AI could be very efficient at answering your audience’s FAQs, and the outdated technique of publishing “how-to” content material gained’t aid you construct a loyal viewers.
Nonetheless, this surplus of factual content material has created a requirement for content material that features a person’s tales, experiences, and distinctive views.
Because of this TikTok, YouTube, and different particular person influencers have grow to be more and more standard over the previous a number of years, and types that may emulate these influencers by sharing distinct insights, case research, and tales are more likely to succeed.
This fashion of content material is named thought management content material, and on this submit, we’ll talk about how one can create thought management content material that your viewers loves and supply particular examples from B2B thought leaders.
What’s Thought Management Content material?
Thought management content material is a model or particular person’s distinctive opinions and viewpoints packaged right into a medium like textual content, video, or audio.
The aim of thought management content material is to assist manufacturers and people entice extra followers from their very best audience by presenting distinctive concepts and views on trade subjects.
Nonetheless, formulating a singular perspective on a subject that resonates together with your viewers isn’t simple. It sometimes requires actual expertise inside an trade, and one of the best thought management content material often accommodates parts of actual experiences, case research, and storytelling.
We’ll discover extra detailed thought management content material later on this submit, however for now, right here’s a easy instance of thought leadership content:
There are three primary parts of fantastic thought management content material, and this instance hits all of them:
- Takes a contrarian stance/distinctive perspective: Most entrepreneurs consider in “ache level” advertising and marketing, so saying it doesn’t work could be very contrarian.
- Pulls from his private expertise: He discusses what he discovered from working along with his personal purchasers.
- Leaves the viewers with an relevant takeaway: As a substitute of specializing in simply the ache level clients say they’re battling, introduce that ache level after which talk about how your product will remedy the issue and provides them extra safety and management.
In an age of AI the place most content material is essentially factual and educational, thought management content material will probably grow to be more and more vital to a model’s success as audiences search extra private tales, opinions, and experience-backed content material.
That will help you make the most of the rising demand for thought management content material, we’ll talk about a step-by-step technique to create thought management content material after which introduce you to a number of examples of particular person and branded thought management content material.
The best way to Generate Nice Thought Management Concepts
You should use checklists to get nearly any freelance author or AI device to create a high-quality “how-to” fashion piece of content material. It simply wants to offer sound, actionable recommendation to perform a particular job.
Nonetheless, thought management content material is a bit trickier as a result of the standard of the content material is immediately tied to the high quality of the concept.
So how do you provide you with higher concepts?
Listed here are 5 frameworks to generate higher-quality thought management content material concepts.
Methodology 1: Discover “finest observe” ideas that you simply’ve tried that don’t work
Most “finest observe” recommendation tends to grow to be much less efficient as increasingly folks use it. This makes it a superb alternative for thought management content material as a result of you’ll be able to take a contrarian stance, clarify why it doesn’t work, and provide a simpler resolution.
For instance, one typical piece of “finest observe” recommendation for constructing hyperlinks (an website positioning technique) is to do visitor posts. Sadly, as a result of everybody already does it, most visitor submit pitches are ignored, and it’s not as efficient because it was a number of years in the past.
So an awesome thought management concept is perhaps claiming that it doesn’t work, explaining your private expertise why it doesn’t work, after which sharing a brand new hyperlink constructing approach that’s simpler (like selling their content material to your publication of fifty,000 subscribers in trade for a hyperlink).
The important thing to creating this fashion of thought management content material work is guaranteeing your various methodology really is a simpler resolution. In any other case, it gained’t resonate together with your viewers.
Methodology 2: Share learnings from latest case research and experiences
Testing ideas is vital to development as knowledgeable, so merely share what you’re studying alongside the best way.
After you run an experiment or full a case examine, use these inquiries to create thought management content material:
- What didn’t work that shocked you?
- What labored that shocked you?
- What’s a lesson you discovered that you simply’ll apply to future workflows?
You may as well use this framework to share ideas you discovered from discussions with buddies, attending conferences, and different occasions.
Actually, this technique works exceptionally effectively as a result of discussing ideas you discovered from others provides you a accomplice in selling your content material.
Right here’s an awesome example of how this particular person shared thought management round a latest case examine he did:
Methodology 5: Conduct authentic analysis and share insights
Like sharing case research, you can even conduct authentic analysis or collect information after which share that information and insights from it.
Nonetheless, the standard of your analysis is correlated primarily with the insights you derive from it – not essentially the pattern measurement of information (assuming it’s sufficient to indicate distinct patterns).
For instance, this data study on content material updating analyzed simply 50 posts from a single web site, nevertheless it answered a number of distinctive questions on updating content material, like:
- How probably is a submit to rank larger after being up to date?
- Is it probably you could break a submit by updating it?
- How a lot does the proportion of textual content modified within the submit impression efficiency?
- Is there a specific fashion of submit that tends to carry out higher after an replace?
Right here’s an excerpt from the piece:
So one of the simplest ways to create thought management content material utilizing authentic information is to brainstorm your questions on a sure matter after which create information to reply these questions.
Methodology 4: Share frameworks you utilize to resolve issues/make choices
Folks love frameworks.
The most effective frameworks are memorable, comparatively easy, and remedy a standard drawback your viewers faces. Ideally, introduce them with an instance of the way you’ve used it in your personal life.
For instance, Dan Martell created a framework he calls the “DRIP” matrix. It is a nice piece of thought management content material as a result of it solves a standard drawback that many individuals in his very best audience face:
Ideally, create a sharable diagram of your framework as folks take pleasure in visible ideas, they usually generate extra shares and attain.
Methodology 5: Keep up-to-date with trade developments and share your opinion on them
This methodology works significantly effectively when you primarily submit on social media as folks love discovering the newest developments on these platforms.
To actively keep up-to-date with trade developments, you’ll be able to create an RSS feed of the highest trade specialists on social media, trade information web sites, and even newsletters.
As soon as you already know what the information in a specific trade is, creating a singular opinion on that matter is the subsequent step to creating thought management content material.
This half is a bit trickier, however listed below are a couple of questions that may aid you provide you with an attention-grabbing concept:
- How do you assume this pattern will form the way forward for your trade?
- How are most individuals leveraging this pattern, and what different use instances/approaches are attention-grabbing?
- What are the misconceptions about this pattern?
- What’s an attention-grabbing concept you heard about relating to this pattern, and how are you going to construct on these concepts?
- How have you ever been incorporating this pattern into what you are promoting, and the way?
Right here’s an awesome instance of thought management content material. The creator used the AI content material pattern because the newsworthy matter after which added a singular perception. As a substitute of claiming, “Ought to we do AI content material for purchasers?” (the query most individuals are asking), he says that the query folks must be asking is, “How can we do that ethically?”
The best way to Create a Thought Management Technique
Now that you’ve an efficient methodology to generate distinctive concepts, consistency is the important thing to efficiently rising an viewers. So right here’s a step-by-step thought management content material advertising and marketing technique.
Step 1: Choose a Medium You Get pleasure from
The key to succeeding with content material advertising and marketing is high quality content material at scale. Sadly, when you solely produce a couple of items of content material right here and there, constructing an viewers will take a very long time.
So the important thing to growing content material quantity and consistency is to pick a content material medium that you simply take pleasure in.
For instance, when you’re contemplating doing video content material, check out a couple of movies and see how lengthy it takes you to create them and when you take pleasure in them. When you discover that it takes you many hours to create a video and also you don’t take pleasure in it, think about doing text-based content material as an alternative.
Step 3: Set a Publishing Schedule
When you’ve chosen a sort of content material medium you take pleasure in, choose a practical publishing schedule.
Whereas I already talked about {that a} larger content material quantity is right for development, setting an formidable publishing schedule you could’t persist with will finally trigger you to burn out and stop altogether.
So when you can solely realistically produce two items of content material per week, that’s higher than creating content material day by day for 2 weeks after which quitting.
This graphic by Michael Boorman sums up the idea of consistency properly:
When you’ve selected a publishing frequency, put aside time as soon as per week to create content material.
Most creators discover it simpler to create a number of items of content material in a single sitting as soon as they’re in a state of stream. As well as, you’re more likely to publish persistently if you have already got all of your content material scheduled to publish upfront.
You may as well use instruments like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social to schedule your content material upfront.
Step 4: Collaborate With Different Influencers
As you start publishing your content material, it’s possible you’ll understand it doesn’t instantly achieve traction.
Sadly, when you have a small viewers, you’ll discover it tough in your preliminary few posts to realize traction. It is because the algorithms are programmed to present extra attain to content material that receives sturdy preliminary traction.
So when you have solely a handful of followers and your posts don’t have sturdy preliminary traction, they may obtain little natural attain from the algorithms.
To flee this vicious cycle and assist your content material achieve sturdy preliminary traction in order that it receives extra natural attain, collaborate with influencers that have already got loads of affect.
There are a couple of alternative ways you’ll be able to collaborate with influencers (with out paying them).
First, you’ll be able to all the time interview influencers and submit that content material on social media. Right here’s a great example:
Sadly, getting trade influencers to conform to do a content material collaboration like this may be tough, so an alternate methodology is to reference a framework, perception, or case examine from that influencer.
Right here’s a great example of this in motion:
Whenever you publish the submit, make sure to tag the influencer, as they could share it with their viewers.
You may as well create pods of buddies that can assist you promote content material. For instance, when you have a handful of buddies in an analogous trade, you’ll be able to textual content them once you publish a brand new submit and ask them to interact with it and share it with their viewers.
Step 5: Monitor What Works and Alter
The ultimate step in your thought management advertising and marketing technique is to trace what works finest after which modify primarily based on the suggestions you obtain.
You may monitor conventional engagement metrics, like visitors, feedback, and likes, but additionally monitor who is collaborating together with your content material. When you aren’t attracting your very best purchaser persona, your thought management content material technique gained’t really assist what you are promoting.
For instance, when you’re constructing a thought management technique to draw C-suite executives for a training program, test that the folks participating together with your content material are C-suite executives.
You are able to do this by scanning the feedback part and asking your clients how they discovered you.
Glorious Examples of Thought Management Content material
Listed here are a couple of high thought leaders you’ll be able to be taught from to encourage your thought management content material technique. I encourage you to scroll by means of their social media content material and use their frameworks to create your personal distinctive content material creation technique.
Justin Welsh
Justin Welsh has constructed a major following on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram by posting about how he builds working techniques for solopreneurs.
He additionally posts inspirational and philosophical posts detailing his method to entrepreneurship and constructing a life you’re keen on.
Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom is one other standard entrepreneur that persistently posts about private development and entrepreneurial frameworks.
He tends to submit framework graphics, movies, and text-based content material, so experiment with several types of content material to determine what works in your viewers. You’ll additionally discover that lots of the photos Sahil makes use of are pulled from different sources, after which he merely credit these sources.
He additionally has a formidable publishing schedule with roughly two posts per day.
Sara Stella Lattanzio
Sara is a SaaS advertising and marketing strategist with a powerful following on LinkedIn. She creates memes, step-by-step reels, and academic movies on SaaS advertising and marketing and has a singular voice that makes her content material enjoyable and informative.
Right here’s an instance of considered one of her humorous memes. You’ll additionally discover that despite the fact that the memes are entertaining, they nonetheless entice her potential clients (entrepreneurs at SaaS firms):
Even in her reels, she nonetheless injects her distinctive humorousness whereas delivering useful content material that draws her very best clients:
Allie Miller
Allie has constructed a private model round AI and often shares ChatGPT hacks, case research, and information relating to the newest updates on AI.
Right here’s an instance of considered one of her latest posts discussing how she makes use of ChatGPT:
When she posts data-driven content material, you’ll discover that she creates her personal infographics with related branding types. This makes it simpler for folks to acknowledge her content material, and it’s additionally tremendous sharable:
Lastly, you’ll discover she’s a visitor on many podcasts and actively promotes that content material to her viewers.
Nick Huber
Nick takes a moderately controversial method to thought management. His primary enterprise is constructing storage services, however his major technique for rising a Twitter viewers is publishing controversial posts like this one:
Despite the fact that these Tweets don’t have anything to do along with his primary enterprise, folks love attending to know him as an individual, and it has helped him develop his on-line presence tremendously.
Whereas this isn’t all the time one of the best technique for development (particularly when you’re rising a conventional model), it has labored out effectively for him just because most of his traders are buddies he makes on Twitter.
Will Cannon
Will Cannon is a superb instance of a thought chief who constructed a powerful on-line presence with framework-style Tweets.
Listed here are only a few of his most up-to-date Tweets:
On condition that he’s the founding father of a gross sales software program startup, these Tweets entice the eye of key decision-makers in his very best goal market.
So when you’re feeling caught, have a look at key issues your clients face and create frameworks to resolve these issues.
Alex Lieberman
Alex is a co-founder of Morning Brew, however he’s now constructing a social media ghostwriting company for founders. He’s very energetic on Twitter and LinkedIn, and his content material is primarily uncooked journal-style posts about how he’s constructing his subsequent enterprise.
Right here’s only one instance of a typical Tweet he creates:
In contrast to most individuals making an attempt to be good on social media, Alex provides his viewers an unfiltered snapshot of his enterprise failures and what he’s studying alongside the best way.
This technique has helped him considerably develop his following, which is the principle lead era supply for his content material company.
Last Ideas
The important thing to succeeding in content material advertising and marketing is now not writing longer, extra detailed content material. To face out from AI generated content material, it’s good to create content material that has a singular standpoint whereas nonetheless fixing the shopper’s drawback.
When you want extra assist creating thought management content material, you’ll be able to be a part of the Copyblogger Academy the place you’ll be able to obtain suggestions from friends to degree up your thought management content material.
You’ll even have direct entry to me and I additionally often invite different content material advertising and marketing specialists, like Amanda Natividad, Brian Clark, and Steph Smith, to offer unique insights to the neighborhood.
You may join today danger free, as I provide a 30 day a refund assure.
