We recently worked with a client who was eagerly anticipating the release of her first TED Talk. By all accounts, she was already a well-regarded thought leader — a psychologist and pioneer in the field of eco-anxiety who combined psychological insights with environmental issues to develop tools for facilitating action.
Her TED Talk — How to Turn Climate Anxiety Into Action — was the culmination of years of studies and applied work, and she wanted to ensure that it reached a broad audience and made an impact. She also wanted to use the opportunity to take her audience growth to the next level.
While many established thought leaders have their followers hooked on their every word, if you’re just getting started or looking to grow your followership, consider creating an impact campaign to amplify your thought leadership content.
Here are three key tactics we used to help our client achieve that goal.
1. Amplifying Cornerstone Content
Your cornerstone content could be anything from an illuminating blog post to an ebook, webinar or video series. However you capture your thoughts, the key is ensuring the content you want to amplify is easily found across all channels.
In this case, we had a brilliant TED Talk to leverage. Our goal was to give it as much visibility as possible.
We started by redesigning our client’s website homepage. First thing’s first: adding a TED-focused hero image with a clear CTA to the talk so that users couldn’t miss it.
We also aligned messaging on her social channel descriptions, adding a link to the TED Talk and a pinned post wherever possible.
Key takeaways:
- Make your cornerstone thought leadership content easily findable across channels
- Align your messaging to reinforce your key messages across channels
- Use strategic design to amplify the impact of your content
2. A Comprehensive Social Strategy
Getting the cornerstone content out across all channels means creating a plan to post, repost and repost yet again.
To maximize visibility, we developed a posting schedule for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, our client’s channels of choice. We suggested a posting frequency that was most appropriate for each channel, and implemented an engagement strategy which involved actively reaching out to key colleagues, influencers and media outlets, and responding to incoming comments.
If resources allow, social engagement could also include monitoring online conversations and jumping in on relevant topics to extend reach and awareness.
Key takeaways:
- Develop a posting schedule for your social channels
- Post your content across all social channels repeatedly
- Engage your audience by responding to comments and actively inserting yourself into relevant conversations
3. Leveraging Additional Content
There’s only so much you can post and repost when it comes to content. But as a thought leader, you likely have a rich bank of older content you can repurpose. (And if you don’t, it’s a good idea to create some—starting with nailing your voice and tone!)
In our TED impact campaign, we included older content in our social posting schedule to provide some variety and bolster efforts to build context around the campaign’s key messaging. This included articles our client had previously published, as well as a series of new videos we had her create. This helped elaborate on the messages in her TED Talk while keeping her audience engaged.
Finally, if your thought leadership content has a news hook, consider a PR strategy to get your voice into mainstream media outlets. Our client’s TED Talk captured media attention around the globe. After a couple of hours of consultation with our PR specialist, she felt confident conducting interviews with everyone from The Guardian to Rolling Stone to InStyle Magazine.
Key takeaways:
- Leverage existing content into your campaign messaging
- Develop a PR strategy, if applicable
This Sounds Like Content Marketing… What’s the Difference Between Content Marketing and Thought Leadership?
They’re under the same umbrella. As a content marketing agency, we specialize in crafting compelling content for brands across industries. Thought leadership is a subset of this. Thought leadership focuses on sharing unique insights, innovative ideas, and industry expertise, with the underlying goal of positioning you as the expert in your field. This is a part of content marketing—but not the whole part. Content marketing, more broadly, offers valuable information, promotes brand awareness, and nurtures leads through the sales funnel.
Need help with thought leadership or content marketing? Get in touch; we’d love to chat!
