We’ve heard this question since the late 1980s: What constitutes outstanding thought leadership content? If you knew exactly what drives clients from reading to reaching out, you’d work hard to make sure your studies, white papers, conference presentations, books, and blog posts reflected those attributes. For example, what makes a “big” idea big?
We have research-backed insights on those attributes – at least, about the ideas expressed in thought leadership content. (We’re taking graphics and formats out of our criteria here. We asked about the most desired formats in another question.) The attributes that your clients say are more important should drive your content. But please note that of the nine below, all of them matter, just not to the same degree. Your content needs to be strong on all nine criteria, but strongest on the most important ones.
How clients rank them is very similar to how Leaders at IT services in thought leadership rank them. Here’s how clients rank them (Exhibit 17):
- Relevance
- Statistical evidence from surveys
- Case study evidence
- Depth
- Clear writing
- Rigor
- Practical solutions
- Novel solutions and conceptual frameworks (that graphically simplify complex ideas). These two are tied for eighth.
Outthinking the Competition 