How to Become a Digital Marketing Thought Leader

Coming up, I will give you some advice  on how you can become a digital marketing  
thought leader and become the face and  voice of your company let's get started.
If you're new here my name is Matthew Royse  I am a Knowledge Enthusiast I love working  
with digital marketers like you and to share my  knowledge of digital marketing on this channel  
I will provide you with weekly tips on how  you can grow your digital marketing career  
thought leaders inspire change and solve problems  they have a strong reputation for being leaders  
at their companies and in their field of  work they position themselves as forward  
thinkers who can earn trust with their colleagues  customers and prospects thought leadership is an  
excellent way to position yourself as an expert  and influencer in digital marketing there are  
many definitions of thought leadership for example  here are three that come to mind a thought leader  
is recognized by peers customers and industry  experts as someone who deeply understands the  
business they are in the needs of their customers  and the broader marketplace in which they operate  
they have distinctly original ideas unique points  of view and new insights said Joel Kurtzman  
founding editor of strategy and business a thought  leader is someone who looks at the future and sets  
a course for it that others will follow thought  leaders look at existing best practices then come  
up with better practices they force change  often causing great disruption said Shell  
Israel a writer I define thought leadership is  creating a conversation that informs and shapes  
people's thinking said Nicole France former  head of thought leadership at cisco if you  
become a digital marketing thought leader you can  give your business a competitive edge that will  
help you stay top of mind with your prospects and  customers thought leadership can help you produce  
sales and grow your company's revenue it can play  a significant role in how your companies target  
your audience engage with them and learn from them  successful thought leadership is only effective if  
it is authentic it must cover relevant topics and  trends within your industry you can miss the mark  
if you become overly promotional too generic  or lack original ideas so how do you become a  
thought leader in digital marketing here are five  things to keep in mind number one listen thought  
leaders should seek out knowledge to do that they  need to listen to others they need to be humble  
and learn from others to understand how your ideas  are different from others you must first find out  
what ideas exist in the marketplace you must  listen to others and find out how people think  
about important digital marketing topics a thought  leader understands and listens to what other  
people are saying a thought leader knows thoughts  in the marketplace and then becomes a leader of  
those thoughts to make this happen you must listen  number two develop a strategy after you know what  
ideas and thoughts exist in your industry you can  form a deep understanding of the trends and forces  
impacting your sector you must understand the  questions that your target audience is asking  
what are they typing into google what are they  asking analysts what are they asking their peers  
the goal of a thought leadership strategy should  be to answer questions that your target audience  
is asking it would help if you did it better than  others that's how you become a leader you must be  
passionate about answering those questions and  answering them for an extended amount of time  
becoming a thought leader doesn't happen overnight  you have to be burning with an idea or a problem  
or a wrong that you want to write if you're not  passionate enough from the start you'll never  
stick it out said Steve Jobs co-founder of Apple  look at the big picture and determine a strategy  
for how your thoughts stand out it would help if  you become a magnet for the conversation around  
important issues and trends in your industry  this requires some risks because you must become  
a contrarian and be right here's the catch  contrarian thinkers are wrong a lot you have  
to remember that contrarians are usually  wrong said Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon  
a contrarian is someone who zigs while others  zag they think differently and notice what others  
can't see therefore a strategy is crucial to  success it's a balancing act for contrarians you  
most likely will fail if you don't do it correctly  so that's why it's challenging to become a thought  
leader number three create compelling content  consistently the next step is to create thought  
leadership content such as opinion articles  blog posts speaking engagements podcasts  
and YouTube videos that are outlets for your  thoughts thought leadership must be educational  
genuine and high quality it would help if you stay  away from common buzzwords too often i see thought  
leadership content that is too technical filled  with jargon and tries to cover too many ideas the  
articles that leave a lasting impression are the  ones that convey a powerful message in a simple  
and concise way said peter economy the leadership  guy in Inc. magazine social media is an excellent  
way for thought leaders to understand their target  audience and see if their thoughts resonate with  
their audience when you produce consistent  content and share it via social media you  
can stay on top of trends and create consistent  thought leadership worthy content your messages  
must be consistent with your belief system over  time and connected to what is going on in the  
world today when your messages are consistent over  time people are able to relate to and understand  
your ideas and visions and Manish Chandra count  founder and ceo at Poshmark number four be forward  
thinking a hallmark of true thought leadership  is the confidence to take the route that 99.9  
of the industry experts don't even see said Craig  Baldings and Dr. Liz Alexander thought leadership  
authors when you're forward thinking you think  about the future and plan a thought leader is a  
forward thinker who understands how micro trends  impact their industry in the economy a thought  
leader thinks about the future and finds patterns  thought leaders analyze these patterns and combine  
them with their vision of solving real world  problems it takes time and resources to hone your  
expertise so becoming a thought leader will have  some risks you will also have some opportunities  
because you make a significant impact on your  industry and beyond becoming a thought leader  
is worth it if you love sharing ideas like  innovation and have a vision for the future  
it will help if you're good at connecting the dots  that others don't see number five inspire action  
you don't lead by pointing and telling people  some place to go you lead by going to that place  
and making a case said Ken Kessie an American  novelist thought leaders have an uncanny ability  
to understand what is happening today and that  speculate on what will happen tomorrow they have  
informed opinions that bring insights and inspire  action their passion inspires others to have the  
same passion for the topic thought leaders set the  pace for in the industry and they love innovation  
innovation is what distinguishes between a leader  and a follower said Steve Jobs thought leaders are  
innovators that inspire change and solve problems  they have a reputation for thinking about things  
differently and people want to know how they  feel about specific topics okay let's bring it  
all together first if you like what you saw  here please hit the subscribe button below  
thought leadership is about having original ideas  and seeing beyond today to make things better now  
and in the future if you follow these steps you  can become a thought leader and increase your  
authority and influence on specific topics  in your industry the goal is to be the best  
resource possible on your particular area of  expertise so you can start new relationships and  
enhance existing ones by consistently providing  valuable insights and resources to your customers  
said Danielle Sabrina a thought leadership  consultant thank you for watching until next time.