COMPLACENT MARKETING
Thought Leadership : Doing It Right !
By Diana Obath
We have all come across the term Thought Leadership . It is what writers do , it is what experts say , it is how a company positions itself , these and other definitions . The growing demand for thought leadership articles has me thinking if a piece of writing or a person is indeed a thought leader .
Does the writer decide if they are an opinion leader or does the audience decide ? A lot of the thought leadership articles available appear like fundraised informational pieces - well elaborated pieces of information that have interlinked ideas put together from various sources and no real insight or new idea that would provoke any thought in the reader .
A thought leadership article should be a piece of content written by a business or an expert that has new insightful information supported by research and has the capacity to challenge the reader into a new or different viewpoint on the subject matter .
There are three characteristics of a thought leadership piece : logos , ethos and pathos . The logos is the logic part of it and would be well narrated by an expert . The ethos is the personal brand usually narrated by an influencer on social media or information widely shared by others . The third aspect is the pathos , a stand or strong opinion usually driven by an opinion leader .
A thought leadership piece should bring together these three aspects into a persuasive piece . The thought leadership article is intended to influence , teach and invoke a behavior or action in the reader , not narrate existing information in a new way .
The thought leader as a person is the figure we can easily relate to . We consider our thought leaders experts in their field ; thus , influential and command a following or have a title that the intended audience would be drawn to . We would also consider researchers , writers and speakers thought leaders . We also know that people who
Thought leadership is not an easy thing to do , but with constant polishing and creating a story board , any organization or individual can become a thought leader . If a thought leadership article is required , the essentials of storytelling should still apply . Carry your audience through a plot , do not patch up the information new and old and expect the audience to see through it . can influence are thought leaders as they can take a stand on an issue and boldly advocate for adoption of an opinion like politicians .
Thought leaders and thought leadership articles , speeches or content pieces have to connect with the audience they are intended for . The first rule of communication is ‘ know your audience .’ It is not about having good content but having content that your audience can connect with . This is the reason companies can be thought leaders in specific fields . They already have an audience and can connect to their ethos , pathos or logos and therefore speak authoritatively about an opinion or direction .
A lot of the time , companies would pay other people or influencers in their field to publish thought leadership pieces on their behalf through paid or sponsored articles . This is a widely used approach but is not particularly necessary as long as the company can churn out pieces to their audience like they do on their own social media pages . The concept of the piece and how to write it is quite often misunderstood even by corporations who are the experts , leaders in innovation and research in their specific industries .
To be a leader - thought leader - you need followers . You can have followers on social media , publications , books , public lectures , speaking opportunities or media placements . We tend to see the same faces on our TV screens when watching news , talk shows or analysis because these individuals are thought to be thought
06 MAL41 / 21 ISSUE