Thoughts About Thought Leadership & Content Marketing

By Paul Brunato and Bob Finlayson

At the start of a recent pitch meeting, a prospective client asked us to define thought leadership and explain how it differs from content marketing. It’s a good question. Thought leadership is a term that is often used loosely.

Wikipedia offers a pretty straightforward definition, which it pulled from a Forbes article:

“… an individual or firm that is recognized as an authority in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded.”

We often talk about establishing thought leadership for a specific person or company through strategic content creation. Doesn’t that make it just another form of content marketing? The answer is yes, in a manner of speaking. We can position a person or company as a thought leader in their industry through creation and distribution of strategic content that demonstrates their expertise in a public forum.

In the 2020 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study, Edelman and LinkedIn define Thought Leadership as “Free deliverables organizations or individuals produce on a topic they know a lot about and feel others can benefit from having their perspective on. Thought Leadership, in this context, does not include content primarily focused on describing an organization’s products or services.”

The second sentence of this definition is important: “Thought Leadership… does not include content primarily focused on describing an organization’s products or services.”

This, in our view, is what differentiates thought leadership from content marketing.

In his recent article for Entrepreneur Media, “The 4 Key Differences Between Thought Leadership and Content Marketing,” Daniel Rosehill approaches this distinction from a different angle, pointing out that “Content marketing is top-down; thought leadership is peer-to-peer.”

Content marketing typically flows in one direction – delivering promotional content directly to the target customer in an attempt to motivate the purchase of products or services. It is ‘salesy’ by nature, and usually does not add value to a topic about which the target audience cares, but asks the recipient to purchase the company’s products. 

Thought Leadership content, on the other hand, seeks to create a ‘halo effect,’ establishing a position of expertise and wisdom in the minds of the target audience. It builds a relationship with the audience, with an openness to conversation, or two-way communication. Effective Thought Leadership campaigns result in admiration, respect and gratitude from their audiences.

But to ascend to this exalted position in the minds of your audience members, you need to truly understand their perspectives – What is important to them? What is interesting to them? What industry-specific questions are they struggling with? Once you understand their interests and motivations, you will be able to offer perspectives, information and ideas that capture their attention, drive engagement, establish a sense of loyalty and gratitude – and ultimately drive increased sales.

In a comment on a recent post for our article, “7 Steps to a Truly Engaged Audience,” Bill Mandel beautifully wrote, “Knowing what your target audience cares about and offering ‘gifts of knowledge’ on those subjects will reveal thought leadership for what it truly is: the ROI-rich ‘long game’ of lead generation.”

Bill nailed it. “Gifts of knowledge” is how your audience will receive your well-planned Thought Leadership content.

Like beauty, what is or isn’t thought leadership ultimately is in the eye of the beholder - your audience. If your content comes from a place of understanding your audiences’ perspective and needs, it is more likely to achieve that exalted position of Thought Leadership in the eyes of your target audience. 

About the Authors

Paul Brunato and Bob Finlayson are founding partners of Bold Marketing and Communications, where they help B2B startups and major brands transition to a new, data-driven approach to the marcom function.

Bob Finlayson is a seasoned marketing and communications executive with 20 years’ experience working with many iconic brands, including Microsoft, HP, SAP, Salesforce, Gap, Activision-Blizzard and Adobe, among others. He has held senior positions within several of the leading global marketing and communications agencies, including Edelman, Burson-Marsteller and Hill and Knowlton.

Paul Brunato leverages two decades of in-house corporate marketing experience driving thought leadership and managing PR campaigns for companies ranging from startups to multinational powerhouse brands, including Flex, Juniper Networks, AT&T, Blockbuster, Motorola, Disney, and Frog Design.