Table of Contents
Innovation happens online, for that is where like-minded people can connect. Building thought leadership cannot happen without social media. One needs to tell their story.
Thought leaders share their insights and wisdom through social media. Also, social media is the judge, so to speak, of what content is considered wise and good vs. what content is not.
Social media thought leadership is a new thing that became essential for everyone as it came into existence. Everyone is on social media nowadays. After all, Facebook and other social media apps can be very helpful for us to build a social media leadership strategy. So, the path to success is divided into three stages:
1) Social excellence of thought leadership, or stage of superiority.
The basis of the first phase is the content. It should be high-quality, regular, and unique. Good content is not a victory or a guarantee for success. In addition to creating unique internal content, the company must be present in the news flow, commenting on the industry’s leading events, using the technologies of newsjacking, and regular comments of the company’s experts on the market.
Another component of this stage is the development of a crisis communications plan. It is no secret that in times of reputational crisis, the company’s social accounts are flooded with negative comments. It is necessary to be ready to conduct a dialogue with dignity even in the most chaotic moments.
Accordingly, if your company has it all, you are only at the beginning of the road to success!
2) Social Disruption, or the “disruptive” stage.
This stage can be described as “business reflection.” Is anyone reading our content? If so, who and why, and does it lead to any tangible results for our business?
This is the transition to specific actions – generating discussions and engaging your content readers in conversations and debates. Measuring engagement by just the number of likes is not enough: you need to pay attention to comments and specific tonality and relevant topics. And definitely on target action, whether it’s going to the site, calling the store, or selling.
3) Social Leadership, or Leadership Stage
At the third and highest stage in this hierarchy, the company reaps the business benefits of successful work with social networks. It becomes a leader and role model for other companies. Examples – Maersk, FedEx, Unilever…etc.
Results For Thought Leadership:
Before you know where to go, you need to decide where you are now, perhaps to sum up the described approach. In business, it is generally useful to look from the outside: what you could consider a success (in the case of social networks – the presence of quality content), from an expert can be only the first step on the way to it. The next step is to generate targeted actions from your pages and reach the level of leadership; you have to become a role model for competitors – the task is not easy, but quite doable.