Building trust in our customers is the key requirement for every business. With the popularization of digital marketing and content marketing on social platforms, thought leadership has become the buzzword for building customer trust. 

Thought leadership content can be a valuable step to building customer trust. It is a great way for leaders to express their opinions and perspectives on industry trends.  

What Is Thought Leadership? Why Is It Crucial To Build Customer Trust? 

Thought leadership is the buzzword in the industry today. Social media platforms like LinkedIn provide the right setting for leaders to express their opinions and interact with like-minded individuals in their industry. 

Platforms like LinkedIn allow thought leaders to speak their minds, display their ideology and opinions and show the industry what they stand for.  

When leaders create content that adds value, inspires trends in the industry or reveals unique perspectives on industry topics, they are hailed as thought leaders.  

With researched thought leadership content, leaders and executives can easily grow their followers and personal brand, increase visibility and build trust in the company. Here are some proven strategies you can use to create impactful thought leadership content. 

How Can C-Suite Leaders Create An Effective Thought Leadership Strategy?  

1. Creating a ‘Content Calendar’ with niche topic areas
    
   This is the first step to plan for—what’s your expertise areas and how frequently do you plan to post? 
   • Choose content topics that answer your customer’s pain points 
   • Block out half a day to ideate and create the content for the week 
   • Use voice notes / research links to help your content team transcribe better 
   • Share the personal side / behind the scenes with relevant images 
     
     
2. Scheduling content creation and social / blog posting  
   
   Thought leadership content requires consistency. Set the frequency and schedule right. 
   • Choose a posting frequency that works for you and stick to it. E.g. – Sharing on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 am 
   • Research the best time for posting on the social platform, e.g., LinkedIn and schedule posts accordingly to get maximum engagement 
   • Encourage your team to use scheduling tools such as Hootsuite and Sprout Social 
   • Do a weekly check on analytics on your posts and adjust strategies if needed 
     
     
3. Go all in on LinkedIn  
   
   You can use Medium or Quora to share thought leadership content but currently, LinkedIn has the highest organic reach and active users in B2B segment. 
   • Write in a positive yet candid style—it will build trust
   • Engage on other thought leadership posts.  
   • Add value consistently with a problem solving / educational perspective 
   • Engage customers with a live / AMA session once a quarter 

Content Best Practices So Your Audience Notices Your Content

Be Visual: Use infographics, ‘Behind The Scenes’ photos and graphics to draw attention immediately 

Mix It Up: Mix long form content (blogs, whitepapers, reports) with short form (polls, posts, anecdotes, listicles, short videos) 

Be your company’s brand ambassador: Share updates about your company or reshare various relevant industry-related updates.  

Make it Personal: You can showcase limited personal details to humanize and connect with your audience. Personal stories and anecdotes are relatable and inspiring for many as it shows the vulnerable, human side of leadership. 

Engage: Follow other thought leaders in your industry and add insights as comments on their posts. This will help you reach a wider audience. 

Pro Tip: Outsource your work to a content team who can help you create relevant, researched and insightful thought leadership content.  

Want to create insightful and effective thought leadership content?  

Join the AIXC (AI Xecutive Council) to get access to an extended content team of editors and designers to help you create your personal brand.