Comprehensive thought leadership consulting for B2B & professional services firms

Thought leadership strategy

Looking Back (and Ahead) on 30 Years in Thought Leadership Marketing

What’s changed the most: widespread use, competition for mind share, and the ascendance of R&D and new distribution channels. This June I celebrated my 30th year in thought leadership marketing. I didn’t know that was the name of this field I had entered back in 1987, when I left the world of business journalism to run …

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Thought Leadership Defined (in a Useful Way)

Thought leadership is the prestige that an individual or organization achieves after developing, delivering and marketing superior expertise that solves a significant problem. With so many marketers exhorting companies to become thought leaders in their domains, many people in those firms are asking a simple question: “What is thought leadership? What are we talking about?” Here’s how we define it: …

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Why Clients Love Thought Leadership, But B2B Firms Do Not

Companies producing thought leadership don’t see it to be nearly as important as do the companies they send it to. How can that be? How is it that 90% of executives love exceptional, thought-leading content, but only 60% of the firms that create educational content say it boosts their brand? Why do four out of five C-suite executives (81%) …

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Why Showing What You Know is Now Essential

Advertising isn’t about showing what you know. That’s the job of thought leadership marketing. One of our newer clients said something to me yesterday that I think helps explain why thought leadership marketing has become so important for many companies. He said the leaders of his consulting firm now recognize they need to demonstrate their …

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Resist the Lure of the Thought Leadership Miracle Cure

When a firm’s view shifts from thought leadership marketing as miracle cure to thought leadership marketing as strong lead generator, built over time, the results can be powerful. If your firm is desperate for leads, thought leadership won’t help in the short term. Anyone who hopes thought leadership marketing will deliver a miracle cure for …

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What Sparks People to Produce the Best Thought Leadership

Thought leadership marketing certainly can be more financially rewarding than journalism. But if money is the primary motivation, it won’t continue driving someone to higher performance. So your firm has decided it needs thought leadership marketing, or better thought leadership marketing. You’ve started to look for the right expertise, both internally and externally. How do …

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