People are used to “one-on-one” TikTok-style education and sick of AI-generated corporate drivel.
In B2B marketing, that means we need to cut the performative LinkedInfluencing (gag) and start listening to the quiet team members doing the actual work; people with real expertise worth sharing.
If you know how to turn your expertise into authentic content that connects instead of just talks at people, you’ll start building trust long before the first sales touchpoint.
Here’s where we’re seeing the shift in B2B marketing conversations, and how we’ve adapted to it.
Contents:
The Old Thought Leadership Playbook Is Breaking Down
Now the System Is Collapsing
The Democratization Effect
Why Does This Matter for My Brand?
How to Evolve Your Thought Leadership Strategy
The New Role Of Marketing
A Quiet(er) Revolution Is Here
For years, thought leadership was a volume game. Post often. Build a following. Stay visible. The loudest voices—whether or not they had anything useful to say—rose to the top.
But the cracks in that model are showing.
B2B buyers are increasingly skeptical of anything that feels like a marketing or sales play. In fact, 75% say they prefer a sales-free buying experience where self-directed research drives the decision.
At the same time, they’re overwhelmed. The volume of content is staggering, and much of it is bland, self-serving, or just plain boring. The result? Content fatigue and a trust gap.
That’s not just a distribution problem. It’s a substance problem.
Marketers, attempting to keep up with changing algorithms, leaned into quantity over quality. We optimized for visibility instead of value. Too often, thought leadership became a thinly veiled press release, not actual insight.
Companies made things worse in two ways:
Either way, brands lost control of the narrative—or they never had one to begin with.
Even LinkedIn is shifting its algorithms to reward content that’s relevant and real, not just recent, frequent, or flashy.
The collective appetite is shifting towards real people sharing real experiences, with a focus on hands-on tips and exposing ugly truths. I think this is partly a reaction to low-value, performative content and partly a reaction to “too much AI slop.”
The era of loud, performative thought leadership is fading. And what’s replacing it is a model built on actual expertise and genuine credibility.
We’re seeing a democratization of thought leadership—one that’s cultural, technological, and organizational.
Generative AI, no-code design tools, and easy-to-use video editors have lowered the barrier to content creation. On top of that, social platforms, community forums, and user-generated content sites have made it easier for anyone to share ideas and connect with the right audience.
We’re collectively realizing that the most credible voices are hands-on practitioners. And this has flattened organizational hierarchies. Thought leaders don’t need to be members of the leadership team. Anyone with a unique POV and a relevant background can lead a conversation and have real influence.
This now includes the (traditionally) quietest voices: Operators, engineers, researchers, specialists, once the behind-the-scenes doers, have the experience others are desperate to learn from.
But they may need to be (gently) pushed into the limelight.
Authentic thought leadership from real humans builds credibility and trust faster than any amount of advertising, sales outreach, or email nurture. We—and probably you, too—have always known this was true, even before it was trendy.
And the data backs it up: B2B buyers are more influenced by credible expert voices than by corporate messaging. They rate independent experts and their own peers among the most trusted sources, with trust levels in the high 60s to low 70s. Trust is the fuel behind purchase intent.
Take note: Your people are much more influential than a generic “brand voice.”
Companies that actually use their internal experts are gaining a massive competitive advantage. But the shift is even bigger than that: it’s about culture. Those companies are empowering their practitioners to own the narrative.
Is it risky? Potentially, if you don’t provide guardrails and have a culture grounded in trust.
But it’s definitely powerful.
For more on differentiating your brand among AI-slop, check out Brand Differentiation in an AI World: The Power of Authenticity.
Moving from theory to action can be a challenge. At Conveyor, we’ve started to think about thought leadership as a four-part framework:
Through it all, keep asking: how can I make my team’s expertise not just visible, but truly accessible and useful?
Marketing’s job is shifting. We’re no longer creating content; we’re curating and amplifying expertise. That’s subtly but crucially different. The winners will be the companies who approach thought leadership like they’re building a knowledge infrastructure, not playing a PR game.
Real thought leadership sits at the intersection of expertise, enablement, and authenticity. As marketers, we own the enablement piece; our job is to help others step into the rest.
In 2026 and beyond, marketing can’t be louder; it has to be smarter.
The era of performative thought leadership is officially over. The next generation of thought leaders will be those who speak because they have something to say, not because they want attention (or a book deal).
Your opportunity? Help your hidden experts find their voices, and give them the tools and structure to get out there and join the revolution that’s already in motion.
Here are some tools you can use:
If this feels like a lot, we help brands turn their authentic expertise into credible influence on the regular. Let’s talk about how we can help you.
AI supported the development of this content, including planning, brainstorming, and outlining, but a human did the writing (and editing).