Thought Leadership Program
Systematic approach to building founder or executive as recognized thought leader to attract inbound interest from problem-aware and solution-aware audiences.
npx gtm-skills add marketing/problem-aware/thought-leadership-programOutcome
≥5 thought leadership pieces and ≥5 qualified leads in 3 weeks
Leading Indicators
- Response rate
- Engagement quality
- Time to response
Instructions
-
Define your ICP and target audience for this thought leadership program play; document hypothesis and success criteria.
-
Create minimal viable version manually with small test size (10-50 contacts, pieces, or interactions).
-
Set pass threshold upfront (e.g., ≥2 qualified responses, ≥3% engagement, ≥50 interactions) and choose where to log results.
-
Execute play within time cap (hours to 1 week) using free or existing tools; keep it scrappy and manual.
-
Track all activities and outcomes in spreadsheet or basic CRM (Attio); log dates, responses, and key metrics.
-
Monitor engagement and response quality; note any unexpected positive or negative signals.
-
Measure final results against your pass threshold after test period ends.
-
Document key learnings: what messaging resonated, what channels worked, what timing was optimal.
-
Calculate rough ROI: time invested vs. qualified responses or meetings generated.
-
Decide next step: proceed to Baseline if passed threshold, iterate if close but needs refinement, or pivot to different play if fundamentally not working.
Recommendations
Time
6 hours over 1 week
Play-specific cost
Free