Thanks to an internal competition at Likeable Media, where I work as a social media strategist, I have had the opportunity grow my personal brand and put my thought leadership skills to the test. As social media strategists, we hear the term thrown around all the time, but what exactly is a thought leader? Without a thorough understanding of what thought leadership is and how we can obtain it, how can we increase our online influence? If we can’t become thought leaders in the areas that interest us most, how can we expect to build effective social media strategies for our brands? Based on what I’ve learned over the past month, I believe that thought leadership means:
1. Sparking interest and conversation: Thought leadership means literally leading thoughts. Your content should entertain, excite, and generate curiosity among your audience.
2. Promoting active engagement: Social media is not about preaching or broadcasting. They’ll listen if you listen: take an interest in what your followers say and they’ll be sure to take an interest in you. Voice your opinions, but be receptive to theirs as well.
3. Utilizing available resources: As someone who works with many of Likeable’s small business accounts, I understand that you don’t need a ton of money or a big following to have an influence on the social web. Be creative and think of ways to utilize the programs, products, partners, supporters, customers, businesses, and friends that you already have or can easily access.
4. Thinking outside of the box: If your campaigns are the same as everyone else’s, users have no reason to participate. Brainstorming, participating in strategy sessions, and researching are great ways to help you create unique and effective marketing strategies.
5. Being willing to take risks: Social media evolves every day. A technique that works one day may not work the next. It is important for marketers to continue trying new things: you may fall short of your expectations once in a while, but your chances of stumbling upon something remarkable are that much greater.
For those of you who haven’t heard about the competition I referenced above, each Likeable employee was given a small budget to test out the Twitter advertising platform. The goal of our competition is to build our personal brand and gain the most new Twitter followers by May 15th. As a 22 year-old strategist only a year out of college, you may think that I don’t have the experience necessary to pull this off. Based on what I’ve learned about thought leadership, I have discovered otherwise. It’s all about working with the resources you have (thanks Socialnomics), providing value to your followers, thinking creatively, and engaging with social media users in unique and interesting ways.
If you agree with my definition of thought leadership, I’d appreciate if you support the cause by giving me a follow, proving that thought leadership is less about material values or professional experience and more about creativity, execution, and engagement. If you disagree, I want to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment or send me a tweet – What do YOU think a thought leader is?
One thing I like about reading through websites like this, is that there aren’t any punctuational or lexical errors! Makes it difficult on the reader occasionally. Excellent job upon that and additionally the topic of this website. Thanks!
What are you stating, man? I recognize everyones got their own viewpoint, but really? Listen, your website is interesting. I like the energy you put into it, particularly with the vids and the pics. But, come on. Theres gotta be a better way to say this, a way that doesnt make it seem like most people here is stupid!
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being a thought leader surely is about creativity, out of the box thinking, etc. i believe the most important step in becomming a leader online is to approach the (potential) ‘followers’. to lead a group of people in the offline world is easier in ways that you can charm them with your personality. to be charming or seem attractive online is about raising awareness about your charm, and there is no better way to do that than to engage in as many conversations, posts etc as possible, to show who u r and what u r made of. this actually makes me wonder: can sb become a thought leader in the online world while not being a leader offline?is it about your personality or just the appearance that you can build and manage online?
Great post Amy! Taking risks and being active with your audience is definitely key to social media leadership.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Rick! So glad you agree
What about “being transparent”? What will be a good balance of contributing you thoughts and being open-minded & transparent?
Thanks for asking, Evelyn! I think “being transparent” falls under the heading “Promoting active engagement.” Thought leaders are opinionated and honest, but still open-minded. A thought leader is ALWAYS thinking and always open to adapting. A thought leader is a listener as well as a presenter. If I voice my opinion about a particular topic, I don’t necessarily expect everyone to agree with me: sometimes it’s okay to agree to disagree. It’s all about producing content that will encourage active communication– and who knows, if we present our thoughts effectively, we may even be able to influence our followers!
Thanks for the kind words Dave and yes, Amy is a rockstar!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post!
Thanks for reading, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading and for passing it on! Glad to hear you got free lunch out of it (wish I could, too!).
So glad to hear it! Thanks for reading!
Thanks a lot, really appreciate it!