Thought Leadership
Why You Need Thought Leadership
To Get Found
If your marketing strategy involves generating leads through SEO or PR, then thought leadership is an essential tactic. Otherwise, what are you going to talk about to get noticed?
To Attract Customers
By deploying carefully crafted thought leadership, you can really differentiate yourself from the competition and be able to add value and engage in meaningful conversations with prospects.
To Retain Clients
Thought leadership adds ongoing value to an existing client relationship by keeping clients informed about matters that are essential to their success.
The 9 Top Reasons Companies Struggle with Content
(Source: the DMI and CMI)
- Lack of Time 66%
- Producing Enough Content 46%
- Producing Engaging Content 44%
- Lack of Budget 38%
- Variety of Content 33%
- Ability to Measure Effectiveness 28%
- Lack of Skills 25%
- Lack of Commitment 22%
- Lack of Content Expertise 14%
Types of Thought Leadership
Educational
Educational thought leadership serves to inform your target market by helping them solve problems or teaching them to how to do things that are essential to their success.
Benchmarks
Research studies that look at what their peer group is doing help your target market understand industry best practices and enables them to figure out what they should be doing to be successful.
End User Research
Research studies that examine end-user needs help your target customer better understand what his or her end users may be thinking or the problems they may be experiencing.