4 Ways to Show Thought Leadership on LinkedIn

Demonstrating thought leadership in your area of expertise is one of the best ways to grow and promote your practice. Many times, when we think of someone showing thought leadership, we might think of a senior professor or high-profile consultant or CEO writing a lengthy article for a law review or the Harvard Business Journal. But thought leadership can come from people at many different phases of their careers and can manifest itself in many ways beyond academic articles.

Thought leadership content is any content that presents your “brand” (your subject-matter expertise) as a leading voice in your practice area. This content is meant to inform, educate and provide new insight with the goal of increasing your reach, and always keeps your audience (current and prospective clients) in mind.

You can demonstrate thought leadership through blog articles, social media posts, media interviews, webinars, videos and more. However you choose to demonstrate your expertise, you can leverage social media tools like LinkedIn to amplify that communication even further.

The climate we find ourselves in at the moment further stresses the importance of virtual marketing. LinkedIn is more important than ever because it is one of the best, and only, ways we are able to stay connected. Now is the perfect time to develop or strengthen your presence on LinkedIn and leverage your content so you are positioned as a credible thought leader in your practice are. Here are four easy ways you can show thought leadership on LinkedIn:

1) Leave thoughtful comments. Joining group discussions in the comments section boosts your profile’s reach and promotes your practice among people in and out of your network. Answer a question, offer your opinion or provide other resources people may find helpful.

2) Post industry articles. Sharing current news and industry trends positions you as a person who is always in the know, which increases reliability and credibility. Industry trends are the most popular types of content in terms of shares on LinkedIn, so make predictions and invite comments or debate.

3) Use updates as a blog. Writing blog-like posts adds your own voice to the larger conversation on LinkedIn. Posting original content is key to being noticed as an expert in your practice area. Examples of posts that perform well on LinkedIn include lists of tips, tricks, how-tos and lessons learned.

4) Write LinkedIn articles. The LinkedIn articles feature lets you author longer pieces and publish them directly on the LinkedIn platform. Articles let you have your own voice, and writing one doesn’t have to consume all of your time. Write about conferences (or webinars), or interesting discussions that raise larger issues. Why is that topic significant? What does it mean for the industry as a whole? Why should we care?

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