It was a pleasure to join Kevin Sutherland from WEAREVOLUME for Episode 2 of The Problem with B2B Marketing podcast, where we unpacked the challenges of Thought Leadership in the B2B space.

I’ve seen firsthand how many B2B brands miss the mark by taking an inside-out approach—focusing too much on internal perspectives instead of delivering what the customer truly needs. During the episode, we chatted about how to flip this around and why it’s crucial to create customer-first content that’s not only relevant but also truly helpful.

Key Discussion Points:

• Google’s “Helpfulness” Philosophy: How Google shapes its content through a “helpfulness” lens, always aiming to “help the user do their job better.” This should be a foundational approach for all thought leadership content.
• Thought Leadership and Timing: Planning content is not about getting quick wins, especially when 95% of your audience isn’t ready to buy. We talked about strategies for nurturing this majority, building long-term value, and remaining relevant during their buying journey.
• From One-Offs to Longevity: Too many brands focus on one-off campaigns, missing out on the massive potential of reusing and repurposing content. The goal should be to create once, reuse everywhere (thanks to Redwood for this one!) —transforming initial content into various formats for different platforms.
• Long-Term Investments in Content Formats: We also discussed the importance of building longer running formats beyond the campaign cycle that contribute to sustained growth.