12 Steps Towards being a B2B Thought Leader

If you want to be seen as a thought leader in your industry, what do you need to do? Many of our clients are unsure if social media is relevant or worth their time. Many professional service firms are pressed for time themselves and find it hard to keep up.

There are specialty B2B service providers that can provide content support, the goal being to extend the reputation of your company (and corporate identity) online as experts in your industry. By being specialized in the industry themselves, these companies can help you generate momentum and traction. At Industrial Brand, we offer this service for some of our clients. It’s part of a term brand strategy to build value and promote expertise in the service of growth. Looked at as a part of business development and content marketing, it’s a valuable service and justifiable expense.

By becoming a thought leader and known provider of industry intelligence, you reap benefits by way of increased blog readership and visits to your website, as well as developing relationships with other industry leaders through social media and conventional networking channels.

There are several steps to achieve these results. Here are just a few:

1. Most importantly, have a content marketing plan and stick to it.
2. Embrace feedback and advice, where appropriate.
3. Get people to write about what they know and what they are personally interested in. If you feel you can contribute something valuable to a topic, this is better than trying to force a topic.
4. Send emails and engage in social media, but don’t be too noisy.
5. Always have a call to action, or link to a longer post.
6. Use Google keywords to help your SEO.
7. Use visuals where possible. Everyone likes an appealing photo.
8. Be conversational and genuine.
9. Don’t over-hype your title or the content.
10. Always ask yourself, “Am I adding value?”. The answer needs to be yes.
11. Start identifying people to introduce, start conversations with, and to network with.
12. Update your LinkedIn Services page, make sure your website is professional looking, has relevant content and is up to date  with technology.

What do you do to ensure you are a thought leader in your industry?