All right. Are you ready for our next speaker? Our next speaker is passionate about connecting people with information needed to make intelligent decisions. She delivers educational content to help marketers stay on top of their latest in digital marketing strategy with a bit of humor.

Her name is Tai Ha. She's a global lead B to B Institute at linkedin. And today she will share with you how to become a thought leader on linkedin. Listen and take notes ready. Hi, Ty, how you doing? Hi,

I'm well, I'm, I'm so glad. Thank you for creating the space for this very meaningful conversation.

Thank you very much for your kind words and we are super excited to hear you talk today. Take the stage, it's all yours and enjoy.

Sounds good. And are you able to see my screen? Ok. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, perfect. Thank you. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't presenting to myself here. So uh women, women of tech and, and, and all the relevant industries connected. Uh Thank you so much for being a part of this conversation today. We're so powerful and my plea, my call to action for this presentation in particular is that I want to hear everyone's voice. Like we bring so much skill, so much passion, so much commitment. And there's something that we all have to say, especially now. And part of the question we all can ask ourselves is what is the inspiration we can provide to move the world in the direction that we want it to go. So the world is really waiting for our voices. So again, my name is Ty Heath. I'm global lead at the B to B Institute at linkedin. We're a think tank focused on the future of marketing and marketing decision making. So my role is thought leadership, day in day out and by thought leadership, what I mean is content that helps people navigate this complex world we're in that inspires and motivates people to action. So it's really around highlighting questions, people aren't asking what should be that that space that we need to go into to solve some of the biggest challenges we have. I just happen to focus from a marketing perspective. The question is, what will you focus on?

And so I say this because right now as we all are very familiar all around the world, we're living through a fundamental transformation in the way that we're working so very quickly, everything has moved virtual. But that doesn't mean we can't continue to build and grow as a community and show up. So think this was already happening. But the fact that now we're dealing with the global pandemic and all of the things that are happening that are connected to, that means that it's actually accelerating the pace with which we're moving to that new future. And so within linkedin, what we've noticed is remote working has been trending people are accessing linkedin learning. We're seeing people really accelerate the behaviors that we have started to see. We really have arrived. And so there's an opportunity for us to really invest in how we show up virtually. And I want to make a case for you today, why linkedin should be a place for you to really invest in yourself and building your voice there. But first, before we go into that, I actually want to ask each of you and feel free to share this in the chat if you're connected to it already. But the question I have is, what are you passionate about?

What are you committed to and what do you aspire to create? These three questions allow for you to tap more deeply into? What is it that you're out to create in the world? And I invite you in the spirit of authenticity to start to include some of the answers to these questions within your linkedin profile and to stay connected to this purpose. As you share thoughts on linkedin, that's gonna help you show up more authentically. Also consider using the answer to these questions to introduce yourself to people, whether virtually or in person. Uh that's gonna allow for a deeper, more memorable connection. So as we jump into the presentation, I want you to think about, well, what is your answer to these three questions?

And then with that, let's be intentional with our influence. So what's the point of this? All? It's because the point of this all is that we can move people. So we don't often discuss like what is at the center? What is it the nature of make, what makes you influential? I read somewhere that we have the potential to influence 80,000 people in our lifetime. I was like, oh my gosh, that is so many people. And I would venture to guess that because we are in working in the space that we're in the amount of people we can influence is actually multiples higher than 80,000 people in our lifetime. So just think of all of that potential and that being an opportunity to bring meaning and purpose to people's lives. The other thing I want to point out is that there has been a shift that make actually requires us as leaders to invest in this. And the shift is that the our audiences, our customers expect us to show up to deliver value, not just to shareholders but to all stakeholders. And when I mean stake by stakeholders, I mean, your employees, your customers, your leaders and your investors together. So as we think about our message, we want to think about this broader community. It's not just the state, the shareholders. And so people expect to hear from senior leaders on social issues like diversity, future of work.

People expect for brands to act to protect employees in the local community. People expect that brands act to improve conditions in the communities where they operate. And so as leaders, it's, it's an expectation that we start to build the muscle to show up in this way for our communities. And the value that we get from that the thought leadership that we share is building trust, trust is very connected to influence. So, thought leadership is regarded as the most influential channel in today's economy in terms of building your credibility and communication. And when you are a senior leader, you actually have an outsized impact when you share that thought leadership on linkedin. So more impressions, higher reach and more engagement.

The final thing here, I'll say in just making the case, I'm hoping you're, I'm repeating myself here to really drive this point home. But your thought leadership and your sharing can actually influence results. Whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're working for a company, you might have goals like recruiting talent, inspiring employees, showcasing your thought leadership, amplifying events, protecting your brand in a space of crisis. Trust is one of the most powerful tools for you to do this and sharing thought leadership will help you influence these types of results. So now we're going to get into the nuts and bolts. I'm going to go through strategy and also some tactics for you to show up on linkedin, which is a platform where you can reach all of the stakeholders I just mentioned. So you start by creating the compelling content, defining your approach, engaging your audience and then measuring how things went and then rinse and repeat. OK. So first up, we want to understand, well, what do people care about when they are on linkedin? Well, I think most folks are here on linkedin and you get that there's a distinction between how, what types of content people share, people are on linkedin with a professional context. So the lens through which they're looking at the content is a professional context.

They're there to build grow, connect, share fruit, uh gets a sense of what's going on in terms of trends and what's happening in the world. So as you share content, you want to look at that content with these particular lenses. So industry trends, leadership events, employee perspectives, all of these things on linkedin. Beyond that, it's about understanding. Well, what actually has people engaged with that content because it's remember, it's not just about getting likes on the content, it's about the dialogue that we are creating, it's about the conversation. And so there's so many topics and I've been listening in to this conference today and it's a wonderful conference. There's so many different things that we can talk about and in terms of the dialogue, that's where the heart of it is, that's how things transform in this world is, is through conversation. And so as you share those topics on linkedin with that professional lens, educational and informative content, inspiring content, helping people stay on top of those trends, but also bringing the humanity to it. Because remember, we're talking to an audience of humans and we ourselves are humans.

So bringing yourself to it will help to drive that engagement. So it can be a little bit challenging perhaps to zero in on what you want to talk about. So I want to offer some support here and I'm happy to sh to share these slides, of course. So where you define your approach is at the intersection of three things. So first what your audience wants, what you're an expert in and then also where the untapped opportunity is. So you want to be looking for the intersection of these things. And here are some questions to help you zero in on some topics that you may want to invest in for your audience. And then as you think about those topics, here is a one slide strategy for you to think about how you're then going to go to market if you will with your voice. So maybe there's a broad content theme. For example, let's say you are working in the space of brand transformation. So every single year, your body of work is about rebranding. So, art of rebranding 2018, 2019, 2020 then deriving from that top level theme of rebranding, you start to introduce yourself as I am a champion and a pioneer for brand transformation. Maybe that's what you put inside of your linkedin profile as the header that describes what you do.

For example, my header says crafting thought leadership for marketers or crafting responsible thought leadership for marketers. So from there, you can then break it down into three themes. So industry transformation, what's happening broadly in your industry? Sharing your thoughts, amplifying other voices and other influential people to build the community and build the dialogue, organizational transformation. What's happening within your company, what's happening whether you're an entrepreneur or within an organization and then product transformation.

And I'm not talking about product from a sense of I'm going to sell you a product. I'm talking about product transformation from the standpoint of how does your brand transformation, investment change people's lives. How does it change the lives of the people you work with? Tell those stories from there. You're going to think about what hashtags are going to amplify that message as well as other voices that you want to pull into the conversation. So it will take some investment. But if you repeat this strategy and think about how often you can share, remember quality over quantity and being consistent is key, then you're gonna be able to see that dialogue grow and your own presence build. So some more tactical tips. So now we're really getting into the nuts and bolts of this. So of course, talking about what matters to you, it's so much easier to talk about things you're passionate about than things that you're not very passionate about. But when you do that, you want to focus on the. So what get to the heart of the matter, the the feed moves quickly. So commenting on trends, highlighting successes and I've seen amazing success from a number of folks who try different things like posting an observation on what's happening in the world, offering a quick hitting tip or a critique or crowdsourcing ideas.

So don't feel limited to the standard post, there's so much going on in the world and sharing your thoughts and observations can be done in a number of different ways. Next up, I call this strategy the low hanging fruit of sharing your thought leadership. So if you are working for yourself or you're working for a company, having a company page on linkedin is key because that is the hub or the foundation of the voice of your company. Now as a thought leader, you can then also jump on content that is being shared from the company as well and offer your own unique perspective. What that allows you to do is build more relationships within your company as well as grow your own thought leadership presence by reacting also for companies that you're interested in partnering with or working with or building relationships with, consider jumping on the content they share and commenting on it.

That way you're gonna be more visible and build your presence within industries you're interested in being connected to video. Now, it couldn't ignore video here, I read somewhere that uh somewhere north of 80% of internet traffic is expected to flow through video. That means that we all need to get more comfortable with using video. Now, I'm not talking about shooting a feature film here. I'm talking about simply with your camera shooting a short video reacting to something. Now, I know we're not able to be around each other with physical distancing happening right now. But that doesn't mean we can't shoot video from our homes. It doesn't mean we can't react to what's going on in the world. Maybe after this event, you write down some of the things you learn and you shoot a quick video and share about what, what it was like for you. What are you going to take away from it? What are the actions you're gonna take? So these are some of the ways that we can continue to leverage video and keep the conversation going even virtually. So in the interest of time, I'm not gonna go through all of these best practices. But when you post on linkedin, there are a number of things you can do to help get additional mileage and leverage out of the work you're doing my recommendation first is that you post 1 to 3 times per day and you're gonna say Ty, that's crazy.

How am I gonna post three times a day? I'm busy. What I mean by that is consider perhaps sharing a, a piece of content from yourself and then commenting on two other people's uh content, right? Or maybe one day you're just commenting on other people's content. The point is it's like a garden and you want to continue to water that garden. You always want to tag in other people into your posts by using the at sign now not being spammy. So maybe three people that can help amplify that content as well as using hashtags as I mentioned, another pro tip is to mega batch your content. What I mean by that is spend time like say for example, take some time on a Friday, maybe a half day, maybe shoot five videos and then maybe have different outfit changes and new five different topics. And now you have five videos that you can share over the course of five weeks. So that saves you a ton of time and you're able to create content in that focused way. So consider using mega batching for content creation and that's gonna help get you more leverage out of your time. The last thing I'll say about this is when you post, don't leave people hanging in the comments, right?

I see posts go further when you actually engage in that dialogue as well. So don't leave people hanging. All right. So that was short form publishing. There's also long form publishing on linkedin. This is one of the most visible areas of your linkedin profile. I call this the conversation before the conversation because before people meet you, maybe you're going to have a sales conversation with them, maybe you're gonna speak at an event with them, they will search your name and then they'll click into your linkedin profile because oftentimes linkedin is the number one result when you have a profile and they're going to have an opportunity to learn about you.

And so your posts, these posts are a way for you to build your credibility and your thought leadership. So anywhere between 802,000 words is really compelling. Um use a header images. There are a lot of really great websites where you can grab excellent stock photos and this is an excellent way for you to build your presence before someone actually talks to you, which is incredibly powerful. And then finally, with this, you want to make sure that you are optimizing your approach. So you may not know this. This is an under invested area you can in the activity section of your linkedin profile, get analytics on how your content is performing. So for every single post, you can see things like, well what companies were people at that viewed my content? What roles do they have? Where are they in the world? And then also how did they find the content? And then for all of you, the question is, is this what I intended or do I need to shift my strategy to be more influential with a particular audience? So if you're not achieving what you want to, you might consider trying different hashtags or tagging different influencers into your content as you're posting to get that visibility for the audience that you want to reach.

So this is an under invested area, definitely recommend checking this out for some of your posts and start to get a sense of like who's getting attracted to your content. So I definitely want to leave time for questions about this if anyone has any. So if you, if you thinking, you know ty, I have this like burning question um definitely chime in uh I'm, I'm gonna try to get to that in just a moment. But before I do that, I want to offer a few closing thoughts because we've rapid fire went through some pro tips for showing up as a thought leader. So I want to share a quote from one of my favorite people, Brene Brown. Um For those of you who don't know Brene Brown, she's an author, she's a researcher at the University of Houston. She has one of the most watched TED Talks of all time on the topic of vulnerability. She was doing some research on authenticity. And the question she had is, are, do you, are you either authentic from birth or do you how does authenticity arise within a person? And what she realizes it's actually a choice and it's a choice we have to make over and over again every day. It's a choice to show up and be heard and to be real.

And the reason why I bring this up is that sharing your point of view, especially on linkedin and other channels opens up the opportunity for dialogue, but it also opens up the opportunity for people to give you feedback and to critique your thinking. And so this does require a level of courage. And what's been helpful for me to remember is that it's not about me, it's about the difference I want to make for the audience, I'm sharing that content with. And when I get connected to that purpose, what am IP passionate about? What am I committed to? What do I aspire to create? Then it becomes so much easier to chime in, in those dialogues and to have my voice be heard. So the world is really waiting for your voice. When you think about it, the people you follow, whether on linkedin youtube, Instagram or whatever channel you follow them because they, they are real. And so I'm inviting all of you to invest in yourselves, invest in your audience and show up so to quickly recap and then we'll see if there are any questions. Uh There are a couple of things. So one, remember I just talked about authenticity. It matters so much. It's a professional platform, but we want to bring the humanity to that conversation. So bring the realness to your thought leadership. Second conversation is key, so likes are great.

But what's even better is to see the ongoing dialogue around that thought provoking piece that you created and are investing in that thought you shared. You wanna see that conversation and really drive that conversation. And then finally, remember it takes time. I call this the mountain with no top that we're always climbing, right? So you can always continue to build year over year when you're consistent. When you show up for your audience, it will make a difference for you. It will make a difference for your audience. And it's a wonderful thing to see.

Thank you very much ta thanks for the super useful tips and for so many practical tips, people were like just sharing what they loved and people have so many questions to you that I'm afraid you can take them all, how they get in touch with, get in touch with you linkedin, Twitter.

What works for you.

Linkedin is the best way to get in touch with me. Let me stop sharing my screen here. Linkedin is the best way to get in touch with me. Feel free to reach out to me on, on linkedin to connect. And again, I'm happy to share these slides with you, Anna and team so that you can share them with the group today. So really, really excited.

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you very much. Th I love that share, please everyone. What was your favorite tip from Thai? Share it in the live chat with us and we want to know. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of your day. Stay with us for the conference and join networking areas. Thank you very much.

Thank you for having me. Well, everyone.