Thought Leadership Content Creation

We are undergoing a minor crisis in marketing. Hubspot and G2 have seen their SEO traffic drop 80%. The problem? Marketers are focusing on how to CREATE content using LLMs - when they need to MARKET content to LLMs. Unless you start creating content for LLMs as one of your PRIMARY audience, your reach will collapse and your visibility will vanish. Your buyers are now using LLMs and AI answers to find you. Search engines are coping with this change and changing algorithms. There is a new playbook. Adapt or disappear. 2000-2025: RISE OF SEO AND CONTENT MARKETING If the search engines couldn’t find you - you did not exist. Here’s the traditional playbook to get noticed by Search engines: - Thought leadership content: Unique insights developed for target audience to position the brand as a trusted expert - Content optimized for organic keyword discovery: carefully crafted high intent keywords to rank high on search engines and drive inbound traffic - Authority and backlinking: build high quality backlinks via guest posts or strategic partnerships - Long form articles that sparked discussions: Optimized for social discovery, engagement and conversations - SEO excellence: ensure fast loading, mobile friendly pages with strong internal linking for better indexing 2025 AND BEYOND : RISE OF LLMs AND AI In future - If the LLMs cannot find you, you do not exist. Here’s an emerging playbook to get a favorable presence in LLMs. - SEO is evolving to include LLM content discovery - Content optimized for LLMs to better position you against competitors - Make your support docs, use case docs and knowledge base public for LLMs to crawl. More content and case studies leads to better positioning.  - Thought leadership content and social engagement still works - Optimize for AI overviews while still pursuing organic authority - Your brand is more than just your website or search engines. Every podcast, YouTube video, blog post, and Reddit comment will be parsed by LLMs to shape your company knowledge graph.  - GEO Excellence: Master Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to stay ahead. - LLMs are evolving. Use them to your advantage. Monitor brand perception, track competitors, and feed the right content to shape your narrative. GEO programmatic tools and agencies are coming - but don’t wait. Your buyers are already searching for you on ChatGPT. Run the same searches and manage your presence on LLMs. Ensure you stand out against your competitors and if you don’t, find a way to feed the right content to LLMs.  TAKEAWAY: SEO evolution is already happening whether you like it or not. Your buyers will increasingly use LLMs to find you. Your organic reach is now getting decentralized. Control your narrative or let AI control it for you. 

Let's be real. No one cares about your content. Harsh? Maybe. But it’s the truth. They’re not opening LinkedIn hoping to see your latest thought leadership post. They care about themselves. Their deadlines. Their pain points. Their goals. If your content doesn’t speak to that, they’ll scroll right past it. Most people on this platform create content that they care about, not what their audience needs. That’s why so many posts die in silence. No engagement, no shares, no impact. The posts that do go viral? They hit a nerve. They spark emotion. They solve a problem or offer a perspective people didn’t realize they needed. Recently, I shared a post about how being laid off is personal, not business. How disorrienting it can be and leaders should handle them with more empathy. Guess what happened? That post went viral. Thousands of reactions, shares, and comments from people who felt validated. Why? Because while it was from my personal experience, it wasn't just about me. It addressed a real issue people were struggling with and spoke to what they couldn't put into words themselves. The secret to content that resonates? Make your audience feel seen. 👉 Speak to their struggles. 👉 Solve their problems. 👉 Say what they wish they could. Your content isn’t a diary. It’s a service. Make it useful. Make it real. Or don’t post at all.

want to know the dirty little secret about trend forecasting? while everyone's obsessing over what's "next," the real innovators are already capitalizing on what's here. i've spent weeks analyzing reports from YouTube, Meta, Spotify, and others. here's what's actually changing (and what's just recycled thinking): 3 massive shifts happening RIGHT NOW: 1. emotional depth revolution ↳ gen Z isn't asking for personalization, they're demanding real connection ↳ example: patagonia turning product repairs into community narratives 2. AI moving from behind the scenes to center stage ↳ we're shifting from AI-powered to AI-partnered ↳ brands winning: look at snapchat's AI characters giving style advice 3. hybridized experiences taking over ↳ physical spaces becoming content studios ↳ digital/physical divide? it's already disappearing bottom line: 2025's "trends" are unfolding in today's consumer behavior. the most successful brands aren't waiting for tomorrow - they're acting on the patterns hiding in plain sight. question is: what signal are you seeing today that you can act on while others are still planning for tomorrow? #FutureOfBusiness #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #MarketingStrategy #Leadership

Hills I will stand on and defend vigorously (c'mon, nobody needs to die in marketing): 👻 You don't "do" thought leadership "for" a founder. ✍️ "Thought leadership" is actually NOT the "best" kind of content. 🥊 Being contrarian does NOT make you a thought leader. 💡Thought leaders are NOT the "best" B2B creators for your marketing mix. 📊 You CAN measure thought leadership. Here's why: In order to be a thought leader, you have to have thoughts and be a leader. Most founders and execs are too busy to test, codify, and share their ideas. Can they be thought leaders? Yes. But you can't outsource the thinking, and slapping a founder's name on someone else's work does not, in fact, make it thought leadership. For some reason, we've decided that product content or sales content is "bad", and "thought leadership" content is "good". We twist ourselves into knots trying to turn everything into thought leadership. In reality, the best content solves the audience's needs! So... if they want to learn about the product or kick off a buying process, then the "best" content is product and/or sales content, because it meets their needs! We need ALL types of content, and "best" is about solving a problem for the audience. Thought leadership content helps the audience think differently and take action in a new direction. This means that it's probably gonna ruffle a few feathers, be disruptive, and/or go against the status quo. But simply saying the opposite doesn't make something thought leadership (seriously, how many "[channel] is dead!!!!" declarations do we need!?!). You need to actually test, codify, share, and enable people to adopt and implement your new ideas. Thought leadership is a long-term play and a big investment of time, money, and skills. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and influencers might be the better choice, depending on your goals. Each type of creator helps you achieve different goals, with different time horizons, so match the creator to the actual need in the marketing mix. Thought leadership should be measured over longer time horizons and non-lead-gen metrics. Can it generate a lead? Sure... but the core purpose is to build trust and help the audience think differently, which rarely results in a short-term revenue conversion (see proof-points in the carousel).

𝗜 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 $100𝗞 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵: 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗼—𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂. Here’s what I changed that instantly doubled our leads for most of our clients Last year, We ran into a wall with our linkedin ads. The budgets? Solid. The designs? Eye-catching. The metrics? Decent. But something wasn’t clicking. The leads were lukewarm. Engagement felt forced. Conversations went cold. I couldn’t shake the feeling: “Would *I* even care about this ad?” The answer? Nope. That’s when I stopped everything and took a closer look at what *I* engage with online. What makes me stop scrolling? What compels me to connect with someone or learn more? Here’s what I realized: → Stories that feel personal, not polished. → Behind-the-scenes moments that feel honest. → People, not brands, sharing thoughts that resonate. In short, I didn’t care about faceless logos. I cared about PEOPLE. This was a game-changer. I tossed out the “brand-first” playbook and focused on amplifying voices from within. 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘀. Instead of running posts that scream *“We’re a brand!”*, we started sharing raw, unfiltered content from real people inside the company. Posts that felt less like ads and more like conversations. The difference? Immediate. → Engagement? Doubled. → Cost per lead? Dropped. → Lead quality? Skyrocketed. But let me be clear: It wasn’t the format that made the difference. It was the *realness*. Here’s how I approach it now: 1. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. If it doesn’t feel like something I’d tell a close friend, it doesn’t get posted. 2. 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗲𝘀. Forget generic numbers. Instead of “25% growth,” I say: “Mark doubled his demos in 6 weeks—and he’s a solo marketer juggling everything.” 3. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. Warm relationships first, ads second. 4. 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀. Your profile isn’t a bio—it’s a landing page for meaningful connections. 5. 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀. The posts that make you hesitate? Those are often the ones that strike a chord. Since shifting to this approach, I’ve stopped chasing vanity metrics like likes or CTR. Instead, I focus on signals that matter: → Are people DMing me? → Are they visiting the website and staying? → Are they coming to calls saying, “I saw your post, and it hit home”? It all comes back to this: People don’t buy from a logo. They buy from someone who *understands* them. What story does your audience need to hear today?

I've grown my LinkedIn audience to over 95,000 followers. Here's a breakdown of what you should do if you’re trying to build your brand on LinkedIn: 1) What is your end goal? Before you begin, define your goal. Do you want to become a thought leader in your field? Are you trying to land clients? If so, who is your ideal client? Speak to those people: What are people in your field looking to learn that you can teach? Create content that answers their questions. 2) What should you post? When starting out a lot of people feel imposter syndrome. To combat that feeling, document what you're learning. It gives you permission to teach on the timeline in an honest, guilt-free way. And there are always people behind you who will benefit from the information you share: Follow the 3 Es. Your content should be: • Educational • Emotional • Entertaining Educational is 'How To's' Entertaining is memes + personality Emotional is “choosing an enemy” or sharing a strong opinion. Next comes scheduling: It's a good idea to batch your content. Create a week's worth of content. Then schedule it all in Buffer, or Publer. Batch creating your content allows you to enter a flow state and avoid context switching. 3) Engagement You have content and then you have "distribution"—generating traffic. And one of the best ways to generate traffic is through engagement: Go to industry experts in your field and comment on their posts. They’ll sometimes hit you back. If they don’t, that's okay. You could always reach out to them and create more of a connection. But commenting on their posts serves an additional purpose: As thought leaders, they get a large amount of traffic on their posts. So you get exposure to people in their audience regardless. The combination of great content + engagement is where the magic happens. 4) It’s called a personal brand for a reason If you only talk about technical ideas you may only hit experts in your field. Your ideal clients aren't usually industry experts, that's why they'll hire you: So keep your content personal. Talk about elements of your life as well. It builds trust with your prospects. It shows them you’re a real person. 5) Networking Build real connections. I'd rather build fewer deep connections than collect a bunch of shallow acquaintances. Social media is a game changer for this: It allows you to find like minded people. You might not find people like this in your local neighborhood, but here on LinkedIn it's easy. Thanks for reading. Enjoyed this post? Follow Jordan Nelson And share it with your network.

Oftentimes, storytelling is treated as a soft skill, a nice-to-have, or something you’ll get around to once you're asked to keynote a conference. However, storytelling should be a top strategy for any executive looking to get ahead in today's job market, where attention is fractured and leadership credibility is hard-won. In my interview with TEDx coach and thought leadership expert Cathey Armillas, she shared two frameworks anyone can use to become a stronger storyteller, starting today. 1. Start with 3 Critical Questions to Define Your Voice These reflection prompts are the backbone of your positioning. Before you share content or even show up on stage, Cathey recommends asking: ✔ What idea am I contributing to the world? Not “what topic do I speak on”—but what’s your specific angle within that topic? Narrow it down. ✔ Why am I the right person to share this idea? What lived experiences, challenges, or insights shaped how you see this issue? Your stories are your proof. ✔ How does this idea improve someone else’s life or work? If your insight isn’t useful, it won’t stick. Show how it adds value. ACTION: Write down your answers in one sentence each. Then test them. Share your idea with a trusted peer or post a short reflection on LinkedIn. Do people engage? Ask for more? That’s how you know it’s working. 2. Use the “Five Great Things” Exercise to Find Your Stories Feeling stuck on what to say? Cathey recommends making a list of: 🔹 Five of the greatest things you've done in your life or career. They don’t have to be titles or promotions. Sometimes you made something happen, led under pressure, or changed someone’s trajectory. Then ask yourself: – What did I learn? – What qualities did I rely on? – What system, belief, or leadership habit did I apply? – Would I do anything differently now? These stories become building blocks for your thought leadership, interview preparation, and presentations. ACTION: Block 30 minutes this week to write your list. Then build out just one of the stories in paragraph form. Tuck it into your story file. Use it to shape your next speaking point or LinkedIn post. The Bottom Line: Thought leadership isn't about being known. It's about being known for something. Storytelling makes your ideas portable. It builds memory, trust, and clarity. If you want to be recognized as a leader worth following or hiring, you must learn to tell the story only you can tell. Are you telling a story people will remember? To read the article, click the top right of the image and download the PDF. #LIPostingDayApril #thoughtleader #CareerVelocity TEDxPortland = this weekend in PDX

Don’t Make This Mistake with Your Thought Leader Campaigns 💀 Using Thought Leader posts incorrectly can hurt your funnel, results, and budget. LinkedIn Thought Leader posts paired with paid ads are a powerful combination, but only when used correctly. While every company claims to be the best, seeing your experts share genuine insights builds real confidence in your offer. - - 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲: ❌ Relying Solely on High Engagement: Don't use posts just because they receive a lot of likes or comments. ❌ Overusing Thought Leader Content: Avoid using these posts as your entire strategy for both the top-of-funnel (TOFU) and middle-of-funnel (MOFU). Expecting TOFU posts to deliver down-funnel results can backfire. ❌ Ignoring Intent: Engagement doesn’t always equal genuine interest. Just because someone “liked,” commented, or clicked “see more” doesn’t mean they’re ready to research your offer. - - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 1️⃣ - Focus on Expertise, Not Just Personal Branding - High engagement is great, but prioritize content that showcases deep industry knowledge. 2️⃣ - Balance Your Strategy - Your thought leadership needs to work alongside intent-driven company ads. Remember: A "see more" click doesn't equal buying intent. 3️⃣ - Smart Retargeting - Don't waste budget retargeting every engagement. Qualify traffic through intent-focused campaigns first. People trust people more than companies. However, your thought leadership should complement your brand’s content, not replace it. - - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮: >Top of Funnel: Expert insights + intent qualification >Middle of Funnel: Thought leadership + company content (blogs, whitepapers) >Bottom of Funnel: Qualified traffic + targeted messaging - - Remember, Thought Leader ads are excellent for building brand equity, but they shouldn’t be your only tactic. A balanced approach leveraging both intent-driven company ads and credibility-building Thought Leader content will help you optimize your funnel and achieve better results. #linkedinads #b2bmarketing #funnelbuilder #linkedincowboy

You don't need a corner office or CEO title to become your organization's go-to expert—you just need the right strategy. I was thrilled to be featured in Dorie Clark's latest newsletter alongside Paul Fairbrother and Natalie Siston, discussing how to build thought leadership from within your organization. While we covered the importance of internal visibility and aligning with company priorities, I want to share three additional strategies that can accelerate your career: 🎯 Join Your Industry Association This is the lowest-risk, highest-reward move you can make. Associations are constantly seeking speakers and volunteers, giving you a safe space to practice your expertise while expanding your network. Bonus: Your company benefits from the brand visibility and recruiting opportunities. ✍️ Write for Industry Publications Contributing articles to association magazines or trade publications positions you as a thought leader beyond your organization's walls. (Shout-out to Dorie Clark, who has an excellent online course on getting published in high-profile publications that I highly recommend! See link in comments 👇🏻) 🤝 Amplify Others' Content Strategically You don't always need to create original content. Thoughtfully sharing and commenting on posts from industry leaders you admire builds relationships and demonstrates your engagement with key topics in your field. These strategies are part of what we call "Thought Leadership"— one of the five key elements in my Promotability Index®. Through my research and work with thousands of professionals, I've identified that those who master thought leadership alongside the other four elements (Self-Awareness, External Awareness, Executive Presence, and Strategic Thinking) are 3x more likely to get promoted. If you're wondering where you stand on thought leadership and the other promotion-critical skills, I've created a free assessment that gives you a personalized roadmap. It's the same framework I use with my executive coaching clients. Ready to stop waiting for recognition and start building the visibility you deserve? 📖 Read Dorie's full newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gaz5Zb6m 📊 Take the free Promotability Index® career self-assessment: https://lnkd.in/giN7YYt Dorie Clark - thanks for the feature and the inspiration! Sharing a fun moment from London a few years ago.

My team has audited 30+ LinkedIn ad accounts in the last month. Here’s ONE THING the winners are doing that others aren’t: They use their organic thought leadership strategy as your testing ground for their ad creative. HERE’S THE FORMULA: Start by posting a range of thought leadership content through your executives and track the engagement. Focus on your ICP and see which messages resonate most. Once you identify your highest-performing content, amplify it with thought leadership ads. This strategy minimizes ad spend on trial and error and focuses your budget on content that already connects with your audience.