Steps Toward Building Influence as a Great Thought Leader

Do you have something to say about a topic you are well versed in? If so, you could become an influential thought leader in your field of expertise.Thought leaders are CEOs, businesspeople, social media marketing new york entrepreneurs and other individuals who are respected for their knowledge and expertise and who have something to say and know how to say it. Thought leadership can spread awareness about the individual's company while he or she develops a personal brand, influence and credibility. Just like building a business, becoming a recognized thought leader requires dedication and a strategy.Used properly, it can be an important part of your marketing mix. Used improperly, it can be a black hole -- one in which you dump tens of thousands of dollars without results. You should only launch an Internet-marketing campaign if it is the most cost effective way to reach your specific target segment with your message.Not all social media is equal. For example, Pinterest, which is image based, may be great for a jewelry designer to showcase his works. It would probably be less useful for a criminal-defense attorney.In fact, depending on the target market segment, social media may not be appropriate at all. Launching a Twitter campaign to reach septuagenarians may not be the best use of marketing funds.Choose the right platform for reaching your target market segment. Spend some time on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn. Do your research before choosing where to spend your time and efforts.The Internet in general and social media specifically can be wonderful tools for generating sales. But, like all tools, social media marketing pdf they have to be used properly to produce the desired results. The four tips above will help you choose the right path.Developers have also added several editing features such as a duplicate and mute button, preview and undo. Those dying to shoot in low-light conditions can now do so with a “torch” feature.According to a blog post, 100 million people watch Vines on the web.

Clarify your purpose

The most successful thought leaders have a purpose and a clear definition of what they want to accomplish. They also understand the time and dedication it can take to become influential. social marketing media Before embarking on a thought-leadership program, consider your goals and what you want to achieve.Do you want recognition? Do you want to earn credibility and respect from your peers and from the public? Do you want to offer advice and help people?Figure out your purpose and why becoming a thought leader is important to you. Then build a strategy to support that purpose and your goals.Going out on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn with a message that says, “Buy our product” will be ineffective at best. We have found it far more useful to offer something of value to prospective customers. Your posts can feature a link to an article, an assessment, a blog post or a video. You can use other people’s materials with permission and proper attribution. However, if you author the material, it positions you as an expert.Once you have provided something of value and positioned yourself as an expert, you are much more likely to build the trust necessary to sell something. You can feature your products or services with a banner ad on your blog or by inviting the prospect to click through to the ecommerce portion of your website.According to the Urban Dictionary, a catfish is a person who pretends to be someone he (or she) is not, using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.MTV has created a show around the phenomenon as apparently millions of singles have been duped online by believing social media for marketing that the person they are cajoling with is everything they are cracked up to be.Those who've tuned in to the show know it’s painful to watch as people have their hearts broken when they realize that the person they’ve been interacting with online has no resemblance to the actual person behind the facade.

Build an active online presence

Great thought leaders have mastered the art of sharing and putting their message and brand out there. A good way to offer advice and tips is to actively share them on social-media platforms. social media marketing course A great thought leader understands how instrumental social media is in developing their voice. He or she looks for opportunities and groups to join and uses different platforms to talk about his or her expertise and becomes a part of relevant conversations.Building an active online presence requires a social-media strategy that allows optimal brand exposure and opportunities to actively connect with different audiences. Therefore, provide relevant and interesting content, actively engage with users, ask questions and offer feedback and insight on Twitter and Facebook. Establish your credibility, offer your expertise and make yourself reachable by participating in discussions on Reddit, Quora and LinkedIn.Be strategic about your social-media profiles and always look for opportunities to build your brand and spread your message.One huge problem with many Internet marketers is misalignment of objectives. You want to sell your product or service. They measure success in clicks, friends, followers or some other metric that does not equate to sales. Our advice: If your goals are not aligned with the company you are paying for marketing services, run fast.Interim goals are fine. Gaining a certain number of followers or obtaining a target click through rate can be wonderful short-term objectives. However, the final objective of Internet marketing is sales, full stop. Don’t lose sight of this.The question for entrepreneurs is this, b2b social media marketing Are you catfishing your customers?Are you breaking the hearts of your customers by pretending to offer something better than what you really have? Are you hiding dirty little secrets about your company or outright fibbing about your value proposition? Is your company everything you purport it to be in your advertising, social media and marketing or is it something else altogether? Massive empires cannot be built by catfishing your clients.