{"id":3756,"date":"2023-07-03T17:22:53","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T17:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/startups\/how-to-make-thought-leadership-work-for-your-tech-business\/"},"modified":"2023-07-03T17:22:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T17:22:54","slug":"how-to-make-thought-leadership-work-for-your-tech-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=3756","title":{"rendered":"How To Make Thought Leadership Work For Your Tech Business"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jess Shanahan is a content strategist and founder of <\/em>Jet Social<\/em> where she works with technology and e-mobility brands.<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve no doubt heard the phrase \u201ccontent is king,\u201d but what does that actually mean, and how can you leverage this in the tech world? Well, according to Marketing Charts, 52% of B2B buyers say they\u2019re \u201cdefinitely\u201d more likely to buy from a brand once they\u2019ve read its content. This presents an opportunity for tech startups and software companies to win over buyers.<\/p>\n

In the context of technology content marketing, there are two types of thought leadership. The first is brand-led content designed to position the company as a whole as a leader\u2014this might take the form of white papers or reports. Perhaps even more straightforward is personal thought leadership. This is where individuals within the company create content around their own expertise.<\/p>\n

Identifying Thought Leaders<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not just the CEO of a company that should be posting thought leadership content. Over my years in this industry, I\u2019ve worked with people from all areas of tech businesses, from scrum masters to chief technology officers to engineers. While the leadership team might have some interesting insights into running a tech company, startup culture or managing teams, you shouldn\u2019t overlook the contribution of others within the business.<\/p>\n

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Creating A Thought Leadership Strategy<\/h2>\n

Thought leadership should fit into your wider marketing strategy, but you should consider the specific goals and audience of each piece you create. What\u2019s interesting is that B2B content typically only converts when someone is already close to signing up. Despite this, many businesses focus their attention on moving people through that funnel.<\/p>\n

According to Databox, 67% of B2B content marketers say top-of-funnel content is their main focus. This type of content is designed to get more eyes on your brand to help establish expertise. It\u2019s also a lot less competitive than bottom-of-funnel content, where the keywords are often more highly contested.<\/p>\n

Consider these things as you build your thought leadership strategy.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Who is your audience?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What are their pain points?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What\u2019s the goal of each article?<\/p>\n

\u2022 At what points in the buyer journey do you want to create content?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What do potential customers need to know at each stage in that journey?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What key messages will you stick to for consistency?<\/p>\n

\u2022 How will you speak to your audience, and what tone of voice will they respond to?<\/p>\n

As you start to answer these questions, you\u2019ll be able to build a picture of the kind of content you need to create, but there\u2019s one key element you need to remember: Write to help.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s fine to talk about your experiences and lean on your expertise, thought leadership isn\u2019t a sales exercise. Yes, some articles might convert, but the main purpose is to establish your credibility. This often means letting go of your business agenda and simply writing articles designed to help or inform.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, think about the challenges your target audience is currently facing. For example, if your company offers optimization tools for software businesses, you could create articles on eliminating bottlenecks and increasing efficiency when working with large data sets. This is something that\u2019s relevant to your business, but the piece as a whole will help those facing those specific challenges.<\/p>\n

Segmenting Your Content<\/h2>\n

Once you know a bit more about your audience and the content they might find helpful, it\u2019s important to segment your content. This will make it as impactful as possible. If your audience includes C-suite executives, software developers and UX designers, you\u2019ll want to speak to those people in slightly different ways. For example, you could be more technical when writing content targeted at developers. It\u2019s also worth segmenting based on someone\u2019s place in the sales funnel.<\/p>\n

In the work I do, I break this down into three areas.<\/p>\n

Awareness<\/h3>\n

This is where the majority of thought leadership falls, as it\u2019s about bringing awareness of your expertise and business to new people.<\/p>\n

Example headlines:<\/p>\n

\u2022 How AI Will Revolutionize Software Development<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Technology Trends That Will Shape The Automotive Industry\u2019s Future<\/p>\n

\u2022 Improving Labor Participation With Remote Operations<\/p>\n

While these headlines are still quite specific, they\u2019re designed to inform and educate while staying on-topic for the target audience.<\/p>\n

Consideration<\/h3>\n

This content is aimed at people who already know they need the type of thing you offer but haven\u2019t made a firm decision to buy.<\/p>\n

Example headlines:<\/p>\n

\u2022 How Developers Can Use AI To Work More Efficiently<\/p>\n

\u2022 Why Open Standards Will Change The Automotive Industry<\/p>\n

\u2022 How To Bring Autonomous Tech Into The Warehouse<\/p>\n

These examples are slightly more specific. While they all still target a particular industry, it\u2019s clear they contain even more actionable information that speaks to the audience\u2019s pain points.<\/p>\n

Decision<\/h3>\n

This content is for those who have made a decision to buy but are looking at the different options available to them.<\/p>\n

Example headlines:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Three Things You Need To Know Before Implementing AI Optimization Tools<\/p>\n

\u2022 Case Study: How [Company] Doubled Its Revenue In One Year<\/p>\n

\u2022 Autonomous Tech That Keeps Humans In The Loop<\/p>\n

The majority of the decision segment will likely be case studies or content that\u2019s more specific to your product.<\/p>\n

Remembering Your Goals<\/h2>\n

When I first started content writing, I\u2019d often let the client dictate what we wrote and when, but I soon found this wasn\u2019t as impactful as we both wanted. Now, I don\u2019t work with a company unless they already have a strategy in place or are willing to work with me to create one. Thought leadership can be incredibly powerful\u2014but only when done right.<\/p>\n

Even with a strategy in place, before you write (or send the brief to your ghostwriter), think about the goal of that piece of content. Consider the expertise you\u2019ll share and how that will help your audience. With this in mind, you\u2019ll be able to create a successful piece of thought leadership content regardless of whether you publish it on your company blog, LinkedIn or somewhere else entirely.<\/p>\n

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jess Shanahan is a content strategist and founder of Jet Social where she works with technology and e-mobility brands. You\u2019ve no doubt heard the phrase \u201ccontent is king,\u201d but what does that actually mean, and how can you leverage this in the tech world? Well, according to Marketing Charts, 52% of B2B buyers say they\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-startups"},"yoast_head":"\nHow To Make Thought Leadership Work For Your Tech Business | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jess Shanahan is a content strategist and founder of Jet Social where she works with technology and e-mobility brands. 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