I can spot disguised marketing from a mile off.
Call it a superpower – though admittedly less flashy than flying or reading minds.
Seventeen years running my PR firm (plus a good decade before that in agency life and journalism) has put me in front of thousands of “thought leadership” pieces that were, in reality, product brochures wearing LinkedIn lipstick.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Your audience already knows which one you’re serving up.
Thought Leadership vs Marketing: Why the difference matters
Buyers are getting sharper. They trust ideas and insights far more than they trust glossy collateral. And when budgets are squeezed, genuine expertise becomes the difference between winning and losing a deal.
But here’s the problem…
A wave of AI sludge, disguised promotion, and low-effort content has made audiences more cynical than ever. When your article claims to be helpful but keeps boomeranging back to your product, people feel it instantly – and trust evaporates.
What GENUINE thought leadership actually looks like
Real thought leadership prioritises helping someone think better about a challenge. Radical, I know.
Years ago I was watching a very smart chap called Marcus Sheridan – the “They Ask, You Answer” and “Endless Customers” guy – and he said something that stuck with me:
“Buyers don’t want you to sell to them. They want you to teach them.”
His entire philosophy is built on this idea: answer the questions people are actually typing into Google – even the awkward ones – and trust builds itself.
Right now, with buying journeys involving multiple stakeholders, frozen budgets, and overwhelmed decision-makers, authentic expertise cuts through where marketing noise does not.
Your audience already knows the difference
When thought leadership is done well, it warms up buyers long before your marketing team has even hit “publish.” When it’s disguised promotion, it’s just noise with a nicer font.
If you want the full breakdown – including:
- how to diagnose disguised promotion in your own content
- the credibility killers to avoid
- what Marcus Sheridan taught me about answering buyer questions
- and the 5 signals of genuine thought leadership.
You’ll find it in this week’s subscriber edition…