What Every Editor Looks for In Thought Leadership Content
A new year means new marketing plans.
As you kickstart 2019, your marketing team is brainstorming social media strategies, advertising campaigns, competitive SEO ideas, and thought leadership content. While these marketing elements are important to nail down early in the year, this article is going to focus on one element in particular: thought leadership content, and specifically, the content you submit to industry outlets.
Creating thought leadership content for relevant publications is one of the best inbound marketing strategies. It enables you to expand your brand’s exposure, build consumer trust, and establish authority. If this sounds too good to be true, there are plenty of examples on the internet that showcase the benefits of contributing thought leadership content to industry outlets.
Jon Cooper, for example, is an SEO expert that garnered exposure, trust, and credibility just by publishing one article on Moz. The content generated 400 visitors and resulted in 2 new clients. After the article was live for two weeks, Jon continued to see 10-20 blog visitors and it all started with one article in an industry outlet.
Securing Outlets for Your Thought Leadership Articles
The benefits of publishing thought leadership content in relevant outlets is clear — it’s an inbound marketing strategy that’s proven to work. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to accomplish.
Publication editors receive hundreds (or thousands depending on the outlet) of articles a week. As a result, you have to submit the best thought leadership content possible. Most publications will include editorial guidelines to help you craft the most unique and fitting piece for their audience. Fast Company, for example, has an entire article on their guidelines.
However, not every outlet will give you thorough direction. The good news is there are few things that every publication editor looks for in thought leadership articles.
To ensure you have the best chance of securing placements in relevant publications, here are four key elements your article must include:
1. Credibility
You need to demonstrate your expertise right out the gate. Without being promotional, your article should include personal examples that prove why your opinion matters.
For example, you might want to provide solutions to a problem. However, have you successfully used those solutions to solve the same problem? If so, include that information in your article. Publication editors, especially those at top-tier outlets, want to see you walk the walk. Your articles must show you’ve done everything you’re suggesting. Failure to boost your credibility might cost you an opportunity to get published.
2. Vendor-Neutral Strategies
Publication editors want you to provide actionable strategies for their readers. While those tips should weave in personal examples, that’s not the only key to success. Your strategies also need to be vendor-neutral. Don’t provide solutions only your company can offer. That’s not thought leadership content. That’s a sponsored article.
For example, maybe you work at an AI-driven data analytics company and want to create an article on how to gather and derive insights from your data. None of your solutions should suggest investing in an AI-driven platform that can gather data in seconds. That’s your product, not a strategy. Instead, provide solutions on what sources the data should come from and how companies can clean the data to ensure the best insights are gathered.
Publications editors want genuine recommendations for their readers, and they love thought leadership articles that provide great tips. Don’t miss the opportunity to secure a placement because you want to promote your business.
3. Supporting Research
When you write an article, you’re going to present an argument and make a few claims. This is good — publication editors want to know your unique opinions and thoughts. However, they also want to see research that supports your claims.
Sometimes, this can be internal research. If your marketing team just created a data-heavy infographic or whitepaper with interesting stats, don’t be afraid to reference it. While it’s internal data, it’s still educational and relevant content, which most publication editors will accept.
But if you don’t have any internal data, that’s also okay. Find recent reports and stats online. New industry research comes out every week. Having the most updated information to support your claims will help ensure your thought leadership article is accepted.
4. Timely Tie-Ins
A timely article is a well-received article. While evergreen content is definitely accepted by some publication editors, most of them want you to include new information. That information can be a timely news story, timely research, or key takeaways from a timely event. Regardless of the source, publication editors appreciate articles that offer insights on a timely subject.
Is this always the case? Not exactly. Industry outlets have their own journalists who are on top of the news cycle. Business Insider, for example, doesn’t accept content on breaking news because their staff has it covered. However, most publication editors accept thought leadership content with timely tie-ins. Since you’re the expert, you can provide insight their reporters can’t. Use that to your advantage.
Creating and contributing thought leadership content to industry outlets is an exciting opportunity. It gives you the chance to expand your brand’s exposure and establish its credibility. And while it’s not easy to navigate what publication editors want, especially as their inboxes continue to flood, the effort you put into publishing your article will be worth it.