Thought leadership is one of the most vital constituents of the content marketing strategy of a company. A thought leader put simply, is a business or an individual that gets recognition like an authority in an area of expertise or a specific industry. Thought leadership is never baseless business jargon which certainly is not handed out sans merit. Rather this is earned through consistency, authenticity, and expertise. A true thought leader can blaze trails, set trends, and guide loyal followers to exciting and new insights. Here the key is to take action and deliver value regularly with helpful content. Importance of Thought Leadership as per Adam Veron Thought leadership is vital for B2B and B2C companies but more so in the case of B2B. This is due to the B2B environment's complex decision-making process and the huge number of employees involved. It is thought leadership content that can help people involved in a business's decision-making process to gain alignment all across their company concerning the issues they are facing. Where does it come from?The truth is, thought leadership can actually come from different sources - salespeople, customer service reps, designers, product managers, customers, and executives. Thought leaders ultimately need to inspire buyers to act. The challenge here is, of course, in the telling. 5 Effective Thought Leadership Creating Ideas

Soft focus of a group of people in a conference room with a white board saying “Startupday.” Image by Franck V., via Unsplash.com.

Below are five effective thought leadership creating ideas that drive sales:

• Delight and Entertain - Marketers should inject humor and personality into their content. After all, prospects will remember them more and keep them on their mind while evaluating solutions. 

• Conduct and Share Research - Offering research will allow one’s company to turn into online content and an information source. 

• Interview Product Teams - To create trust in one's enterprise and offer interesting backstories, especially products. 

• Remove the Curtain Between Customers and Thought Leaders - Nothings says they are a better leader than having people seek their advice in group settings. 

• Invite Customers to Take Part - It is best to interview customers to create content. 

Can Thought Leadership be Outsourced?Now the question is, can thought leadership be outsourced? Well, according to Adam Veron, the answer is no. This is because the right thought leadership content should come from one's brain. What can actually be outsourced are the production as well as the creation of the thought leadership content. Once one begins to think strategically, they will discover that there are a few parts in the thought leadership content process that can be outsourced to break through their personal bottlenecks. And create and publish valuable content that will truly influence the conversation in their industry. Thought leadership means disruptive, really exceptional, new ideas, ideas that people rarely see. These are the kind of ideas that make one's head turn, and a thought leader himself can only attain this. One's thinking cannot be outsourced like outsourcing other personal activities. People who have tried outsourcing their thinking feel less able and less comfortable to engage in healthy discussion regarding the ideas.