Most marketing leaders don’t need to be convinced that thought leadership matters. You’ve seen what it can do when it’s done well: shift perspectives, shape conversations, give sales teams a Challenger-style superpower.

But somewhere along the way—between the campaign launches, the LinkedIn cadence, the quarterly planning—something starts to shift. The content still gets produced, but the energy behind it fades. The calendar is full, but no one’s particularly excited about what’s on it. And the pieces that do go out often feel… fine. Technically correct, but forgettable.

Sharing information isn't the same as sharing insight. Thought leadership requires net-new thinking — a unique perspective that challenges conventional wisdom or a new approach to a stubborn problem. Insight helps readers reshape their thinking and challenge their assumptions.

Fashion isn’t the only thing that comes back around, again and again. Marketing tactics tend to do the same. Because 1) most marketing tactics work if guided by a solid strategy, and 2) you have to do things differently than your competitors — otherwise, people won’t pay attention. So a tactic gets done by everyone, and then it cycles out until someone picks it up again. 

The B2B tech market is more crowded than the Atlanta airport (PSA: Roast Coffeehouse is an oasis, even though there’s always a line). Even solutions that are truly unique get lost in the plethora of options because buyers can’t easily see the difference between competitors.