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Thought leadership, content, and communication strategy for innovators, from large companies to startups. Get your ideas across clearly. Your traction in the market depends on it.

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The Three Most Powerful Questions

There are three questions that a thought leader must answer in order to create high-impact thought leadership. Answering these before you develop a piece of thought leadership helps you address your topic with power and precision.

Being Part of the Conversation

Some topics become so central to the conversation in a particular industry that it makes sense to have a point of view even if it does not track directly back to specific products or services. Within financial services, those topics include topics such as digital assets; AI and automation; diversity, equity, and inclusion; COVID-19; and ESG. Failing to have a point of view on these can make you seem out of touch.

Tying Thought Leadership to Financial Product Marketing

Although thought leadership is not an appropriate format for marketing product features and benefits directly, there is a way to link thought leadership pieces to a broader product marketing strategy. In other words, thought leadership can accomplish more than brand awareness and help build reputations. Connecting the two strategies can be very effective. You can even design them to reinforce each other.

Is Thought Leadership Just a Buzzword?

From time to time, people will poke a bit of fun at me for using the phrase “thought leadership.” They will point out that it sounds like yet another buzzword, that it is overused or too vague to mean anything. Most of these criticisms are entirely fair. Regardless, I find “thought leadership” to be the best term to use for various reasons.

Give Your Thought Leadership a Post-Launch Boost

Frequently enough, thought leadership campaigns run out of steam after their initial launch. After publishing a report, backing it up with a few social media posts, and a conference panel or two, companies allow thought leadership efforts to falter. Marketing teams go on to their next campaign, and subject matter experts go back to their day-to-day activities. Positioning as a thought leader requires a longer-term strategy, however. Use these tactics to sustain and refresh your efforts.