LinkedIn's Trust Factor Makes It Ideal for Thought Leadership
Social media marketing is far more complex than just purchasing paid advertisements. You may want to default to purchasing paid ads on Facebook or Twitter, but that’s a one-sided strategy. Structurally, paid ads are all about asking the consumer to give you something; they offer nothing to the consumer in return. By contrast, a thought leadership marketing strategy does exactly what paid ads consistently fail to do. When you create educational and shareable content, you can build the type of relationship with your audience that boosts your credibility and develops a long-term interest in your business.
But wait! Don’t go running to Facebook with that thought-provoking content you’re about to start writing. Facebook may have an inarguably dominant market share (over 60% in the US and over 70% worldwide), but it’s also a poor format for thought leadership. Users on Facebook have vastly different expectations of what they’ll find and why they use the service. Unfortunately, Facebook’s content is the least-trusted among every other major social media website, according to the 2020 Digital Trust Report.
By contrast, LinkedIn lands on the Digital Trust Report’s top spot. LinkedIn’s 760+ million users go there for more than just job hunting. They use the service to find and learn from leaders in every industry, including service-based medical and legal professions. That makes LinkedIn the best option to establish your thought leadership marketing strategy. Its users are hyper-focused on educational content, and they’re more likely to trust the content they find there.
Why Choose LinkedIn for Thought Leadership?
LinkedIn is a competitive space for thought leadership marketing strategies based on who uses it and how they use it.
According to LinkedIn’s stats:
48% of B2B decision-makers spend one hour or more per week engaged in the service
89% say thought leadership has boosted their perception of a business
49% say thought leadership influences their purchasing decision
Meanwhile, 29% of thought leadership producers connect their LinkedIn thought leadership to their sales and business success.
All told, not only is LinkedIn’s content viewed as more trustworthy, both business decision-makers and LinkedIn thought leaders see the rewards that come with carefully constructed thought leadership articles and posts.
Where Do I Start with Thought Leadership on LinkedIn?
Don’t just hop into your thought leadership marketing strategy without a plan. Thought leadership done wrong can do more damage to your business than if you were to ignore it altogether. Consider all of the following before you begin working on a thought leadership marketing strategy through LinkedIn:
1. Examine the expertise you have to offer
A common mistake businesses make with thought leadership is creating content without considering what people need or what to know. A recent Edelman study found while 88% of LinkedIn decision-makers believe thought leadership helps enhance their perception of a business, only 17% rate the quality of thought leadership quality either “very good” or “excellent.” Many companies are producing poor-quality content that isn’t giving value to readers.
Before you start writing content, research what questions about your industry commonly asked where strongly-developed information is lacking. You may also be well-positioned to ask industry-shaking questions and create content that is thought-provoking in its own right. These can be topics about your industry and profession that others may not have considered but will find interesting when explored by an expert voice.
2. Develop a content calendar
Once you have several ideas about content directions, create a content calendar. Inconsistency leads to poor results, so develop a calendar that provides a regular publishing cadence. When your audience expects your content, they’re more likely to return to your page or bookmark your page to find that content when it’s published. LinkedIn offers a content marketing toolkit you can use that has content calendar ideas.
3. Create a LinkedIn group
LinkedIn allows you to create groups based on interest. Your group should be interest-based, and not just a group for your business. Choose a topic relevant to your industry that others are interested in, then invite others to join your group.
4. Grow your network
Every social media service maintains and updates algorithms that help push relevant content to users. LinkedIn is no different, but it’s algorithms produce far better results than what you’ll find with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media services. The benefit of its algorithm is in what Peter Davies, LinkedIn’s Senior Director of Product Management refers to as “people you know, talking about things you care about”.
LinkedIn feeds you and other users posts based on:
Who you’re connected to or follow
What your connections like, comment on, or share
Groups you’ve joined
Hashtags you follow
Events you’re attending
Everything works together within a sphere or relevancy that you can use to your advantage. If your LinkedIn audience is small, you may not get as much traction that your thought leadership articles deserve, at least at first. If you enhance your thought leadership by joining and sharing articles in groups specific to your niche (as long as that’s allowed in that group’s rules), you will have access to individuals who may like, share, or then follow or connect with you. The same is true if you use trending hashtags that relate to your content.
Having a small number of connections right now shouldn’t stop you from creating and sharing high-value content. The better your content, the more likely you’ll start getting followers and LinkedIn connections. But you’ll accelerate that growth if you start connecting with others on the platform, especially those who may have an interest in your content.
On a similar note, once your content gets shared, don’t sit on those connection invites. Accept them as quickly as possible. People who see your content and connect as a result are the best connections to have. They’re going to be more likely to interact with and share your future content, giving you an even wider audience.
5. Don’t call yourself a thought leader
The term “thought leadership” doesn’t give everyone who hears that term a warm and fuzzy feeling. Far too many thought leaders have taken the wrong approach with their marketing, starting with breaking the first rule: Don’t call yourself a thought leader!
Self-proclaimed thought leaders erode their own trust by attaching the label to themselves. As social media ghostwriter Bruce Kasanoff wrote in 2014, “The #1 rule of the Association of International Thought Leaders is ‘Never call yourself a thought leader. Wait for other people to do it. If necessary, hire other people to do it’”.
There’s a certain amount of authority in thought leadership. After all, you’re sharing your knowledge as an expert. But humility is critical, as it’s required to maintain credibility. You ruin that if you’re the only one calling yourself a thought leader.
6. Use a “Give, Give, Give, Ask” format
Thought leadership posts should emphasize educational content. The best thought leaders don’t spend much of their time and space trying to sell a product or service. Instead, they attempt to deliver content that readers can consider carefully, discuss, share, and even put into action.
For example, a family attorney might choose to look at the impact of COVID-19 on divorce rates from a different angle, with only minimal call-to-action advertising the business. Or a medical spa could write a think piece that answers some of the unexpected benefits of reflexology. The goal for thought leadership is to expand or and explore your industry in a way that helps others better understand it. In doing so, you sell the credibility of your brand and push leads further down the sales funnel through the quality of the material.
Patience and Consistency with Thought Leadership on LinkedIn
Thought leadership is not a short-term endeavor. It takes careful planning and importantly, time and patience. Even if you already have thousands of connections on LinkedIn, your thought leadership may not give you overnight success. Paid advertisements are easy, but consumers are increasingly wary of and even distrustful of advertisements. With thought leadership, however, you can establish the kind of trust, engagement, and long-term relationships that distinguish yourself and your business as an industry leader.
Not sure where to get started with your thought leadership strategy? Contact Madison Ave Media today for a free consultation on effective thought leadership strategies through LinkedIn.