AI could be very efficient at answering your audience’s FAQs, and the previous technique of publishing “how-to” content material gained’t make it easier to construct a loyal viewers.
Nevertheless, this surplus of factual content material has created a requirement for content material that features a person’s tales, experiences, and distinctive views.
That is why TikTok, YouTube, and different particular person influencers have turn out to be more and more well-liked over the previous a number of years, and types that may emulate these influencers by sharing distinct insights, case research, and tales are more likely to succeed.
This fashion of content material known as thought management content material, and on this submit, we’ll talk about how one can create thought management content material that your viewers loves and supply particular examples from B2B thought leaders.
What’s Thought Management Content material?
Thought management content material is a model or particular person’s distinctive opinions and viewpoints packaged right into a medium like textual content, video, or audio.
The aim of thought management content material is to assist manufacturers and people appeal to extra followers from their ultimate audience by presenting distinctive concepts and views on trade matters.
Nevertheless, formulating a singular perspective on a subject that resonates together with your viewers isn’t simple. It sometimes requires actual expertise inside an trade, and the perfect thought management content material often comprises parts of actual experiences, case research, and storytelling.
We’ll discover extra detailed thought management content material later on this submit, however for now, right here’s a easy instance of thought management content material:
There are three predominant elements of fantastic thought management content material, and this instance hits all of them:
- Takes a contrarian stance/distinctive perspective: Most entrepreneurs consider in “ache level” advertising, so saying it doesn’t work could be very contrarian.
- Pulls from his private expertise: He discusses what he discovered from working along with his personal shoppers.
- Leaves the viewers with an relevant takeaway: As a substitute of specializing in simply the ache level prospects say they’re battling, introduce that ache level after which talk about how your product will remedy the issue and provides them extra safety and management.
In an age of AI the place most content material is basically factual and educational, thought management content material will doubtless turn out to be more and more important to a model’s success as audiences search extra private tales, opinions, and experience-backed content material.
That will help you make the most of the rising demand for thought management content material, we’ll talk about a step-by-step technique to create thought management content material after which introduce you to a number of examples of particular person and branded thought management content material.
How you can Generate Nice Thought Management Concepts
You need to use checklists to get nearly any freelance author or AI instrument to create a high-quality “how-to” fashion piece of content material. It simply wants to supply sound, actionable recommendation to perform a particular activity.
Nevertheless, thought management content material is somewhat trickier as a result of the standard of the content material is instantly tied to the high quality of the concept.
So how do you give you higher concepts?
Listed below are 5 frameworks to generate higher-quality thought management content material concepts.
Technique 1: Discover “finest apply” ideas that you just’ve tried that don’t work
Most “finest apply” recommendation tends to turn out to be much less efficient as increasingly folks use it. This makes it a superb alternative for thought management content material as a result of you’ll be able to take a contrarian stance, clarify why it doesn’t work, and supply a simpler resolution.
For instance, one typical piece of “finest apply” recommendation for constructing hyperlinks (an search engine optimization technique) is to do visitor posts. Sadly, as a result of everybody already does it, most visitor submit pitches are ignored, and it’s not as efficient because it was a number of years in the past.
So a fantastic thought management thought is likely to be claiming that it doesn’t work, explaining your private expertise why it doesn’t work, after which sharing a brand new hyperlink constructing approach that’s simpler (like selling their content material to your publication of fifty,000 subscribers in change for a hyperlink).
The important thing to creating this fashion of thought management content material work is making certain your various methodology really is a simpler resolution. In any other case, it gained’t resonate together with your viewers.
Technique 2: Share learnings from latest case research and experiences
Testing ideas is important to development as an expert, so merely share what you’re studying alongside the way in which.
After you run an experiment or full a case research, use these inquiries to create thought management content material:
- What didn’t work that shocked you?
- What labored that shocked you?
- What’s a lesson you discovered that you just’ll apply to future workflows?
You may also use this framework to share ideas you discovered from discussions with mates, attending conferences, and different occasions.
The truth is, this technique works exceptionally nicely as a result of discussing ideas you discovered from others provides you a companion in selling your content material.
Right here’s a fantastic instance of how this particular person shared thought management round a latest case research he did:
Technique 5: Conduct unique analysis and share insights
Like sharing case research, you may as well conduct unique analysis or collect information after which share that information and insights from it.
Nevertheless, the standard of your analysis is correlated primarily with the insights you derive from it – not essentially the pattern dimension of information (assuming it’s sufficient to point out distinct patterns).
For instance, this information research on content material updating analyzed simply 50 posts from a single web site, nevertheless it answered a number of distinctive questions on updating content material, like:
- How doubtless is a submit to rank greater after being up to date?
- Is it doubtless that you may wreck a submit by updating it?
- How a lot does the proportion of textual content modified within the submit affect efficiency?
- Is there a selected fashion of submit that tends to carry out higher after an replace?
Right here’s an excerpt from the piece:
So one of the best ways to create thought management content material utilizing unique information is to brainstorm your questions on a sure subject after which create information to reply these questions.
Technique 4: Share frameworks you employ to unravel issues/make selections
Folks love frameworks.
The most effective frameworks are memorable, comparatively easy, and remedy a standard downside your viewers faces. Ideally, introduce them with an instance of the way you’ve used it in your individual life.
For instance, Dan Martell created a framework he calls the “DRIP” matrix. This can be a nice piece of thought management content material as a result of it solves a standard downside that many individuals in his ultimate audience face:
Ideally, create a sharable diagram of your framework as folks get pleasure from visible ideas, and so they generate extra shares and attain.
Technique 5: Keep up-to-date with trade developments and share your opinion on them
This methodology works significantly nicely should you primarily submit on social media as folks love discovering the most recent developments on these platforms.
To actively keep up-to-date with trade developments, you’ll be able to create an RSS feed of the highest trade specialists on social media, trade information web sites, and even newsletters.
As soon as you recognize what the information in a selected trade is, creating a singular opinion on that subject is the subsequent step to creating thought management content material.
This half is somewhat trickier, however listed here are a couple of questions that may make it easier to give you an attention-grabbing thought:
- How do you suppose this pattern will form the way forward for your trade?
- How are most individuals leveraging this pattern, and what different use instances/approaches are attention-grabbing?
- What are the misconceptions about this pattern?
- What’s an attention-grabbing thought you heard about relating to this pattern, and how are you going to construct on these concepts?
- How have you ever been incorporating this pattern into your enterprise, and the way?
Right here’s a fantastic instance of thought management content material. The creator used the AI content material pattern because the newsworthy subject after which added a singular perception. As a substitute of claiming, “Ought to we do AI content material for shoppers?” (the query most individuals are asking), he says that the query folks must be asking is, “How can we do that ethically?”
How you can Create a Thought Management Technique
Now that you’ve an efficient methodology to generate distinctive concepts, consistency is the important thing to efficiently rising an viewers. So right here’s a step-by-step thought management content material advertising technique.
Step 1: Choose a Medium You Get pleasure from
The key to succeeding with content material advertising is high quality content material at scale. Sadly, should you solely produce a couple of items of content material right here and there, constructing an viewers will take a very long time.
So the important thing to growing content material quantity and consistency is to pick out a content material medium that you just get pleasure from.
For instance, should you’re contemplating doing video content material, check out a couple of movies and see how lengthy it takes you to create them and should you get pleasure from them. Should you discover that it takes you many hours to create a video and also you don’t get pleasure from it, think about doing text-based content material as an alternative.
Step 3: Set a Publishing Schedule
When you’ve chosen a sort of content material medium you get pleasure from, choose a lifelike publishing schedule.
Whereas I already talked about {that a} greater content material quantity is good for development, setting an bold publishing schedule that you may’t follow will in the end trigger you to burn out and give up altogether.
So should you can solely realistically produce two items of content material per week, that’s higher than creating content material each day for 2 weeks after which quitting.
This graphic by Michael Boorman sums up the idea of consistency properly:
When you’ve selected a publishing frequency, put aside time as soon as per week to create content material.
Most creators discover it simpler to create a number of items of content material in a single sitting as soon as they’re in a state of circulation. As well as, you’re more likely to publish constantly if you have already got all of your content material scheduled to publish prematurely.
You may also use instruments like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social to schedule your content material prematurely.
Step 4: Collaborate With Different Influencers
As you start publishing your content material, you might notice it doesn’t instantly acquire traction.
Sadly, when you’ve got a small viewers, you’ll discover it tough on your preliminary few posts to achieve traction. It is because the algorithms are programmed to present extra attain to content material that receives robust preliminary traction.
So when you’ve got solely a handful of followers and your posts don’t have robust preliminary traction, they may obtain little natural attain from the algorithms.
To flee this vicious cycle and assist your content material acquire robust preliminary traction in order that it receives extra natural attain, collaborate with influencers that have already got loads of affect.
There are a couple of alternative ways you’ll be able to collaborate with influencers (with out paying them).
First, you’ll be able to at all times interview influencers and submit that content material on social media. Right here’s a nice instance:
Sadly, getting trade influencers to comply with do a content material collaboration like this may be tough, so another methodology is to reference a framework, perception, or case research from that influencer.
Right here’s a nice instance of this in motion:
Once you publish the submit, you’ll want to tag the influencer, as they may share it with their viewers.
You may also create pods of mates that can assist you promote content material. For instance, when you’ve got a handful of mates in an analogous trade, you’ll be able to textual content them whenever you publish a brand new submit and ask them to have interaction with it and share it with their viewers.
Step 5: Observe What Works and Alter
The ultimate step in your thought management advertising technique is to trace what works finest after which modify based mostly on the suggestions you obtain.
You’ll be able to observe conventional engagement metrics, like site visitors, feedback, and likes, but additionally observe who is collaborating together with your content material. Should you aren’t attracting your ultimate purchaser persona, your thought management content material technique gained’t really assist your enterprise.
For instance, should you’re constructing a thought management technique to draw C-suite executives for a training program, verify that the folks partaking together with your content material are C-suite executives.
You are able to do this by scanning the feedback part and asking your prospects how they discovered you.
Glorious Examples of Thought Management Content material
Listed below are a couple of high thought leaders you’ll be able to be taught from to encourage your thought management content material technique. I encourage you to scroll by way of their social media content material and use their frameworks to create your individual distinctive content material creation technique.
Justin Welsh
Justin Welsh has constructed a big following on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram by posting about how he builds working methods for solopreneurs.
He additionally posts inspirational and philosophical posts detailing his strategy to entrepreneurship and constructing a life you like.
Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom is one other well-liked entrepreneur that constantly posts about private development and entrepreneurial frameworks.
He tends to submit framework graphics, movies, and text-based content material, so experiment with various kinds of content material to determine what works on your viewers. You’ll additionally discover that lots of the photographs Sahil makes use of are pulled from different sources, after which he merely credit these sources.
He additionally has a powerful publishing schedule with roughly two posts per day.
Sara Stella Lattanzio
Sara is a SaaS advertising strategist with a robust following on LinkedIn. She creates memes, step-by-step reels, and academic movies on SaaS advertising and has a singular voice that makes her content material enjoyable and informative.
Right here’s an instance of certainly one of her humorous memes. You’ll additionally discover that despite the fact that the memes are entertaining, they nonetheless appeal to her potential prospects (entrepreneurs at SaaS corporations):
Even in her reels, she nonetheless injects her distinctive humorousness whereas delivering worthwhile content material that pulls her ultimate prospects:
Allie Miller
Allie has constructed a private model round AI and repeatedly shares ChatGPT hacks, case research, and information relating to the most recent updates on AI.
Right here’s an instance of certainly one of her latest posts discussing how she makes use of ChatGPT:
When she posts data-driven content material, you’ll discover that she creates her personal infographics with comparable branding types. This makes it simpler for folks to acknowledge her content material, and it’s additionally tremendous sharable:
Lastly, you’ll discover she’s a visitor on many podcasts and actively promotes that content material to her viewers.
Nick Huber
Nick takes a slightly controversial strategy to thought management. His predominant enterprise is constructing storage amenities, however his major technique for rising a Twitter viewers is publishing controversial posts like this one:
Despite the fact that these Tweets don’t have anything to do along with his predominant enterprise, folks love attending to know him as an individual, and it has helped him develop his on-line presence tremendously.
Whereas this isn’t at all times the perfect technique for development (particularly should you’re rising a standard model), it has labored out nicely for him just because most of his buyers are mates he makes on Twitter.
Will Cannon
Will Cannon is a wonderful instance of a thought chief who constructed a robust on-line presence with framework-style Tweets.
Listed below are just some of his most up-to-date Tweets:
On condition that he’s the founding father of a gross sales software program startup, these Tweets appeal to the eye of key decision-makers in his ultimate goal market.
So should you’re feeling caught, take a look at key issues your prospects face and create frameworks to unravel these issues.
Alex Lieberman
Alex is a co-founder of Morning Brew, however he’s now constructing a social media ghostwriting company for founders. He’s very energetic on Twitter and LinkedIn, and his content material is primarily uncooked journal-style posts about how he’s constructing his subsequent enterprise.
Right here’s only one instance of a typical Tweet he creates:
In contrast to most individuals making an attempt to be excellent on social media, Alex provides his viewers an unfiltered snapshot of his enterprise failures and what he’s studying alongside the way in which.
This technique has helped him considerably develop his following, which is the primary lead technology supply for his content material company.
Last Ideas
The important thing to succeeding in content material advertising is now not writing longer, extra detailed content material. To face out from AI generated content material, that you must create content material that has a singular perspective whereas nonetheless fixing the client’s downside.
Should you want extra assist creating thought management content material, you’ll be able to be a part of the Copyblogger Academy the place you’ll be able to obtain suggestions from friends to degree up your thought management content material.
You’ll even have direct entry to me and I additionally repeatedly invite different content material advertising specialists, like Amanda Natividad, Brian Clark, and Steph Smith, to supply unique insights to the group.
You’ll be able to be a part of as we speak threat free, as I supply a 30 day a reimbursement assure.
