A thought leader is a recognized authority on subject matter pertaining to their (personal/company) field of expertise. Peers, colleagues, and potential clients/customers routinely seek the opinions and ideas of thought leaders.

A thought leadership paper is written and posted under the thought leader’s name. It is posted to a 3rd party site and the thought leader’s website. The TLP is normally between 300-750 words containing keywords designed to drive traffic to the product/company website. Google responds favorably to having more content and TLP’s are one way to develop/increase content without having to add it to your website.

Thought leadership papers are more about ideas/concepts than company promotion. They are not as detailed as industry leaders, case studies, or white papers because the purpose is not to draw other thought leader experts to the business category or subject. The idea is to write in an “easy to grasp,” narrative that drives the reader to your website for more information. They are designed to drive customers/clients to your brand through 3rd party validation. Thought leadership can be used for B2B and B2C. It’s just another proven “content marketing” resource.