If you’re not nailing the introductions to your thought leadership articles, good luck getting your audience to stay long enough to skim, let alone read, your articles
Far too many professionals, including attorneys, don’t put in the work to write a compelling introduction for their thought leadership articles. That’s too bad.
Just because someone started reading your thought leadership article doesn’t mean they’re going to read it—or merely skim it—from start to finish.
If your introduction doesn’t pull them in and make them want to read your article, you’ve failed. You put in all of that time and work to write an article that few people are going to read, even if you (1) had a stellar, attention-grabbing headline, and (2) made sure your article found its way into the hands of people you thought would want to read it.
Here are five reasons why a well-written introduction is so important for ensuring past, current, and future clients and referral sources, and other target audiences, actually read your thought leadership articles.
Well-written introductions to thought leadership articles create great first impressions
The introduction to a thought leadership article sets the stage for everything that follows. In the first few sentences, your readers are going to make a snap judgment about whether they think your content is relevant to them, whether it’s worth their time to keep on reading, and whether they trust you to be a credible messenger about the topic you’ll be discussing (more on that a bit later).
A well-written introduction lets the reader know early on that they’re about to read a quality piece of content. Likewise, a poorly written introduction signals to them, “Hey, you might want to skip this. It’s probably going to be a piece of crap.”
Well-written introductions to thought leadership articles capture your readers’ attention
A well-written introduction piques your readers’ interest and makes them feel like they need to keep reading.
Maybe you’re telling a war story.
Maybe you’re discussing an interesting statistic.
Or, maybe you’re referring to a recent relevant current event.
However you choose to construct your introduction, you should do so in a way that captures your reader’s attention and compels them to want to continue reading. Why would they bother reading any further if your introduction didn’t make them want to?
Well-written introductions to thought leadership articles frame the topic to be discussed in ways that are relevant to your readers
If you want people to read your thought leadership article, your introduction has to frame the substance of the article in a way that makes clear to your reader that the article is relevant to them.
Your introduction should signal to them, based on how you framed the topic in your introduction, that you understand the challenges, issues, opportunities, headwinds, etc., that relate to the topic you’re discussing.
When you do this, you’re telling your readers they should continue reading and investing their time in this article because it’s written by someone who understands why this topic is important to them.
Well-written introductions to thought leadership articles persuade readers that you’re a credible source of information about the topic
When you read an introduction to a thought leadership article, you want to know early on that the author is credible. The readers of your thought leadership are no different.
Yes, framing the topic in a way that’s relevant to your readers, as I described above, is one way to show them you’re a credible author. But you can more forcefully do so by making references in your introduction that establish your credibility.
You could include industry slang or jargon.
You could mention in-the-weeds-type facts and analogies.
You could reference recent events in the industry.
Or, you could discuss any other pieces of information that signal to your readership that you’re a credible author.
By referencing or mentioning things that only people “in the know” would know, you’re conveying credibility and letting readers know it’s worth it to read this article because you’re someone they can trust to discuss its topic.
Well-written introductions to thought leadership articles give readers a sense of the payoff they’ll get for reading the articles
Everybody’s favorite radio station is WII-FM.
You’ve never heard of it before?
Sure you have: “What’s In It For Me?”
In the context of your thought leadership articles, your readers want to know, as quickly as possible when first reading an article, why it would benefit them to keep reading.
When your introduction provides a roadmap to your readers about what they’re going to learn, why it matters, how it’s relevant to them, what they should take away from the article, and the like, they’ll be more invested and more interested in reading because they know where they’ll end up. They don’t have to worry about being led astray or not knowing, as they read, where you’re taking them.
If you provide an overview in your introduction of all those things—but you don’t give away the store and you make your readers want to read your article to learn all there is to learn from it—they’re more likely to continue reading because you’ve given them a sense of what they’re going to learn. You’ve given them reasons to NOT click away to another browser tab or to read another email instead of yours.
Nail your thought leadership introductions to increase the impact of your thought leadership
If you want your written thought leadership to be effective, people need to read it. And if you want people to read your thought leadership, you’ll have to write introductions that make them want to read it.
By being thoughtful about your introductions and taking time to craft well-written introductions, you can increase the chances your readers will actually read your thought leadership content.
That’s the only way your thought leadership can do its job positioning you as authoritative and credible about the kinds of work you do for your clients.
Thinking about bringing on an outside writer to help your law firm strategize and create compelling thought-leadership marketing and business development content? Click here to schedule a 30-minute Content Strategy Audit to learn if collaborating with an outside writer is the right move for you and your firm.