Thought leadership content is on the rise. With platforms like LinkedIn providing a stage for industry leaders to express their opinions, the demand for quality thought leadership content has grown significantly over the past few years. The pandemic has further fuelled the demand for such content, and marketers find a thought leadership strategy to be effective in bringing qualified leads.
For businesses and leaders looking to explore thought leadership content for increasing engagement and attracting more leads, it is important to identify the thought leadership archetype and set a clear thought leadership strategy before creating the content plan. This will help increase the efficiency of the content and improve the return on investment.
If you’re not sure which archetype you are, take our quiz to find out and come back to this article to know what content will suits your profile best!
Here are the three main thought leadership archetypes and the kind of content you should create for each to plan your thought leadership strategy.
The Visionary
The first thought leadership archetype is the Visionary. This type of thought leader is the one who has a unique vision and wants to lead others towards it. They are self-confident, empathetic and have strategic insights to help them move towards their goals. They clearly communicate their vision and ideas to their followers and this helps them build their tribe. They possess a high emotional intelligence score and are able to engage and involve their followers on their journey. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are the two perfect examples of the visionary archetype.
If you fall under the visionary archetype, we recommend creating a content strategy with you in the forefront. You could create an educational podcast or video series where you talk about your visions and ideas, start challenges in the industry to keep your audience engaged, talk about your ideas at reputed industry events, in other niche-related podcasts, blogs and other relevant media channels. This will help you maximise your reach and build your brand.
The Evangelist
The evangelist is the second thought leader archetype. This is someone who is very passionate about their core beliefs, brand values, products and ideas. They want to share them with their followers and use storytelling to take them along on the journey. They communicate openly with transparency and stay positive. They also share about their personal experiences and reveal great details about their life, being truly vulnerable with their audience. Even when they have disagreements with others, they always try and find a peaceful resolution, so that no one is hurt and there is an overall positive outcome for all parties involved.
If you fall into this category, the best recommended content plan for you would be to be as authentic as possible. Show your followers all the little things that makes you who you are. Your habits, the books you read, the problems you face, etc. You can do so by creating short videos for Instagram stories where you talk to your audience like you would with your friends and family, doing live broadcasts to interact with your audience directly, writing long and meaningful captions on LinkedIn that showcase your journey and your unique opinions. This will help you add value to your followers in an authentic manner.
The Expert Guide/Mentor
The expert guide/mentor archetype is for those who are experts in their field. They know the industry inside out and have a lot of experience to back up their expertise. They enjoy learning about everything in the industry and are always helping others who want to learn more. They often have a scientific or technical approach and everything they talk about can be backed by solid arguments. They also love teaching and sharing their knowledge with others in the industry, hence their communication often has an educational approach to it. They also offer their honest, direct and constructive feedback to those who ask for it and are known to be active and empathetic listeners.
If you fall into this archetype, then the best content style for you would be to use all your social platforms to impart knowledge. Create content that showcases your expertise, shares your opinions and teaches your audience something new every day. This will help you build your personal brand and impart knowledge to the new generation entering the industry.
Get in touch with our team to talk about your thought leadership strategy and learn how you could raise your profile as a thought leader in your industry.
