Thought leadership is a powerful way to showcase your expertise, influence your industry, and attract new opportunities. But how do you find the best topics to share your insights on? How do you avoid repeating what others have already said or becoming irrelevant? Here are some tips to help you identify new thought leadership opportunities in your organization.
The first step to finding new thought leadership opportunities is to assess your own strengths and passions. What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? What are the skills or knowledge that set you apart from others in your field? These are the areas where you can offer unique value and perspective to your audience. Think about how you can leverage your strengths to solve problems, answer questions, or inspire action.
Focus on points of difference. This doesn't just have to be related to your products or services, it can also be about how you do business. When looking at your strengths, think about the people within your business. What stories do they have to share? What are their strengths?
The next step is to research your audience and understand their needs, challenges, and interests. Who are you trying to reach with your thought leadership? What are their goals and pain points? What are the trends and issues that affect them? How can you help them achieve better outcomes or overcome obstacles? By knowing your audience, you can tailor your content to their preferences and expectations, and provide relevant and useful information.
As well as who, think about where: where are your audience? Is there a particular platform or format they gravitate towards? Rather than building a thought leadership strategy around the default platforms, this will help you prioritise your work where it's most likely to be seen by the people that matter to your business.
The third step is to monitor the landscape and stay updated on the latest developments and conversations in your industry. What are the hot topics and emerging opportunities that are shaping your field? What are the gaps and controversies that need more attention or clarification? What are the best practices and innovations that you can learn from or contribute to? By keeping an eye on the landscape, you can spot new angles and niches for your thought leadership, and position yourself as a credible and informed source.
The fourth step is to experiment with different formats and channels for your thought leadership. How do you want to communicate your ideas and insights? What are the best ways to reach and engage your audience? You can choose from a variety of formats, such as blogs, podcasts, webinars, white papers, videos, infographics, or social media posts. You can also use different channels, such as your own website, online platforms, industry publications, or events. By experimenting with formats and channels, you can test and optimize your impact and reach.
The fifth step is to collaborate with others and expand your network and influence. Who are the other thought leaders and experts in your industry or related fields? How can you connect and partner with them to create or share valuable content? You can collaborate with others by co-authoring, interviewing, guest posting, hosting, or joining panels or roundtables. By collaborating with others, you can amplify your voice and credibility, and learn from different perspectives and experiences.
The final step is to seek feedback and measure your results. How do you know if your thought leadership is effective and resonating with your audience? How can you improve your content and strategy? You can seek feedback by asking for comments, reviews, ratings, or testimonials. You can also measure your results by tracking metrics, such as views, downloads, shares, leads, or conversions. By seeking feedback and measuring results, you can evaluate your performance and identify areas for improvement or growth.
Make sure you define the metrics that matter to you and take a baseline before getting started - that way you can clearly see which activities are delivering impact.