Actionable B2B Thought Leadership Program

Winning the Sale Before It Starts

B2B buying is no longer a straight line from marketer to one key decision‑maker. Recent research shows that 70–90 % of the buyer’s journey takes place online before anyone will speak to a salesperson, and buyers typically consume around thirteen pieces of content before they even consider contacting a potential supplier.

Those pieces aren’t read by just one person, either – the average B2B buying committee now consists of six to fifteen stakeholders, ranging from CEOs and CFOs to technical specialists, end users and procurement teams. Each brings their own priorities and concerns, and unless you address them all, your deals can stall without warning.

That shift is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is obvious: you must produce content that speaks to multiple roles, and you need a strategy to deliver it in a way that positions you as the trusted guide before your competitors even know there’s an opportunity.

The opportunity is just as exciting: by building a thought leadership engine that anticipates and answers the questions of every stakeholder, you can set the buying agenda, shorten sales cycles and win the sale before it starts.

Our B2B Thought Leadership course is designed to help you do exactly that. It combines proven thought‑leadership principles with a suite of AI‑powered tools that make it practical to research your entire buying committee, craft high‑value hero content and repurpose it into stakeholder‑specific assets in hours, not weeks.

You’ll learn how to map the pain points of CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, technical leaders and end users; build persuasive content pillars that appeal to each; and track the ROI of your efforts with clear, revenue‑focused metrics. By the end of the course, you’ll have a repeatable system for creating multiple streams of content that guide every member of the buying committee towards choosing you.

So with those considerations in mind, let’s explore the elements for this B2B Thought Leadership program.

Note: each lesson includes access to one of the AI tools from our Authority Engine suite, to help you achieve the best results.

Part 1: Strategic Foundations for Multi‑Stakeholder Success

Lesson  One: The Business Case & Strategic Foundation

This lesson positions thought leadership as a revenue driver and forces participants to articulate commercial objectives, desired outcomes and how thought leadership fits into existing sales processes. It emphasises goal‑setting before any content is created.

Action Steps: define 6‑ and 12‑month revenue targets, determine how thought leadership will support those targets and specify key performance indicators.

AI Tool: Strategic Foundation Builder – helps users craft a “Why‑Who‑What‑How” plan, mapping objectives, metrics and focus areas into a single strategic document.

 

Lesson Two: Mapping the Modern Buying Committee

Participants build detailed personas covering every influential stakeholder (e.g. CEO, CFO, CMO, CIO/CTO, procurement, legal, end users). They learn the typical priorities, concerns and success metrics of each role.

Action Steps: identify the roles involved in their customers’ purchasing decisions, research each persona’s pain points and preferred content formats, and visualise the typical buying journey.

AI Tool: Buying Committee Intelligence Engine – produces comprehensive persona profiles and buying‑journey maps, highlighting content preferences and competitive insight.

 

Lesson Three: Crafting Persona‑Driven Value Propositions

Using the personas from Lesson 2, participants refine their own product/service descriptions so that each stakeholder sees clear value. They also learn how to pre‑empt objections specific to each role.

Action Steps: write tailored value propositions for each persona, list likely objections and craft responses, and ensure business outcomes and financial benefits are explicit.

AI Tool: Stakeholder Value Proposition Generator – prompts users to enter product benefits and returns separate value statements and objection‑handling scripts for each decision‑maker.

 

Lesson Four: Selecting and Validating Your Profitable Niche

Participants narrow their focus to an attractive niche where they can become the obvious authority. They examine competitor offerings and confirm market demand.

Action Steps: conduct competitive research, evaluate industry pain points and assess the commercial viability of their niche across different stakeholder groups.

AI Tool: Profitable Niche Analyzer – analyses search volumes, competitor density and customer needs to return a “Commercial Viability Score” for each proposed niche.

 

Part 2: Building the Multi‑Stream Content Engine

Lesson Five: Designing Core Content Pillars for Diverse Stakeholders

Learners establish 3–5 core content pillars that address the challenges of the different personas identified earlier. Each pillar must tie back to a business outcome and to the user’s services.

Action Steps: brainstorm pillar topics, create sub‑topics aligned with each persona’s pain points and confirm that every pillar leads naturally to the offer.

AI Tool: Content Pillar Builder – generates a “content web” of sub‑topics and angles that serve the needs of varied stakeholders while reinforcing the central themes.

 

Lesson Six: Creating Insightful Hero Content

Participants learn how to develop deep, research‑backed articles or reports that sit at the centre of their thought leadership. They identify unique insights that challenge industry thinking, craft a strong narrative and optimise content for search and generative AI discovery.

Action Steps: research industry trends and gaps, outline and write two long‑form pieces per month and ensure consistent tone and data‑driven credibility.

AI Tool: Hero Content Creator – turns strategic insights into long‑form hero articles with built‑in SEO optimisation, narrative flow and social copy.

 

Lesson Seven: Repurposing Hero Content into Persona‑Specific Assets

This lesson ensures that the flagship content resonates with each member of the buying committee. Participants learn how to derive executive summaries for CEOs, ROI calculators for CFOs, technical briefs for IT leaders and practical guides for end users.

Action Steps: break each hero piece into multiple smaller assets, tailor each asset’s tone, length and emphasis to the target role and prepare the final deliverables for sales teams.

AI Tool: Buying Committee Content Pack Generator – automatically creates persona‑specific derivatives such as executive summaries, ROI calculators, technical briefs and implementation guides.

 

Lesson Eight: Building a Multi‑Channel Content Calendar

Participants design a 90‑day schedule that distributes their content across the channels that different personas use. They plan formats, deadlines and calls‑to‑action while balancing consistency and quality.

Action Steps: select appropriate formats and channels for each persona, schedule publishing dates and map calls‑to‑action to lead the audience through the sales funnel.

AI Tool: Stakeholder Content Planner – produces a calendar of content pieces, distribution channels and suggested CTAs matched to each role’s preferences.

 

Part 3: Engagement, Conversion and Value Offering

Lesson Nine: Dominating Your Primary Client Acquisition Channels

Instead of spreading themselves thin across all networks, learners focus on the single channel where their core audience is most active, whether that is LinkedIn, industry podcasts or a professional forum.

Action Steps: research where each persona spends time online, optimise profiles for credibility and create a routine for posting and engaging.

AI Tool: Client Channel Finder – analyses the ideal customer profile and business type to recommend the most effective marketing channel and provides optimisation checklists.

 

Lesson Ten: Nurturing Stakeholder Relationships through the Engagement Funnel

Participants learn how to move prospects from initial contact to private conversations and qualify them without being pushy. Emphasis is placed on addressing each stakeholder’s concerns along the way.

Action Steps: use conversation scripts and personalised follow‑ups, develop a framework for qualifying leads and know when to propose a meeting or demo.

AI Tool: Conversation Starter – monitors interactions and suggests tailored, non‑salesy opening lines to start private conversations with high‑potential prospects.

 

Lesson Eleven: Packaging and Pricing Your High‑Value B2B Offer

This lesson helps participants create a premium offering that delivers tangible outcomes. It shows how to structure modules and price points so that CFOs can see clear ROI while champions and end users understand the practical benefits.

Action Steps: define deliverables and outcomes, set pricing based on value rather than time, and produce a clear one‑page summary for each stakeholder.

AI Tool: B2B Solution Crafter – guides users through defining modules, deliverables and pricing and then generates a professional offer summary targeted at each persona.

 

Lesson Twelve: Crafting Stakeholder‑Specific Proposals and Closing Deals

Participants learn how to prepare proposals and presentations that speak directly to the decision‑makers’ priorities and address any remaining objections. They also practise handling objections in writing and during meetings.

Action Steps: customise proposals for each persona, prepare data or case studies relevant to each role and practise closing techniques that respect stakeholders’ concerns.

AI Tool: Stakeholder Proposal Generator – produces tailored proposals and pitch decks, including ROI tables for CFOs, strategic benefits for CEOs, technical requirements for CIOs and implementation plans for end users.

 

Part 4: Measurement, Optimisation and Scaling

Lesson Thirteen: Measuring Success and Demonstrating ROI

Course participants track metrics that matter – such as engagement by persona, leads generated and pipeline influence – and learn how to present data to stakeholders. They also learn to refine content and sales strategies based on what the metrics reveal.

Action Steps: set up dashboards to monitor content performance, lead attribution and stakeholder engagement and adjust strategy based on results.

AI Tool: Performance Tracking Dashboard – consolidates content performance data, lead source attribution and buying‑committee engagement into one easy‑to‑read report showing ROI.

 

Lesson Fourteen: Systemising and Scaling Your Thought Leadership Programme

The final lesson covers how to codify processes, delegate routine tasks and use automation so the thought‑leadership programme remains sustainable. Participants also learn when to reinvest in new content and tools as their audience grows.

Action Steps: document workflows, identify tasks suitable for batching or outsourcing, select automation tools and plan future content cycles.

AI Tool: Automation Advisor – analyses the user’s workflow and suggests specific tools and automation recipes to streamline content creation, distribution and lead management.

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TIMING

The “Actionable B2B Thought Leadership Program” begins on Wednesday 15 October, 2025.

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FORMAT

Fourteen weekly lessons delivered online, accessible 24/7 to fit your schedule. Each lesson includes practical “Action Steps” for immediate implementation.

INVESTMENT

This online training course is available for US$597. However we offer an Early Bird Discount of $100 — pay just US$497 for bookings received by Wednesday 08 October, 2025.

Bookings are confirmed on receipt of payment. We can raise an invoice in advance if you need it.

To reserve your place in this course, please enrol by clicking here:

Enrol Now

If you would require an invoice in advance, please send an email to info@authoritymarketers.com with your requirements.

 

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

You’ll receive our emailed confirmation of your booking. Then on the first day of the course we’ll follow up with details of your Login and Password details, as well as Course Notes for the first lesson. Subsequent lesson information will be sent out weekly.

If you have any questions, or would like more information, please email us at info@authoritymarketers.com

 

FAQ

How does the course work?

  • Every lesson includes Action Steps so that you can start implementing what you’ve just learned, along with dedicated AI tools designed to help you with the requirements of each lesson.

Is the course live?

  • No, everything is online, conducted on a web-based e-learning software platform. Once a lesson is released, you can access it whenever you wish, anytime 24/7, in accordance with your own timetable). You proceed at your own pace, accessing materials online.

What’s the course format?

  • This particular online training course provides content in a variety of multimedia forms, including text, images, videos, slideshows, presentations and PDF files. No special software is required to participate, you access it through a web browser (eg Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).

How often are lessons released?

  • Course lessons will be provided weekly, on Wednesdays, over ten weeks. We release content on a weekly schedule because we review (and where necessary update) the contents of each lesson just before release, to ensure that the material is as up-to-date as possible — the marketing environment is constantly changing, so we aim to ensure that the lessons reflect the latest developments.

How long will each lesson take?

  • We typically recommend you allow 1-2 hours per lesson.

What happens if I need help?

  •  Interaction with the course tutor is enabled via email.

COURSE CREATION AND TUTORING

  • This course has been created and is tutored by Michael Carney.

Michael is a respected thought leader, published author, and industry contributor. He wrote the bestselling book “Trade Me Success Secrets,” which sold out its first printing in just six weeks, and has ghost-written several other business books on topics such as digital transformation and B2B marketing. For years, Michael chaired the Network of Digital Marketers for the NZ Marketing Association and he has been a regular magazine columnist for various business titles including marketing and retail. This unique combination of in-the-trenches experience, proven teaching ability, and strategic insight makes him the ideal guide to help you master thought leadership and content marketing.

Michael has practical, hands-on experience with all aspects of digital marketing, from website creation to social media advertising, from strategic guidance and trend analysis to thought leadership. He has been online since 1987 and involved with digital marketing in all its aspects since the mid-1990s. He was an early adopter of Generative AI when ChatGPT launched in late 2022, and now has extensive experience with using AI for research, brainstorming, content creation, design, video creation and editing and what’s become known as “vibe coding”, using AI to develop web applications.

Michael’s expertise is built on a career spanning more than four decades, during which he has developed marketing and advertising strategies for many leading product categories, including banking, food, beverages, movies, automotive, consumer electronics, technology, travel, financial services and much more. He has held senior strategic roles in major advertising agencies, including National Media Director at HKM Advertising and Strategic Planning Director for The Media Counsel. He currently also is Digital and Strategic Director of the creative agency Good Gravy. 

As the founder and director of marketing educators Netmarketing Courses, Michael has dedicated the last fifteen years to researching, creating, and delivering practical, relevant online training. His mission is to empower organisations and marketers with the skills they need to thrive in a competitive digital landscape. To date, he has trained over 3,000 students in aspects of digital maketing .

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