By Bob Decker
You have something worth saying that the rest of your industry would benefit from hearing. The challenge is figuring out what that something is – and turning it into an idea people will want to read.
You don’t need a groundbreaking prediction about AI, autonomous vehicles, or the future of semiconductors. And you don’t need to wait until your company has a major product announcement.
Good thought leadership starts with a point of view. It’s something you’ve seen, experienced, questioned, or figured out that could help someone look at an industry issue differently.
So, where do you find it? Here are 7 sources for a thought leadership article people will want to read (and publish).
1. Start with what frustrates or excites you.
Think about the conversations that get you talking. What problem keeps coming up in your corner of the industry? What new development genuinely excites you? What trend makes you think, everyone’s missing the point?
Pay attention to those reactions. A strong thought leadership piece often starts with something you feel needs to be said. If you find yourself explaining the same issue again and again to customers, colleagues, or peers, take a closer look. There may be an article hiding in that conversation.
2. Think about where your expertise gives you a unique view.
You see your industry from a vantage point other people don’t. Maybe you’re a CMO who sees how customers actually respond to a new technology. Or you’re a engineer who understands what happens when an exciting idea has to work outside the lab and in the real world.
Ask yourself, what can I see from where I sit that other people might not? B2B readers don’t need you to know everything about a subject. They want useful insights from someone who knows how things really work in practice.
3. Look for the gap between promise and reality.
New technologies come with big promises. Then someone has to implement them.
That gap can be fertile ground for thought leadership. Where is your industry overhyping a technology, oversimplifying a challenge, or overlooking what it actually takes to make something work?
Maybe everyone is talking about what AI can do, while you’re seeing the implementation headaches nobody mentions. Or perhaps a technology that sounds simple on paper creates an entirely different set of challenges when engineers deploy it in the field. Showing readers the gap between the promise and the reality can give you a strong point of view.
4. Reflect on lessons learned the hard way.
Some of your best insights probably came from something that didn’t go according to plan.
Has your team made an assumption that turned out to be wrong? Have you discovered that the obvious approach to a problem wasn’t the best one? Those experiences give your perspective credibility.
You don’t have to reveal proprietary information or name names. But lessons with a few scars on them tend to be a lot more memorable than generic advice.
5. Tie a technical insight to a larger theme.
Sometimes the difference between a technical article and a thought leadership piece is simply taking a step back. You may start with a very specific engineering issue. But what does that issue tell you about a larger challenge such as sustainability, reliability, efficiency, security, or the way the industry is changing?
Making that connection can elevate a narrow, technical subject into a much bigger conversation.
6. Ask yourself one question.
If you’re still searching for your idea, ask yourself, what do I wish more people in this industry understood?
I’ve found that question has a way of getting straight to the point. Your answer comes from your experience. You’ve seen something happen enough times to recognize a pattern. You know where people get tripped up. Or you see an opportunity other people are overlooking. And that may be exactly what makes it worth writing about.
7. Turn company news into an industry conversation.
Another place you can look for thought leadership ideas is what’s happening inside your own company.
Say your company is celebrating its 30th anniversary. You could write an article about the milestone, talk about when the company was founded, highlight its accomplishments, and thank the customers and employees who helped you get there. That’s perfectly fine company news.
But it isn’t thought leadership.
Instead, take a step back and ask a bigger question: What makes a technology company endure for decades in an industry that never stops changing?
Now you have a different story. You might talk about adapting without chasing every trend. Staying close to customers as their needs change. Knowing which core principles shouldn’t change even when the technology does. Investing for the long term when short-term thinking would be easier.
Your company’s anniversary can still be part of the article. But instead of being the story, it becomes an anecdote or piece of evidence that supports the larger idea. In fact, you won't even mention the anniversary until the latter half of the article.
You’re giving readers something they can think about and apply to their own businesses. That’s thought leadership.
At Redpines, we help technology companies find those bigger stories, shape them into useful thought leadership articles, and get them in front of the trade press editors whose readers want to hear them. If you have expertise inside your company but aren’t sure what the bigger story is, let’s talk. Give me a call at 415-409-0233.