Greentarget

Authoritative messaging

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Crafting a unique, attention-worthy point of view for your professional services firm takes work. And, unfortunately, most thought leaders fall short. They jump into the fray without taking the time to develop well-considered positions of authority that resonate with their audience and direct a smarter conversation. 

Do you know how to find your firm’s unique point of view? 

What you want to say is only one piece of the puzzle. You also need to understand what’s already been said about a topic and what your audience wants or needs to hear. Only then can you figure out what you (and ideally only you!) can bring to the table.

Get started today by downloading our 4-step guide.

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When your audience views your professional services firm as a trusted authority, they’re more likely to come to you for help in solving their toughest challenges.

That means your firm’s authority — which is established and strengthened through proactive thought leadership campaigns — is the catalyst for your firm to win new business and capture a larger portion of your current clientele’s marketing spend. But with all the noise out there, how can your firm stand out?

The answer lies in bespoke signature research projects that speak to your audience’s unique pain points.

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Leaders at professional services firms are under enormous pressure to communicate effectively and authentically in today’s volatile world. From global crises to social shifts, they’re expected to comment on issues even when situations don’t directly impact their business.

Deciding how, when, and what to communicate — or even whether to say anything at all — is a minefield.

Greentarget tackled this challenge in our recent webinar, Communicating in an Increasingly Volatile and Complex World: A Roadmap for Professional Services Leaders. In it, we offer important insights on navigating today’s toughest communication scenarios and provide guidance on how to speak out authentically while staying aligned with your firm’s values.

Topics include:

  • Geopolitical and generational shifts
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • The impact of AI

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Professional services firms face an uphill battle to stand out and promote their expertise, as overwhelming amounts of content flood target audience’s inboxes and feeds each day.

How, then, can your firm avoid contributing to the noise — and instead rise above it? The answer lies in bespoke research that informs distinctive, high impact thought leadership campaigns. 

The Power of Research-Backed Thought Leadership

True thought leadership isn’t just about reposting articles or chiming in on the latest news. It’s about unleashing fresh and unique insights and practical guidance that can address the critical issues facing your key audiences. In doing so, you can differentiate the most important practices at your firm and open doors to new business opportunities.

Research-based PR and marketing campaigns offer unique advantages over run-of-the-mill content, enabling your firm to:

  • Go deep on a topic. While most content just skims the surface, well-crafted research reports provide original data and in-depth analysis that clients and prospects value.
  • Fuel content for multiple channels. A single research initiative can drive articles, presentations, infographics, videos, podcasts, and more — creating a content engine that keeps producing long after you launch the report itself.
  • Strengthen relationships with clients and stakeholders. Research gives you insights into the concrete needs and challenges of your internal and external stakeholders. When you understand these deeply, you can deliver clear and actionable guidance that makes a difference.
  • Leverage findings as a catalyst for business development. When you connect the dots between your research findings and your prospects’ needs, you’ll be able to more easily open doors to high-value sales conversations.
  • Establish authority. Staking a claim on key topics and building your position on those topics year after year is an effective strategy to elevate visibility and deepen trust with your audience.

Of course, research-backed campaigns will only drive results if the research they’re based on is both salient and sound. Rather than go it alone, it can be helpful to partner with a firm that specializes in this work.

Greentarget conducts approximately 50 major research-based campaigns for our clients each year. Of those, about half are ongoing campaigns that we iterate over time to help clients build their brand, strengthen their reputation, and drive growth.

Let’s take a look at what it takes to conduct research and market intelligence projects that drive results.

6 Steps to Create Research-Backed Thought Leadership Campaigns

Effective research must be tied to the issues that matter to your audience and help your firm differentiate itself. So what tools and strategies should you use to effectively move from idea to insight? Here’s a look at what it takes to develop research that delivers tangible results.

  1. Identify your audience and brainstorm relevant topics. Conducting research for research’s sake is an exercise in futility. To make an impact, your research must be targeted and purposeful, relevant to thought leaders’ expertise, client needs, and timely news hooks.
  2. Conduct a white space analysis. White spaces are where you have an opportunity to differentiate — where you can bring something new and valuable to the conversation, and your audience. 
  3. Choose the ideal research methodologies for your objectives. Whenever possible, leverage a combination of secondary research (e.g., existing industry reports, academic studies, and publicly available data) and primary research (e.g., quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews or focus groups). 
  4. Execute the research. This step involves developing your research instruments, recruiting participants, and conducting fieldwork. But bear in mind: It takes experience and know-how to gather high-quality data with statistical significance. Partnering with a firm like Greentarget helps ensure you reach the right respondents and maintain methodological rigor.
  5. Analyze findings and develop strategic guidance. After you’ve collected your data, you need to extract meaningful insights from it. Be sure to invite internal stakeholders and subject matter experts back into the process at this stage. They have the insight and expertise to help you interpret the results accurately, contextualize key findings, and identify the most significant implications for your clients.
  6. Create the cornerstone report and supporting content. Package your insights into a report and related content items to distribute to your audience. Make sure all pieces of content are relevant, urgent, novel, and useful to provide maximum value to your audience.

Remember, the goal is to create multiple touchpoints that reinforce your key messages and position your firm as a thought leader in your chosen area. Monitor the performance of different channels and content pieces, and be prepared to adjust your strategy based on what resonates most with your audience. Directing smarter conversations requires powerful insights that are rooted in sound market intelligence. Greentarget can help you find them. So let’s talk.

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Too many aspiring thought leaders are more concerned with simply being part of the conversation than adding to it in a meaningful way.

Some may feel an intense pressure to keep pace with competitors, even if they don’t have anything new to say. Others may have plenty to say, but hesitate to speak out for fear of offending stakeholders and losing current and/or future business.

Whatever the reason, this lack of confidence in what to say and when to say it presents a problem. In almost every case, it strips would-be thought leaders of a true point of view — a critical element in establishing and demonstrating authority.

What Are the Hallmarks of a Strong POV? 

At its core, a point of view (POV) is a statement or position that others might disagree with. It’s not merely a statement of fact.

Like a good piece of writing or a coveted dinner guest, a solid POV invites further conversation and sparks new ideas. And like those thesis statements we learned about in middle school, a good POV is evidence of an underlying argument that’s well-constructed and fully considered. One that persuades, excites, and pushes the conversation forward using supporting evidence, engaging storytelling principles, and illustrative examples.

By contrast, what too often passes for thought leadership actually closes conversation off by  repeating what’s already been said, stating the obvious, or saying something patently false or outrageous. 

There is a middle ground here. Just because someone might disagree with a point of view doesn’t mean their response is inherently controversial or combative. They might just be saying, “Hmm, you’d do it this way? Interesting. Here’s why I think you should do it this way instead…”

Alternatively, sometimes a compelling, subjective point of view shines through thanks to the voice and distinct personality of the writer — even if the opinion expressed isn’t intrinsically novel. For example, most movie critics agreed that Moonlight was an exceptional film (see as evidence its 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes). But just because they all agreed doesn’t render each critic’s review moot. 

Good critics know how to express the same overarching opinion in a new and unique way — by drawing on their individual experiences, layering in interesting historical and industry context, and infusing their prose with a memorable style. These elements set each review apart and open up more space for conversation and debate.

Similarly, a consultant might agree with the majority of her peers that there needs to be more focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations at the board level. But she might have her own unique perspective on the best ways to go about it. Or she might offer salient, industry-specific advice on how ESG should be talked about and prioritized. She may even bring first-hand experience to the table (e.g., a stint serving as a consultant in South Africa during apartheid or advising directors who were early ESG adopters) that lets her speak to the issue in a completely different way from everyone else. 

Nobody needs to hear another clarion call about the need to adopt ESG practices at their organization (or read generic content about any other trending topic). But advisors who draw on their own experiences can make the case for ESG — or for the topic at hand — in a way that nobody else is making it.

Put simply, true authorities develop statements and positions that are made more compelling by virtue of their unique perspective.

[Ready to start honing your firm’s unique POV? Download our 4-Step Guide to learn how.]

It’s Time for Professional Services Firms to Develop True POVs

If you’re a marketer or aspiring thought leader at a professional services firm, you may be thinking that this is all well and good in theory, but that the consensus-driven partnership structure of your organization makes it difficult to put any kind of real stake in the ground.  

You’re not wrong. It’s rare to find a lawyer or consultant who wants to go out on a limb and risk offending their partners, clients, or potential clients.

But here’s the rub: Going out on a limb is often what makes the best points of view. (Just look at any newspaper’s most read op-ed pieces.) More to the point, weighing in on the conversations that matter most is exactly what your audience needs from you right now. 

The 2024 EdelmanTrust Barometer reveals that the public’s trust in government, media, and science continues to deteriorate. Conversely, people trust businesses more than they trust these traditional helms of authority. 

As a result, more and more of your stakeholders expect the leaders they trust to speak out and carve out positions of authority about things like: 

  • The increasingly polarized rhetoric around DEI and ESG
  • Geopolitical concerns and their effect on business decisions
  • Social issues that become heightened during election cycles
  • The promise and peril of emerging technologies like AI
  • Generational shifts in the workforce and their impact on recruitment and retention

In pivotal moments, your firm’s silence can speak louder than words. And your lack of response will be particularly noteworthy if your employees, clients, and community stakeholders look to you as a trusted authority and advisor. Abstaining from active, important, timely conversations might make your audience wonder what you stand for. 

By contrast, when you participate skillfully in the conversations that matter, you can reinforce your authority and strengthen your firm’s relationship with your audience.

Greentarget Can Help You Find the POV You’re Looking For

It can be challenging to uncover the positions of authority that will resonate most with your audience — especially if you’ve never taken time to think about thought leadership in this way before. The good news is there’s no need to figure it out alone. 

Greentarget can help you artfully combine your subject matter expertise with the factual rigor and narrative techniques of traditional journalism to produce POVs that align with your business goals — all while communicating what your audience needs to know. 
So when you’re ready to find your firm’s unique voice, let’s talk.

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