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18 Mar 2010
There is a lot of a commentary flying around the web at the moment about content, optimising that content for search engines , content curation (filtering and aggregating relevant content) and how best to deliver content to your publics.
But…and this is a big but – content alone does not make you a thought leader. It may help a company’s publics, it may make their lives easier, it may drive traffic to a site and it may position that brand as a trusted source of particular information. But does it make that company a thought leader?
No it does not.
Let’s have a quick look at my definition of thought leadership: Thought Leadership is establishing a relationship with and delivering something of value to your stakeholders and customers that aligns with your brand/company value. In the process you go well beyond merely selling a product or service and establish your brand /company as the expert in that field and differentiate yourself from your competitors
Key to thought leadership is innovative content
The key to being a thought leader is offering something of value, insights that position you as the expert in that field. By that I mean stuff which frames the debate and conversations on a particular issue or issues. Content that challenges the paradigms and the thinking of your own staff as well as your publics if not an entire industry sector, and content that delivers deep insights around a particular issue or sector.
Content that doesn’t do this cannot and should not be labelled as thought leadership. It is merely information.
This is not to say that it’s not useful but it doesn’t make you a thought leader.
Content curation
HiveFire has produced a thought provoking e book on content curation. You can download it here : http://info.hivefire.com/eBook.html and I suggest you do. It is a good read and raises some very interesting questions about how you manage your content.
But as they say, competitors are drowning in a sea of information overload and they are challenged to decipher what information is relevant and which sources are trustworthy. My view is that it is particularly because of this that to be a thought leader, the content you deliver needs to differentiate you from the crowd, must be different and challenge insights and should position you as the pre-eminent company/commentator in that space.
The spin-offs of doing this right are huge as many marketers, particularly in the professional services arena will attest. True thought leadership is one of the most valuable marketing assets in which a company can invest. It inspires trust in your brand and in process imbues in your company and your people a perception by the marketplace that you are the ‘go to’ authorities and knowledge experts on that topic – a perception that no amount of advertising can buy. OK maybe a bucket load could buy it but it would cost a bomb .
Publishing alone will not help
Publishing on its own is not going to help. It’s what you publish and how you take it to market that makes the difference.
Before you become an aggregator or curator of content ask yourself the following questions: What is our thought leadership position? What do we stand for in the market place? What is our differentiator in terms of leading the market?
Only once you have established a position in this regard are seen as the go to place for insights in your area of specialty is it useful to become a content curator and specifically for content that relates to and helps inform that position.
Until then I’m afraid, you will just be a follower.
11 Responses to “Beware, content doesn’t a thought leader make”
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What you say is true, Craig, but do not understate the importance of SEO. Content does not have to be thought leadership material for it to matter to organisational stakeholders. And nor does it have to be thought leading, as you state, to deliver good SEO.
If there was a battle royale between thought leadership and good, solid, useful content on an organisation’s website, I’m not sure the non-thought leadership content wouldn’t win in positioning the company higher in Google searches which could in turn lead to higher profile and higher revenue.
Craig. Thank you very much for the wonderful review of our first eBook on content curation. We curate Thought Leadership Strategy is a leading source for Thought Leadership insights, online and we read your insights, daily.
You brought up a great point regarding how content should function in the role of Thought Leadership. It’s important for thought leaders to have a voice around the key issues of our industry and not simply aggregate content. This voice must, as you say be “Content that challenges the paradigms and the thinking of your own staff.” One must have a position.
However, those who listen or engage in our unique views must also address the need for context. Without context and organization to help guide the narrative, how will the consumers of Thought Leadership understand what inspires these challenging and original positions? Why do you have such and such opinion? What other voices, in the narrative, matter to the context? Who are these other influencers? What are they saying and when did they say it?
Curation attempts to help make context gathering and sharing easier. In an “information overloaded” world, wouldn’t easier be better and more desired?
Do you plan to keep this site updated? I sure hope so… its great!
I wrote a post on a similar topic a few months ago entitled “Content Marketing is not equal to Thought Leadership” (http://www.thoughtleadershiptimes.com/articles/1579/content-marketing-is-not-equal-to-thought-leadersh/).
Your above definition of thought leadership is as follows:
“Thought Leadership is establishing a relationship with and delivering something of value to your stakeholders and customers that aligns with your brand/company value.”
In my blog post, I echo your thoughts:
“In comparison, the objective of true content marketing is to deliver value to the end user and to influence the users over a period of time. If you deliver value to your consumers, they will value you. If they value you, you have the potential of influencing their thoughts, perspectives and actions in your favor. If they value you, you will be a thought leader.”
However, I do see curation as a powerful means of achieve thought leadership. Curation is not about just publishing. It’s about selecting, and selecting the best. Thought leaders must curate to stay relevant either by collecting relevant industry links or by linking to relevant content (as you did above with the eBook link). Those who choose not to curate are putting their brands at risk by assuming their own insights are the only valuable ones available.
Pawan you Craig Pearce and Taariq all have very important points about the need for curated content and I have to say I I agree. But here’s the rub. I don’t think it achieves thought leadership for the company and this is why. If one of your target publics comes to you because the perception is you are a thought leader in X but your employees don’t have the knowledge, insights or wherewithall to deliver on X because you’ve merely aggregated content around X, you run the risk of doing your brand damage.
To be a thought leader means that you and your team must be able to carry through on the expertise you’ve touted in that space. Otherwise, as per my point you are merely an aggregator of great content. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do it but make sure you do it around topics or sectors in which you are an expert and can deliver.
I believe that the thought leadership comes first then you can curate and aggregat to your hearts content.
Thanks for all your comments guys – great debate.
Taariq, please see my answer to Pawan where I cover what you and Craig Pearce have said.
Thanks for your comments always appreciated.
Craig, please see my comment to Pawan where I address your and Taariq’s comments. Thanks mate always appreciate your sharp insights on these matters.
Generally I do not post on blogs, nevertheless I would like to say that this post in fact forced me to do so! really pleasant post.
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