If you’ve got any sort of presence on LinkedIn, you’ve likely been exposed to thought leaders (or, at the very least, attempted thought leaders). It doesn’t really matter what industry you’re in, although they’re particularly prevalent in B2B.
Is the concept of thought leadership legitimate? Certainly. There are various prominent B2B figures who know exactly what they’re talking about, and actually have things to say. However, for every genuine thought leader, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of pale imitations.
If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, take a scroll through your LinkedIn feed right now. Unless you’ve cultivated your feed to exclusively feature people that you’re actually familiar with (and don’t worry, we know that’s pretty rare), there’s probably a fairly prominent theme throughout all the posts you’re seeing: long, meandering scrolls of text broken into the shortest paragraphs possible.
It’s these kinds of posts that have given thought leadership a bad name, especially with the rise of LLMs (large language models), which allows users to spit out post after post of regurgitated, unoriginal nonsense.
Because of the sorry state LinkedIn finds itself in, it’s become harder and harder to discern the diamonds in the rough. But does that mean thought leadership is a lost cause? Not at all. It still has potential to be an effective marketing tactic, in 2026 and beyond.
Branch out from LinkedIn
The concept of thought leadership (TL) is more synonymous with LinkedIn than any other digital marketing channel. Which makes sense; it was always a platform designed specifically for professionals. But that doesn’t necessarily mean all of your thoughts have to be confined to LinkedIn. It can be extremely beneficial to branch out beyond social media. You can still use LinkedIn, obviously, but synergy can have a tremendous impact on your reach. For example:
Start a blog. If you already have a website for your B2B organisation, start publishing your thoughts regarding your specific sector; your own personal insights, your reaction to the recent news, etc. There are a lot of inauthentic blogs out there these days (thanks to AI), and people really appreciate blogs that are clearly written by a human - and a human with actual opinions, at that.
Include your thoughts in an email campaign. You’re far more likely to build trust with prospective clients if they can put a face to your brand. Sending your own personal blog to your email list could result in far more engagement than your typical product-centric marketing email.
No shortcuts
We’ve already talked down on AI-generated thought leadership a few times in this blog, but does that mean LLM assistance is completely off limits? Not exactly. Even if you do have a lot to say about your particular sector, it can be very hard to assemble those thoughts into an engaging post. Platforms like Google Gemini can definitely help with this.
Crucially, though, the crux of your TL content must begin with you. If you’re simply going to an LLM and asking it to generate ‘a TL post about [insert sector]’, you’re not really benefiting anyone - least of all your organisation. You can’t have thought leadership if there isn’t any ‘thought’!
Still, it’s worth bearing in mind that LLMs aren’t the only assistance available. At Designtastic, we often work closely (key word ‘closely’!) with B2B thought leaders, turning their insights into captivating content.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is flooded with recycled, clickbait content. But if you have something to say and you’re willing to put in the work, thought leadership can help you build trust with prospective clients, and do wonders for your network.
