Tell, don’t sell: Why Thought Leadership matters in marketing…

A company’s greatest asset is its people. And the in-house competence of a company or organization also represents a rich mine of specialist domain expertise on which it can capitalize as a major marketing asset.

But this deep resource of brainpower remains largely untapped beyond its application in keeping the wheels of business turning, with many companies focused primarily on promoting their product or service through traditional channels such as advertising.

Creating conversations

However, only 5% of your target audience is in buying mode when seeing your message, according to marketing research. This means you should move away from pitching products and rather create genuine conversations about what you do through communicating your in-house expertise.

Your business should be top of mind when people do actually consider buying. Thought Leadership is therefore considered the most effective social media selling technique because, all things being equal, people will do business with people they know, like and trust.

Profiling expertise

So what exactly is Thought Leadership? This is content that profiles the expertise of a person/company in a particular field, offering insightful perspectives, innovative ideas, and solutions to industry-related challenges, with the aim to establish the author as a leader and influencer in that domain.

According to LinkedIn survey data:

• Almost 60% of business decision-makers said Thought Leadership directly led to them awarding business to an organization.
• Almost half of decision-makers (45%) said they invited a producer of Thought Leadership content to bid on a project when they had not previously considered the organization.
• More than 60% of C-suite executives said they were more willing to pay a premium to companies that create Thought Leadership with a clear vision.

Making content count

Content should therefore be tailored to help position you as a Thought Leader: an authoritative, useful and relevant voice offering advice and information that benefits your target audience.

This will build credibility and help position you (and your company) as a recognized expert and go-to resource in your domain.

Want to learn more about how to communicate Thought Leadership to realise your media marketing goals? Then feel free to drop us a line at Blue-C, the leading maritime communications agency in the Nordics, and NME partner. Contact: kent@blue-c.no