Craig Badings has put together an epic post on thought leadership trends for 2012. He starts…
I asked 12 people who I consider to be leading global commentators on thought leadership as well as a couple who have produced some amazing thought leadership programs in-house over the years to comment on four critical thought leadership questions for 2012.
Source: Thought Leadership – 12 experts on the key thought leadership trends for 2012 – content curation
In it, he quotes my friend Dana VanDen Heuvel on the topic of curation alone as a means of thought leadership marketing…
“No, I don’t think so.
“I think content curation may perhaps be a reason why critics are inveighing against thought leadership in the first place.
“Of course it is a useful way of identifying and re-branding an issue. But I think the trend will be to move towards more sophisticated thought leadership initiatives. For that to happen, a thought leader must be authentic.
“Authenticity, transparency and trust are values that will become even more important in the coming years.”
Source: Thought Leadership – 12 experts on the key thought leadership trends for 2012 – content curation
I agree with Craig, Dana and the general consensus of the article. Curation alone does not a thought leader make. It is, however, an effective means of bolstering a thought leadership position. “Content curation as a blogging model is widely misunderstood by most bloggers and marketers.” says curation enthusiast Jack Humphrey:
You absolutely must tie the content you curate into a post (i.e. links to different angles from different authors, bloggers, and news stories around the same topic) with original commentary. Commentary that makes sense and seeks to draw new connections, parallels, or shed new light on a topic others are writing and sharing information about.
Source: The Content Curation Guide for Bloggers | Internet Marketing Consultant Jack Humphrey
I was recently taken to task on my curation style and I readily admin it may not be for everybody. In response I wrote this:
I always attribute content that I curate under Fair Use Guidelinesso that everyone benefits; the original author, the reader and me and I always encourage my readers to go to the source and read the original author’s entire article. I frequently use a curation post simply to share great content with my clients – my standard close of ‘Comment, call or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to you and your organization…’ – is an invitation to get customized ‘value add’ that I deliver via telephone to fill windshield time as I drive across the great State of Wisconsin.
Source: Content Curation and Adding Value | Power Tools for Thought Leaders
How you do it is up to you, but I strongly encourage you to consider Craig’s article before embarking on a thought leadership marketing strategy. Perhaps it would be a good idea to read his entire 4 post series? Should you decide to pursue thought leadership marketing, please connect with me so we can talk about how the ‘e1evation workflow’ can help. I’ve developed a ‘lather, rinse, repeat’ cycle of thought leadership marketing that can help take your strategy to new levels. Questions? Feedback?
Related articles
- From Thought Leadership to Attention Leadership (marketingsavant.com)
- Content Curation and Adding Value (e1evation.com)
Todd Lohenry 