Sharing your expertise: it’s easier than you think

Sharing your expertise with your network without being asked. It seems to be quite a ‘thing,’ especially in the security industry. But why is that? When you consider your experience and expertise, what’s stopping you from sharing it with the rest of the world? Your network will only benefit from it. The idea is simple: the more you share, the greater the chance that you’ll be seen as an expert. And that won’t go unnoticed by (potential) clients. But how do you approach this effectively? This article explores strategies for building authority through consistent communication and choosing the right channels, with the added bonus of a handy template for you to fill in yourself.

Consistency and repetition

Consistency is the key to success in content marketing. Research from the Content Marketing Institute shows that 70% of the most successful content marketers follow a structured approach, with clear planning and consistency in their communication. This means regularly sharing content to stay top-of-mind with your audience.

An example of this is an experiment we conducted ourselves, where we shared one piece of content on LinkedIn every week for six weeks. The result? More followers, more engagement, and most importantly: more visibility. This may seem like a small step, but that’s precisely the point. Set small, achievable goals and make sure to stick to them consistently. Build on this as you become more comfortable with your content strategy.

Point of view

Building authority doesn’t happen overnight. It requires time, patience, and a strategic approach. People need to start recognizing you. What helps is adopting a strong POV (point of view) that you consistently bring up and that aligns with the core values of your product or service. Why is this so important? With the rise of AI, an overwhelming amount of content is being created, much of which is quite similar. You can spot this content by noticing fancy words with little substance (also known as fluff marketing). This is precisely why a touch of authenticity—your own POV—will take you much further. It’s how you ensure you stand out in the crowd.

How exactly does a POV work? Here’s an example from Bram, owner of Beyond Products. He firmly stands by the statement: “When you remain invisible, the world becomes less safe.” Based on this premise, you can create endless content, as long as you have a clear narrative. It’s crucial to develop a clear POV for yourself as well, one that aligns with what you want to convey to your network.

Choose the Channel that Fits You

Choosing the right channel is crucial for the success of your communication. Consider your own preferences and strengths, but keep in mind: you don’t have to limit yourself to just one channel. Initially, it’s a good idea to pick a type of channel that suits you, which you can then expand or easily repurpose across other channels. Below, we’ve outlined the most impactful organic channels:

• LinkedIn: This powerful platform is designed for professionals in the field. It allows you to expand your cybersecurity and IT network and share your expertise with a relevant audience.
• SEO Blog Articles: Writing optimized articles can help improve your visibility in search engines and attract organic traffic. Be sure to write articles that align with the stage your target audience is in (we’ll dive deeper into this under the section ‘Content Mapping Template’).
• Video: Videos are an effective way to convey complex information. And video works! Especially on social media, we see a surge in the popularity of videos, even when they’re informative.
• Podcasts: This format offers a personal approach and can reach a broad audience. We’ve recently experimented with this ourselves. It’s good to offer different types of information to your audience, as they may have different preferences. Some might listen to a podcast while commuting, while others prefer to watch a video on the train ride home. Recording a (video) podcast worked well for us, as we could tackle multiple channels at once.
• Newsletters: Regular updates via email can help keep your audience engaged and showcase your expertise. It’s important, though, to promote these newsletters effectively to ensure a wide reach. You can do this cross-media, for example by placing a CTA button on your website or promoting it on your LinkedIn channel.
• Webinars/Round Tables: Sitting down with experts in your field to discuss a particular theme is always a good idea. It often works better than only discussing with internal employees, as that can lead to biased discussions. This can be in the form of a webinar or even a closed round table, where you can later share the outcomes in a blog post.

Do you now have a clearer idea of the channel that suits you? Great! This is closely linked to the format you choose. Reflect on which way of communicating feels most comfortable for you. Are you a writer? Do you enjoy being in front of the camera? Or do you often send voice messages? Based on this, you can determine if it aligns with the preferred channel. The important thing is that people start seeing you as an expert in the market, and this can be achieved in many different forms and formats.

Content Mapping Template

You might be thinking: what now? How do I actually start sharing my content? This is a logical follow-up to the earlier information we’ve shared with you, which is why we’ve created a handy document that you can view and then make a copy of to fill out yourself. This template is a method to brainstorm from the perspective of your potential customer, and it’s important to keep that clearly in focus.

Target Audience

In this template, you work from left to right, which means that you start by defining your target audience. As an example, you can look at the second tab, which we’ve filled out ourselves for Beyond Products. Here you can see the industry we focus on, including the persona we’ve imaginatively named CEO Joep.

From unaware to brand aware

Next, we focus on the phase the target audience is in, which consists of four different stages, where you will adjust your content accordingly:

1. Unaware: In this phase, your audience is not yet aware of the problem or need that your product or service could solve. Your focus here is on creating awareness and educational content to attract attention and spark interest.
2. Problem aware: At this point, your audience is aware of the existence of a problem or need, but they don’t yet have a specific solution in mind. Your content should focus on highlighting the problem, its consequences, and how your solution can help.
3. Solution aware: Now your audience is actively searching for possible solutions to their problem. Your content should focus on explaining and differentiating your solution from other alternatives. It’s important here to emphasize the benefits and unique features of your product or service.
4. Brand aware: In this phase, your audience already knows your company and may be familiar with your offerings. Your content should focus on strengthening your brand position, demonstrating authority within the industry, and maintaining the relationship by providing valuable information and updates.

Message framework

In the next step, the messaging framework, we focus on the questions your target audience is asking at this stage of the sales process. And, most importantly, which ones should you answer? You do this based on the phase the customer is in, as explained in the previous step. For example, we have filled in for the solution aware phase: “This is how you get on the shortlist of your ideal customer.” This is how we can help our (potential) customers. And most importantly, this is what the customer wants at this stage. That’s what you need to tap into.

Note: this step is focused on reasoning from the customer’s perspective, not your own. What you should not do is: I sell X, which helps my audience with Y, so I will write something about that. Instead, you should adopt the following approach: my target audience is working on A, B, C, and we believe they can do C better if they use our product.

It’s also important to truly understand your target audience. This applies to the complexity of your content as well. If your audience is not technically skilled, make sure your content isn’t either, because otherwise, it won’t resonate with your audience, and they still won’t consume it, even if your content is strong.

Core message

This is your opinion (POV, which we discussed earlier) that you want to convey to your target audience. You only need a few that are repeated in all texts and content. Another example: in the unaware phase, where the audience has no idea of the problem, you need to make it clear that there is indeed a problem. Later, you will tell them how you are going to solve that problem for them. You can highlight the problem as the core message (in our case): “Consolidation in the market. Eat or be eaten.” This way, the audience becomes aware of what is happening in the market and how they can respond to it.

Creating targeted content

Now we have reached the point where we are going to create content that aligns with the phase of your audience. You should do this in a concrete manner. Fill in a topic/title for the content piece. What do you want to write an article about or create a video on? In the brand aware phase, where your audience has already gained a lot of knowledge, you could write an article on the following topic: “Do’s and don’ts when creating a website for your cybersecurity product.” This is super concrete content that CEO Joep is waiting for; he is aware of the problem and wants to solve it. You can do this in the form of an article, but you could also record a video and share it on the channel where your audience is located.

Tips

As the final step, look at when creating these content pieces fits into your planning, who will be involved, and what the actual format will be. One last tip from us: once you have filled in this overview, the real work begins. Make time for this weekly and prioritize it in your tasks. If that doesn’t work, consider outsourcing tasks so someone else can handle this for you, like a marketing agency in the cybersecurity field, for example. 😉