Increasingly, professional service firms are producing different forms of thought leadership such as white papers and articles, to showcase their in-house capabilities.

They are often used as:

•    Tools to draw traffic to corporate websites
•    Presentations for speaking engagements
•    Complimentary hand-outs at third-party conferences
•    Relationship building tools with new prospects and clients
•    Media articles

Writing a good piece can make all the difference in demonstrating value, building your brand and generating business leads.

The first step is to choose a compelling topic

Arriving at the right topic is the first critical step. Some useful considerations to take into account when deciding on a topic include:

1. Make it fresh
Has this topic been covered extensively elsewhere? If so, please consider another one.

2. Brand
Is it aligned with your brand? Does the topic support your brand positioning?

3. Make it relevant to your clients
Does the topic cover some emerging trends that are likely to impact your clients’ businesses in the next 3-5years?

4. Life span
Will the paper or article still be valid in 1-2 years time?

5. Audiences
Does the topic interest more than one client or stakeholder group? Try to address more than one group to make the most of your writing efforts.

6. Media worthy
Is it something the media would pick up?

7. Partners
Would other key organizations or strategic partners be interested in distributing the paper or article internally as well?

Some additional tips

Here are some other tips in planning and writing thought leadership pieces. Always aim to:

1. Have clear and catchy ideas
Present the findings in a catchy way that people are likely to quote eg. compare different countries, talk about key success factors, provide growth projections.

2. Include primary / statistical research
Charts and graphs are popular and are more often than not used by the media. Include these whenever you can.

3. Use interviews
Pieces that rely solely on desk research lead to fewer hits with your stakeholders. Always consider how you can include interviews with industry experts and business leaders.

4. End with recommendations on “what does this mean for you, the client?”
End with a point of view that addresses the implications to your clients’ businesses. Otherwise, the paper will be in danger of becoming purely theoretical.

5. Consider tie-ups with trade journals
The media often lack in-house research capabilities and would be open to a partnership if the topics are interesting.

For more information, please contact Manifesto.