After I first met Stephanie Losee, it was on a convention name with our shopper Dell the place we had been discussing how my company would have interaction tech influencers to jot down for a brand new publication Dell was producing. The best way this extremely competent and assured skilled communicated jogged my memory of a longtime pal and journalist turned analyst, and college educator from New York, Rebecca Lieb. Remarkably, it turned out that Stephanie, who lives within the Bay space, and Rebecca  not solely know of one another however they had been excellent mates.

Quick ahead to 2025 and I can’t think about a greater visitor to complete off our first season of Past B2B Advertising to speak in regards to the intersection of content material, thought management and naturally, AI.

What it is advisable to find out about Stephanie’s exceptional profession and contribution to the sector of content material advertising is that she is an OG within the area. She was one of many first Managing Editors for a Fortune 500 firm when she was at Dell after which she based the content material studio at Politico, constructed the primary content material advertising operate at Visa, labored for a prime 50 fintech agency, held a number of advancing world management roles at Autodesk and now, she is Director and Govt Editor at Salesforce.

On this episode we talked about how B2B content material has developed from model journalism right into a strategic engine for belief, thought management, and enterprise influence. Stephanie talked about why distribution isn’t nearly advertising channels, but additionally about activating content material internally with gross sales and buyer success. We lined the function of authentic analysis and experiential content material in creating genuine model and purchaser worth exchanges, why AI received’t change high-level editorial pondering, and the way B2B entrepreneurs are lastly gaining the personalization instruments lengthy loved by B2C.

An vital takeaway from our dialog is that the manufacturers that win are those that cease speaking at their viewers and begin exhibiting up with essentially the most credible solutions to the issues patrons are literally making an attempt to resolve. From my perspective, meaning evolving from merely pushing out data to attracting extra clients as a Greatest Reply Model.

10 questions in regards to the evolution of B2B content material answered on this interview:

  1. Why does thought management nonetheless matter in B2B advertising, particularly in an AI-driven discovery atmosphere?
  2. What truly differentiates high-impact B2B content material from content material that simply fills the feed?
  3. How ought to B2B entrepreneurs rethink content material distribution now that search, social, and AI are all altering?
  4. Why is inner alignment with gross sales and buyer success crucial to content material efficiency and ROI?
  5. How can B2B manufacturers join thought management to actual enterprise influence with out turning it into promotion?
  6. What function does authentic analysis play in constructing belief and authority for B2B manufacturers?
  7. How ought to B2B entrepreneurs take into consideration experiential content material and codecs past conventional articles?
  8. What’s going to AI change about content material strategy-and what received’t it ever change?
  9. What does “true worth change” imply in B2B content material marketing-and how do manufacturers obtain it?
  10. What does the way forward for personalization seem like for B2B entrepreneurs?

Take heed to the complete dialog right here:

Watch the complete interview with Stephanie right here:

When you’d want a textual content abstract of our dialogue, right here you go:

“What else is believed management going to do besides grow to be extra vital?”

Stephanie factors out that as belief in conventional establishments and media continues to say no, B2B manufacturers have a novel alternative to fill that void by offering dependable, data-driven solutions. In an period dominated by AI-generated content material, high-quality thought management turns into the first method for a model to ascertain credibility and guarantee its perspective is the one cited by “agentic” search engines like google.

“Virtually each content material marketer I communicate to doesn’t have the channel constructed between their operate and their very own buyer success and gross sales operate.”

Right here, Stephanie challenges the traditional view of content material distribution by shifting the main focus inward. She argues that many B2B entrepreneurs consider exterior channels whereas overlooking the interior pathways that make content material actionable. Drawing on her expertise at Autodesk, she highlights how aligning content material with buyer success and gross sales transforms thought management right into a sensible software for ongoing buyer conversations, renewals, and expansion-ultimately making content material simpler to measure and much more priceless to the enterprise.

“AI received’t assist entrepreneurs differentiate themselves in and of itself, creating a real worth change with clients does.”

Whereas AI is a robust software, it can’t change the human empathy required to know a buyer’s particular enterprise challenges. Stephanie argues that true differentiation for B2B manufacturers comes from delivering what we at TopRank Advertising name “finest reply content material that prioritizes the viewers’s wants over model promotion. This focus creates a significant change the place clients commerce their time and a spotlight for real utility. This method ensures the model stands out in a sea of automated content material by offering the precise insights patrons must make knowledgeable choices..

Thanks Stephanie!

Make sure to comply with Stephanie on LinkedIn.

Beyond B2B Marketing Podcast Lee Odden

You will discover Beyond B2B Marketing wherever you take heed to your favourite podcasts (hyperlinks beneath). After all you received’t need to miss the subsequent dialog with a B2B advertising professional, so you’ll want to subscribe. And keep in mind, there’s no higher time than now to interrupt freed from boring B2B!

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Download PDF B2B Thought Leadership Research Report 2026
When you’d wish to entry our newest analysis on B2B Thought Management which touches on the Greatest Reply Advertising framework, there’s an ungated version of the report here.

In regards to the creator

Lee Odden has been acknowledged as a prime B2B Advertising skilled by Forbes, The Economist and the Wall Road Journal. For over 20 years he is labored along with his group at TopRank Advertising to assist elevate the B2B advertising trade by way of artistic advertising applications that ship extra genuine, experiential and inclusive content material for manufacturers like LinkedIn, Dell and Adobe. Lee is the creator of Optimize and has printed over 1.4 million phrases on his company’s B2B advertising weblog. As a trusted advertising thought chief, he has given almost 300 displays in 20 totally different nations on B2B content material, search and influencer advertising. When not advertising, Lee might be operating, cooking or touring.


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