The Difference Between a Thought Leader and an Influencer

The Difference Between a Thought Leader and an Influencer

Often you hear about social media influencers and wonder what they do precisely. While thought leadership and social media influencers are both considered authoritative figures within the digital space, they have very different definitions. 

While a social media influencer captures the attention of many Instagram and Twitter followers seeking guidance with their brands, they don’t necessarily need to have expertise. There are close to 38 million social influencers worldwide, many of them being the stereotypical YouTube or reality TV stars that catch the attention of various brands. 

While thought leaders may not pull the audience that many social media influencers attract, they focus more on expertise and knowledge than the number of followers they get. Thought leaders value their niche enough to support their vision of being experts on particular topics financially. They put in the time, working throughout the industry, gaining knowledge, and applying it to hone their skillset and expertise within a niche. 

Quality, authentic content drives thought leaders as they strive to educate their audience with detailed information that they will find helpful in the short and long term. Thought leaders live to educate people on things they’re passionate about, enhancing their reputation and accelerating brand recognition along the way. 

Start with finding a niche that you genuinely care about, key in on your ideal target audience, and focus on the quality of detail when creating content. Add some helpful SEO tactics like keyword research to your strategy, and immediately you become a thought leader in your industry that consistently adds value with every interaction. 

Our Thought Leadership Program will help you become the thought leader people trust. Learn more about it here! https://www.article-writing.co/the-tlp/

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Mallcom Nathan

Deputy Manager at Deloitte

2y

Amazing man

Brian Hicks

VP of Sales at Belkins

2y

Excellent!

Siddiqui Subhani

Founder & CEO at WideEyes Digital

2y

Awesome! 🙌

Brad Stevens

CEO at Outsource Access: Talented, Affordable, Staff from the Philippines supporting SMB’s in 75+ industries including franchisors and franchisees (500 staff: Marketing, Sales, Operations, Finance, Exec Admins and More)

2y

Good read Suraj!

Mallikarjuna Iytha

Founder & CEO @ IDEA | Social Entrepreneur

2y

Thanks for sharing

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