This document provides an introduction to strategic thought leadership marketing. It discusses how thought leadership can move markets by empowering audiences and helping them extract more value. Effective thought leadership follows a LEO model of listening to audiences, envisioning new thinking, and outputting content to shift minds. It emphasizes developing content from the audience perspective to build trust and avoid manipulation. The goal is to position a company as the leader in a particular way of thinking about a topic or solution.

1. AN INTRODUCTIONTO
STRATEGICTHOUGHT
LEADERSHIP

2. THERE IS POWER IN THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
There is POWER in Thought Leadership
Marketing. It can move thinking.

3. WHAT’S THE KEY?
WHAT’S THE KEY TO RELEASE THE POWER OF STRATEGIC
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP MARKETING
?

4. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU OR WHAT
YOU KNOW.
… here’s a picture of
earth … for no
particular reason ..
FIRST REALIZE IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU OR HOW
MUCH YOU KNOW…..
WHICH IS WHY THE AIM TO “BE A THOUGHT LEADER” PUTS
THE EMPHASIS IN THE WRONG PLACE…

5. IT’S ABOUT EMPOWERING YOUR
AUDIENCE
…it's about how much
you empower your
audience …
… how much your thought leadership
elevates their experience…

6. THE PURPOSE OF A
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP MODEL
MIGHT BE TO :
• Help a market make more informed buying
decisions about what you sell.
• Help customers extract more value out of
your offering.
• Teach them to use it in different ways.
• Elevate its purpose to something new that
satisfies higher values.

7. WHICH CAN HAPPEN WITH
STRUCTURE
… all of which can
happen when you
work with the
structure of
strategic
thought
leadership.

8. BUILD A ROBUST MODEL WITH A
FOUNDATIONBuilding a robust thought
leadership model is like
building a house where the
foundation - the structure -
needs to be complete. Just
showing you are
knowledgeable is like the paint
on the house. It doesn’t go
deep.

9. USE THE RIGHT BUILDING BLOCKS
SPECIFIC
BUILDING
BLOCKS ARE
NEEDED
To form a complete structure
of Strategic Thought Leadership
What are they? 3 Main Areas…

10. LEO = LISTEN, ENVISION, OUTPUT
WHEN YOU THINK
OF THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
MARKETING, THINK
OF THE 3 LETTERS
OF LEO:
L=LISTEN
E=ENVISION
O=OUTPUT

11. IT’S LIKE MAKING A MOVIESTRATEGIC
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP IS
LIKE MAKING A
MOVIE
LEO
Listen | Envision | Output
Each of the 3 parts has its counterpart
in movie-making …

12. LISTEN= AUDIENCE ATTUNEMENT
LISTEN:
AUDIENCE
ATTUNEMENT
Attune to the audience.... Listening to what they
want and the higher thinking that is behind what
they say they want: values and mental models.
Primary Sense: Hearing
Mode: Passive
Emotions: Empathy, Clarity
Movie Role: Audience
Thaut uses neurolinguistic analysis of authentic, public online conversations.

13. ENVISION: THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP STUDIO
ENVISION:
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
STUDIO
In Thought Leadership Studio, be the writer
of the screenplay, inventing adventures in
new thinking to lead the audience to.
Primary Sense: Visual
Mode: Creative
Emotions: Inspiration, Enjoyment
Movie Role: Screenplay Writer Thaut draws from analysis of inspired leadership interviews.

14. OUTPUT: MINDSHIFT
DIRECTOR
OUTPUT:
MINDSHIFT
DIRECTOR
This is being the director of a movie, bringing
the scenes to life by outputting content to
move the mind of the marketplace.
Primary Sense: Kinesthetic
Mode: Active
Emotions: Motivation, Confidence
Movie Role: Director
Thaut uses a system of persuasion based on the structure of language.

15. THE THAUT TRIAD SHOWS THE PATH FROM OLD MARKET THINKING TO NEW
THE THAUT TRIAD
SHOWS THE BRIDGE
OF MINDSHIFT
DIRECTOR AS THE
PATH FROM OLD
MARKET THINKING TO
NEW
Sorting thinking
into 7 levels puts
the power of
neuro-linguistics to
work. Certain
levels of thinking
offer leverage.
7 Levels: Core Mission, Identity, Values, Mental Models, Skillset, Pull, Pullfillment.

16. GENERATE MULTIPLE TALKING POINTS TO MOVE THE
AUDIENCE ACROSS THE BRIDGE: AN IDEA-LIBRARY
THEN GENERATE MULTIPLE TALKING
POINTS TO MOVE THE AUDIENCE ACROSS
THE BRIDGE: AN IDEA-LIBRARY

17. A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IDEA LIBRARY = A LITERAL
FIREHOSE OF IDEAS POWERING CONTENT
A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IDEA
LIBRARY = A LITERAL FIREHOSE
OF IDEAS POWERING CONTENT

18. WHERE DO THESE GO?
WHERE DO THESE
GO?

19. ON THE USUAL MEDIA OF
THE INTERNET…WITH THE
USUAL METHODS. BUT NOW
THEY COUNT.
ON THE USUAL
MEDIA OF THE
INTERNET…WITH
THE USUAL
METHODS.
BUT NOW THEY COUNT.

20. THIS TAKES US AWAY FROM JUST "FILLING THE
SPACE" WITH CONTENT, AKA CONTENT
POLLUTION
THIS TAKES US
AWAY FROM
JUST "FILLING
THE SPACE"
WITH
CONTENT, AKA
CONTENT
POLLUTION
It isn't about just filling the text area on a
nice design; it's about leading the market
to new thinking that sets you and your
company apart as the obvious only choice.
DON’T JUST FILL THE SPACE, ELEVATE.
Doesn't it demonstrate your excellence to
stand out in content leadership?

21. INGENERAL, IT LEADSYOUR
PROSPECTS AND
CUSTOMERSTOGET A
BETTERANDMORE
DISTINCTIVEFULFILLMENTBY
SHIFTINGTHEIRTHINKING
TOWHEREYOURTHOUGHT
LEADERSHIP MODELS TAKE
THEM. IFYOU DOITWELL:
• You teach them that your way is the way.
• By getting them to embrace your model,
you get lock on your market segment..
• This is by definition: Thought Leadership
happens when a particular way of thinking
takes hold and becomes the way to think
about something.

22. ISN’T THAT MANIPULATIVE? IT COULD HAVE BEEN,
BUT FOR THIS SECRET.
“Wait...” they cry, “isn’t that manipulative?”
It could have been, but for this secret.
INSTEAD OF
TREATING
PROSPECTIVE
CUSTOMERS AS
TARGETS
MAKE WHAT
THEY
WANT THE
TARGET.

23. Rather than using these
powerful technologies
to study them, use it to
study what they want,
to better give it them.
And that includes
discovering how they
want to learn about the
products and services
they buy.

24. SHIFTING THE POINT OF
VIEW IS WHAT PREVENTS
POWERFUL PERSUASION
TECHNOLOGIES FROM BEING
MANIPULATIVE.
SHIFTING THE
POINT OF VIEW IS
WHAT PREVENTS
POWERFUL
PERSUASION
TECHNOLOGIES
FROM BEING
MANIPULATIVE

25. AFTER ALL, CUSTOMERS
PREFER LEARNING
ONLINE TO BEING SOLD
TO.
• “70 percent of internet
users want to learn about
products through content
versus traditional
advertisements.” (MGD
Advertising) Source

26. PIVOTING MARKETING TECHNOLOGY TO THE END
CUSTOMER POINT OF VIEW SEEMS COUNTER-INTUITIVE
TO MARKETERS USED TO THE CUSTOMER DATA
TARGETING PARADIGM. YET IT WORKS.
Pivoting marketing technology to the end customer point of view
seems counter-intuitive to marketers used to the customer data
targeting paradigm.
Yet it works.

27. THE CUSTOMER SETS THE NOMINAL VALUE
OF A SERVICE. WE HAVE FOUND THE
PROSPECT SIMILARLY SETS THE VALUE
OF WEB CONTENT BY WHERE THEY
CHOOSE TO SPEND THEIR ATTENTION
AND ENGAGEMENT.
THE CUSTOMER SETS THE
NOMINAL VALUE OF A SERVICE.
We have found the prospect similarly sets the value of web content by where
they choose to spend their attention and engagement.
The Vanguard Group in the UK has demonstrated that

28. SO YOU CAN ONLY FULLY FLUSH OUT WASTE AND
MAXIMIZE RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN INTERNET
MARKETING BY APPLYING TECHNOLOGY AND
DEVELOPING WEB CONTENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE
OF THE CUSTOMERS.
So you can only fully flush out waste and maximize return on
investment in internet marketing by applying technology and
developing web content from the perspective of …
The end user
Customer.

29. SO LET’S ESCAPE THE SEA OF CONTENT SAMENESS
WHILE SERVING WITH LEADERSHIP.
SO LET’S ESCAPE
THE SEA OF
CONTENT
SAMENESS.
Joe Pullizi of the Content
Marketing Institute says
(repetition is the) "One
Thing (that) Is Killing
Content Marketing and
Everyone Is Ignoring It".
Plus recent studies show
targeted ads create a
distaste for a brand in
prospects. And may not
even produce results.
Drowning in a Sea of Parrot Content. VanThaut 2019

30. IT’S NOT ABOUT CLICKS ON AN AD, IT'S
ABOUT THE HIGHER PROFITS THAT
COME FROM RELATIONSHIPS BUILT
ON TRUST WHEN YOU PUT YOUR
PROSPECTS' NEEDS, INCLUDING THEIR
ONLINE LEARNING NEEDS, FIRST.
IT’S NOT
ABOUT
CLICKS ON AN
AD (THAT
MIGHT BE A
BOT)
… it's about the higher profits that come from relationships built
on trust when you put your prospects' needs, including their
online learning needs, first.

31. STRATEGIC THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP MARES
CONTENT MORE
EFFECTIVE AND
FASTER
Most every company is
generating web content.
Strategic Thought Leadership
makes every content piece count
with a clear purpose.
And we’ve found it faster as well
as more effective. Let’s do it.
91% of B2B companies use content marketing. - CMI Report
60% of marketers create at least one piece of content a day. - eMarketer

32. BROUGHT TO
YOU BY
THAUT
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
MARKETING.
Brought to you by Thaut
Thought Leadership
Marketing.
Go to
Thaut.io/Playbook
To learn about getting your
Market Leadership Playbook.
or go to Thaut.io/Consult
For a consultation.
PS- we are agency friendly