Building authority with content: brand, education, and thought leadership

A real example from STOQ

Prior to me joining STOQ as the head of marketing, we had an agency churning out content for us. And none of their content was showing up for keywords most relevant to our business.

They called themselves a “content marketing” agency. And one of the core foundations of content marketing is keyword research and intent alignment.

Turns out, they did none of that! No wonder we weren’t getting any results.

This is how most content on the internet appears to be. Content for content’s sake, without any end business objective in mind.

We were paying them thousands of dollars each month, but got back negative value. Why negative? Because our brand started getting associated with irrelevant keywords that had nothing to do with our business.

And, that’s how you create anti-authority content.

What authority content really means

So, what’s the business objective of authority content?

Authority takes time to build. It’s a process:

1. Keywords – does your content show up around the right keywords (most relevant to your business)?
2. Intent – does it solve for what the customer is actually looking for?
3. Shareworthiness – is it 10x better than alternatives? is it so useful that people want to share it?

When your content is so good it gets talked about in your niche, you’ve officially entered the realm of authority content.

Authority is something that is passed on to you, as a credit for producing great work in the community. 

How authority content spreads

When your content is:

• well researched
• deeply useful
• inspiring or entertaining

…the community has no choice but to share it. And in doing so, they uplift their own status by demonstrating good taste.

Authority content → fuels word-of-mouth.

People say word-of-mouth cannot be engineered. Actually, it can. By producing great work – in both content and product.

• If the content is great but the product sucks → it won’t sustain.
• If both are great → word-of-mouth is inevitable.

And when word-of-mouth happens repeatedly in a niche, you build a brand. People start knowing you for “that thing.”

Thought leadership vs authority content

“Thought leadership” is an overused term.

How do you even decide who is the leader of so-and-so thoughts?

• By their post engagement?
• If so, LinkedIn is filled with cringe posts with high engagement. Does it make them thought leaders?

I don’t think so.

True thought leadership is more about authenticity than the content itself.

It requires:

• the courage to share your truth authentically
• a deep relationship with yourself
• the ability to share words from your heart, not words designed to sound smart

This is the type of content that resonates.
This is the type of content that moves people.
This is the type of content that sticks in their minds.

And this, to me, is real thought leadership.

How we're thinking about it at STOQ

We think of authority content through the lens of K-I-S:

• keywords → are we targeting and showing up for the most relevant keywords?
• intent → are we solving what customers are actually searching for?
• shareworthiness → is our content shareworthy? is it 10x better than the rest?

When your content keeps getting shared in a particular niche, you’ve built a brand.

The role of thought-leadership content in brand building

We value two things in thought leadership:

• authenticity → being yourself
• heart → words that come from your truth, not just to sound clever

Thought leadership isn’t about posting ideas online. It’s about showing up as yourself – the part that makes you, you – and having people connect with that.

People connect less with words that sound smart and more with the ones that come straight from your heart.

FAQs

Q1: What is authority content?
Authority content is content that ranks for the right keywords, solves real intent, and is share-worthy. It builds credibility in your niche and fuels word-of-mouth.

Q2: What is anti-authority content?
Anti-authority content is content created without business objectives or keyword alignment, often associating your brand with irrelevant terms.

Q3: How is thought leadership content different from authority content?
Authority content focuses on keyword, intent, and shareworthiness. Thought leadership content is rooted in authenticity and truth, making people connect deeply with you, and therefore, your brand.

Q4: How can authority content build a b2b saas brand?
Consistent authority content establishes trust, drives discovery through SEO, and creates repeated word-of-mouth, positioning your saas as the go-to in its category.