TL;DR

• Execution beats ambition: Every company can be a media company, what sets you apart is how well you deliver.

• Find your edge: Before publishing, answer “What gives us the right to pronounce on this?” Work out why your perspective is necessary, not just new content in the feed.

• Lead with what only you have: Turn proprietary data, hard-won access to real experts (specialists, customers, founders), and genuinely original angles into irreplicable content.

When every company has the tools and resources to become a media company, your key differentiator isn’t the size of your ambition, or even your budget, it’s your ability to execute.

To help us do this for clients, we hold regular content sessions with some of the best and brightest in our space. Earlier this year, we were joined by an editor for Reuters Breakingviews – Reuters’ opinion and commentary division – to get on-the-ground insights into how one of the best editorial teams in the business tackles this challenge. 

He told us that one question is central to the editorial process for every piece his team works on: 

“What gives us the right to pronounce on this?”

That is, why is it necessary or useful for us to say something about this? What can we say about this topic or news story that nobody else can? Where’s our edge?

Here are three routes you can take to make sure your thought leadership lives up to its name. 

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1. Data

Anyone can have a hot take. But if you hold (or can get hold of) first-party data on what is really happening in an industry, that gives you an edge. 

Typically, companies don't tell stories with their data because extracting and analysing it can be complex (although easier with AI). But leaning into what is hard and finding a way to pull real insights and original figures into your content gives your audience a reason to pay attention to your content rather than the 10+ other companies in your space who want to talk about the same issues. 

For example, we worked with embedded finance provider @YouLend on their Widening Access to Capital to report. Working with Experian, they analysed the social impact of over 100,000 instances of SME financing to assess how it benefited female-led, ethnic-minority and financially disadvantaged businesses. The report revealed a number of insights which showcase how YouLend positively impacts the UK, such as how women-led businesses receive 18% more of total funding at YouLend than the UK average. It even found that YouLend contributes £6.8 billion in SME revenue to annual UK GDP. 

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2. Access

If you have access to genuine experts and recognised industry leaders – be it in-house specialists, customers, or portfolio companies – that’s another way to bring something to the conversation that others can't. 

Yes, those people will be in demand and hard to get time with. Again, do what is hard: make the effort to pin down that portco or build a trusted relationship with your customer - because it is that access that can give your content an edge that others lack.

Founder Stories are a great example of this. We’ve written founder stories for VCs and investment firms including Index, Creandum, Insight Partners, Dawn Capital, EQT and more, interviewing investors, deals teams and founders to build full portraits of a company’s journey. If you can bring your audience a story or perspective they wouldn’t otherwise hear, you’re immediately setting your content apart. 

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3. Originality

What do you believe that genuinely differs from the received wisdom? Where are your peers getting it dead wrong? This doesn't have to be controversial for its own sake, but find the angle and the topics where you genuinely have something different to say and lean in hard to that topic – rather than jumping on a bandwagon that's already full.

The Finimize Business Monthly newsletter is a great example of this. The retail investor side of the business has built a community of over a million through engaging financial content – the B2B newsletter shares their knowledge and opinions with fellow financial marketers – all honed on the frontline of financial content creation. That includes deep dives into how retail investors really feel about topics like bitcoin and meme-stocks and how financial markets should help educate them. 

Want help finding your edge? Drop us a line.