Five subtle ways quality copywriting improves thought leadership

When thought leaders speak, people listen. People listen because thought leaders are widely acknowledged as the trusted “expert among all the other experts” in their chosen field. Thought leaders shape the future of every industry and profession by inspiring audiences with creative ideas and sharing how to turn those ideas into reality.   

In the B2B marketing space, thought leadership content is woven through campaigns to build credibility for a brand or person. When your brand, or an individual who works for your brand, is seen as a thought leader, the market will look to you for expert guidance. And leads and sales will follow.   

Effective thought leadership across content doesn’t often happen organically. It takes planning, consideration and thoughtful copywriting. 

High-quality copywriting delivers five subtle benefits that make thought leadership campaigns a success:   

1. Originality 

Meaningful, original perspectives on a given topic make a thought leader stand out from the pack. When anyone can research a topic online and cut-and-paste chunks to make their own article, it’s easy to see how content bounces around the echo-chamber and ends up sounding the same as everything else on the Internet. Search almost any phrase or blog topic online and, chances are, you’ll see many links to the same topic and even articles with exactly the same title. Quality copywriters can capture original ideas from a thought leader and represent those ideas as thoughtful, original content that stands apart from the Internet noise.  

2. The right words

Thought leaders come in all forms. Some are brilliant in their field and can fluently describe what they do and why it matters. Others may be unable to express themselves well or can’t understand what non-experts in their field would find interesting or maybe don’t speak English as a first language. All that is perfectly usual. Few of us are perfect in every arena. A clever copywriter knows how to create content using the angles that most appeal to the target audience while representing the views of the thought leader in the way they want to say it best themselves.   

3. Edge 

Incorporating “edge” into content makes a thought leader stand out and gives audiences something to talk about. Edge means content is individual, different and even controversial. Right away, you can likely see that striking the right note with edge in thought leadership is, well, a double-edged sword. The right note of difference can catapult a thought leader to notoriety, but the wrong note can turn consumers away from the thought leader’s brand in a flash. A high-quality copywriter knows how to deliver the right amount of edge to thought leadership content to engage audiences without turning them off.   

4. Sales

Educating consumers is a goal of every sales and marketing funnel. Early in the research phase, potential customers don’t want a hard sell. Prospects want to read, listen, watch and learn and take time to make up their own mind about what step to take next. Thought leadership content is ideal to educate prospects using the voice of a trusted, respected expert. A talented copywriter knows this and uses storytelling to subtly entice a prospect through the funnel to deeper engagement with a brand.   

5. Time

Most true thought leaders simply don’t have time to carve hours out of their week to capture their thinking in a document. Thought leaders have a day job and are in high demand because they’re good at what they do. A skilled copywriter can interview a thought leader in an hour or less and catch the key points they want to share. The resulting story will show the expertise of the thought leader in an engaging way, without taking time the thought leader can’t easily spare.  

The Recognition Group are experts in developing thought leadership content and offer a talented pool of high-quality copywriters.

Explore practical, manageable steps to make your company, or an individual inside your company, into a thought leader at our complimentary virtual event on December 8, 2020 How to make your organisation a thought leader or contact us for more details on how to engage our copywriting team.