We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: thought leadership is also about helping bring and raise awareness of your brand and/or business. This is where a strong brand message strategy comes in.

As a thought leader, you’re bound to have your own opinions and ideas about a wide range of topics: from industry news to updates, content ideas, and more…

By latching onto these topics, thought leaders can use their platform and their voice to plug their brand/business and help them gain more brand awareness across the board.

Wondering how it’s done? Luckily you came to the right place. 😎

Here’s how a well-crafted and well-planned brand message strategy can help you cement yourself as a thought leader within your industry.

The importance of a brand message strategy

A brand message is all-encompassing. It takes into consideration your brand values, your mission your vision (among lots of other things)…

It’s basically a pen-to-paper representation of what your brand stands for and is all about.

The same applies to someone whose “brand” is… themselves, their ideas, and their knowledge of certain subjects.

Yeah, we’re talking about thought leaders. 😉

As a thought leader, when you know your brand message inside out – and when you can clearly articulate it to connect with your audience and clients – sharing it with the world is basically a great way to amplify and humanize it.

Think of it this way: whenever a thought leader speaks up about something they care about, have studied, and ignites their passion, they’re also putting a piece of themselves out there. 

After all, most thought leaders connect to a cause or a topic because they have lived through it, and now they want to help others understand it, live through it too, and learn from their “mistakes”. 

Thought leaders bring their human experiences and their life stories to the table — and there are few things as strong and powerful as someone who’s laying it all down on the line for others to see and, in some cases, relate to. 

So, where does a brand message strategy come into play?

READ: How to Bring Intercultural Communication Into Your Brand Message

Your brand message is (ultimately) designed to help people truly connect with your brand, understand what your brand stands for, and establish a deeper relationship that goes beyond a simple purchase or “Like” on social media.

After all, your brand message also plays an essential role when it comes to building and executing a strong brand strategy that gets you to your goals — tangible and not.

 However, if you have a strong brand message strategy in place… everything else also kind of falls into line.

And how do you create a “strong brand message strategy”?

Here are a few good places to start:

• Establish a clear set of goals that you wish to accomplish. These will help give you direction and keep you on track.
• Decide on your target audience. But don’t just think of them as “avatars”, they’re flesh and bone, just like you!
• Find your “Fierce Factor” aka “USP” aka “The thing that makes your brand special”. Use this to set yourself apart from others and draw people in from the get-go.
• Define your tone of voice and make sure it remains consistent throughout the different platforms that you’re present on.
• Don’t try to do it all. Choose your platforms wisely and stick to them in order to avoid burnout from doing too much.
• Always track your results! By tracking and understanding the backend of your strategy you’ll know what needs to change and what’s currently working.

And now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s dig into some goodies! 👀

Three truths about using your brand message strategy to position yourself as a thought leader

We’ve set down the theory to help you push forward on your journey into thought leadership by setting a strong brand message strategy as the foundation…

READ: 3 Brand Message Strategy Tips for A Great Client Experience

But where the heck do you go from here?

No need to fret – you know we gotchu! 

Here are our top three tips for using your newly-created — or updated! — brand message strategy to position yourself as a thought leader online!

1. The first step to thought leadership is knowing your brand message

And we mean really, really know it! By understanding the ins, outs, and middles of your brand message before you set out to plan a thought leadership strategy, you’ll have a much clearer grasp on how to tie in your brand/business with your own personal interests, values, and life story.

Remember: these two things are not exclusive! In order to intentionally grow as a thought leader, you need to really (honestly, we can’t stretch this enough!) understand what you and your brand hope to stand for and what you’re looking to achieve by venturing into the world of thought leadership.

2. Once your brand message is clear, content creation becomes easy

Fact: if you’re clear on your brand message and brand message strategy you’ll have a much easier time creating content that’s engaging, educational, and helps get your name out there.

After all, your brand message will act as a roadmap of what you want to communicate, how you want to communicate it, and how you can bring a little piece of yourself into the mix. 

READ: Why Thought Leadership Is Important and How to Establish It

This way, you won’t be throwing things out there to see what sticks, but you’ll actually know what you want to say, where you can say it, and how you can communicate it to the world.

Most BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ thought leaders that we work with come to us because they struggle with content creation that is fun, engaging, and builds connection. While they think the source of their problem is coming up with content ideas or setting aside time to plan content or even create it – what the root of the problem is, is that their brand message is unclear.

Not having a clear brand message (and a strategy to go with it) means our content is kinda just… everywhere. And when it’s “kinda just everywhere”, it also means that we’re getting tired trying to do it all. 

3. A brand message strategy will create a natural pathway for folx to purchase and follow

Getting clear on your brand message isn’t just a great way to make the content creation process a lot easier: it’s also the most effective way to get your audience to engage, follow, and — if applicable — make a purchase.

Thanks to a clear brand message strategy, the right clients (emphasis on RIGHT) won’t get confused in terms of what you offer, how they can work with you, and how to become active members of your community.

Your messaging will create that pathway for them to go on – which is way easier than turning to “manipulative marketing” efforts trying to convince and persuade someone that you’re a fit to work together. 

Brand message strategy + thought leadership = winning combo

Overall, it’s clear that a brand message strategy is one of the most important things you need to create before setting off to become a thought leader — no matter the industry or the work you’re planning to do.

By making sure that your brand message is clear — to you and to your audience — and by outlining your goals, you’ll have a much easier time working towards building a community around your knowledge, ideas, and life stories.

In order to get started, here are three truths that we believe can help get you started in the right direction:
1. The first step to thought leadership is knowing your brand message
2. Once your brand message is clear, content creation becomes easy
3. A brand message strategy will create a natural pathway for folx to purchase and follow

And there you have it, folx! Don’t ignore your brand message strategy — build atop it instead!

Still a little confused as to how to get where you want to be? Our Amplify Your Message Intensives are designed to help you get to the core of what makes your brand stand out and hone in on your fierce factor!