As a business, one of your primary goals is to position yourself as an expert in your field so people trust your brand and rely on you to fulfill their needs. There are many ways you can establish your thought leadership position, including keynote speeches, article contributions and panel spots. One of the best ways to build up your reputation is through user engagement. When you follow these best practices, and use Onstream Media's industry-leading solutions, you will boost your brand and improve your company performance.
Get Organized
One of the first things you need to do before you even start any user engagement or thought leadership work is to get everything organized. Create a spreadsheet that separates each of the areas that you plan to cover, as well as other concepts within your business. Once you have this list, you should then add a column of employees within your company that have a passion for each of these areas. You may also want to add a third column that attaches a specific job to each area and person. This may need to be reviewed and altered often to ensure the needs of your company are met. Whenever you need work or content in this area, you can rely on this spreadsheet to determine the right person for the job.
Express Your Thoughts to the Public
An important aspect of establishing yourself in thought leadership is to get your thoughts out to the general public. With the use of the Internet, this has become much easier for businesses. It is easy for businesses to set up a blog to provide potential customers with critical information. Keeping your readers informed is one of the best practices of user engagement. Using social media, your website and article contributions can all benefit your business. Another great way to spread your thoughts is to write content for an industry-related guest blog.
Implement Stories
People love to hear stories, especially stories that are relatable. This is where customer testimonials can be a great asset to your business, building trust within your company. In addition to testimonials, you can write stories for your blog that detail an example of how your business helped a customer meet his needs. These stories give a more personable touch to your business. This, in turn, allows you to make a valuable connection with your customers that will encourage loyalty and help your business grow.
Don’t Try to Sell
Too often, businesses are focused on the sales approach. However, in thought leadership, this can actually discourage your customers and lose your customers. Therefore, it is best to avoid using a sales pitch approach. Instead, focus on providing your customers with real value and information they desire. They will appreciate this information that helps them resolve their problems and will become loyal to your company, trusting you to put their needs first. Through your speeches, written content and even interviews, you can educate your audience and help them feel a connection with you. The more connected they feel, the more likely they will turn to you when they have a need you can fulfill.
Think Long Term
One of the most important best practices of thought leadership and user engagement is to think big. Don’t focus on the smaller, individual aspects of achieving this level of trust with your customers. Instead, look at the big picture to determine your exact goals and where you want your company to be. One piece of content or speech isn’t going to have a major impact. To see the results you desire, it is going to take more than a couple of days or even a month. While the process is slow, if you stay focused on the end result, the efforts will be well worth it. Proper planning is the key to your success.
Thought leadership and user engagement are both essential in today’s business world. If you want to establish your company as a true expert and a reliable resource for your customers, using these best practices, along with Onstream Media's communication solutions, will help you achieve your goals and bring in loyal customers you can count on. [Scoop.It]
