LinkedIn Releases New Findings on Thought Leadership Approaches that are Effective and Ineffective

Are you or your organization looking to become a thought leader in your industry by establishing a more defined direction for your content efforts?

There's no doubt that LinkedIn's 2021 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study, prepared in collaboration with Edelman, will be helpful. It identifies the significant challenges and issues in the modern content ecosystem, as well as the areas you should focus on in your efforts. 3,593 worldwide business leaders were surveyed for the study, representing a diverse variety of industries and organization sizes. The results provide important insight into B2B market developments and how decision-makers view the current situation.

First of all, respondents claimed that the pandemic has produced a torrent of thought-leadership content, but a lot of it... isn't fantastic. While 54% of decision-makers say they spend more than an hour each week reading and analyzing thought leadership, many of the things they see don't win them over, with 71% stating that less than half of the thought leadership they consume gives them meaningful insights.

In other words, this isn't thinking leadership in the truest sense. To be a trailblazer, you must share your own, original insights and offer a fresh perspective on familiar problems or obstacles. This will help you become known as an expert in your field.

To put it another way, many aspiring thought leaders are 'doing the things,' but they fail to differentiate themselves or their ideas, choosing instead to replicate crucial aspects and regurgitate familiar lines and slogans. As a result, there's a big potential here. As has always been the case in the thought-leadership realm, while everyone may create a blog post and distribute it around the world, very few people can genuinely communicate effectively and provide an invaluable viewpoint on the significant trends taking place in their field. In this regard, being able to write is one thing; nevertheless, it takes time, effort, and fortitude to look at trends from a broader perspective and examine your interpretations of them. This is what characterizes a true thought leader.

Also, this has the potential to bring about genuine, concrete advantages. Effective thought leadership may also assist your branding efforts, with 63% of customers believing that "think leadership is vital in presenting proof that an organization truly understands or can solve your specific business difficulties."

The advantages are obvious, but effective communication remains a significant obstacle. Senior executives cannot be expected to be masters of written communication by merely delegating a few social media postings to junior staff members. Each piece takes time and experience, and you must put in the work with a clearly defined strategy and approach that will help you create your brand with every post and every interaction. Again, while anyone can write, great communication is an acquired ability, and if you don't have that capacity, you will fail.

In summary, the advice emphasizes the importance of approaching your content marketing efforts with a more targeted, determined strategy rather than simply posting the most recent news on your website and hoping for a reaction. Every post and article you write should have a purpose. What's in it for your audience, exactly? What viewpoint do you bring to the table that they won't find elsewhere?

To maintain an active presence on your social media platforms, you need to think about how each update links back to your brand goals and reinforces your brand as an important leader in your area. For most organizations, this takes time and effort, as well as a devoted commitment. However, as evidenced by these answers, the procedure can be fruitful, especially as more low-quality information spreads over the web.