Even before the age of generative AI (GenAI), thought leadership has become somewhat of a misnomer. We tend to use the term synonymously with content marketing. But the two are decidedly different.
Content marketing is written by marketers with the aim of educating or informing an audience by addressing their most asked questions. It’s keyword-optimized with the goal of attracting search traffic, and it aligns with the corporate brand in terms of positioning and tone.
Alternatively, thought leadership, as coined by Joel Kurtzman in 1994, is written by business leaders with the goal of sharing innovative ideas, points of view or insights. It’s not keyword optimized. It doesn’t toe the conventional corporate line. Instead, it leverages the proprietary expertise, unique perspectives and distinctive voice of leadership to position a brand as an industry authority. When it follows B2B thought leadership best practices, it can shore up brand loyalty by engaging decision-makers and C-level executives in conversations that require critical thinking and compel them to reconsider their assumptions.
Driving success: Consistent, high-quality thought leadership is key
Many businesses prioritize thought leadership in their marketing strategy because it’s a highly effective tool to articulate value to customers. According to the 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn survey of B2B decision-makers and C-level executives, companies that consistently produce high-quality thought leadership have a greater potential of:
Reaching decision-makers | Driving interest | Increasing opportunities | Supporting sales efforts | Boosting revenue |
52% – 54% spend 1+ hours per week reading thought leadership | 75% research a product or service they were not previously considering
| 90% are more receptive to outreach | 86% are likely to include them in the RFP process
| 60% are willing to pay a premium to work with them |
Source: 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report
Note that consistent, high-quality thought leadership is key to these outcomes.
Yet, many businesses are challenged to consistently produce quality thought leadership. A previous Edelman-LinkedIn study done in 2021 revealed that 55% of buyers will abandon a thought leadership article that captured their interest within the first minute. Unfortunately, a plethora of low-quality thought leadership has weakened its value as an effective marketing tactic, frequently failing to:
Offer valuable insights | Address their needs | Leverage experts | Provide fresh ideas | Back up claims |
Less than 50% offer valuable insights, say 71% of decision-makers | 47% of buyers say it’s not created with their specific needs in mind
| 31% are authored by people who are not true subject matter experts (SMEs) | 40% lack new ideas or original thinking
| 29% provide inadequate or poor-quality evidence |
Source: 2021 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report
The problem with much of today’s thought leadership content is that it’s not thought leadership at all. It’s content marketing fluffed up to resemble thought leadership. The difficulty with this approach is that content marketing, by definition, misses the mark.
Here a few ways in which content marketing fails to follow thought leadership best practices:
- Using AI-generated content, ideas or information
- Leveraging insights from non-experts
- Failing to deliver new approaches for addressing old challenges or ideas
- Sticking to high-level insights
- Taking a corporate stance, indulging in deferential or non-assertive positions
- Genericizing through brand voice and tone
- Keyword optimizing for search traffic
- Publishing thought leadership content sporadically
In this blog, we’ll address these barriers and explain the B2B thought leadership best practices that will help you overcome them and craft an effective thought leadership strategy.
Thought leadership in the age of AI: The low value of thought regurgitation
With its ability to assist in ideating, information gathering and research, and quickly generate large volumes of text, AI has become a go-to solution for streamlining content creation. Many of today’s marketers use AI to aid the brainstorming and research phases of content generation for blog posts, white papers, and other forms of content. Moreover, according to a 10Fold 2024 marketing survey, 81% of marketers use AI to create content and 36% admit to frequently using AI-generated content. But generative AI (GenAI) fundamentally lacks the ability to support genuine thought leadership activities.
The adage “nothing new under the sun” becomes particularly relevant when it comes to AI content generation. The more marketers rely on data from GenAI, the more they contribute to the cycle of repetition and regurgitation, further diluting the possibility of AI-generated thought leadership and straying from thought leadership best practices.
GenAI can produce amazing outputs that may sound impressive but simply echo existing information, often missing the depth and nuance that come from creativity and original thought. It simply can’t contribute to the meaningful dialogue found in true thought leadership.
Leveraging original insights
True thought leadership introduces new ideas, challenges existing paradigms and offers deep, original insights. The depth and originality that characterize thought leadership are inherently lacking in AI-generated content. GenAI is built on large language models (LLMs) that aren’t capable of independent thinking and have no beliefs, opinions or experience. Because GenAI leverages existing knowledge and data patterns, it reinforces what is already known rather than delivering innovative or groundbreaking content––two key elements of thought leadership.
The data GenAI consumes includes low-quality, misleading, incorrect and poorly supported studies and statistics, perpetuating misinformation, and making AI-generated content, by its nature, the antithesis of thought leadership. With a slew of poorly supported studies and statistics published online, AI-generated content generally lacks the foundation of proof required in thought leadership.
Challenging the corporate line: The risky nature of making a stand
The perilous nature of thought leadership bars the way for many potential thought leaders. It requires C-level executives and subject matter experts to take a risk and make a stand –– typically an unpopular one. And here’s where it gets tricky: thought leadership challenges the corporate line, which often prioritizes conformity and adherence to company position and industry norms.
It requires courage to promote an idea or opinion that deviates from conventional wisdom. Doing so risks alienating decision-makers who prefer the safety of proven approaches. This hurdle becomes even more daunting in B2B, where buyers tend to be risk averse. According to Forrester’s 2023 Business Trust Survey, 43% of buyers purchase defensively 70% of the time. However, 60% of decision-makers also admitted that a thought leadership article revealed a missed opportunity and 29% realized they were more susceptible to a possible threat, according to the Edelman-LinkedIn 2024 survey.
Logic provides proof. Emotion creates connection.
Putting forward bold thoughts calls for empirical evidence from credible sources. Without proof, novel ideas and bold positions can be dismissed as unfounded conjecture, which can undermine the authority of the leader and diminish the impact of their ideas. The perception of speculation risks opening leaders and organizations to scrutiny and even backlash if those ideas fail to resonate or succeed. Studies, data and analysis offer the foundation upon which ideas can be built and tested. When thought leaders ground their arguments in logic, they not only bolster their claims but make it easier for others to take them seriously.
At the same time, relying solely on logic—even for B2B audiences—misses a key element of thought leadership: emotional appeal. Effective communication must engage both rational and emotional aspects of decision-making, guiding readers in creative thinking but also resonating on a human level. Logical appeals can present clear, well-structured arguments supported by data and demonstrating a deep understanding of the topic. Emotional appeals, on the other hand, make an audience feel acknowledged and motivated to act.
A successful blend of logic and emotion informs while also inspiring and influencing readers, showcasing expertise while ensuring that that expertise is relevant to the audience’s goals. By aligning insights with the readers’ values, concerns and aspirations, a blended approach helps the audience feel invested in the message.
Leveraging the voice of your leadership
While empirical evidence builds trust, voice and character build credibility. This means that effective thought leadership content doesn’t conform to company content standards. Aligning these unique pieces to your brand voice and tone dilutes their impact and diminishes their authority. Instead, the writing style should reflect the individual character of the leaders who crafted them. Establishing a strong, confident voice that reflects expertise, trustworthiness and authenticity is more likely to persuade readers.
Keyword optimization: Getting ahead of thought leadership SEO
Keyword optimization improves your search ranking based on the search terms and questions your audience uses. When thought leadership provides a fresh take on a familiar subject, ensuring relevant keywords are present—without stuffing or influencing the voice of the writer—is proven to draw in some extra organic search readers. In this case, it can be a bonus in thought leadership, not a necessity as in content marketing.
However, keyword optimization is typically considered a non-starter for thought leadership content, especially when thought leadership introduces cutting-edge insights––ideas your audience is unlikely to be aware of, let alone searching for. Because it’s difficult to drive search traffic to new concepts, thought leadership is typically distributed through email, social media, video marketing, op-eds and guest articles.
Thought leadership is advanced SEO
Optimizing thought leadership content for keywords approaches search engine optimization (SEO) backwards. Instead, thought leadership shapes your audience’s search behaviors. As you introduce new ideas and phrases into their vocabulary, you create the keywords your audience will be searching for. They start thinking and talking about and eventually searching for these terms––terms your content is inherently optimized for. It’s proactive SEO.
A good demonstration of this type of SEO is the term Skyscraper Technique, also known as Skyscraper SEO, coined by Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko. The Skyscraper Technique, in a nutshell, is about creating content that is 10 times better than what’s ranking on search. Backlinko ranks #1 in search results for these terms.
Dean takes his thought leadership further by testing his theory and proving it with persuasive data and charts. He then puts his theory into practice, providing an excellent example of thought leadership by leveraging the Skyscraper Technique in the highly successful content he develops. This is effective thought leadership.
Purpose-driven content: Guiding readers to a solution
Novel ideas and theories on their own aren’t enough to establish effective thought leadership. True thought leadership is grounded in purpose, aiming to provide real value to your audience. If must offer concrete guidance, sharing proprietary knowledge that empowers readers and leads them to actionable solutions. This approach requires thought leadership to be meaty, moving beyond surface-level insights to dive deeply into industry challenges and show how their ideas can be implemented in practice.
Steady cadence: The time-consuming nature of establishing and maintaining authority
Regularly publishing thought leadership content is time-consuming, especially if corporate priorities are constantly shifting, challenging leaders aiming for sustained industry conversations. The pressure to adapt to new goals or directives can hinder regular and meaningful engagement within the industry. Unfortunately, sporadic updates risk losing momentum––and audience interest––making it difficult to establish and maintain authority.
A thought leadership marketing plan can help you establish a regular cadence to maintain visibility and reinforce the leader’s voice in ongoing discussions. By identifying the issues trending in your industry and developing unique approaches to address them, you can consistently deliver content that establishes a loyal audience. This continuous dialogue enables leaders to adapt their messages based on evolving developments and feedback. By establishing a steady cadence, leaders ensure their voice remains prominent throughout industry discussions, increasing the likelihood of making a lasting impression.
Evaluating the effectiveness of your thought leadership
If you’re wondering if your efforts are thought leadership or just content marketing dressed up to look like thought leadership, evaluate its effectiveness against these criteria:
- Is it original? Does it involve critical thinking or creative ideas? Does it address old challenges from a new approach?
- Is it different? Is it unexpected and memorable? Does it create engagement?
- Is it scary? Does it spark fear? Does it take a position? Does it challenge the corporate line?
- Is it expert? Is it authoritative, credible, coming from a position of proprietary expertise or research?
- Is it persuasive? Does it present a clear argument that is backed by data? Does it have a voice that drives credibility and confidence?
- Is it purpose-driven? Does it guide readers to a clear solution? Does it have substance, diving deep and offering valuable insights?
- Is it consistent? Is it published on a regular basis? Has it established an industry following?
Collaborate with thought leader experts: Transform your insights into impact
Navigating the challenges of B2B thought leadership best practices–– such as maintaining consistency, introducing novel approaches and effectively persuading your audience––can be tough for busy leaders. At Elevation, we specialize in overcoming these barriers through targeted SME interviews, rigorous research and strategic planning. By establishing the unique voice of your leaders and ensuring regular publication, we can help you enhance your industry authority for a lasting impact. Contact us to learn how we can turn your insights into influence.
