The Power of Thought Leadership In Executive Brand Marketing
More people than ever are becoming entrepreneurs.
This means more emerging and aspiring leaders are turning to thought leadership for business insights, strategies, and inspiration. We at KNG Services focus on executive bylines featured in outlets like Entrepreneur or Forbes, but thought leadership involves regularly sharing any content that includes the expert opinions and unique perspectives of insiders with years of earned knowledge and industry experience. While often leveraged by executives looking to build their personal or professional brand, it can also be a strategic organizational marketing tool.
Here’s how a thought leadership plan can showcase your expertise, shape public conversations, and achieve company goals throughout the customer journey.
Work the Marketing Funnel
Thought leadership content can guide audiences through every stage of the marketing funnel. It can attract clients, partners, or investors by offering fresh, insightful perspectives that shed light on the values of an organization and its leaders. By publishing on widely read platforms, executives can raise awareness and recognition around a topic, an industry, an organization, or themselves while elevating their name, company, and ideas to reach new audiences. When it contains valuable takeaways, thought leadership positions the author as a trusted expert and authority, which can make potential leads more likely to consider their company’s products, services, or vision.
A comprehensive thought leadership content strategy may leverage social media campaigns, blogs, or newsletters, and thought leadership articles in Forbes, for example, to drive microconversions that build long-term value. With social media posts to promote mainstream articles, and blogs and other thought leadership content to reiterate it in new ways to new audiences, such content can increase website traffic, grow an email list, and foster engagement with readers. These smaller conversions build trust and pave the way for more significant interactions, such as signing contracts, securing funding, or landing job interviews. Regularly publishing articles and social media posting keeps the executive top-of-mind for their audience, and ongoing engagement fosters loyalty.
Achieving Personal and Professional Goals
Beyond marketing, executives can leverage thought leadership to promote concepts or ideas that shape public conversations in a way that achieves individual or company goals.
An auto industry executive might advocate for autonomous vehicle networks while subtly positioning their company as a leader in the space.
A telecom exec might report on the benefits of local coordination on upcoming public works projects to promote a more streamlined buildout.
Even a public official may leverage thought leadership articles on the risks of leaving homes still contaminated with lead paint to encourage a yes-vote on their upcoming ballot initiative.
An executive's thought leadership can also spotlight their company’s positive culture or employee policies, making it a magnet for top-tier talent and improving retention. Even executives between roles can publish articles that build industry authority and open doors to new professional opportunities, like speaking engagements and consulting.
