So you want to be a thought leader - we’ve got a digital strategy for that
+the cultural moments | news that caught our attention this week
quick summary ⚡️
If you have the expertise of a thought leader, but need a more strategic way of sharing that expertise online, we’re here to help
How McDonald’s taps into subcultures in their marketing, Facebook is bringing ‘poking’ back and more in the cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week
The plight of the social media manager
Our Digital Strategy Essentials on the Kajabi platform is for anyone who wants to level up about leveling up their digital presence
how to build your digital strategy as a thought leader
Kait Richmond is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog
Everybody wants to be a thought leader these days.
It’s the buzzy phrase we hear from clients who have the expertise of a thought leader, but need a more strategic way of sharing that expertise online.
Today we’ll talk about how to start building your thought leadership strategy, the importance of nourishing it and who you can look to for inspiration. But first - let’s go over what it means to be a thought leader and why it’s worth your time.
Aneesh Raman has built much of his career around thought leadership and led the team focused on it at LinkedIn (more on Aneesh below). He frames the practice of thought leadership as “having authentic, relevant, insightful things to say about a few key issues and saying those things over a sustained period of time in order to provoke new thoughts and actions by others.” [Read more on that definition here.]
Thought leadership has a lot of benefits. It builds your own profile, often leading to a range of opportunities from speaking engagements to job interviews. It can also build your brand’s profile, enabling you to talk about the brand’s values and innovation in a new way. And if you’re a consultant, or a side hustler, thought leadership will help you connect with potential clients and prove your value before you even have an interview.
It’s not unlike the community-building we talk about for brands and creators. Thought leadership is about identifying your value-add, staying in the conversation with consistent posting, and engaging with your budding community.
So - how should you get started? Here are some tips and resources for building your thought leadership digital strategy:
Pick your platform: LinkedIn is the first choice of many, but think about the audience you want to reach and where they are. Depending on how much time you want to dedicate, you may want to invest in an owned platform (like a newsletter or a podcast) that you can then promote on your own social media accounts.
Assess the competition: Make sure you’re following what similar thought leaders are talking about so you can identify the white space that will allow you to stand out from the crowd. Pick a few people who you feel do it best and use that to inform your own strategy.
Resource: How to do a competitive analysis
Decide what to talk about: Like any digital strategy, you should have 3-5 content pillars. This will keep your posts focused but diversify them enough so that you’re not always talking about the same thing. Keep in mind that, as a thought leader, everything doesn’t need to be a totally original post because you should be weighing in on your industry trends and news. Consider making one of your pillars about being reactive, and curating content that your followers should know about.
Build a content calendar: This will all be for nothing if you’re only posting once a month, so build a calendar based on your content pillars and stick to it. If you’re planning a podcast or newsletter, aim to publish at least weekly. Shoot for a higher frequency if you’re prioritizing social media, starting with 2-3 posts per week.
Publish and engage: You’re not done after you hit publish. Keep an eye on the comments on your post and respond, especially to the ones who provide additional insight or are appreciative of your POV. The key to finding your audience is remembering that engagement is a two-way street.
Since thought leadership has become so buzzy, there are a lot of people online trying to do it themselves, and you should follow them for inspiration (note what you like and dislike). Get started with these experts whose content we love:
James Clear: You may know James as the author of the bestselling book “Atomic Habits,” but he’s been writing online since 2012 and his popular 3-2-1 newsletter is sent to more than three million subscribers each week.
Lola Bakare: Everyone who works in marketing should be following Lola on LinkedIn. She’s earned a coveted “Top Voice” badge and more than 30,000 followers on the platform.
Aneesh Raman: As a workforce expert who’s a VP at LinkedIn, Aneesh is really on the front lines of thought leadership, regularly featured on a variety of mediums to talk about trends like return to office and AI in the workplace.
Lauryn and Michael Bosstick: Lauryn’s followers probably think of her as more of a beauty influencer than a thought leader, but she and her husband Michael are literal owners in the podcast space and have paved the way for many others.
more on the MTD blog and if you want focused direction on how to level it up, check out our Digital Strategy course
💎cultural gems💎
The cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week:
Inside McDonald’s subculture marketing (Ad Age). Ad Age breaks down how the brand is able to pick up on trends and bring them to the masses.
Facebook is trying to make ‘poking’ cool again (TechCrunch). “Poking is one of Facebook’s oldest features, dating from the platform’s founding in 2004, but was tucked away in the navigation after it lost popularity.”
‘Its suggestions were slightly jarring’: Two weeks with the iPhone’s new journal app (WSJ). “Ultimately, though I found Apple Journal’s suggestions engaging, they made me anxious about just how much information my phone was tracking.”
Some creators say they're frustrated after Instagram starts limiting political content recommendations (NBC News). A new setting is filtering out “political content” by default.
Congrats to MTD client Alisyn Camerota on the publishing of her memoir, Combat Love, available at your favorite bookstore or online here
for a giggle
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Ofc feel free to email us at hello@mtdecoagency.com with any questions!
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