Content — articles, talks, original research — designed to establish an individual or company as a credible, insightful voice on a topic, based on original perspective or expertise rather than direct product promotion.
Why it matters
Thought leadership builds trust and authority that indirectly benefits a brand's commercial goals, but it only works if the content genuinely offers a distinct point of view or new insight — thought leadership that's actually just a disguised product pitch tends to be recognized as such and discounted.
In a sentence
"Our best-performing thought leadership piece was the one that took an actual, debatable position on the category, not the safer piece that just summarized already-known industry trends."
Related terms
- Often confused with: Content marketing (thought leadership is specifically about establishing credibility and original perspective; content marketing is the broader practice of creating valuable content generally, which may or may not involve staking out a distinct point of view).