Thought leadership is transforming the way brands build loyal followers. Customers are becoming more sophisticated, demanding not only products and services that meet or exceed their expectations, but resources to turn to that help them solve problems and predict trends in their industry. However, even as content marketing is now considered mainstream, most brands still concentrate on traditional means of advertising.
Becoming a leading authority on a subject, not only solidifies a relationship with existing customers, but aides in the conversion of new ones. Today, most buying journeys start with search. When intelligently composed, topical content not only improves search results, but gives your brand a human voice and can inspire prospective buyers to take the next step.
Effective thought leadership means adopting more characteristics of a newsroom and requires a shift most marketing departments are not designed for. Brands need to create effective publishing strategies by facilitating the internal, intellectual capital of key people in the organization to define, design and share valuable knowledge that will set them apart as thought leaders in their field.