“Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms”
-Groucho Marx
Since when has a mundane B2B marketing effort become thought leadership marketing?
Blog post is not a thought leadership piece. On a worst case it does not really include any thinking in it, but is only a disguised and long-winded sales pitch for the company behind it. Just that you are sharing your thoughts does not make you a thought leader. Thought leadership is always judged by audience and not the marketer.
If you are a thought leader, whatever you do, it is thought leadership marketing. And the other way around, if you are not, no matter what you write, it is just another blog post, which no one wants to read. People should aspire to really be thought leaders and not just appear to be one.
Because we as a people are naturally lazy and trying to find shortcuts, it has not been surprise that marketing companies selling thought leadership marketing have found a lucrative market. Companies and individuals should concentrate more on doing things worth telling and doing some serious thinking worth sharing instead of buying some “thought leadership toolkit”. The actual methods to reach out to your audience come quite naturally if you have your real story in order. That story should be based on the actual truth.
Thought leadership marketing is just a contradiction in terms. Too often it lacks both the actual thinking and the real leadership.
Stand-Up Strategy 