If you are a thought leader, you may be struggling with coming up with new content that supports your thought leadership. A podcast is a great way to create podcast thought leadership content without having a show up on video every week.
A 2022 New York Times article shared an interesting statistic about what thought leadership content means to decision-makers. Decision-makers spend time every week consuming thought leadership content in order to inform their decisions. The only problem is that 71% of these decision-makers said that less than half of their thought leadership content gives them valuable insight.
These decision-makers are the people who are running events or deciding whether to hire people to solve problems. If they don’t feel inspired, then they won’t take action to share the content or work with you. So, let’s talk about how to create valuable thought leadership podcast content that creates opportunities for you.
What Is Thought Leadership
First, let’s look at what thought leadership content is. At the most basic level, thought leadership is about creating value and sharing knowledge in your areas of expertise. However, to stand out as a thought leader, you need to take a stand that allows you to separate yourself from the rest of the experts in your field.
So, in addition to being knowledgeable, a successful thought leader also needs to be innovative, share new ideas, and be unafraid to go against the flow.
The Benefits of a Thought Leadership Strategy in Podcasting
There are many mediums you could use to share your thought leadership, like blogs, guest features, or even social media. Podcasting is my favorite way to create thought leadership content because:
- It is an undersaturated space in comparison to the others.
- It’s SEO-friendly both on podcast platforms and search engines.
- You don’t have to navigate algorithms in order to get your content in front of your ideal clients.
- You can repurpose your podcast content into other forms of content to drive more traffic to your thought leadership podcast content.
- You can host guests so you can both share your expertise and knowledge in a conversational way.
The main reason why I love using podcast content for thought leadership is because it can generate all kinds of leads.
It may not always generate clients for your business, but it will help you to generate brand awareness so you can land future opportunities for speaking engagements, book deals, or collaborations.
How to Create Thought Leadership Podcast Content
The statistics in the New York Times article provided interesting insights into what decision-makers are looking for when consuming thought leadership content.
Here are 3 strategies you can incorporate into your thought leadership podcast content to provide more value to your listeners.
Grab Their Attention Immediately
According to the article, 55% of decision-makers said that if a piece of thought leadership podcast content does not pique their interest within the first minute, they move on. So, you need to grab their attention right away and get them excited about what you’re talking about.
In episode 39 of the Listeners to Leads podcast, we spoke with Lori Highby of Keystone Click about the importance of understanding your audience to make a marketable podcast and actionable steps you can take right now to encourage your guests to share your show.
Solve a Problem
The article also shared that 63% of decision-makers said that thought leadership content provides important proof that an organization genuinely understand and can solve specific business challenges. If you want your thought leadership podcast content to translate into leads of any kind, solving problems is a great way to demonstrate that you are an expert in your field. That, alongside a personal connection means that listeners will want to go to you to solve their problems.
Embrace the Conversational Form of Podcast Content
Podcast content is completely different from blog posts or social media content. It is less instructional and more about sharing thoughts and ideas. Embrace the medium of podcasts because it allows you to express excitement and engage with your audiences more than any other medium.
Additional Resources & Support
In episode 108 of the Listeners to Leads podcast, we chatted with Jason Cercone on how you can be a podcast guest and build your thought leadership that way.
As you can see, there are many ways to grow your though leadership via a podcast. Need more support around launching a podcast that helps support your thought leadership? I recommend you check out our services around a limited series podcast launch.
Most thought leaders are juggling a ton of different things. A limited series (about 12-15 episodes) can help you show up as a thought leader without committing to an ongoing podcast.
