It’s no secret that, as a brand, you need to establish credibility to attract and retain an audience of qualified potential customers. Unless you’ve been in business for a while and have tons of positive customer interactions to fall back on, establishing brand credibility for new customers may prove difficult. So how exactly do customers get to know your brand ethos, and how can you show them why they should trust you? Here is where thought leadership comes into play.
What Is Thought Leadership Content?
Thought leadership content is information from experts who have shown measurable experience in a given industry or topic. It is leveraged by any brand who wants to establish themselves as an authoritative source for the information their audience finds valuable. Demonstrating thought leadership in your content marketing efforts has a plethora of benefits. First, let's unpack what thought leadership content marketing is.
What Is Thought Leadership Content Marketing?
Thought leadership content marketing is when a brand provides its audience free deliverables packed with trustworthy information from experts who have demonstrated measurable experience in a given industry or topic. The authors of such content, or thought leaders, share their expertise through articles, infographics, videos and social media channels in an effort to educate potential customers or add value to their respective industries. Brands are including thought leadership in their communication strategy to help build credibility and enhance their reputation.
What is Thought Leadership Strategy?
A thought leadership strategy is a form of marketing that focuses less on content that converts and more on content that establishes you as an expert in your industry. The goal of thought leadership content is to firmly answer important questions those in your audience are asking.
Content Marketing vs. Thought Leadership: Which is Better?
While both thought leadership and content marketing are about sharing valuable pieces of content that engage audiences, thought leadership takes this one step further by leveraging renowned voices in the industry and establishing your brand as a leader in the space. Content marketing can be thought of as the step you take to gain this position of leadership. By regularly producing informative content and distributing it in different formats you can begin educating and nurturing your audience. Then, by adding in thought leadership content you have the ability to push readers down the sales cycle and establish your brand as a trustworthy and credible source.
Quality content marketing involves producing content, in the form of articles, blog posts, social media posts or videos, that are shared with your customers in order to deliver a message. It can help you promote information that will further your business, like new product releases, guides for how a product works, customer testimonials and more.
Thought leadership is a form of content marketing used to portray your company or organization as a leader in your industry and establish trust between you and your audience. Thought leadership content marketing pieces are insightful and bring something new to your audience. While regular content may validate your site’s reliability, thought leadership takes it to the next level by establishing expertise in your industry. It can take any form and be used to explain important concepts or provide insights on trends worth watching.
When it comes to a successful marketing campaign, quality over quantity is more important. A single strong piece of thought leadership content will resonate more with your target audience than promotional content However, both are important and effective when used strategically as part of your content strategy. Additionally, both can help your overall digital marketing strategy, when marketing to consumers online.
Sources of High-Quality Thought Leadership Content
1. Counter-Narrative Opinions
Strongly-help opinions that go against the normal wisdom of your industry are perfect when creating counter-narrative thought leadership content. However, this type of thought leadership content marketing is not necessarily just about being contrarian - the content itself still needs to ring true.
2. Personal Narrative
People love a good story. Telling a story about you, what you have learned, and what brought you to where you are today can be a great way to produce thought leadership content, provided you have a compelling story to tell. This personal narrative can be in the form of a case study or can involve partnering with a client to discuss their challenges.
3. Industry Analysis
Most of the best thought leadership discusses trends and other industry disruptors. If you are able to pay close attention to what is going on around you, you can more easily recognize what is working and what isn’t.
4. Data Storytelling
Data is an extremely potent engine that can be used to generate top-tier thought leadership content. A particularly useful type of data for thought leadership content is proprietary data, which is data your product has generated itself. This can be used to form opinions that can be turned into compelling stories.
5. Licensed Content
Licensed content can help fill in the gaps in your thought leadership strategy. By working with a reputable publication or writers, you can rest assured that the articles you showcase are high-quality and informative.
9 Steps to Take When Building a Thought Leadership Strategy and Plan
Thought leadership isn’t something companies can jump right into – there should be a cohesive strategy behind the thought leadership your company chooses to publish. Here are the elements to consider as you develop your strategy:
1. Identify your Audience
Like any other aspect of marketing, it’s essential to know who you are talking to in order to be effective. Take the time to find out who your audience is, where they live, what their interests are, and most importantly – what their business needs and pain points are. Doing so will help you make sure that the thought leadership content you select for your content strategy will resonate.
2. Identify Content Gaps
Is there a gap in your content that would help sway decision-makers? Conduct a content audit and think through your full content mix and all related aspects, including the format, subject matter and source. Becoming aware of your gaps can help your team identify the next types of content pieces that should be developed.
Perhaps you have plenty of case studies with proof points from real clients (which is great for potential customers that are close to making a decision), but not enough thought leadership articles from industry experts that can educate your audience on the basics of the ecosystem in which your product lives.
Additionally, examine if you target each stage in the marketing funnel. If you focus too much on explaining the rudimentary concepts surrounding your product but ignore the proof points, either with the backing of data or expert opinions, then your potential clients may be less likely to trust that you know what you're talking about.
3. Analyze your Competitors
Pay attention to what your competitors are doing – especially in the content marketing space. What content are they publishing? On what platforms? In what formats? Evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and figure out how you can use thought leadership to boost your advantages.
4. Brainstorm Content Ideas
Think critically about what expertise your organization can offer and focus your thought leadership content strategy around a few key topics. Conducting a content audit can also help you identify gaps and topic ideas your team may not have covered yet. Then drill down further and figure out what your audience is curious about (or struggles with) in those areas and produce content that will answer their questions and solve their problems with your expert point of view.
5. Define KPIs
As with any marketing program, it's important to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with the rest of your content marketing strategy. Consider your full customer journey and what your goals are at each stage. Whether you want to put thought leadership content out into the world to generate awareness of your brand or to provide trustworthy information that will help you nurture leads to the point of conversion, you will need to define quantitatively how you'd like to measure success for each and by when.
6. Develop measurable goals
Before you get started, decide what you want to get out of your thought leadership content strategy. Establish clear goals for your content, like increasing traffic or lead generation, and set benchmarks to measure the impact of your thought leadership content over time.
7. Create an Editorial Calendar
If you don't already have an editorial calendar in place for your content initiatives, your team should begin crafting one. A content calendar will help you keep track of all of the aspects that you will need to keep yourself organized, including what content should be produced, who is responsible for creating editorial content, when it will be published and so on. If there is an editorial calendar in place, thought leadership articles should be added to it. Seeing the thought leadership content lined up against your other content initiatives will help you consider the audience each piece is meant to serve and at what stage of your customer journey.
8. Implement Content Licensing for a More Holistic Approach to Your Strategy
Of course, you may want to write and publish custom pieces that help you develop your brand voice — and you should. Material that asserts your brand voice is vital to content marketing. However, you should also consider licensing content to supplement your original output for a more holistic approach. By utilizing content licensing, you can supplement your own strategy with pieces from global leaders. Outside voices from reputable sources can help with credibility and make it easier for you to fill your content marketing channels with high-quality material.
9. Deliver Valuable Content
Brands will often go wrong when they create content that is too promotional or self-serving. Licensing content from traditional media publishers gives you the opportunity to provide context to your product, service or industry. This shows customers that you are both helpful and relevant. And as long as customers see how you can fit into their everyday lives, they will be more likely to convert into paying customers and stick with your brand for future purchases.
Why Is Thought Leadership Marketing Important?
Thought leadership content is important for a number of reasons since it engages readers and can cultivate brand loyalty. Consider the following benefits and stats related to thought leadership:
Decision Makers Are Actively Reading:
Thought leadership has more impact on sales than marketers realize. This is because the people who make the buying decisions are finding and engaging with this content on a regular basis. A 2019 study from Edelman and LinkedIn found that 37% of decision-makers are reading one to two hours a week of thought leadership content, while 21% are spending four or more hours engaging with such content.
It’s Part of the Vetting Process:
When they are looking to choose a potential partner for their business, 55% of decision-makers are using this content to vet prospective vendors or organizations. Perhaps a company is thinking of working with a small business that is relatively unknown, but whose product seems like a perfect fit. The decision-makers may look to see if the small business posted or shared any thought leadership content that might help them get a sense of the caliber of thinking their potential partner can deliver.
It Can Increase Conversions:
Any company can make claims about a product and promise results, but who will take the business seriously without a verified reputation or a sound referral? Thought leadership content can help companies that are still trying to establish their reputation get a foot in the door. After reading a piece of thought leadership content, like a white paper or a relevant article from a reputable content source, 47% of C-suite executives in the Edelman-LinkedIn study shared their contact information with the organization that produced the writing.
C-Suite Executives Are Using It to Make Decisions:
Thought leadership content brings context and clarity to the business landscape, especially for C-suite executives who may not be familiar with the day-to-day aspects of projects and why they matter. Sixty percent of C-suite executives say that they are reading thought leadership articles to help them make better decisions. And the content has proved to be helpful at all phases of the decision-making process — from researching an issue and discovering a potential solution to comparing potential providers or confirming that a company has made the right decision in the end.
9 Types of Thought Leadership Content
Thought leadership content can take shape in many different formats – including webinars, podcasts, ebooks, and white papers. Each format has different benefits and should be used strategically at various stages throughout the customer journey.
1. White Papers
White papers are concise guides that help readers understand a single topic or solve a specific problem. Customers often look to whitepapers from authoritative sources to assist them in their decision-making processes. White papers are typically offered in exchange for customer information, such as an email address, which makes them excellent tools for lead capture.
2. Ebooks
When it comes to topics that are more complex, customers tend to want to dive into a piece of long-form content that offers a deeper level of detail than something like a blog post or whitepaper. Ebooks are a great way to break down very complex topics into digestible chapters. Often packed with other types of content that illustrate a particular concept, like infographics and charts, an ebook is also a great way to create a piece of thought leadership content that can be broken down into smaller pieces that you can promote individually later on.
3. Webinars
Webinars are live, online presentations in which viewers can submit questions and share comments. They are the perfect forum for customers who prefer a more interactive way to learn about a company and its expertise. Webinars can also be a great way to build your brand as they put a voice and face to the people behind your company. Another great tool for lead generation, participation, is usually free as long as a customer is willing to share their personal information with the company that is organizing the webinar.
4. Podcasts
Podcasts are a series of audio recordings that feature stories and discussions about a specific topic. Offered on a variety of platforms, customers can subscribe to a podcast and listen at their leisure. Because a podcast allows for the production of episodes on a regular cadence, it can be a great way to establish and maintain engagement with your audience throughout their buying process as well as in between purchases.
5. Infographics
Infographics are concise visual representations of information, data, or knowledge. Designed to help people grasp complicated concepts through the use of graphical elements, infographics help companies quickly and clearly communicate their expertise on a given topic. Infographics can be used to help companies reach new audiences, as engaging visuals tend to catch people’s attention on social media and in web searches.
6. Speaking Engagements
According to the American Marketing Association, speaking to an audience gives organizations and their thought leaders a stage to demonstrate expertise, gain credibility and engage target audiences. The result is the opportunity to develop and nurture relationships in a neutral, non-sales environment. In addition to building brand awareness, this tactic creates an unmatched level of trust that can drive valuable business opportunities and drive qualified leads directly into your sales funnel.
7. Videos
Video content marketing is the use of video clips to deliver expert insights or thought leadership, raise brand awareness and ultimately drive sales. Video should be part of your company’s digital marketing strategy, as this particular format has proven itself to be highly engaging. Wyzowl found that 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service. It can also have a positive effect on conversions. Unbounce, a landing page software provider, found that a video on your landing page can boost your conversion rate by up to 80%.
8. Blog Posts
Content marketing strategies should be a crucial aspect of your business strategy. Using your company’s blog and utilizing thought leadership is a great way to drive more traffic to your site. Your clients and potential prospects want to be informed, meaning your efforts should focus on publishing valuable content.
9. News/Trend Analysis
Great thought leadership marketing focuses on having your own voice. This may include conversations about trends that are about to take off. If you pay close attention to what’s going on in your industry, you can recognize what’s working and what isn’t. Consider leveraging opinion articles from The New York Times or curating news stories in your email campaigns with an analysis done by industry experts.
Challenges to Creating a Thought Leadership Strategy
For many companies, there are specific challenges they face when creating a thought leadership content strategy:
Thought Leadership Resources May Not Be In-House
Many marketing departments may not have the resources in-house to develop a consistent content strategy focused on thought leadership. Even if these experts are company employees, these people may not have the time or resources to produce content on a regular basis for the purposes of marketing.
Good Thought Leadership Can Be Hard to Develop
Creating content that is insightful and useful to business leaders and c-suite executives can be challenging. Without the right writers, this content can easily become generic or dull.
Thought Leadership Can Be Expensive
Having experts develop bespoke articles can be a time-consuming and expensive endeavor that is difficult to scale. Luckily, licensed content can help mitigate this gap, so companies can distribute thought leadership content on a more consistent basis at a fraction of the cost.
How to Outsource Thought Leadership
- Hire Thought Leaders For Specific Content Projects: Hiring subject matter experts for specific content projects can help you save time and resources. While this comes with a price, it can be extremely worthwhile in order to streamline processes.
- Create a Webinar or Podcast Series: A webinar or podcast can be used for multiple different applications. The initial episode will likely be marketed by a third party, and then a copy is typically used for additional promotions. This may include being featured on the company’s blog, or as a gated asset.
- License Content from Industry Experts: Similar to hiring thought leaders, licensing content is an easy and fast way to get your content out there. Licensing can be a bit faster because the content is usually already written.
4 Thought Leadership Examples
1. Gary Vaynerchuk Authentically Shares His Wisdom
Gary Vaynerchuk, entrepreneur and CEO of VaynerMedia, uses multiple social media channels and formats to allow his loyal following access to his inner thoughts. As described in Forbes, he frequently opens up on his leadership philosophies, what he believes to be the secrets of his business success and the struggles of entrepreneurship. From his podcasts and live streams to his Instagram stories and LinkedIn posts, Vaynerchuk has mastered the art of authenticity in marketing. This vulnerability is seen as relatable and therefore valuable to his audience.
2. Philips Humanizes Healthcare Through Insights from Industry Experts
Philips, known to many as a home electronics company, produced a microsite filled with videos, webinars and other content to position itself as an advanced health technology company that can leverage comprehensive data to create better health outcomes and business solutions. Their Future Health Index pulled together a brain trust of advisers and investigators to envision the low-cost, high-impact healthcare system of the future. Innovative projects are presented alongside the challenges of actual user experience in clinical settings around the world. Their healthcare content strategy helped them connect with potential customers by providing them valuable information and insights.
3. Ann Handley Uses Engaging Content to Convert Consumers
Ann Handley is a WSJ best-selling author and the founder of two companies. IBM named her as one of the 7 people shaping modern marketing and Forbes has recognized her as a thought leader. Her book, Everybody Writes, teaches marketers how to write content that converts. Her work has been translated into 19 languages. Her company, MarketingProfs uses this philosophy of creating engaging content across their website and through their webinar program. MarketingProfs has over 600,000 subscribers which they train and educate on various marketing trends and topics.
4. Estadão Amplifies Brand Awareness with Themed Conversations
In 2019, Estadão – the fourth-largest newspaper in Brazil – hosted a live event inspired by the Big Ideas series from NYTLicensing. “Summit Brasil: O Que é Poder?” enabled Estadão to host themed conversations with notable thought leaders that tackled current issues in Brazil. Topics included the power of technology, the power of society, the power of networks, the power of the economy and more. The event resonated with a vast audience as the luminaries chosen to speak caught the attention of many influential people across Brazil.
5. AdvisorStream Builds Credibility through Thought Leadership
AdvisorStream is an award-winning marketing automation platform that helps financial advisers grow their practices by building trust and credibility with clients through highly engaging and personalized communications. The platform uses financial content and news licensed from reputable sources, including NYTLicensing, to help drive conversions and engagement for its user base. Advisorstream took advantage of NYTLicensing’s thought leadership content, using articles from Harvard Business Review and The New York Times, and saw an increase in page views and lead capture as a result.
Frequently Asked Questions about Thought Leadership Content
Have more questions about thought leadership content and how to get started? Here are some answers to the questions people are searching for.
What is a Thought Leader?
A thought leader is an industry expert who understands the nuances of a particular industry. They are able to educate audiences on upcoming trends and topics.
What is Required to Create Thought Leadership With Content?
For organizations looking to develop a thought leadership content strategy, they will need the following:
- Thought Leaders or Experts: These thought-leaders or experts will be writing the content. These writers do not need to be in-house and this content can also be licensed via a publication.
- Consistency: One piece of thought leadership is unlikely to move the needle very far. Organizations will need to invest in creating this kind of content consistently to engage readers.
- Measurement: In order to improve content marketing ROI, companies will need to measure performance and apply these learnings to their content strategy moving forward.
How do you create thought leadership content?
Thought leadership can be created via numerous channels including web posts, bylined articles and sponsored posts. These articles are often educational in nature or address specific pain points. They do not promote a specific product or service. Content licensing provides a unique opportunity for organizations to feature industry leaders on topics ranging from edtech to health care to finance. It can supplement your own in-house expertise with that of globally recognized thought leaders. Some publications such as The New York Times, offer copyright licenses that make the process of getting copyright permission easy. Obtaining a copyright license from NYTLicensing can give your organization access to articles from global experts and thought leaders such as Richard Branson.
How do you promote thought leadership content?
There are multiple ways to get your brand’s thought leadership content out into the world and in front of your new audience. Usually, there are some key things customers look for as they are researching a new brand: a nice website, social media accounts, customer reviews. While all of these channels should play a part in your content strategy, you should also know that it will take a lot of work to get the content mix just right. Companies large and small dedicate a lot of time and money to building user-friendly websites and pumping them full of relevant information for their audiences. If you have a blog or resource center for your audience, this would be a great place to start.
What is good thought leadership content?
Good thought leadership content involves the creation of high-quality content marketing assets. Pieces need to be well researched and developed by an industry expert. Additionally, these pieces must educate audiences and connect with the target market in order to be successful.
What's the difference between thought leadership content marketing and social media marketing?
There is a big difference between content marketing and social media marketing. Thought leadership content marketing and social media marketing may complement each other in an overarching marketing plan, but both have different goals and functions. Thought leadership content marketing is considered a tactic, while social media is a distribution channel. Thought leadership seeks to educate viewers by leveraging industry experts. Social media marketing, on the other hand, seeks to engage users. This may include thought leadership articles, but can also include more interactive elements such as fun videos or surveys.
What is the difference between thought leadership content and traditional advertising?
Thought leadership content seeks to educate people on a specific topic. It addresses the pain points of its target audience. The formats can include blog posts, e-books or guides. Although a comprehensive marketing strategy may include elements of thought leadership, traditional advertising generally consists of branded campaigns as well as lead-generation tactics.
Who should leverage thought leadership?
In short, all businesses should leverage thought leadership in some capacity. To win over their audience, business owners need to prove they know what they are talking about. Establishing this position in your industry can result in improved brand awareness, increased brand equity and more.
Who are the best thought leaders?
Thought leaders can vary from industry to industry, however, experts with large followings, that have highly-acclaimed content are typically a good match. Some other criteria for a good thought leader may include persistence, time in the industry, creativity and more.
Why does thought leadership matter in B2B?
Thought leadership content is great for creating a B2B content marketing strategy. The main benefit of thought leadership content is that buyers can easily find a solution to a problem they may have. They seek a thought leader's guidance. In terms of B2B sales, end buyers typically research solutions before they buy the product.
Does thought leadership work?
According to Orbit Media, 90% of business owners reported their thought leadership content marketing programs to be “very successful” or “moderately successful”.
Final Thoughts: Thought Leadership Drives Results
Ultimately, thought leadership content marketing can produce great results for brands if it is done well. It can be a chance to attract new prospects and retain existing customers in new ways that position the brand as leaders and experts in their given area of business. But it is important to remember that there is a lot of content available out there, so the quality and relevancy of your thought leadership material will be the differentiating factor.
While good marketers know business and how to identify an audience, good journalists tend to be the most effective storytellers, and they have a knack for finding topics that engage readers. Journalists can also “connect the dots” — they speak with multiple sources and know how to get to the heart of the matter. When journalists and marketers come together, they can leverage the power of storytelling in marketing to create compelling content pieces that can help convert prospects and strengthen relationships.
Content licensing allows marketers to leverage the high-quality journalism that makes traditional publishing organizations champions in the content business. NYTLicensing curates and licenses world-class journalism from The New York Times, as well as content from other media partners, allowing brands to connect with new audiences and drive brand loyalty. Our content can help brands position themselves as thought leaders on practically any subject.
