What is “thought leadership”, exactly?

Do a Google search for “what is thought leadership?” and you’ll return 781,000,000 results. In itself, this represents an awful lot of thinking about thinking, but do a little more digging and you’ll see a lot of people take it very seriously. And so they should, as we explain here.

But what is thought leadership exactly? How does it differ from traditional content marketing? And, just as important, what type of businesses can make the most of it? Well, in answer to the first of these three deliberately rhetorical questions…

Defining thought leadership

Finding a conclusive definition of thought leadership that everyone agrees on is next-to-nigh impossible. Why? Because it means different things to different people. But for the sake of simplicity, we want to be crystal clear about what it means for us at EI.

We define thought leadership as “interesting, intriguing, insightful thinking that brings something new to your audience”. In other words, original thinking that demonstrates a unique perspective that your audience, whoever they happen to be, can’t get elsewhere. Or, put another way, leadership thinking worth sharing.

Thought leadership is not content marketing

Onto the second question: how does thought leadership differ from content marketing? People often use both terms interchangeably, but in reality they’re chalk and cheese.

Content marketing is very much about validating a business or brand as a relevant and reliable source of useful information. It’s key aim is to use search-optimised and sales-enablement content to usher and accelerate people along the funnel.

Thought leadership, on the other hand, and as its name suggests, is about establishing a business or brand, and key individuals in it, as an authority and leader in what it does. How? By presenting original thinking, perspectives and insights not available elsewhere.

Thought leadership is the thin end of the much larger content marketing wedge, if you will. One that’s built on a specific attitude to content, not on what type of content it is.

For example, this blog post aims to validate and clarify what we think thought leadership is. It explains our thinking on an important question we’re frequently asked, and establishes our knowledge, relevance and usefulness as a reliable source of information on thought leadership. It’s not adding anything new to the debate, or inspiring a new perspective, or breaking new ground. It’s not thought leadership.

Who is thought leadership for?

In a word, it’s for anyone and everyone who wants their brand, business, or specific individuals in it, to be seen as an authority in their industry or area of expertise. To achieve that means becoming a source people turn to for direction, insights, opinions on the latest trends or developments, or even inspiration.

The good news is that the more senior the person, the more experience and expertise they’re likely to have, so the better placed they are to speak from a position of authority. And with an executive content strategy that builds on their thought-leading knowledge, they can start exerting more influence – inside and outside the business – to achieve their personal or business goals faster.