An Interview With Dina Aletras
Build a strong foundation. Gain deep expertise in your field. This piece is key. If you do not have deep expertise and are simply stating what others are already saying, you will fade into the background.
As part of our series about how to become known as a thought leader in your industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Becky Ruyle.
Becky Ruyle is the director of brand and content at Intero Digital. Intero Digital is a digital marketing agency that helps its clients achieve measurable business results through comprehensive, innovative digital marketing strategies. Becky has a decade of experience working with clients and internal stakeholders alike to execute thought leadership-building marketing strategies that drive next-level impact.
What establishes you as an authority on thought leadership? Could you briefly share your expertise with our readers?
For the past 10 years, my career has involved building leaders up as thought leaders. In my first role as an account manager, I worked with experts in a variety of industries, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. My clients all faced similar challenges: They possessed a high level of expertise, but they lacked the time, resources, and strategy to turn that expertise into the digestible, actionable content their target audience craved. As a result of my team’s efforts, my clients’ thought leadership was recognized by Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Ad Age, and more.
Can you recall a funny mistake you made when you were first starting out? What lesson did you learn from it?
Does flying to the wrong city for a business trip count? Triple-check what city your client lives in before boarding the plane.
What are the most significant disruptions you foresee in your industry over the next five years, and how can businesses adapt to these changes?
AI has already changed how businesses create and personalize content and interact with leads and customers, and that will only become more prevalent over the next five years. Businesses should have an internal team dedicated to following AI and making sure your business is maximizing its potential.
I’d also recommend making sure your SEO strategy goes beyond traditional search engines to also focus on generative engine optimization (GEO). GEO is an advanced strategy that’s focused on creating and optimizing content for AI-driven search engines, known as generative engines (GEs). These engines combine traditional search capabilities with generative large language models to synthesize information from multiple sources and generate multimodal responses to users’ queries. Companies who will win in the next five years will be the ones who understand GEO.
Can you explain the benefits of becoming a thought leader? Why is it valuable to invest time and resources into this?
Becoming a thought leader is beneficial for several reasons. Thought leaders can strengthen their industry influence and shape trends and standards, build credibility and authority, connect and network with other leaders and professionals, and secure more opportunities for speaking engagements and even career advancements.
Can you share an example of a significant challenge you faced in your career and how you leveraged innovative thinking to overcome it?
Starting my career at a startup presented many unique opportunities to take on responsibilities I would not have been afforded in an entry-level position at a larger company. With these opportunities came a lot of challenging experiences. I still remember a client of mine who asked to have an executive-level team member on our calls because my age made her nervous. Instead of letting this shake me, I leaned into the request and invited my boss to all our calls. I focused on the expertise I had that the client did not. I knew how to take her expertise and create content that publications craved. In less than three months, the client told my boss that I had earned her trust and that he was no longer needed on the calls.
Now that we have covered that, we’d love to hear your advice on becoming a thought leader. Can you share five strategies that someone should follow to gain recognition as a thought leader in their industry? Please include examples or stories from your own experience for each strategy.
- Build a strong foundation. Gain deep expertise in your field. This piece is key. If you do not have deep expertise and are simply stating what others are already saying, you will fade into the background.
- Create valuable content. Share your insights and unique viewpoints through articles, blog posts, social media posts, and other mediums.
- Engage consistently. Maintain a steady online presence that focuses on sharing your expertise and educating, not selling and sales.
- Measure impact. Track audience engagement and influence.
- Expand influence. Engage in meaningful conversations, and extend your reach beyond digital platforms.
How do you foster a culture of innovation within your organization, and what practices have you found most effective in encouraging creative thinking among your team?
For years, we’ve used the Entrepreneurial Operating System’s IDS process to identify and resolve issues. Not only has this allowed us to solve more issues, but it has also given us a platform to identify solutions we might not have thought of otherwise. Part of the IDS process is to list out any solutions you can think of for a certain issue. During this part of the process, the “no idea is a bad idea” mindset is in play. While not all ideas are acted upon, they end up being a springboard to the final solution.
Who do you think is an outstanding example of a thought leader? What specific qualities impress you about this person?
An example I always love to share is an account I follow on Instagram that is not in the digital marketing industry. There are so many principles of thought leadership these women excel at that can be applied to any industry.
Deena Margolin and Kristin Gallant are the founders of Big Little Feelings. They specialize in early childhood development. They created Big Little Feelings to help parents manage the challenges of parenting toddlers, offering strategies to deal with tantrums, bedtime, eating, and other common issues through their courses and social media content. They took a pain point all parents face — dealing with the big emotions of children — and built courses to educate and support parents. To market their courses, they primarily use social media so they can connect authentically with parents. They show up transparently and discuss the hardships of parenting and how they’ve overcome and even failed. It’s the authenticity that has allowed them to connect with parents everywhere.
How do you stay informed about the latest trends and developments in your field, and how do you incorporate this knowledge into your strategic planning?
I stay on top of industry trends by following leading blogs, subscribing to newsletters, staying active on social media, and keeping tabs on competitors. I incorporate this knowledge into strategic planning through regular strategy reviews, data-driven decision-making, and content innovation to make sure our marketing strategy stays fresh and effective.
Some people feel that the term “thought leader” is overused and has lost its impact. What are your thoughts on this?
It is overused, and the overuse has diluted the meaning. But when we look at the true definition of thought leader, it still holds an important meaning: An industry expert who authentically shares their expertise with a broader but targeted audience with the purpose of educating, improving, and providing value to the industry as a whole and building trust with key audiences.
The key parts of the definition are “industry expert,” “authentically,” and “educating.” Thought leaders don’t just share their expertise; they pair it with their authentic experience to provide a unique viewpoint all with the purpose of educating. Thought leaders are not just creating content to appease search engines or because their competitors are saying the same thing. They are leading the industry conversation.
How do you balance short-term business goals with long-term strategic vision, especially in a rapidly changing market?
Have a defined long-term vision and audit your short-term goals against the long-term vision. Your short-term goals should position you to hit the long-term goals. If those two things conflict, it’s time to audit your vision and goals for the business. For example, Intero Digital is composed of six agencies. When we came together, our legacy brands’ websites were driving leads and traffic for the business. Our long-term vision was to have our brand fully under Intero Digital, but in the short term, lead generation was the main priority over our branding. So we continued our marketing efforts for the legacy sites and our brand-new Intero Digital site. Once our new site started to perform at the level of our legacy sites, we were able to put all our energy into the new website. This approach allowed us to maintain our site traffic and lead stream and build up our new brand in an effective, sustainable way.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? How has it been relevant in your life?
“Perfect is the enemy of done.” When I started my career, I always wanted to turn in my best work, but over the years, I adapted and got comfortable with “work in progress,” and it has allowed me to move faster and be more efficient. This also allows me to test ideas and get feedback and adapt as needed.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
https://www.interodigital.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaruyle/
About the Interviewer: Dina Aletras boasts over 20 years of expertise in the corporate media industry. She possesses an in-depth understanding of growth, strategy, and leadership, having held significant roles at some of the UK’s largest media organizations. At Reach PLC, the UK’s largest tabloid publisher, she served in various director capacities. Additionally, she held leadership roles at The Independent Magazine Group and DMGT. Her extensive knowledge spans editorial, digital, revenue, sales, and advertising.
Upon relocating to Switzerland, Dina took on the responsibility of managing and promoting the international section of Corriere del Ticino — CdT.ch pioneering the English page “onthespot.” She also was the Co-Editor of Southern Switzerland’s first official Italian and English bilingual magazine.
Becky Ruyle of Intero Digital: 5 Things You Should Do To Become a Thought Leader In Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.