How do you get yourself known as an industry leader? Is there an easy way to accomplish this seemingly monumental task? Positioning yourself as an industry expert by providing great content is great way to get yourself started – but how do you go about that?
There are many great online resources that will help you increase your visibility and industry credibility. Having a blog, posting on Facebook or LinkedIn and other media outlets will allow you to get information out there. This can go a long way to positioning you as an industry expert as long as the content you put out there is useful. Social media is a great way to have word-of-mouth as long as what you put out there is credible.
The only problem with online resources is that they are numerous, and people are fickle. They can go to your web site one day, and switch to someone else easily the next. So while online resources are great, they won't get you in front of your clients' eyes every day necessarily. Social media requires a great deal of energy and time since you need to put new materials out all the time. Reference materials are lost because of the 'feed' nature of social media. So what is social media good for?
- Events-- if you are having an event, social media is a great way to get the word out and get people excited about it.
- News-- Something new happening in your field? Putting the news out will get your name in front of people's eyes as one of the leaders in knowing everything there is to know in the field.
- Roll-outs-- Got something new coming out? This is a great way to start introducing it and getting people talking.
- Changes-- Updates to what's going on in your field helps keep others up-to-date and still gets your name in front of them.
- Reminders-- It's always good to put a plug in now and again to remind people that you're still there. An interesting tidbit will let people know that you are still an expert in your field and therefore to be trusted.
So how can you prove that you are an expert in your field without blasting people over the heads with social media all day long? The best way to do this is with something people can not only hold in their hands, but find useful within their field.
Banner pens are a great way to put reference materials in front of your potential or repeat clients. The more detailed and technical the information is, and the more relevant to the industry you are in, the better. As those with your banner pens become more dependent on using the pen to get the information they need, the more they will come to associate your name with the information needed.
Having these resources on your banner pen will start to make your name synonymous with the reference material, and hence your field, over time. People come to have positive associations with the companies that give them promotional materials that they can use. How much more so when it is directly related to their particular field? For instance:
- Reference Guides
- Technical Info
- Calendar
- Maps
- Charts
Whether it's conversion charts, graphs, or whatever people find useful in your field, a banner pen is a resource potential and past clients will use again and again. When people are using their banner pen to get the information they need, they will see you as the provider of the information. This leads to feelings of goodwill, and helps establish you as an expert in your field. When people see you as an expert in your field, they feel more confident in using your business.
The best plan for being seen as an industry expert is to use both social media and something tangible that people can refer to over and over. While social media gets your word out there, banner pens give you the stability of repeat exposure in a positive light.