One of the greatest reasons to put out thought leadership in 2024 will be to earn trust by showcasing your experience.
Google agrees.
Last year, Google updated their search quality rating guidelines to include “experience,” now E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). As the algorithm updates, it will increasingly favor content created with “experience.”
According to Google, this +E will determine:
- “Does content also demonstrate that it was produced with some degree of experience, such as with actual use of a product, having actually visited a place or communicating what a person experienced?”
- “Clearer guidance throughout the guidelines underscoring the importance of content created to be original and helpful for people and explaining that helpful information can come in a variety of different formats and from a range of sources.”
Google's goal is to downrank content
that's cookie cutter, is stuffed with identical language, or that is too general, and instead promote content with real life experiences and examples, like case studies and personal stories.
As content becomes more AI driven, original thought leadership, full of its real life anecdotes and experiences will catch the eye of the Google algorithm and rise to the top — literally.
Here’s how to do bespoke thought leadership well in 2024 — and champion the Google algorithm.
1. Earn trust by being you. Take a stand. The best topics to tackle are the ones your internal experts and customers are passionate about. What questions come your way in FAQs or in
client meetings? What problems plague your customers — things they’re always asking about?
Answer them in your content. According to the Edelman Trust
Barometer, business is currently the public’s only trusted institution, leading NGOs, the government and the media (in that order). You got this. Now, show up and earn it.
2. Base it on experience. Showcase your internal experts’ real-world experience that your unique client base needs to hear. Don’t just use SMEs to research the content, but give
them the byline, and include bios/headshots and their contact info there as well. This is the best way to build trust. Spoiler alert: It takes time.
3. Illustrate it. Include real case study examples, stories from your deep industry experience. There’s nothing better than a real story that the reader (a potential customer) can
relate to.
Sprinkle your content with case studies – anonymous and labeled. Include them as your intros and bury them within your prose as well. Both are effective strategies.
4. Keep it personal. Don’t sell/talk product. Just talk ideas/theories/industry trends. Give advice, offer best practices. This
presents readers with the ability to trust you and try out your advice before they need to commit to you with their wallet.
One prediction for 2024: The newest job on every marketing team? AI Editor. This is someone that understands AI, i.e. knows the way to prompt it and edit content to sound more human. If you’re a marketer that’s recently been laid off, or you were an SEO writer, learn these skills. Businesses will need them in 2024.
After months with my head down in work, I’m happy to be back in front of you. Thanks for reading this far and for welcoming me into your inbox.
All the best, Mindi :)
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