You want to present your company as a thought leader in the industry, so you begin creating white papers, executive briefs, articles, and blogs. In your eyes, each one is a sparkling gem. However, your eyes aren’t the ones that matter most. Your readers are investing time whenever they bring up your content on screen. Are you giving them a good return on investment (ROI)?
Too frequently, content that is supposed to be “thought leadership” material falters in one of the following ways:
- It’s actually the same as dozens of other pieces you can instantly find through a Google search.
- It sounds like a Wikipedia entry – defining some topic, but not giving any new insight about that topic.
- It is written in such an esoteric manner that readers can’t grasp how to make the ideas practical and actionable.
- It is really just a dressed up sales pitch.
Remember, your ultimate goal is for your readers to affirm, “This company has great insight, new ideas, practical tips, and valuable solutions. I’m glad I invested the time to find out what they had to say!”
Author: Paula Marolewski