Thought leadership is a huge part of social media for your b2b brand. And seeing that social media is leading the game over traditional advertising or product marketing, the stakes are ever higher to get it right. Have you fully defined and honed your brand voice? Are you capitalizing on your uniqueness in all of your thought leadership channels? Let’s explore how to define and leverage your unique thought leadership voice to build your street cred – affecting everything from recruitment and attrition to lead generation and your and bottom-line. B2b wins with thought leadership The value of thought leadership is undeniable. 40% of b2b marketers say they’re able to link business wins directly back to specific pieces of thought leadership content. In fact, thought leadership is said to be one of the most effective tools any b2b can wield to demonstrate value, especially in a tough economy. The awareness-building capability of thought leadership can impact the building of new partnerships, acquiring new users and prospects, as well as establishing a corporate reputation that attracts and retains valuable employees. Thought leadership benefits fall into one or more of these categories: Building trust and credibility Differentiating your brand from others Engaging with C-suite prospects, leaders and influencers Winning advocates and early adopters; driving growth Establishing a foundation for marketing content Identifying new industry categories Find your own unique voice With the value opportunity clear, the next step is defining and honing your own unique voice. This takes time and some trial and error. Start with this homework: Know your brand: Be clear on your USP and how you differentiate from others in the market. Have a clear mission and vision (your mission is your what/why that defines what your do; your vision is your inspirational rally cry for the future). Know your audience: Y ou must be clear on who you’re talking too. Thought leadership is about knowing the unique challenges of your users, the industry at larger and your place within it. This requires a deep and tuned-in perspective. Know what matters to your tribe. Tell your story: To capitalize on thought leadership for growth, you must have a clear and relatable story. Weave that origin and vision into every opportunity to draw relevant insights relevant that leverage your point-of-view. Your story must be about the greater “why” while also being personal. Stick to a plan: Thought leadership efforts are not willy-nilly. They should tie into a complete content strategy and within your messaging matrix for your brand. While being flexible enough to jump at media opportunities, don’t lose sight of the three points above, no matter what kind of thought leadership outreach it is. Be actively sharing: Always. Your efforts should be borne out of generosity and a willingness to teach (not to make a profit). Share with purpose and genuine desire; the rest will naturally fall into place. As you earn the respect of those you are helping your leadership will become self-evident and continue to grow in impact. Build street-cred with various tactics As you craft thought leadership opportunities into your content strategy, there are various tactics you can use. Most of them are some combination of current or future-looking trends or strategies, and your unique advice. Think of yourself as the mentor to the rest of the market, and carve out ways to share your wisdom. Present: Define present challenges and give advice for how to overcome them. This might be specific tools, strategies, feature sets or other advice. Remember, you’re a few steps ahead of those that follow you. How can you share what you’ve learned and what has worked for you, to make their journey better? Share research and expertise. Conduct research and share it with the industry. As a leader, you have more access to information or other thought leaders. Leverage your position to gain insight and expertise that others can use int their own practice. Forward-thinking: Identify trends you see in the industry, market or parallel markets that may impact your work. Offer these insights as a forward-thinking perspective. What do they mean? How will these trends inform future decisions? How have you navigated them successfully? Challenge conventional thinking. Being provocative is part of the role of thought leaders and mentors. They challenge us to not just follow the pack, but to forge our own way. How can your insight inspire a new path for someone to follow? If you could do something again, how would you change your course? Provide a roadmap pr a vision for the future . This could be short or long-term. This might be idealism at its finest, paving the way for a provocative shift in the way business is being done. Or it might be a subtle prediction of what new trends we might see down the line in the next year or so. Pull out your magic 8-ball and have at it. You’ve got the tools, now lead With these tips and all your tremendous experience, you’ve got what it takes to build a reputation worthy of imitation. Don’t let imposter syndrome slow you down. We’re all at different points along the professional roadway. Wherever you are, others are still making their way behind you. You can lead and inspire them. So, craft your messaging around your unique brand voice and start building that street-cred. Just remember these three cardinal rules: Be focused, be consistent, and be yourself. _______ If you need help injecting some with thought leadership content ideas or finding your brand voice for your b2b, feel free to reach out . Let’s chat about your brand and how we can make it anything but boring!

We'll review 8 key design principles that are the foundational building blocks for just about any design solution, used alone or combined. They also have parallel interpretations that can be applied to branding and/or content creation. Let’s see how.