As part of PR Boutiques International (PRBI), we follow members’ blogs and enjoy sharing good content, such as a recent blog from Wendy Marx at Marx Communications. We agree with Marx’s stance on thought leadership that “When executed correctly, thought leadership is a valuable way of branding yourself and your company.”

Here are 10 tips that Marx highlights in her recent blog post, “Power Up Your Personal Brand with Thought Leadership in 2014,” that we found useful for healthcare, insurance, and technology companies:

  1. Develop and share a coherent, compelling story – Discuss the key, unique ways that your company stands out and presents its customer service abilities.
  2. Get on the podium – You will become more noticed and will gain more credibility from key influencers if you volunteer to speak at industry conferences.
  3. Evaluate your content marketing strategy – Write content that reflects your ability to cater to your customer’s needs, as well as demonstrates your professional strengths. This can be done through blog posts, videos articles, and social media posts.
  4. Follow influential journalists, bloggers, and thought leaders on Twitter – A good way to get in touch with key influencers is to first determine who they are, and then follow and engage with them on their social profiles.
  5. Don’t just tout your product or service – Have purposeful and specific answers for your customers as to what your product or service is about.
  6. Talk in plain English – It’s okay not to sound like a corporate robot; Customers will gain a better understanding about your brand if you write to them in a way that they will be able to.
  7. Tell an exciting story – You will have an easier time getting the attention of your customers if you include a plethora of visuals that help demonstrate your main objectives. With that said, tell a story that is timely and relates to a current news story, and then send it to key publications for them to feature it.
  8. Get others to tell your story – You will acquire more validity if you share actual testimonials and case studies from your customers and partners.
  9. Expand your circle of influence – Use a variety of content marketing strategies to promote your brand and content, such as on the various social media sites, through videos or even through emails.
  10. Curate content – Write brief recaps of articles that are related to your industry and share them (along with the article links) on your social media streams. People will want to her your personal viewpoint on these types of subjects.

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with a PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact Scott Public Relations.

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