In recent years, content marketing has been a real marketing industry buzzword.

However, a majority of companies doing it are wasting their time and efforts pumping out a mediocre “weekly post.” Most companies are getting little value from doing it (and providing little value through it!).

This is especially true in an AI environment where “okay” content can be pumped out with ease.

The theory is that by publishing content you’ll engage with people, bring people to your site and enhance your SEO.

While this can happen, it ONLY happens if you’re publishing great content that people are enjoying or getting value out of. 

Even decent posts rarely actually drive any traffic and I can say this confidently as someone who has looked under the hood at the Analytics of thousands of sites in my career.  

So why is thought leadership so different and powerful?

With thought leadership you:

• Identify your most valuable customer audience
• Come up with a strategy for how you can get content in front of your audience (and what type of content will work for them)
• Create great content, educating your audience on topics that are of great importance to them and are very relevant to your services or products
• Over time, become known to your audience as the expert/thought leader on the topics you’re creating content on, while also becoming the trusted vendor of choice for what you offer

Some advantages for creating educational thought leadership posts:

• They create near-instant credibility for you
• They attract customers who are a good fit (those who agree with your approach to your topics)
• They set you apart from your competition
• They are hard to replicate with AI, particularly if you add unique insights (AI can only compile existing information, it can’t offer creative new opinions on topics)

While content marketing may be a prevalent buzzword in the marketing industry, it’s the pursuit of thought leadership that truly sets you apart, builds credibility, and fosters genuine connections with your audience, making it a powerful strategy that can’t be easily replicated by AI.