If there’s one question I’ve received more than any other over the course of my career—from friends and family, from colleagues and clients—it’s this: Does [insert any marketing tactic here] really work?

I suppose content marketing in the form of thought leadership should be no different. To be clear, what I, my partner, and our guests have been exploring on our aptly named podcast, The Thought Leadership Project, is a very specific strain of content marketing. Thought leadership, properly understood, is perhaps the most effective means of “marketing” for professional service providers, such as attorneys, accountants and other consultants. Listen to any one of the guests on our show and you’ll hear real-world, impressive examples of success stories that espouse the thought-leadership approach.

But does it really work? The answer is a resounding yes. But if—and only if—you honestly, legitimately and wholly believe all of the following...

It’s Not a Gumball Machine

The decision to hire a lawyer, accountant or similar consultant is not an impulse buy. If you think that publishing a given piece of content will directly and instantly result in your phone ringing off the hook, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. You’re also holding your content to an unrealistic expectation. Put-coin-in, get-gratification-out may work for gumball machines and fast food restaurants, but professional services don’t sell that way.

The Goal of My Content Campaign is to Educate Those We Serve

If you approach a thought leadership strategy in terms of, How do I use this content to sell my services?, you are likely going to produce content that has little appeal to the audience you’re trying to influence. On the other hand, if you endeavor to answer questions and provide true value to your constituents (for free! gasp!), you will be earning favor with each successive piece of content you publish. The value of those compounding returns should be obvious. If it’s not, you will never have the patience to allow this form of marketing to yield results.

The Buying Cycle in My Industry is Long, So I’m Patient Enough to Play the Long Game

For most professional services, the actual purchasing consideration from a client is happening long before an actual need arises. Without being fully cognizant at the time, people are constantly observing the behaviors of those around them and banking those impressions for such a time that they need to be called upon. If you’re never establishing yourself as a thought leader in their minds, you will never be regarded as one. If you are always and consistently using content to achieve stature as bonafide expert in your field, you will instantly be recalled as one when the time comes for someone you know to be in the market for your services.

If This NEVER Results in a Sale, That’s Perfectly Okay

In my experience, the moment you remove the burden of expectations of business development from your content marketing strategy is precisely when the opportunities begin to flow in. As referenced above, if you go into this thinking, How do I sell?, you’ll appeal to nobody. But if you are, instead, truly endeavoring to serve, the entire complexion of your campaign changes, and people begin to value your expertise...and come calling for it, when they’re ready.

I’m Starting a Routine, Not Placing an Ad

Due to the nature of the buying cycle for most professional services, we never know for certain who will be in the market and when. You need to approach thought leadership as something you’re starting, committing to, and likely never stopping. It’s a twelve-month, year-in-year-out proposition. That way, you’re always visible, ever-present and consistently top-of-mind when need arises. Those who approach this with the notion that they will try it once and see if it works are usually disappointed. Those who approach it as a new way of life, will brag to you how “easy” it is, in retrospect.

I’m Earning a Reputation, Not a Pitch Opportunity

The whole point of thought leadership content marketing, as opposed to the myriad other forms of advertising (and even content marketing, specifically) is that the very goal is to establish an individual as a subject matter expert. To earn a reputation. To earn a market’s trust and admiration. Sometimes those types of metrics are not immediately apparent or easily understood. But trust me. The audience is listening. Whether that audience is a prospect, a client, a colleague, or some sort of referral source, you’re making an impression when you’re doing effective thought leadership. Those impressions aggregate, and before long, you have a very engaged audience that is looking to you to provide expertise and knowledge. In other words, hire you or refer you to a client.

It’s Working, Even When I Can’t See It

As Adrian Lurssen of JD Supra asserted on a recent episode of our podcast, content is like your “praise singer” that works to spread good will around the universe and bolster your reputation, even when you can’t be in the room with someone to do it for yourself. You can’t be everywhere at once, but your thought leadership content literally can. If you trust the process, even when you can’t open a dashboard to witness firsthand vanity metrics and analytics, you’ll keep at it with the necessary discipline and optimism. Then, almost by magic, people start noticing. They start mentioning. They tell you they’ve been following along. That they hold you in high esteem. And, curiously, they or someone they know wants to hire you. Amazing how that works.

I’ll Be on the Lookout for Small Wins

Because this form of marketing is, at times, operating invisibly in the background, we have to open our eyes to small successes that will later be dot-connectors to the business development success you’re hoping to achieve. A blog post leads to an opportunity be a guest contributor on an industry blog. That guest post leads to an invitation to be a guest on a podcast. That show appearance supports your credentials to be considered as a keynote speaker at a conference. That presentation leads to an invitation to present privately to a prospect’s in-house counsel team. Pretty soon, you’re hired. All because you offered your expertise for free with a single piece of thought leadership content in the form of a blog post. (The preceding is a true story, by the way.)

I Want to Be Liked and Understood, Not Necessarily Esteemed

I’ll again point to a guest on our podcast for context, this time thought leader Rich Bracken on humanizing your content to facilitate effective business development. I’ve heard both he and Jay Harrington contend that the goal of thought leadership should not be to impress everyone around you with your intellect and expertise, but rather to be legitimately liked, understood and trusted. Please don’t approach thought leadership as an excuse to show the world you’re the smartest person in the room. That’s off-putting and impersonal. Instead, go into your strategy planning with the intent to demystify the complex...to make sense of the inaccessible...to placate without patronizing.

Ultimately, people hire people who they know, like and trust. Your subject matter expertise is table stakes, and all of your competitors have it, too. Your willingness to help and serve others is often the only differentiator you’ll need. Inject that intonation into your thought leadership, and you’ll be pleasantly satisfied (maybe even surprised?) with the results.

Yes. It really does work.

Looking for more? Check out this related content:

Podcast: Back to Basics for Better Business Development with Rich Bracken

“Serving Isn’t Selling,” and Other Strategy Realignments

What Is Content Business Development?

How to Avoid “Content Paralysis” to Become a Thought Leader

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