Is your thought leadership on target?

We’ve all heard content is king (and someone said conversion is queen!), but is your thought leadership content having the impact you desire? Before investing in a thought leadership piece, ask yourself a few questions:

How does this thought leadership piece support our company’s brand promise?
Too often, companies spend time on thought leadership that impacts only a small cross section of their target audience. This microtargeting is indeed effective for that small slice, but make sure you leave time and money in the budget to cover topics that all your buyers care about.

How will this piece help your target audience do their job better or gain an understanding of a new subject?
Be specific about what the readers should be able to do or know after they’ve invested the time reading your piece.

What are the proof points behind your thinking?
Do you have hard data, or is it only anecdotal? If well done, survey data can bolster your case immensely. If your piece is mostly based on anecdotal material, can you name specific events or people that support your thinking?

What are the top three points you want the reader to take away?
Saturating readers with too many ideas creates a high risk that nothing will stick. Focus on a few key points, and keep the rest for another social media posting.

What visuals will help you reinforce your top communication goals?
Be bold. Try for metaphorical images or infographics that incorporate an image, not just numbers. Think USA Today and their highly effective infographics on page 1! Then use these elements in a drip campaign on social media that points back to your thought leadership.

Create daylight between your thinking and the competition’s.
Make sure you know what others have written that is similar to your piece. Look for ways to be more provocative or simply more useful.


At the end of the day, thought leadership that keeps your clients better informed and helps them look good is a win for all.

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