Why Bother To Establish Thought Leadership?
Would you like to be seen as the “go to” person or a trusted resource within your industry? Or do you want to build awareness for a particular cause that you are passionate about, but you don’t have a public platform? Then building thought leadership on a social media platform like Twitter can pay off in significant ways.
Here are some other reasons why you would want to become a thought leader:
- Quickly gain the trust of people in your professional community, customers, advocates, and investors.
- Attract a higher readership, influence audience members, and build valuable relationships.
- Increase visibility and brand awareness to stay relevant and top of mind.
Five Ways To Position Yourself As A Thought Leader Using Twitter
- Create Content That Matches Your Passion And Purpose
You might be tempted to start following people on Twitter but why should anyone follow you back if you have nothing exciting to read on your Twitter timeline. Once you know what you want to remember for, taking time to create and curate content that will attract people to your profile is a crucial step to increasing influence and reach on Twitter.
If you have original content that matches your passion, purpose and showcases your unique perspective, you’ll want to pin that piece of material to the top of your Twitter timeline. By doing this, you will garner the most attention by helping it to remain on top of anything else you tweet. However, if you don’t have original content available curating similar material is the next best step. Just don’t leave your Twitter account void of content, people will believe you are a spambot or an inactive member of Twitter.
- Engage And Be Approachable
Twitter IS a social media network; you should take time each day to engage with your online community. The days of just tweeting and being seen no longer exist. Dropping links to blog post, white papers, research papers or random pieces of content without engagement will not yield the results you desire for your business. If you ARE taking time to engage, but no one seems to want to tweet with you, it might be because your virtual tone seems unapproachable.
Tweet with an emoji regardless of whether you are happy, sad, or indifferent. Use gif to help clarify the meaning of your tweet. Until people get to know you, your tone and personality are difficult to convey in 280 characters when you are starting out.
- Be Consistent
As a busy professional, finding time for posting and engaging on Twitter to build influence can be frustrating. However, being consistent is a necessary evil if you want to increase your thought leadership, it does take time and being present. Determine how much time you have to be involved actively and then either automate your content or hire someone and outsource the management of your account to someone like myself.
- Listen to Provide Value
Increase your thought leadership by listening first to see where you can provide value and be a dependable resource to the needs of your audience. Don’t be too quick to offer unsolicited information, listening on social media is key to being a great leader online and building powerful influence.
- Participate In Twitter Chats
Twitter chats can seem daunting at first and downright overwhelming when there can be multiple conversations taking place. Engaging in Twitter chats eliminates the need for finding people who WANT to have a conversation. Twitter chats allow your tweets to reach a wider audiences getting you in front of new people. Over a period of time, these people you have connected with can develop in relationships and valued connections. Participating in chats also encourages engagement, which helps your content cut through the clutter, and showcase your expertise on the main discussion topic during the conversation.
(Twitter Chat Resource: Twitter chats can be overwhelming if you are not sure where to begin. Are you trying to unlock the Twitter chat code? Consider signing up for my Twitter Chat Masterclass here, and get started using this powerful marketing relationship builder tool.)
Conclusion
Using Twitter to become a thought leader in your industry is not an easy road to take. It takes patience, diligence and strategy to make an impact and build influence regardless of whether you use Twitter or any other social media platform. Establishing your brand and using Twitter for thought leadership can bring tremendous benefits both personally and professionally.
Do you have any advice for using Twitter to become a thought leader in your industry?
