How to Find Your Thought Leadership POV and Start Standing Out
Thought leadership is about your perspective on how to solve a problem, not directly about product/service. Your perspective is what entices buyers to look at your solution. Once a prospect is hooked by your perspective, they’ll want to learn about your product/service. Point of view is what gets you in the back door that friends use, rather than leaving you knocking on the front door like a solicitor — and being ignored.
For thought leadership to succeed, your point of view has to resonate deeply with your audience and meaningfully relate to the problem you solve for customers. The most powerful POVs are a marriage between:
1) the brand's story, and
2) insight into the problem you solve for your ideal client
This marriage is what makes a POV both effective and not-easily-copied.
Here’s the framework I use to help clients craft a point of view that resonates with their ICP and motivates them to consider the product/service. (Hat tip to Seth Godin, David C. Baker, Tamsen Webster, Ann Handley, and Devin Reed, who have influenced my thinking on POV!)
Questions to Guide You to Your Brand POV
1. Get grounded in your origin story and look at your evolution
What’s the brand story? Why was the company founded, and why was the product built?
What drives your team today?
2. Consider your ICP’s pain points and how you solve them
What problem (related to your solution) is your ideal client facing?
What approaches have they tried that don’t work?
How does your solution help them solve their problem?
What outcomes do you help them achieve?
What’s different about your approach?
3. Understand your audience’s aspirations
What is your ICP’s ideal state?
What kind of person does your ICP aspire to be?
How does your ICP want to be viewed by others in their industry or peer group?
4. Describe your beliefs and insights
What’s wrong with how the industry approaches the problem you solve?
What’s your audience overlooking about the problem?
What do they believe can’t be changed, when it actually can?
Why do you understand your ICP’s challenges so well?
What common assumptions do you disagree with?
What “best practices” do you disagree with?
5. Envision the future
What’s changed in the world that requires a new approach?
What new way of doing things is needed?
What’s your vision for your ICP’s future?
What’s your vision for the industry?
Look At (But Don’t Copy!) Your Competitors
Your point of view will be most effective when it’s truly unique, so you’ll want to do a POV-related competitor analysis. What are your competitors’ POVs? What perspective or insight have they missed? Looking at your competitors’ POVs might also trigger additional thoughts for your own.
Characteristics of an Effective POV
It’s closely tied to your ICP’s problem and desired outcomes: Broad-stroke POVs aren’t as powerful as those specific to your ICP.
It takes a strong stance: If everyone will immediately agree with your POV, it’s not strong enough.
It can be communicated in three or four sentences: Aim for clear and concise. People should be able to understand what you’re saying quickly.
Examples of POV in B2B Tech
Here are a few examples of tech brands doing POV well.
Floqast: Accounting is the operational heartbeat of modern business. All accountants should be empowered to deliver strategic value while enjoying work-life balance. We need to change how accounting gets done so that future generations choose to become accountants.
Bonterra: Nonprofits should be judged on their true impact, not their percentage of overhead. To achieve the greatest good, nonprofit organizations must know where to channel their resources for the greatest impact and give supporters confidence that their contributions are driving outcomes.
Sigma: Data analytics should not be complex, and non-technical business people should not have to rely on a data team or learn proprietary code to make use of insights. We believe in a world where access to insights matches the need, where business people can do their own analysis quickly and easily.
Bonus Tips
Get sales and customer service teams involved: Point of view is sometimes siloed in marketing, but it shouldn’t be. POV is a brand initiative. Your sales and customer service folks will have insights from customer conversations that will be incredibly valuable as you’re thinking about your point of view.
Talk to your customers: If you’re struggling to identify a POV that’s connected to the problem you solve, or if you’ve got too many good options and are having a tough time narrowing them down, talk to your customers. Your customers can often identify your POV (or at least elements of it) for you.
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