Taking Thought Leadership on the Cyber Road

Performance marketing thought leadership articles are a great resource for those interested in learning from the experts.  They offer valuable insight into the business strategy of the thought leader in question. Articles have tremendous upside but they can be rather impersonal.  Also, depending on the personality of the writer, they can be boring or teeter on the brink of self-aggrandizing. Nobody likes a know-it-all, even an expert know-it-all. Even the most charismatic thought leader can have a hard time communicating his or her experiences and knowledge in a few paragraphs. Ideally, experts should engage people on a one-on-one basis or in a manner befitting a town hall meeting but these options are often logistically impossible and financially irresponsible. But in the constantly evolving and continuously improving worlds of social media and digital marketing, this may no longer be the case.

Social media allows users to put the direct back in direct marketing. On Twitter and YouTube, people proactively market themselves and their special skills. Some users do exhibit a high degree of talent in a number of areas; i.e. singing, dancing, art, technology. Others, on the other hand, offer mediocrity to the masses. And yet both messages connect with people, sometimes in real-time. They are visual; therefore, more immediately memorable. Now take that one step further by utilizing YouTube as a vehicle to drive thought leadership through the web. Why couldn’t, why shouldn’t thought leadership go viral?

I, for one, will never call for the death of the written word. Thought leadership in print is most certainly an important marketing resource. Still, thought leadership articles, regardless of topic or author, can’t help but lack the appeal of a personal appearance, even if it’s remote. If you were interested in affiliate marketing, would you rather read an article authored by Monetizeit GM Peter Klein or would you prefer to sign into a cyber town hall and have Peter answer your question directly? If you were intrigued by the latest advances in search, would you favor accessing an article by MediaWhiz GM of Search Adam Riff or downloading an informal yet informative dialogue featuring Adam on YouTube?

One could make the argument that preparing for these virtual appearances would be a hassle, that the back and forth involved in scheduling them would become a time efficiency nightmare. There is truth to that - much the way meeting written deadlines, rewrite deadlines and unexpected editing revision deadlines can incite stress related hair pulling. But the end result, the spreading of specialized expertise, makes the process well worth it.

When it comes to promoting thought leadership, I’m not advocating one against the other. At the end of the day, it is a matter of individual preference.  Articles and “live” appearances each have their place and should complement each other. Perhaps performance marketing should take a page out of its own playbook, creating something akin to a targeted, audience-specific thought leadership campaign. This would enable savvy marketers and thought leaders to expand their reach, spark discussions and potentially drive results.