Thought Leadership - Selling without selling

Thought Leadership -
Selling without selling

Also See These Articles Related to "Thought Leadership":

1. Internet Branding
2. How a SWOT Analysis Can Help You
2. Guerilla Marketing - A Word of Caution

"Thought Leadership" is the new buzzword in marketing circles. It means communicating to your target market in a way that positions you as an authority or expert in a subject related to your business.

Why is this important for you? Because the Internet has changed the way people shop, and this new strategy is the appropriate way to communicate with them in our changed environment.

In the past, advertising was based on an 'interruptive' model. Companies would interrupt TV or radio shows in an attempt to command attention and sell the benefits of the product or service being advertised.

Today's marketing model is 'communicative.' Control of the information flow has shifted from advertiser to consumer. Such a shift has profound implications for advertisers because consumers are by-passing interruptive advertising messages and instead are going in search of relevant and useful information on the internet and elsewhere. Thought Leadership is the most effective means to provide that information.

Now here is the important - and sometimes overlooked - point about this strategy: the concept is about providing information about consumers' interests, NOT about promoting your product or service.

The purpose of your communication is to inform rather than sell. In that way, you are able to establish trust, and the foundations of a relationship.

Developing a trusting relationship is a powerful sales strategy because people buy from people (companies) they like and trust. The result of this trust based relationship is that people buy from you, despite your not 'selling' to them. It's selling without selling.

One of the great advantages of this approach to marketing is that it establishes customers for the long term.People who purchase once and are happy with your product or service, will come back to purchase again, and will refer others.

Obviously, it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss all the aspects of this strategy and how your business can use and benefit from it. For now, consider the concept of Thought Leadership as a new form of marketing strategy for our new age of consumer communication. It's selling without selling.

-by Andrew Sokol
Andrew Sokol is a Business and Marketing Strategist.
He is also the publisher of this website.
Andrew is available for private consulting and public speaking.
He can be reached by clicking Contact Us.