How can you use product updates to build thought leadership?

Product updates are not only a way to showcase your features and benefits, but also an opportunity to establish your authority and credibility in your industry. By sharing valuable insights, tips, and best practices around your product, you can demonstrate your expertise and thought leadership to your prospects and customers. In this article, we will show you how to use product updates to build thought leadership in sales development.

1 Why thought leadership matters

Thought leadership is the ability to influence and inspire others with your knowledge, vision, and ideas. It can help you stand out from the competition, build trust and rapport, and generate more leads and referrals. According to a LinkedIn study, 49% of decision-makers said that thought leadership was a critical factor in choosing a vendor. Moreover, thought leadership can help you create a loyal community of followers who will advocate for your product and brand.

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Tor Abrams

Improving the quality of lives for people living in rented homes | TEDx Speaker | Ex-Google
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Thought leadership is crucial in the modern era because everyone has access to the same base level resources. Everyone can send 1000 emails, make 100 cold calls & send 100 LinkedIn DM’s every day. Not everyone can be a thought leader. This means that thought leadership acts as a differentiating factor when it comes to a vendor’s decision-making process. The company who builds a brand around thought leadership while also consistently doing outbound sales processes will inevitably win in the long-run.

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2 How to create product updates that showcase thought leadership

Creating product updates that showcase thought leadership requires more than simply announcing what's new and why it's important. It is essential to provide value and education to your audience, demonstrating how your product can help them solve their challenges and reach their goals. To achieve this, you should identify the pain points and needs of your target market and align your product updates with them. Additionally, use storytelling and case studies to illustrate how your product updates can benefit customers and prospects. Explain how your product updates reflect your vision and mission, as well as how they differentiate you from competitors. Furthermore, provide actionable advice and tips on how to use your product updates effectively and efficiently. Finally, invite feedback and questions from your audience and engage with them.

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AVANISH PANDEY

Building Where U Elevate || Helping businesses with challenges of - Hiring | Hackathon | Open Innovation
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One of the most crucial part of the Sales process is educating the customer and making hem aware of their problems. How you connect to the pain points of customers is important. It enables your own thought leadership in creating updates that would touch, move and inspire your customers.

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Abhishek Rai

I help salespeople turn 'Do we need this?' to 'Why do we have 50 of them?'
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When strategizing product updates, think like a tech oracle. First, explore market trends and listen closely to user feedback. This insight is gold—it guides you to develop features that address current issues and anticipate future needs. The trick is to weave these updates into a compelling narrative. Show how each innovation is not just a solution, but a step towards industry leadership. It's a blend of foresight, user-centric design, and storytelling. Remember, it's not just what you build, but the vision you share that counts.

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3 How to distribute product updates to reach your audience

Once you have created your product updates, you need to distribute them to reach your audience and maximize your impact. To do this, you can use a variety of channels and platforms, such as email newsletters, blog posts, social media platforms, webinars, and podcasts. For example, with email newsletters you can send regular updates to subscribers and customers with links to more information. Blog posts are a great way to explain your updates in detail with examples and screenshots. Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are effective for sharing updates and using hashtags, images, and videos to attract attention. You could also host live or recorded webinars to showcase your product updates and answer questions from the audience. Additionally, podcasts can be used to discuss your product updates and share insights and opinions.

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4 How to measure the effectiveness of your product updates

In order to measure the effectiveness of your product updates, you should track and analyze metrics and feedback that indicate how your audience is perceiving them. Such metrics include open rates, click-through rates, and conversions that show how many people opened, clicked, and took action on your emails, blog posts, social media posts, webinars, and podcasts. Additionally, engagement rates, comments, and shares can be tracked to see how many people interacted with your product updates on social media, webinars, and podcasts. Furthermore, reviews, ratings, and testimonials can provide insight into customer satisfaction and loyalty. Lastly, customer support requests, issues, and feedback can demonstrate how well your product updates are functioning and affecting customer satisfaction and retention.

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Abhishek Rai

I help salespeople turn 'Do we need this?' to 'Why do we have 50 of them?'
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While metrics like open rates and click-through rates offer quantitative data, qualitative insights are just as crucial. Use surveys to gather direct feedback from your users about the updates. Ask specific questions about new features, changes in the user experience, and overall satisfaction. This can be done through email follow-ups, pop-up surveys on your website, or through in-app feedback forms. The key is to make these surveys short, relevant, and easy to complete to encourage maximum participation.

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5 How to improve your product updates and thought leadership

To improve your product updates and thought leadership, you need to stay abreast of the latest trends, developments, and best practices in your industry and niche. Additionally, it's essential to listen to your customers and prospects, understanding their challenges, goals, and expectations. You should also solicit feedback and suggestions from your audience, incorporating them into your product updates and content. Experimenting with different formats, styles, and channels for your product updates can help you determine what works best for your audience and goals. Finally, collaborating with other experts, influencers, and partners in your field can help you leverage their network and credibility.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you use product updates to build thought leadership?

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1 Why thought leadership matters

2 How to create product updates that showcase thought leadership

3 How to distribute product updates to reach your audience

4 How to measure the effectiveness of your product updates

5 How to improve your product updates and thought leadership

6 Here’s what else to consider

Sales Development

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How can you use product updates to build thought leadership?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Why thought leadership matters

2 How to create product updates that showcase thought leadership

3 How to distribute product updates to reach your audience

4 How to measure the effectiveness of your product updates

5 How to improve your product updates and thought leadership

6 Here’s what else to consider

Sales Development

Rate this article

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