The truth about ‘thought leadership’.

All is revealed in new study of over 500 business leaders.

Enter the words ‘thought leader’ into LinkedIn’s search bar and more than 1.2 million results are generated. That’s 1.2 million people who formally describe themselves as being one within their job title. But can there really be that many people who are regarded as ‘thought leaders’?

New research from Clearly PR & Marketing Communications suggests that the content we’re reading from said ‘thought leaders’ is repetitive (42 per cent) and almost a third labelling it all simply boring (29 per cent). So, what does it actually mean to be a thought leader and how is this saturated market going to level itself out post-pandemic?

As the coronavirus graduated from epidemic to pandemic, everything changed. Businesses were placed on an indefinite hiatus, workers and their families were left scratching their heads in a state of both confusion and fear, and the quest for information from sense makers and solutions providers ramped up a gear.

This in turn triggered a sharp rise in the number of people coming to the fore to offer themselves up as ‘thought leaders’ – industry experts – and push through their, well, thoughts through a series of blogs, articles, webinars, podcasts and various other platforms. However, while many of these expert ‘voices’ are worthy of our attention, a great number are not.

In May, we undertook a study of over 500 C-suite executives, Managing Directors and other senior business leaders to better understand the current state of thought leadership being produced during the pandemic. The results made for fascinating yet equally concerning reading.

Accordingly, when asked to comment on the quality of content they have been exposed to from the beginning of March through mid-May, 40 per cent of businesses leaders described it as ‘appalling’, ‘bad’ or ‘poor’ at best. To add further insult to injury, 38 per cent said the content was ‘poorly written/produced,’ with 33 per cent bemoaning the ‘lack of relevance or topicality’. Ouch.

These findings are rather damning and expose a significant number of self-professed ‘thought leaders’ as not exactly being the experts they make themselves out to be, so why do we give so much airtime to these people in the first place?

Business leaders say that 40% of the thought leadership content they see is ‘appalling’, ‘bad’ or ‘poor’ at best.

It’s a matter of psychology; to be precise – the element of repetition. Anyone can claim to be an industry ‘expert’, as the 1.2 million figure shows us. What enables them to grab our attention is the fact that they focus on a specific subject and bang the drum over and over. In fact, they do this to the extent that without even consuming the content produced by these individuals, we automatically make the assumption they ‘must know what they’re talking about’. After all, why else would they continue to push their content out – someone must be paying attention, right? Familiarity breeds contentment – the easier a ‘name’ or brand can be remembered, the greater the likelihood said brand will be regarded as a go-to in their space and, dare I say, ‘influential’.

Repetition is a powerful way of making oneself ‘memorable’, but to steal a phrase from marketing legend Seth Godin it won’t make them ‘remarkable’ if they’re not a real expert in the first place with original thought. This latter point is one of the biggest issues among business leaders, with 59 per cent of those who took part in our study bemoaning the lack of fresh, original thinking by the creators of the thought leadership content they are exposed to. For those who can offer unique perspectives that are both contextual (relevant to the here and now) and specific to the needs and wants of one’s audience, the opportunities are a-plenty both from a personal and reputational branding perspective, as well as its impact on the bottom line of the organisation these individuals represent.

Repetition is a powerful way of making oneself ‘memorable’, but it won’t make them ‘remarkable’ if they’re not a real expert in the first place.

It is a long-held belief of ours that the personal brand of a business leader is as, if not more, important than that of the organisation they represent. It therefore follows, and our research demonstrates this point, that business leaders and decision makers will develop a perception of a brand based on the thought leadership content its key people produce. Indeed, 27 per cent of CEO’s and MDs state that their impression of a brand has positively shifted after consuming such content, while 13 per cent say their opinion has gone the other way. Moreover, one in five (20 per cent) business leaders have subsequently engaged the organisation responsible that created the content and done business with them.

The personal brand of a business leader is as, if not more, important than that of the organisation they represent.

The coronavirus pandemic has altered the way in which people view brands, whether they be individual or in the organisational sense. They are rapidly rejecting the mindless fare of social media influencers and dismissing any brand that holds up its people as so-called experts when they are anything but. And any attempt to continue pumping out self-aggrandising, hyperbolic content that is focused on selling rather than engaging and supporting will be met with a short sharp about-turn.

However, the current period also represents an opportunity for brands like never before to demonstrate their value and relevance to the customers and consumers of most importance to them. Their support is what has enabled these businesses to get to where they are today, and that same sense of brand loyalty will be called upon one again as the scream subsides and growth is on the horizon once more.

Brands have an opportunity like never before to demonstrate their value and relevance to the customers and consumers of most importance to them.

Thought leadership has gained greater importance during the COVID-19 era and its role within the wider marketing mix will invariably be elevated ever higher as we move towards the post-pandemic era and people’s thirst for ideas, options and solutions to the challenges to come will see a further spike. For those individuals with ambitions to be attributed such status, they must recognise that being a thought leader is not someone who simply plays the game – they change the game.

Download the full whitepaper via the following link (no email required): https://www.clearlypr.co.uk/thought-leadership-whitepaper/