To know how to become a thought leader means to know what your brand represents. It requires you as an entrepreneur to understand thoroughly what your brand stands for, needless to say it is imperative to recognize and serve your clients as per their pain points. Thought leadership is not a matter of assuming what your clients need but actually taking the time to analyse the needs of your customers to be sure to serve and serve them beyond their satisfaction.
Being a thought leader brings forth an advantage to be the best in the industry, to be consistently one step ahead of the competition. With the digital age we had stepped into, we cannot ignore how easy it has become to spot each activity done by the competition, therefore one could not sit back and watch competition take over in servicing YOUR customers who should be under your “care”, therefore analyzing competition and doing better puts your brand in the forefront.
It is important to understand that being in the forefront at all times in solving your clients’ problems makes room for your customers to have a relationship with your brand, should it be maintain (as it should) therefore, forms customer advocacy which is what you want in achieving the kind of success you have aimed for.
Here are the things to look out for to become the kind of success you want:
- Know the culture of your organization– With very minimal difference between your competition and your brand, you have to have something that speaks to embody your company which attracts your customers. What you do internally shows externally.
- Analyse your competition thoroughly– With unrestricted access to information one can find everything about anything, and that includes competition. With the use of social media as one of the most powerful tools, simply because every activity is in real time, it is almost impossible to miss what your competition is up to in trying to divert your customers towards their direction.
- Market your business well– it’s more than just promoting your product, it’s building a brand. That requires to fully equip yourself on how to communicate a message to your targeted audiences. Bear in mind that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all marketing. With that being said, hold yourself accountable to develop messages that will stick, most importantly, results in Call-to-Action (CTAs).
- Know the appropriate mediums– After developing appropriate messages to your specified audiences, ensure to publish those messages to the appropriate media platforms. To get the best results, always ensure that you recognized the rules of all mediums you have chosen. Just as you would respect the rules of different homes you enter into, it is the same with different media platforms, from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, blogging, print media, there are rules that will either cost you or make you money, depending on your response.
To conclude this topic, all this information is meaningless if it shall be used without an unwavering reason, the “why”. Consequently, you must be able to work out the goal and the vision that will drive thereafter activities which will create an opportunity to be recognised as an expert in your industry.
Needless to say, Go get em’.
Neliswa Makhaza
COO: UvoLwethu Communications
UvoLwethu Blog 