Thought Leadership Marketing: The Ultimate Guide

In April 2025, Tobias Lütke caused a stir when he took to X to announce that leveraging artificial intelligence was a “baseline expectation” for employees at Shopify — and that teams should only ask for additional headcount if they can explain why AI isn’t enough for them to accomplish what they intend to.

This is an example of thought leadership marketing. By sharing his unique perspective, Lütke showed customers, investors, and employees that Shopify was embracing the latest AI innovations to supercharge its product and its processes. This, in turn, kicked off a passionate conversation on the internet — ginning up tons of attention for Shopify in the process.

What is thought leadership marketing?

Thought leadership marketing is a process by which leaders and companies share unique insights and industry perspectives to educate an audience, build trust, and in turn unlock new business opportunities. These perspectives are shared through a mix of mediums — including blogs, bylines, and media interviews — and ultimately serve to advance business goals, whether that’s raising awareness, building credibility or attracting new customers.

Why is thought leadership marketing effective? The answer comes down to trust. According to the 2024 Edelman–LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 75% of decision-makers have started researching topics they previously hadn’t considered due to persuasive thought leadership marketing content. What’s more, 70% of C-suite executives have even reconsidered current vendor relationships because of it.

Thought leadership fits under the umbrella of content marketing, but it’s designed to offer advanced concepts and unique ideas audiences won’t find anywhere else.

Thought leadership vs. traditional content marketing

Thought leadership and traditional content marketing are related, but they’re not the same thing.

Content marketing — which involves creating and sharing material that doesn’t explicitly promote a brand but stimulates interest in its services — is a much broader discipline, encompassing everything from case studies to blog posts to how-to guides.

Thought leadership fits under the umbrella of content marketing, but it’s designed to offer advanced concepts and unique ideas audiences won’t find anywhere else. These are generally delivered through the voice of a recognized leader or expert, and the objective is less to sell or promote than to educate an audience.

For this reason, it comes as no surprise that the Edelman–LinkedIn study revealed that 73% of decision-makers find thought leadership more compelling than traditional marketing and sales assets.

How does thought leadership marketing work?

If you wanted to learn how to hit a home run, would you rather listen to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge or me?

Thought leadership works the same way, building trust and credibility. For example, when it comes to understanding what the future of ecommerce looks like, there are few people better positioned to convey that vision than Shopify’s Lütke, who’s been building that future for nearly two decades.

By consistently publishing thought leadership content that explores cutting-edge ideas and innovative perspectives, brands can become authoritative in their industry, differentiating themselves from the competition. By maintaining an ongoing dialogue with their audience, thought leadership helps brands attract high-quality leads by staying top of mind, which opens the door to faster conversions and higher win rates.

How to get started with thought leadership marketing

Looking to get started with thought leadership? Follow these six steps.

1. Identify your audience and set your goals

Great thought leadership marketing isn’t spontaneous. It requires calculated planning and a deep understanding of what you’re hoping to accomplish.

Before you begin creating content, spend time defining the key audiences or industries you want to reach. Once you’ve narrowed down roles and personas, decide what you want to achieve.

Is it all about increasing your credibility and influence? Or are you more keen on distinguishing yourself from your competitors? There’s no right or wrong answer here.

By defining your audience, understanding their pain points, and determining where they hang out on the internet, you can begin devising your thought leadership strategy and targeting your audience with precision.

2. Find your unique value proposition

What’s the unique insight only you can offer? Where do your expertise, passions, and business interests converge? What differentiates you from competitors?

Answering these questions will help you define your unique value proposition — what you bring to the table that no one else can. Once you’ve determined what your value prop is, you can use it to inform the thought leadership content you’re going to create.

3. Choose your channels

Where does your audience consume content the most?

If you hope to engage executives with your thought leadership marketing, for example, you’ll want to be on LinkedIn because 97% of Fortune 500 CEOs are there, along with 64% of all CEOs. If you run a B2B company, you should aim to get op-eds and media profiles published in media outlets businesspeople read, like the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider. You get the gist.

Since you don’t want to be entirely subject to the whims and whimsies of algorithms and editors, you should also launch your own blog and email newsletter, creating channels you control.

4. Create and publish content

Once you’ve determined which channels to populate, create content that offers your unique insights and aligns with each channel. If you’re posting on X, err on the side of brevity; on LinkedIn, you can write longer posts and publish shorter articles, but anything that’s truly longform is probably best off living on your blog or as a byline in a publication.

Keep in mind that you can’t just turn on the thought leadership spigot and expect game-changing results overnight. Publishing original ideas or in-depth research on a regular basis is the key to building recognition and trust, which accrues slowly but surely.

5. Build and engage a community

Thought leadership marketing isn’t a one-way street. To unlock the full potential of thought leadership, you need to actively engage your audience.

As folks interact with your content, respond to their comments and questions to create a two-way dialogue and keep your audience engaged and further expand your reach; for example, the LinkedIn algorithm prioritizes content with higher engagement, among other criteria.

By engaging your audience, you demonstrate that you truly care about what they have to say — making you more human and more credible.

6. Measure and optimize

Getting the most out of thought leadership marketing requires a commitment to continuous improvement. Since you can’t improve what you don’t measure, start by tracking key metrics like views, comments, and shares on the pieces of content you publish (on channels that give you access to that information, like LinkedIn, your email newsletter, and your blog). That way, you can see what’s working best and use that data to inform the content you create next.

Thought leadership marketing: Best practices

Impactful thought leadership marketing involves more than good ideas folks can’t find anywhere else. You need to deliver them the right way to the right audience at the right time.

By following these thought leadership best practices, you can increase your chances of achieving your goals.

Consistency and cadence

Thought leadership gains compound over time. By maintaining a predictable publishing schedule, whether that’s on social media or as a recurring newsletter, your audience will know when to expect new content, keeping them engaged with your digital properties. Consistency also makes it easier to reinforce your key messages through repetition, helping you build authority faster.

Pro tip: Create an editorial calendar to plan your strategy ahead of time and avoid content droughts.

Tapping into news & trends

One of the surest ways to consistently capture an audience’s attention is by referencing the latest news or trends in your industry and offering your point of view.

By monitoring industry publications and social media, you can identify nascent topics your audience cares about and create content that offers your unique thoughts on each emerging trend. It’s an easy way to remind your audience that you’re on the forefront of what’s happening in your industry, reaffirming their choice to follow you.

Offering value your audience can’t find anywhere else

The whole point of thought leadership is to be fresh and insightful — not to be a carbon copy of everyone else. Great thought leaders consistently provide their audience with value they can’t find elsewhere.

If you want to learn how to optimize global supply chains, for example, you’d probably prefer following folks like UPS CEO Carol Tomé or FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam. They’re both uniquely situated to speak to the topic — with insider know-how that some random, self-proclaimed “dropshipping expert” couldn’t possibly offer.

Leveraging media opportunities to extend your reach

One of the easiest ways to grow your audience is by contributing articles and op-eds to popular trade publications and industry outlets. You can also increase your reach by agreeing to podcast invites, joining panel discussions, and giving speeches and keynote addresses should such opportunities arise.

Pro tip: Any work you do to prepare for public appearances or interviews can be repurposed into social media posts, blogs, and email newsletter content. It’s an easy way to get more mileage out of the effort you’ve already invested in thought leadership.

Start planning your next thought leadership marketing campaign today

With careful planning and consistent execution, thought leadership marketing can be a powerful growth driver. But like anything else in business, building an effective thought leadership strategy takes time and resources.

Think of it like exercising. It’s one thing to understand why it’s important to go to the gym … but much more challenging to actually muster the resolve to do it. When it comes to exercise, that’s where personal trainers come in.

And when it comes to thought leadership marketing, that’s where a dedicated agency can help you reach your goals. The right partner is one that lives and breathes best practices, has well-established relationships with media publications and event organizers, and knows how to position you as an authority in your industry.

Learn more about how a thought leadership agency can save you time and further your business goals.

Curious How Your Company’s CEO is Doing on LinkedIn?