For thought leaders, though, generally only those at the zenith of their success are directly bringing in profit from their status, either through writing books and selling them or speaking engagements. Yet, professionals of all levels are still trying to become thought leaders. The reason for this is that there are a lot of benefits that can help your profits indirectly, or benefit you in other ways.

The Perks Of Being A Thought Leader

SEO

As a start, let’s talk about the interaction between thought leadership and SEO. This is a nice bridging point because the benefits of SEO are very concrete: increased traffic of customers who are most likely to make the conversions that you want. The way that thought leaders enjoy better SEO is because their content is more likely to get backlinks. A lot of this has to do with their authority. Other people see a thought leader as an expert, so they source them in their own work or content.

Increase Company Credibility

There are other ways that a thought leadership campaign can benefit a company, though. In some industries, there’s a constant need for credibility. By positioning one person as a thought leader, an entire company can raise their credibility in the eyes of their audience. This is because a good thought leader is not only an expert but also helpful, using their expertise to inform people in their niche. This altruistic bent can reverse a lot of the cynicism people have about businesses. This also helps in the PR realm as well. Positioning someone as a prominent expert at a company gives journalists a natural person to target when it comes to interviewing opportunities.

Finally, it’s important to think about the long haul, especially when it comes to a long-term marketing strategy like thought leadership. In time, thought leaders develop influence, not just among their customer base, but in the niche itself. By being able to put out content that draws a lot of attention and authority, it’s possible for thought leaders to steer the course of their industry, for example, by backing a new method or piece of technology. Of course, such power needs to be used responsibly.

Understanding the benefits of being a thought leader is key to deciding whether or not you want to put the work into doing it in the first place. However, it’s also important to keep in mind how to leverage those benefits when they start to appear, as well as knowing about the risks that come with these potential benefits. To understand the full scope of a thought leadership campaign, make sure to read our full guide on How To Become A Thought Leader.  This will help you set down the foundation to start working toward some of these benefits and goals.