlight the value they bring to the conversation.
Establishing thought leadership has business benefits, too. It can drive awareness, generate leads, and open doors to media opportunities and speaking engagements. But thought leadership (just like winning — sorry, Nike) isn’t for everyone. It requires a significant time commitment and must authentically reflect your expertise.
In today’s information-rich landscape, clients and audiences seek out voices that provide unique insights and solutions to solving their problems. Get started on developing a robust thought leadership platform and position yourself as that trusted thought influencer:
1. Do the Upfront Research
Before you decide on the direction your thought leadership program will take, it’s critical to understand the pressing issues in your industry, the voices dominating the conversation — and what they’re saying — and what unaddressed areas or perspectives exist. At Tier One, we help clients conduct whitespace research audits, or comprehensive market analyses to find opportunities to share a unique perspective. That helps ensure the commentary you’ll be sharing isn’t just a rehash of what others are putting out.
2. Define Your Platform
Next up comes the important work of homing in on your specific platform. Based on your research and with your personal expertise in mind, ask yourself:
- What am I most passionate and knowledgeable about when it comes to my industry?
- How does the perspective I bring to the table set me apart?
- What industry challenges can I address that others aren't tackling?
Based on this self-reflection, build a comprehensive plan that outlines your key themes, messages, and perspectives on your chosen topics, the channels you’ll use to share those topics with the public (e.g., a robust earned media program and strategic social media initiatives), and the cadence with which you’ll be creating and sharing content.
3. Strategically Approach Listening and Trendspotting
Be sure to build in opportunistic moments to jump on trending news. Tier One’s Agile Insights and Analytics practice plugs our clients into emerging topics and helps them get in touch with the right reporters covering the news. Whether it's interviews, prepared quotes that offer an insight, or social media posts, a smart PR agency can insert your perspective into the conversation.
Our team keeps its eyes and ears on industry news, social media, competitors, thought leaders, influencers, and daily conversations to stay on top of trends and how stories evolve. This ongoing listening helps spark fresh ideas that will help you stand out and continue to be a go-to source for thought leadership.
Ethan Mollick, a thought leader in the AI space, is a great example of this kind of timely thought-sharing. Mollick frequently shares his thoughts on AI research papers and tinkers with new tools, demonstrating his ongoing awareness and engagement with the industry’s newest developments.
Ethan Mollick demonstrates the importance of staying in-the-know about your industry’s newest developments.
Introducing your audience to new ideas and tools helps reinforce the idea you’re on the vanguard.
4. Measure Success
With a plan in place and your eye on what’s up and coming, you’ll need to know how to identify success. What you measure depends on your goals — if you want to increase brand awareness, you might want to track your share of voice (SOV), whether you’ve been able to break into new media outlets, and if there’s an increase in inbound leads, for instance.
Share of voice can be represented as the percentage of a conversation you own in a specific market compared to your competitors. When Tier One measures SOV, we see if and when changes in a client’s share of the conversation happen.
Pro tip: Getting more active on social media can help boost your SOV, too.
Evaluate your featured articles to see whether your key messages come through, too. Tier One client Ally Financial achieved just that in The Wall Street Journal — our team earned them coverage by pitching an insight that reflected the SME’s thought leadership platform.
By measuring where and how your thought leadership is taking root, you’ll be able to adjust your approach accordingly. You may be surprised by the niche you’re able to carve out with your audiences, so stay flexible in how you evolve your messaging over time.
Own Your Expertise
Becoming a thought leader takes patience, persistence, and a genuine commitment to advancing your field. By following these steps and consistently delivering value to your audience, you can carve out an influential position in your industry. Remember, true thought leadership goes beyond self-promotion — it's about contributing meaningful insights that shape the future of your industry and help others excel in their roles.
Still have questions? We’d love to hear where you see an opportunity for thought leadership in your industry.
