As a brand, it is hard to stand out from the competition. Sure, you can work on developing a product or service that offers features not seen elsewhere, but that still might not be enough to gain traction. And, of course, if you try to stand out by offering the lowest price, you’ll be in a race to the bottom that isn’t going to pay off for anyone.
One intriguing way to stand out in your market is through thought leadership. We’d like to take a quick look at what that means and why it is so important.
#1. Prove Your Worth
When you are trying to sell something as a business, one of the biggest hurdles that you need to clear is the trust hurdle. Why should the customer trust you when there are so many other options available? You are asking for some of their hard-earned dollars, and it’s going to require trust if they are going to pay for your goods or services.
By striving for a thought leadership role within your field, you can give potential customers a reason to trust you. Once they learn of your prominent place in the market and what you have done over the years, it will be much easier to make the decision to buy.
#2. Develop Ideas
Thought leadership is typically used to improve standing in the market and differentiate yourself from the competition. That is not the end of the story, however. When you are actively involved in contributing to a market or community, you’ll be thinking about that market and trying to develop new ideas to solve existing problems.
In your quest to carve out a position as a thought leader, you may find that you wind up with ideas you may not have had otherwise.
#3. More Than a Commodity
It’s important that your customers see you as something that cannot be easily replaced. For example, if you make a physical product, and another business comes along to make the same product at a lower price, you might be in trouble.
However, if you are a respected thought leader and have created your product in a way which remains unique, it’s possible that challenges from new competitors will not be successful.
Investing some time and effort in the task of positioning yourself as a thought leader is like using content marketing services to build your SEO profile – it could wind up paying off for a long time to come.