HOW TO BECOME A THOUGHT LEADER ON LINKEDIN

T Y H E A T H

Global Lead, B2B Institute @ LinkedIn

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COMPANY LEADERS

ARE EXPECTED TO

SHARE THEIR

INSIGHTS AND IDEAS

ACROSS CHANNELS

Benefits:

1. Establishes your expertise and reinforces your value

2. Tells your colleagues and your network what you are

working on

3. Invites collaboration and collective learning with others

4. Sharing your thoughts and knowledge on industry trends

keeps you visible

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WE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR EACH OTHER

• Brands are struggling to maintain their eminence

• HR is waging a war for the brightest talent

• Sales people fight for customer attention

• Employees struggle to find meaning and purpose in

their work

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THE “TRUE VALUE OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP” IS ABOUT TRUST

T H O U G H T L E A D E R S H I P I N F L U E N C E S D E C I S I O N M A K I N G

70%

TRUSTED

On avg. C-level exec.

shares generated:

5.0XMore

Impressions

75%

INFLUENTIAL

Thought Leadership is the most influential channel in today's economy

LinkedIn is the most trusted social platform to share content

5.4XHigher

Reach

6.8XMore

Engagements

with your

content

INCREASE

ENGAGEMENT

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR INVESTING

IN THOUGHT LEADERSHIP?

T H O U G H T L E A D E R S A R E K E Y T O

Y O U R G O T O M A R K E T P L A N S

by creating buzz

around employer

brand

BOOST

RECRUITING

with brand

awareness

BOOST

MARKETING

media & value

GENERATE

EARNED

by positioning

reps as thought

leaders

BOOST

SALES

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TOPICS THAT INTEREST LINKEDIN MEMBERS

L I N K E D I N M E M B E R S I N V E S T T I M E T O G R O W P R O F E S S I O N A L L Y

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61% 48% 40% 38%62%

IT’S EDUCATIONAL

OR INFORMATIVE

IT’S RELEVANT

TO ME

TO STAY ON TOP OF

LATEST TRENDS

IT’S INSPIRING IT HELPS WITH

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

TOP 5 REASONS FOR LINKEDIN MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

R E F L E C T O N W H A T I S H A P P E N I N G I N T H E W O R L D

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YOUR JOURNEY STARTS WITH A GREAT PROFILE

❑ Add your photo

❑ Choose meaningful background image

❑ Craft compelling tagline

❑Write summary that embodies your

message - make it SEO friendly

❑ Create a vanity URL

❑ Add video and content assets

❑Get recommended

❑Write posts and articles

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4 STEPS FOR LINKEDIN

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

❑ Create compelling thought leadership

❑ Define your approach

❑ Engage and nurture your audience

❑Measure and optimize

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E X E C U T I O N R E Q U I R E S P A R T I C I P A T I O N A T T H E C O M P A N Y A N D I N D I V I D U A L L E V E L S

STRUCTURED DECISION MAKING CONNECTS DECISIONS TO OUTCOMES YOU GENERATE

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CREATE

CONTENT

CREATING HIGH QUALITY THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTENT IS NOT EASY

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What % of the time do you get value from thought leadership?

B2B Buyers

CREATE

CONTENT

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CREATE

CONTENT

PRODUCE CONSISTENTLY BETTER MARKETING

WITH THE S.C.O.R.E FRAMEWORK

S C O R E

X X X X X

“S” IS FOR STRUCTURESTRUCTURE GIVES IT SIMPLICITY

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CREATE

CONTENT

“S” IS FOR STRUCTURESTRUCTURE GIVES IT SIMPLICITY

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CREATE

CONTENT

“C” IS FOR CONTRARIANCONTRARIAN MAKES IT INTERESTING

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CO

NT

RA

RIA

NC

ON

SE

NS

US

WRONG RIGHT

CREATE

CONTENT

“O” IS FOR OWNABLEOWNABLE MAKES IT DISTINCTIVE

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of buyers incorrectly identify the brand behind the ad

CREATE

CONTENT

BE DISTINCTIVE WITH

YOUR BRAND ASSETS

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CREATE

CONTENT

“R” IS FOR REPLICATION

REPLICATION MAKES IT VALUABLE

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CREATE

CONTENT

H O L L Y W O O D H A S A M O R E P R O F I T A B L E A P P R O A C H : T H E B L O C K B U S T E R

“R” IS FOR REPLICATION

REPLICATION MAKES IT VALUABLE

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CREATE

CONTENT

“E” IS FOR EXPERTISE

EXPERTISE MAKES IT PROFITABLE

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63%

64%

BusinessDecision Makers

C-Suite Executives

Say Thought Leadership determines who wins an RFP

B2B Buyers

2

0

Source: LinkedIn & Edelman, How Thought Leadership Impacts B2B Lead Generation

CREATE

CONTENT

Brand Theme

Content Themes

Cadence

I’m a champion and pioneer for brand transformation

Industry

transformation

through others

– articles, videos from

peers, thought leaders

3 - 5 shares

per week

1 article

per month

1 article

per month

Hashtags#BrandTransformation, #CustomerExperience

#DigitalTransformation, #BrandExperience #YourUniqueHashtag

Influencers

& SourcesInfluencer 1, Influencer2, Blog 1, Blog 2, Blog 3

CONNECT YOUR EXPERTISE TO YOUR ORGANIZATION’S THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

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Organizational

transformation in

culture

– original articles that

lean into pop culture

Product

transformation with

clients

– real talk about

learnings & results

Thought Leadership The “Art of Rebranding 2019”

DEFINE

YOUR

APPROACH

1. What is the unique perspective you can provide?

2. What are the symptoms and triggers that send your

audience on a search for information?

3. What are questions your audience commonly has?

4. What are the key trends in your area of expertise?

5. What are misconceptions or objections about your

area of expertise?

What does

your audience

want?

Where is

the untapped

opportunity?

What are

you an

expert in?

SHARE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP POWERFULLY BY DEFINING YOUR NICHE 1

3 2

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DEFINE

YOUR

APPROACH

TALK ABOUT THE THINGS

THAT MATTER TO YOUF O C U S O N W H A T ’ S I M P O R T A N T ,

W H A T ’ S T H E “ S O W H A T ”

HIGHLIGHT YOUR

COMPANY'S SUCCESSES

SHARE YOUR

POINT OF VIEW

A reminder, status updates don’t

all have to be link shares. You can

also share…

• Crowdsourced thoughts

• Critiques

• Quick hitting tips

• Personal observations

• Random thoughts

COMMENT ON

INDUSTRY TRENDS

ENGAGE &

NURTURE

ADD YOUR VOICE TO THE CONTENT YOU SHARER E S H A R E C O N T E N T

A D D I N G A B R I E F

S T A T E M E N T O R Q U E S T I O N

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ENGAGE &

NURTURE

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TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NEW

VIDEO CAPABILITIESB E C R E A T I V E A N D T I M E L Y W I T H V I D E O

See a piece of technology that will

make weaves in your industry?

SHOW IT

Hear an interesting talk at a

conference or event?

TRANSPORT US THERE

Have a work hack or trick that

others should know about?

TEACH IT

Have a unique perspective

or industry news?

SHARE IT

Have a different creative idea?

We can’t wait to see it!

YOUR TAKE

ENGAGE &

NURTURE

BEST PRACTICES FOR SHORT FORM POSTS ON LINKEDINP O S T S I N 2 0 1 9

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ENGAGE &

NURTURE

❑ Post between 9 to 5 working hours. Test posting hours before & after.

❑ Try to post between 1-3x per day.

❑ Diversify your posts. 80% of the content should be someone else’s.

❑ Use a post scheduling tool or support.

❑ Tag influencers & colleagues (when relevant). This can 2x reach.

❑ “Megabatch” your content creation.

❑ Plan for content capture at events.

❑ When you write posts use a three-sentence teaser lead in.

❑ Use relevant hashtags.

❑ Don’t leave people hanging in comments.

ENGAGE &

NURTURE

BEST PRACTICES FOR LONG FORM PUBLISHING ON LINKEDIN

H O W T O W R I T E C O M P E L L I N G P O S T S

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❑ Ask yourself: would I click on that?

❑ Link to content that reinforces your points

❑Give credit where credit is due

❑ 800 – 2000 words drives the most engagement

❑ Don’t forget to add pictures

❑Write your byline

WRITE WHAT

YOU KNOW

WRITE TO START A

CONVERSATION

ENGAGE &

NURTURE

SHARE CONTENT ACROSS

YOUR OTHER CHANNELSA M P L I F Y I N G Y O U R C O N T E N T

SHARE TO 1-2 LINKEDIN GROUPS

SOCIAL MEDIA

A reminder, you

can share your

content more than

once reframing it

from a different

angle over time!

ENGAGE &

NURTURE

HOW TO NURTURE LEADS ON LINKEDIN

• Step 1 - Establish goal. e.g. - download resource,

schedule consultation, attend webinar, hop on call

• Step 2 - Create a priority list of target prospects.

• Step 3 - Connect with intention.

• Step 4 - Build relationships. Share useful content,

interact with their content, send helpful assets.

• Step 5 - Connect and talk outside of LinkedIn for

next steps.

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ENGAGE &

NURTUREENGAGE &

NURTURE

ENGAGE &

NURTUREENGAGE &

NURTUREENGAGE &

NURTURE

LEVERAGE SALES NAVIGATOR + HUBSPOT

V I E W P R O F I L E S I N S I D E H U B S P O T R E C O R D S

ENGAGE &

NURTURE

HIGHER WIN RATES5%

LARGER DEALS35%

SOURCED

OPPORTUNITIES34%

61%INFLUENCED

REVENUE

MEASURE & LEARN WHAT RESONATES WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

• Understand who is engaging and how

• Focus less on page views and more on conversation

• Test different approaches

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MEASURE &

OPTIMIZE

UNDERSTAND WHO IS ENGAGING TO

OPTIMIZE YOUR APPROACHUNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE

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MEASURE &

OPTIMIZE

“AUTHENTICITY IS A COLLECTION OF

CHOICES THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE

EVERY DAY. IT'S ABOUT THE CHOICE

TO SHOW UP AND BE REAL. THE

CHOICE TO BE HONEST. THE CHOICE

TO LET OUR TRUE SELVES BE SEEN.”

BRENE BROWN

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LET’S RECAP

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Authenticity matters

Bring realness to your thought leadership.

Conversations are key

Ask: how can I serve my audience?

It takes time

It will take time to build. Be patient.

THANK YOU

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Get the slides & get connected:

https://ptdrv.linkedin.com/80eh27x

LinkedIn: Tyrona (Ty) Heath

Twitter: @tyrona

Instagram: tyronaheath

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