A journalist's guide to doing thought leadership right

Welcome to Spark, a weekly newsletter from Vivace Content. We compile news signals from across the business, financial, and cultural landscape, and spark ideas to help you and your business jump on something new to talk about. Send tips and feedback to [email protected].

I am in the story telling business and passionate about it. In Vivace Content my previous worlds of marketing and journalism have collided beautifully and I’ve never been happier. For this week’s edition I’m delighted to introduce another journalist-turned-content marketer with an eye for a great story – Vivace partner Brian O’Connor.

Brian is a highly experienced writer, editor and content strategist who has worked at Foreign Affairs, Morgan Stanley, and Broadridge Financial Solutions, and his writing has been published in Time, BBC, and the New Republic. We’re fortunate to have him getting thoughtful on thought leadership for this week’s Spark.

I’ve lead a few thought leadership programmes in my time and the difference between conversation-starting success and middling mediocrity is anchored in great content strategy. Telling stories that are authentic to your brand, offering unique angles and insights that only you can provide – these are important, but the strategy around them is key. I love Brian’s actionable insights that will help you establish the right foundations for a fledgling thought leadership programme (or reset your expectations for an existing one).

-Ryan

Guest contributor:

Brian O’Connor
Writer, Editor & Content Strategist

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to present thoughts on how to create effective thought leadership.

Most people might take the mic to talk about all of the innumerable ways thought leadership can help a business: the branding benefits, spotlights on key leaders, and having a voice in the mix.

Great as these opportunities sound, they’ll only work so long as you understand what building a thought leadership program is — and what it isn’t. It won’t happen overnight, it won’t turn prospects into clients, and it won’t make up for other content efforts.

So how can companies build thought leadership strategies the right way? By building a media property within their marketing organization. Here’s what I’ve learned as a journalist-turned-content marketer, and why firms have to look at their thought leadership programs through a totally different lens if they want to succeed.

1. It takes longer than you’d expect

   Media operations can take a year or more to scale. The same is true for good thought leadership — first you need to identify the leaders, get them to talk, vet the ideas, find the writer, get the draft, edit the draft, have it approved by your chain of command, and only then can you hit publish. Now repeat that ten more times before you launch. Oh, and then get eyeballs on what you published. Give your program time to grow.

2. Organic traffic is almost impossible to get in the beginning

   Fully fledged media operations are fighting for clicks, and they’re the experts at getting them. They’re established, primary sources without a sales angle. Getting to the top of search isn’t going to happen overnight for your content, even if you have the best SEO program in the world, it’s nearly impossible to grow without paying to play. Be prepared to spend if you want success.

3. Success looks different

   Marketers love data, and so do journalists. The problem? Their metrics are usually pretty different. Marketers want to quantify success through the lens of the acquisition funnel, but thought leadership merely touches its outer rim. Embrace media metrics to measure success — even if they don’t align with your marketing metrics.

4. Not every SME is a thought leader

   Journalists learn how to spot a good interview candidate: they’re smart, articulate, and have a point of view they know how to express. If an expert gives a bad interview, they don’t make it into the article. You may have a football teams’ worth of subject matter experts, but if they can’t give a good interview, they’re not going to give you what your program needs. Vet your bench of SMEs to find the thought leaders in your ranks.

Sound jolting? Good. Thought leadership content is a fantastic way to expand your brand voice, but it’s critical to start with the right expectations in place. Immerse yourself in the world of media brand-building from the start, entice journalists to join your ranks, and be comfortable building something you’ve never built before.

Brian is a Connecticut-based writer, editor and content strategist. You can find more of his work here at briantoconnor.com and connect with him on LinkedIn.

📈 OFF THE CHARTS

📆 COMING UP

July 15-18: The Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to formally select the party’s next presidential nominee – the vote is considered a formality because Trump clinched the nomination in March

July 18: International Nelson Mandela Day (UN)

July 26: The XXXIII Olympic Summer Games begin in Paris, continuing to August 11

August 9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (UN)

August 19: Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago, Illinois

Thanks for joining us this week. Anything we missed? Something we should include next week? Please send all ideas and feedback to [email protected]. 

Spark is a production of Vivace Content, where we help our clients navigate what to say and how to say it every single day. Get in touch if you’d like to have a no-hassle consultation about how we can help you too. Have a great week ahead, and see you next Monday.