Top 8 Thought Leadership Companies to Know in 2025
The world of thought leadership has a secret. It’s an open secret—but it is nevertheless rarely discussed in public. The truth is: top executives don’t actually write their own content all by themselves. Many of those LinkedIn posts, op-eds and guest posts were written with support from someone else.
Leaders have the wisdom and experience to do it—of course they do! But they don’t have the time. They don’t have the time to:
- Brainstorm content ideas that are timely and relevant to their industry
- Do research and find compelling facts and stats to back up their argument
- Write and revise speeches, articles and social updates to be ready for public consumption
- Identify appropriate channels for their content and make sure the right audience sees their work.
What Is a Thought Leadership Company?
A thought leadership company (or agency) exists to help busy executives with all of the above. If the agency is good at what it does, it helps turn your expertise into timely insights that are irresistible to outlets and audiences.
That means, however, that the executive must be involved. Thought leadership can’t be offloaded completely to a company, as tempting as that may be. It has to be approached as a partnership between the executive and the company.
Without involvement from the executive, you’re left with generic thought leadership pieces that get few views and no engagement. But, if the leader works closely with the agency, their wisdom, experience and unique voice can be packaged into content that rises above the online noise.
The executive provides the unique industry perspective. The thought leadership company, in turn, offers expertise on several different levels:
- Strategic direction: What’s your brand as a leader and what message do you want to convey? Who do you hope to reach and why?
- Content creation and ghostwriting: Writers and strategists help develop your ideas into content that gets seen and shared. Those working at a thought leadership company are often ex-journalists, who know what the trending topics are.
- Social media management: Cultivating a social presence requires not just sharing updates but also building a community. The right agency can offer end-to-end support.
- Media pitching and publishing: Thought leadership pros understand what news values media outlets care about—and how to give a story a unique spin that will instantly appeal to editors.
- Podcasts and speaking engagements: Media, speaking and podcast appearances amplify the reach of your ideas. The right thought leadership agency has the expertise and relationships to open these doors.
We live in an attention economy where getting people to listen is crucial but hard. A good thought leadership company helps you break through the noise. Research shows that 55% of hidden decision-makers use thought leadership as part of their vetting process and 64% of target decision-makers spend more than an hour on average per week consuming thought leadership.
Top Thought Leadership Companies to Know About
For executives looking to supercharge their thought leadership by taking a journalistic approach, working with an agency makes a lot of sense. But how do you choose who to work with? Here are five companies worth exploring.
1. CSuite Content
Founded in 2015, CSuite Content is a unique agency that, unlike many other companies in this space, is focused exclusively on executive communications. The firm specializes in thought leadership, ghostwriting, social media, earned media and personal branding for C-suite executives. They’ve worked with both fast-growing startups and leaders at global companies like Shopify, Hootsuite, lululemon, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and more, helping leaders reach people in a way that traditional marketing, PR and advertising efforts simply cannot. To see how the company approaches thought leaders, check out this article and this one.
2. Channel V Media
Unlike CSuite Content, Channel V Media is a full-service PR agency that offers both corporate brands and executives services such as media relations, newsjacking, content marketing and, of course, thought leadership. Based in New York, it is part of the International Public Relations Network that has a local presence in more than 50 global markets. It’s worked with clients like IBM, Hilton and Marriott.
3. Edelman
Edelman is a full-service agency that’s well-known because of its influential annual Trust Barometer and other industry reports. Established in 1952, it is the world’s largest independent PR firm and has around 6,000 employees across 60 global offices. The firm offers a wide range of services for both companies and individual leaders, from brand and digital marketing to public relations, public affairs and thought leadership.
4. Thoughtldr
Thoughtldr is an agency based in the United Kingdom that specializes in the technology sector and the EMEA market (Europe, the Middle East and Asia). It works with everyone from high-growth start-ups to enterprise businesses, manufacturers and technology giants. It also works directly with business leaders through its executive program.
5. Thought Leadership PR
Thought Leadership PR is another UK-based agency. It helps small business owners and individuals define their personal brand, build their expertise and amplify their thought leadership content. While thought leadership in the form of article writing and LinkedIn management is a priority, it also offers services like website optimization and whitepaper editing.
6. FT Longitude
FT Longitude is an offshoot of Britain’s well-known Financial Times, and it operates much like a custom content division on the publisher. It provides organizations with marketing services, including thought leadership in the forms of long-form articles, reports and full marketing campaigns. The company helps clients with strategy and research, as well as ghostwriting, and even the creative design of articles and reports.
7. Lewis Commercial Writing
Lewis Commercial Writing is primarily a tech ghostwriting and copywriting agency based in Austin, Texas. It consists of Alexander Lewis, a B2B marketing strategist and executive ghostwriter, and Sarabeth Lewis, a content designer and UX copywriter. The agency offers services that include SaaS copywriting, LinkedIn ghostwriting, UX copywriting, SEO content writing and book ghostwriting.
8. Narrate Creative
Narrate Creative helps C-suite leaders and executives use LinkedIn thought leadership to build their personal brand and influence. It specializes in creating thought leadership content for startups and SMBs. Their approach emphasizes leveraging video to highlight the leader’s own words and expertise in the form of shareable social updates.
How to Choose the Right Thought Leadership Partner
With so many options available, picking the right thought leadership agency can be tricky. How do you choose one over another? Ultimately, the proof is in the pudding; an agency should help an executive craft great thought leadership content that moves the needle on business results.
When choosing an agency, it’s worth asking the following questions:
Will I be working with thought leadership experts?
Regardless of whether you’re working with a focused thought leadership firm or a global full-service agency, you must ensure that you’re working with people who live and breathe this specialized field of public relations. They shouldn’t see it as an add-on service. Instead, they should be experts who are familiar with the nuances of the thought leadership format and capable of transforming a leader’s ideas into meaningful enterprise results.
Is this an experienced, senior team?
Leveraging thought leadership is one of the most effective communications/marketing strategies that an executive can adopt. But there is risk with working with a partner: that you’ll be pawned off on a junior team member or fresh hire at an agency. The last thing a senior executive wants to do is publish content that’s rudimentary, inaccurate, or just spit out by AI. That’s why it’s essential to work with senior professionals who have the skills, experience and tact to help boost an executive’s credibility. (We think ex-journalists make the best thought leadership consultants, but we’re admittedly biased!).
Do I like these people?
Great thought leadership is created when there is a close working relationship between the executive and the agency. So, it’s important to like the people you’ll be working with and to have confidence in their ability to capture and amplify your voice. An agency should be a trusted advisor that you can rely on to help guide your thought leadership efforts.
Can I see your results?
Thought leadership agencies often work behind the scenes with executives, and client confidentiality is important. However, an effective agency should be able to share published case studies and real examples of the impact of their work. If an agency is unable to cite real-world results, you should be wary.
