Use the Power of Thought Leadership to Grow Your Business

By Chris Chariton

Establishing your company as a thought leader provides benefits beyond what a marketing or advertising program can deliver on its own. Yes, thought leadership is a buzzword. But as with many buzzwords, there is relevance behind the concept and there are persuasive reasons to pursue it.

Thought leadership means having a reputation in the market as a company that has unique, innovative and important ideas about your industry, the forces shaping it, the challenges confronting it, and the future awaiting it. While thought leadership is not a strategic objective on its own, it supports and fulfills other objectives such as lead generation, growth of market share, increase of share price—or all of these simultaneously.

For example, one of the primary motivators in B2B purchase decisions is the fear of making the wrong choice. Thought leaders can ease that fear in prospective customers by raising their level of comfort. They are perceived as experts—and businesses want to hire experts. Working with thought leaders also lowers the risk of making the wrong decision.

It Starts With a Point of View

The first step in establishing your company as a thought leader is to develop a unique point of view. You can't simply parrot what others are saying about your industry and market; there's nothing special or worth paying attention to in that. You must have an angle or point of view that brings something new to the discussion.