Who Are Your B2B Thought Leaders?
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What’s the difference between thought leaders and subject matter experts? Learn how to identify them and leverage their strengths to build trust and drive connections in your B2B marketing strategy.
It’s just business, right? Wrong.
In B2B marketing, it’s never just business — it’s about people. Whether you’re selling software or industrial equipment, the buying decisions aren’t made by faceless entities. They’re made by humans with goals, challenges and emotions. To connect with them, your brand needs to show its human side. But what does that really mean in the world of B2B?
Humanizing your brand is about seeing beyond transactions and focusing on the real people behind every decision. As a B2B organization, you’re not speaking to “a business.” You’re introducing yourself to a person or a group of people. According to Gartner, B2B buying groups are usually made up of six to 10 people, who have often consulted at least five sources of information each.
Who are they? What are their objectives? What’s most important to them in their personal and professional lives? How can your brand help them achieve their goals?
Elevate Your SMEs and Thought Leaders
One of the best ways to break the ice, as well as lay the foundation for deeper trust and credibility, is to create authentic content through your subject matter experts (SMEs) and thought leaders. B2B buyers today are extremely comfortable with making large purchase decisions completely online. They form committees and research a brand’s available content well before making any kind of formal contact. B2B buyers want to get to know your brand first and establish some baseline of trust that’s founded on your organization’s expertise and offerings. Elevating SMEs and developing a thought leadership strategy is an effective way to build that trust.
However, it’s important not to get the two confused. Thought leaders and subject matter experts play two very distinct roles and have different responsibilities and objectives.
What Is Thought Leadership?
The main difference between SMEs and thought leaders really comes down to professional aspirations. SMEs can be anyone in your organization who’s well versed on a particular topic or field of interest. They offer best practices based on their experiences and lessons learned, which, in turn, help buyers get to know the experts and their tactics within your organization.
A thought leader aspires to move beyond organizational influence. Thought leaders are professionals with strong points of view, expertise and knowledge who would share their thoughts on a topic or industry regardless of the organization they’re associated with. A thought leader isn’t interested in a sales pitch. They’re looking to influence the entire marketplace with their unique ideas.
Who Can Be a Thought Leader?
Anyone can be a thought leader — but becoming one requires key traits that set them apart from traditional SMEs. At its core, thought leadership combines expertise with vision and influence. Here are three essential elements to look for when identifying potential thought leaders within your organization:
Original thinking: Thought leaders don’t just know their field — they push it forward with fresh ideas and innovative solutions to pressing challenges.
A desire to share: Thought leaders actively seek opportunities to educate, inspire and engage with others through writing, speaking and collaborating. They aim to reach beyond internal audiences and make a broader impact.
Influence and growth mindset: Thought leaders leverage insights to build a platform of trust and credibility. They’ve got the knowledge, but they don’t stop there. They amplify their expertise to grow their networks and spark meaningful conversations.
This last point is crucial. While SMEs may provide valuable contributions on an as-needed basis, thought leaders are constantly searching for opportunities to create value. They strive to shape industry discussions and become trusted voices in their field.
So, Thought Leadership Is Just Content Marketing, Right?
Note that thought leadership is a distinct but integral part of content marketing. Both approaches aim to educate and assist your audience in a variety of formats. But while much of content marketing focuses on demand generation — providing valuable resources to attract and nurture leads — thought leadership goes further. It’s about sharing forward-thinking ideas and insights that establish your brand as an authority, fostering trust and long-term engagement.
Thought leadership looks beyond the transactional nature of providing solutions with the aim of scoring potential business. Thought leaders are interested in expanding their networks and getting to know their target audience. Thought leaders have a novel idea that needs to be shared. This idea is unique to the thought leader, who shares it with the intention to create interest, revolutionize a strategy and form a relationship.
SMEs + Thought Leaders = A Perfect Pair
B2B marketers can absolutely pair thought leadership with their SME content. Tone, structure, frequency of posts and objectives for the pieces will vary: SME content might focus on actionable tips and technical expertise, while thought leadership pieces often take a broader, visionary approach to industry trends and challenges.
To get your thought leadership strategy up and running, start by identifying who at your organization is a thought leader and who’s an SME. Play to their strengths by helping to grow your thought leaders’ networks and share your SMEs’ knowledge. The overall exposure of solutions and ideas will help carve a path for buyers to your business. After all, the trust your B2B buyers are searching for is something that’s built over time through continued communication and valuable insights that will have a direct impact on their business goals.
In the end, it’s not just business — it’s about building trust through authentic connections and shared expertise.
