Creating Engaging Content for Consulting Services

Thought leadership content is a powerful way for professional services firms to showcase expertise, build trust, and position themselves as industry authorities. By providing valuable insights and addressing client concerns, you can create content that truly resonates. Here’s how: 1️⃣ Address Key Client Questions Focus on the issues that matter most to your audience. What challenges do they face? What questions do they frequently ask? Examples: “How Does the No-Fault Divorce Law Affect Me?” “Preparing for an Employment Tribunal: Essential Steps.” “What Every Small Business Owner Should Know About Tax Planning.” Tip: Use tools like Google Trends or FAQs from client interactions to identify relevant topics. 2️⃣ Provide Unique Insights Go beyond surface-level information by offering actionable advice and perspectives based on your expertise. Include anonymised case studies or client examples to demonstrate real-world applications. Explain the implications of legal changes and how clients should respond. Example: Instead of just summarising a new regulation, outline practical steps clients can take to adapt. 3️⃣ Diversify Your Formats Using different content formats helps reach a broader audience and keeps your messaging fresh. Examples: Blog posts: Dive into specific legal topics. Webinars: Host discussions on trending issues. Infographics: Visual guides for complex processes. Whitepapers: Comprehensive resources for in-depth exploration. Tip: Test different formats to see what engages your audience most effectively. 4️⃣ Prioritise Clarity and Accessibility Professional content doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep it simple and client-focused. Use clear language and avoid jargon. Clients value understanding over technical terms. Organise content with subheadings, bullet points, and visuals to make it easy to navigate. Tip: Write as if explaining to someone unfamiliar with the topic. 5️⃣ Promote Strategically Great content is only effective if it reaches your audience. Distribute it across key channels to maximise visibility. Share posts on LinkedIn, newsletters, and your website. Encourage your team to amplify the reach by sharing on their profiles. Repurpose content into smaller pieces for social media, like turning a blog into multiple LinkedIn posts. Example: Use a blog on workplace rights to create short LinkedIn tips for employees. 6️⃣ Track and Optimise Results Monitor how your content performs and use the data to refine your strategy. Metrics to Track: Page views, time on site, shares, and conversions. Tip: Identify successful topics and formats, then double down on what works best. Thought leadership isn’t just about sharing knowledge—it’s about providing value and clarity to your audience. By focusing on your clients’ needs and delivering actionable content, your firm can strengthen trust, establish authority, and inspire confidence. 💬 What topics do you think would resonate most with your clients?

A founder I spoke with yesterday has the dream problem: His high-ticket services are at capacity. The numbers: - $2k strategic consulting (one-time) - $8k/mo done-for-you marketplace pitching - $100/mo daily leads newsletter His outbound system works like clockwork: 100 messages → 15 sales calls → 2-3 new $2-8k clients But here's what surprised me: Instead of scaling his premium services (what most would probably do), he wants to 15x his newsletter subscribers. - Current: 20 paid subscribers - Goal: 300 subscribers by end of 2025 - Market size: 100,000 English-speaking indie consultants If I was him, here's exactly what I'd do: 1. Focus on 3 content buckets, posting 3-5x/week a) Show you understand the market: - Changes in buyer behavior  - Marketplace trend analysis - Pricing trends across categories b) Show how you help people: - "How we helped a client land their first $50k project" - The exact process we use to vet opportunities - Common mistakes that kill conversion rates c) Show why they should trust you: - Analyze winning vs losing proposals - Break down actual successful pitches - Show behind-the-scenes of the process 2. Grow network of 1st-degree connections a) Use Sales Nav to build a master list of contacts - Send 20 outbound connection requests per day to ICP—independent consultants, small firm owners, boutique agencies. - Leave thoughtful comments on their posts b) Make a list of the top 50 consulting "influencers" - Build relationships with them over time - Regularly engage with their content (add value) - Reference them in your own content (and tag them) 3. Email course funnel a) Create a free email course lead magnet on the "5 biggest mistakes consultants make that sabotage marketplace deals" (rough copy, but something similar). - Collect email addresses - Build trust by delivering real value upfront - Give them a taste of what to expect in paid newsletter By the time they finish the course, they'll trust you (you gave them valuable content that helps solve their problem—getting more business on marketplaces). b) Position the paid newsletter as the next best step to keep getting daily qualified leads and market insights. - Build a nurture sequence designed to convert readers on the paid newsletter - Pin free course to LinkedIn profile and promote it regularly in organic content I think that would do the trick. But what did I miss?

Management consulting partners: don’t be a grey suit on LinkedIn. Personality and authenticity are your key to engaging conversations. How many of you find it hard to express yourselves authentically on LinkedIn? Judging by a quick sampling of profiles, it seems to be the majority. We thrive on the impact our work creates, and we don’t shy away from confidently stating our recommendations to clients. But when it comes to LinkedIn, most of us are either inactive or find comfort in re-sharing standardized impersonal posts. Yet the data suggests the opposite behaviour is what’s needed: Trust is personal. 74% of people are more likely to trust someone with a strong personal brand. Authenticity isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a differentiator. People share people, not brands. Employee posts get 5x more reach and 24x more re-shares than company posts.  That’s engagement driven by personal connection. The C-suite is leading by example. C-suite posts get 4x more engagement than average content. Why? Because people want to hear your view, not just your firm’s boilerplate update. Being authentic isn’t just good for your personal brand, it’s good for business. So, instead of posting another dry statement with the charm of a bowling ball, try this: Inject personality into professionalism. Credibility is key, but so is not sounding like a corporate bot. Relatable anecdotes or lessons learned make your content memorable. Showcase expertise through insights. Share thoughtful perspectives on your industry, backed by data or personal experience. Engage meaningfully with your network. Respond to comments, participate in discussions, and recognize others’ contributions. We are a people business, built on trust and relationships. Make sure your LinkedIn presence is as impactful as your boardroom advice. What’s one thing you’d change about your LinkedIn posts based on this approach? #Consulting #Authenticity #Connection

"Why Buy the Cow When You Can Get the Milk for Free?" is a horrible mindset... when it comes to building your business Too many worry that sharing too much insight upfront will eliminate clients’ need to hire them. But, in reality, holding back does more harm than good. Here’s why giving value freely brings clients to you. Building Trust, Not Dependence Clients pay for more than knowledge; they want unique insights and tailored guidance. Sharing valuable information builds trust, not dependence. By freely offering actionable insights, you establish yourself as a knowledgeable and generous expert—qualities clients remember. Action Step: Share part of your process, like a checklist or framework that solves a specific problem. This builds initial trust and allows you to filter in for your ideal client. 1) Information Isn’t Implementation Clients don’t just want information—they want your expertise in applying it to their unique challenges. They seek transformation. Offering valuable information lets clients experience your approach while highlighting their missing personalized support. -> Action Step: Host a webinar on a common issue, then share case studies that showcase your hands-on impact. 2) Free Value Creates Bridges to Paid Services When clients experience your expertise they are more likely to seek your deeper guidance. Giving valuable insights for free builds familiarity with your methods, making the transition to paid services natural. -> Action Step: End each piece of content with a call to action—invite clients to connect or share a success story. 3) “Free” Expands Your Reach and Credibility Freely sharing expertise increases your visibility. As your content circulates, it introduces you to new clients. This isn’t lost revenue—it’s marketing. -> Action Step: Encourage sharing in your posts to boost reach and credibility. 4) The More You Give, the Stronger Your Brand “Why buy the cow” suggests that giving devalues your work. The opposite is true in consulting: the more you share, the more clients see you as a go-to expert. People remember the problem-solvers. -> Action Step: Consistently publish content that answers questions and offers solutions. In Consulting, Giving is Selling By freely offering value, you aren’t “giving away the milk”—you’re showing potential clients why you’re the right partner. Clients aren’t buying your information; they’re investing in your ability to deliver tailored solutions and guide them through challenges. Generosity is your best brand-building tool.

Have you ever noticed why branding experts push for thought leadership content in your content mix? Here's why: Traditional marketing (you know, those ads that interrupt your favorite show) just doesn't cut it anymore. Your ideal clients aren't scrolling LinkedIn looking for sales pitches. They're hunting for insights that can transform their business. Last quarter, I worked with a SaaS startup that was pumping out regular content but seeing minimal engagement. We shifted their strategy to focus on deep, research-backed insights about industry pain points. We built a dedicated knowledge hub instead of randomly posting across platforms. Their content became a magnet for C-suite decision-makers. Monthly website traffic jumped 100%, and their sales team started getting messages saying, "I read your article, and we're facing the same challenge." And here's what actually works if you're also publishing thought leadership content: - Build ONE destination for all your insights - Co-create content with industry influencers - Focus on solving real problems, not showcasing your services - Customize the experience based on reader interests Understand that your audience doesn't want another "5 tips" article. They want a perspective that helps them see around corners. Recent win: Currently helping a client build their thought leadership platform, and it's fascinating to see how quickly executives engage when you give them genuine value instead of thinly veiled sales content. So, tell me, what content makes you stop scrolling and take notes? 🤔 #consultinglife #thoughtleadership #contentstrategy #personalbranding #priyankawrites #linkedin

Asking marketers to create thought leadership content makes no sense. They're often not the subject matter experts, but they're given no unique insights to work with. This happens because: ❌ the actual subject matter experts are too busy and have other priorities, or ❌ they don’t have direct access to the experts because of siloed departments. This forces marketers to do what everyone else is doing: They head over to Google, read a few articles on the topic, watch a video or two and piece together an article they hope will pass as "thought leadership". But guess what? It's just a generic rehash of existing ideas that offer no real value to the reader—ChatGPT could have written it. And what's even worse: it does nothing to build authority in the market or differentiate your content from competitors. That's why it's crucial to involve your subject matter experts in the content creation process. They bring unique insights and stories that will make your content engaging, interesting, and distinctive: 💡 It could be your CEO, sharing a bold viewpoint on where the market is heading. 💡 It could be your VP of Sales, highlighting various customer success stories. 💡 It could be your consultants, explaining how they've solved specific customer challenges. _____ The problem is that your experts are usually too busy to write the content themselves, which forces marketing teams to publish generic content that is likely to underperform. At Leadwave, we help B2B tech & consulting firms create thought leadership content from 1-hour interviews with their experts. Instead of spending hours writing content from scratch, the experts prepare for the interview with the questions we provide, join the interview, and review the content we create from it. It's proven to be a highly effective process that anyone can implement internally as well. ✉  Read this LinkedIn post about how a UK tech consultancy used thought leadership content to generate 53% more inbound leads: https://lnkd.in/eAfh2GuC ☎  Need a content partner to turn your experts' insights into high-performing thought leadership content? Send me a DM or book a call with me here: https://lnkd.in/eMnDgzCJ

If your content educates but doesn’t convert, this is why. Most consultants don’t have a knowledge problem. They have a transfer problem. You can explain your thinking clearly. Your posts can be smart, practical, even impressive. And still… people aren't buying from you. This is because most content focuses on telling. And while telling builds awareness, and teaching builds credibility, Trust only shows up once someone gets to feel your thinking in action. Here's how Ben's quote applies: Awareness → Credibility → Involvement Awareness sounds like: “Here’s the problem.” Credibility sounds like: “Here’s how to solve it.” But involvement sounds like: “Here’s how I would think through this with you.” Clients don’t hire you because they understand what you do. They hire you because they trust that you can fix their hot mess. Involvement happens when your content lets someone: ➡️ borrow your brain for a minute ➡️ watch you make a real decision ➡️ see what you say no to (and why) You’re no longer just educating your audience. You’re pre-selling the working relationship. If you want to do this intentionally, try one of these: 1. Decision breakdown “Here’s the recommendation. Here’s the alternative I ruled out. Here’s why.” 2. Trade-off post “If you optimize for X, you lose Y. This is how I choose.” 3. Before / after thinking “Here’s the advice most people give. Here’s how I’d reframe it - and what changes.” That’s the difference between content that gets saved and content that generates revenue. The fastest-growing experts aren't publishing more "special insights." They're designing moments where the reader is doing the thinking with them; not just nodding along.

B2B tech companies are addicted to getting you to subscribe to their corporate echo chamber newsletter graveyard, where they dump their latest self-love notes. It's a cesspool of "Look at us!" and "We're pleased to announce..." drivel that suffocates originality and murders interest. Each link, each event recap and each funding announcement is another shovel of dirt on the grave of what could have been engaging content. UNSUBSCRIBE What if, instead of serving up the same old reheated corporate leftovers, your content could slap your audience awake? Ego-stroking company updates are out. 1. The pain point deep dive: Start by mining the deepest anxieties, challenges and questions your audience faces. Use forums, social media, customer feedback and even direct interviews to uncover the raw nerve you're going to press. 2. The unconventional wisdom: Challenge the status quo of your industry. If everyone's zigging, you zag. This could mean debunking widely held beliefs, proposing counterintuitive strategies or sharing insights that only insiders know but don't talk about. Be the mythbuster of your domain. 3. The narrative hook: Every piece of content should tell a story, and every story needs a hook that grabs from the first sentence. Use vivid imagery, compelling questions or startling statements to make it impossible to scroll past. Your opening should be a rabbit hole inviting Alice to jump in. 4. The value payload: This is the core of your content. Each piece should deliver actionable insights, deep dives or transformative information. Give your audience something so valuable that they can't help but use, save and share it. Think tutorials, step-by-step guides or even entertaining content that delivers laughs or awe alongside insight. 5. The personal touch: Inject your personality or brand's voice into every piece. Share personal anecdotes, failures and successes. 6. The engagement spark: End with a call to action that encourages interaction. Ask a provocative question, encourage them to share their own stories or challenge them to apply what they've learned and share the results. Engagement breeds community, and community amplifies your reach. 7. The multi-platform siege: Repurpose your anchor content across platforms. Turn blog posts into podcast episodes, summaries into tweets or LinkedIn posts and key insights into Instagram stories. Each piece of content should work as a squad, covering different fronts but pushing the same message. Without impressive anchor content, you won't have anything worth a lick in your newsletter. 8. The audience dialogue: Engage directly with your audience's feedback. Respond to comments, ask for their input on future topics and even involve them in content creation through surveys or co-creation opportunities. Make your content worth spreading, and watch as your audience does the heavy lifting for you. And please stop with the corporate navel-gazing. #newsletters #b2btech #ThatAshleyAmber

Backcountry[.]com’s approach to content has changed the way I think about sales and marketing at Codingscape. To explain their approach, let me take you back a few years: It’s 2007. Imagine a world where the first iPhone just launched. Most of the time spent on the internet was from a laptop. Backcountry[.]com’s marketing team said, "Hey, we're trying to sell skis and bikes online. What's going to convince people to buy skis and bikes online instead of at a ski shop or a bike shop?" The main selling point was really the price. But they knew that wasn’t going to win the argument with brands about why they should be allowed to carry a brand’s products. Backcountry’s hypothesis was that the internet was a better place to research and read about things than it was to buy things. But if you had the best information on those products, when people did come to make a buying decision, they would buy from backcountry[.]com. And that turned out to be true. Backcountry[.]com has been a tremendously successful company because they leaned into great content which meant excellent reviews, in-house developed product content, great photos, and specifications. In software consulting, ThoughtWorks has followed a similar path with their technology radar publication and thought leadership around agile consulting. If you google either of those topics you’re going to come back to ThoughtWorks content. So as we thought about sales and marketing at Codingscape, we knew that our marketing had to all be about how we could create the best content around the services we offer. When people have a ‘need’, we want them to work with us because they've been learning from the great content we've been creating for the many years that they've been interacting with us. It's content marketing at all levels of our sales funnel.

Let’s explore the “best practice” of consultants providing “value” to prospects and potential clients in business development efforts. Every social selling, networking, sales and marketing expert tells us we’re supposed to provide value with every message, every conversation, every touch, but what does that mean? In my experience, we’re not really providing value when we do things like sending generic blog articles to every new LinkedIn connection. It’s time to better understand what is really valuable, useful, and of interest to prospects. These are busy people. They are bombarded with “content” all the time. In reality, this approach is often more noise than value. What is True Value? Value isn't about volume; it's about relevance and impact. It's not just about providing information; it's about solving problems, saving time, and offering unique insights tailored to your prospects' specific needs. Here’s some ways to truly engage your prospects: 1. Share unique data and analysis that isn't readily available elsewhere. If you have access to industry-specific data, use it to highlight trends and provide insights that your prospect can't find on their own. 2. Offer tools, templates, or resources that your prospects can use immediately without committing to a call. Think checklists, self-assessments, and guides. 3. Provide actionable advice that offers immediate benefits. Simple, effective strategies to improve a specific aspect of their business show you understand their needs and can provide real value. Start with small pilot programs to test these approaches. Gather feedback, refine your strategies based on what works and what doesn’t. It’s a content-saturated world. Redefining "value" and how you deliver it is crucial to engaging your prospects. Don't fall into the trap of adding to the noise. What steps are you taking to redefine value in your business development efforts?