Content Marketing v/s Thought Leadership—Which one is right for you?

Have you ever found yourself at crossroads being constantly nudged to choose between Content Marketing and Thought Leadership? Well, they both come with their own set of trump cards. It is a hard choice to make but with a better grasp on the pros and cons of the aforementioned, it can be an easier path to walk. They are both important to balance the ecosystem and keep things running without any hiccups. Understanding Thought Leadership alongside Content Marketing and what each of them brings to the table contributes to a clearer state of mind leading to making the right decision.

Thought Leadership is essentially conveying thoughts that say you have dominance over a certain field. You are the thought leader in your field. A thought leader doesn’t rely on the opinions of others but forms their own opinions by analysing and observing the facts and surroundings, they become opinion leaders, not opinion followers. They are often the go-to people for opinions by the people in a similar industry, their informed thoughts are held in high regard. 

Robin Chase, the founder of Zipcar, is a classic example of a thought leader.

Thought Leadership is a good marketing strategy for firms since it builds credibility and garners trust from the target audience. It is often accomplished by generating good analysis and creating well-informed up-to-date content and making it visible to the desired audience. It includes a certain strategy that comes under content marketing. 

Thought Leadership is not Content Marketing.

It plays a crucial role in marketing since it demands more than just expertise in the industry. Thought leadership merits a new, unique perspective on the same old problems, it requires a person to take off their rose-tinted glasses and don a new hat every time there is a new problem that the others in the industry can’t seem to combat. This form of marketing is important because it makes your expertise visible to a larger audience. Ideas remain ideas if no one is influenced by them and acts upon them. Thought leadership offers this influence and assures visibility.

The top 3 types of Thought Leadership are:

1. Industry Thought Leadership: This consists of varied perspectives on different and upcoming trends and news. Understanding the developments in recent times and tailoring your strategy accordingly.

2. Product Thought Leadership: It includes working on being the best for the consumers of your company or brand. This form of thought leadership is concerned with customers, it is extremely consumer and product-oriented and ensures bridging the gap between the two.

3. Organizational Thought Leadership: This is incorporated in the spirit and essence of your organization. It reflects in what you want your company to be and the kind of vision you have.

Now, Content Marketing on the other hand is a whole different ball game. It is essentially a marketing approach that delves into sharing relevant and factual content. With traditional marketing becoming a thing of the past, content marketing has taken the lead. This form of marketing shifts its focus on creating to-the-point content that contains reliable information. However, it lacks originality and a unique perspective that thought leadership offers in abundance.  It often uses catchphrases and words simply because it generates online attention without understanding the significance of it in deep. The end goal of content marketing is to generate leads and engagement.

Content Marketing is adopted by several brands online since it allows them to amplify their brand message and content without paying the prices of traditional marketing. The benefits of these include increased sales while being cost-effective, getting a strong base of loyal clientele, and fostering new ideas.

Following are the content marketing examples of the brands that have successfully used content to their advantage by creating more on-site content, getting more referral traffic, and stronger consumer bonds:

1. hotjar: Hotjar creates heatmaps for brand websites. They track what the site visitors have browsed and clicked on. Their content marketing strategy generates around 2,90,000 visitors every month.

2. Shopify: It is a cloud-based e-commerce platform that allows business owners to set up their websites. Shopify aids the process of creating an online presence and makes managing a business on the internet easier.

3. TED: With a constant flow of videos on YouTube and TED’s official website. The most common ones are TEDX Talks where influential speakers are invited on stage and their engaging speech is taped for their online platforms. The reason behind TED’s success is that they don’t keep the market as their priority but deliver good content consistently.

The question, “Which is better? Content Marketing or Thought Leadership?” answers itself throughout this piece. Thought Leadership is the answer for brands looking to take on the challenge of birthing original and credible content whereas Content Marketing is a good choice for brands that are looking to amplify their content without spending too much time on forming their opinions on things and would rather share researched and significant content only. In the battle of Content Marketing v/s Thought Leadership, the brand wins.