Thought Leadership
Tom Nixon
Content Marketing in the Age of AI, Algorithms ...

For a while now, something has felt off.

You’re publishing consistently. You’re showing up on LinkedIn. The blog still gets written. The newsletter still goes out. On paper, everything looks fine.

And yet the returns feel thinner. Engagement feels flatter. Meaningful conversations feel harder to come by.

Most teams respond to this moment the same way: more content, more frequency, more volume. That instinct made sense once. It doesn’t anymore.

Because the problem isn’t that brands stopped publishing. It’s that publishing itself has lost meaning.

Content Marketing in the Age of AI, Algorithms and Attention Deficit
Thought Leadership, Creative Services
Tom Nixon
Why Ask Why?

Model Behavior

In this episode of Bullhorns and Bullseyes, Tom Nixon and Curtis Hays geek out (in the way that only true geeks dare!) on three powerful marketing models that shape how they plan campaigns, create content, and measure success. 

If you’ve ever wondered why some campaigns flop while others convert like magic, this episode is your masterclass in doing it the Bullhorns and Bullseyes  way—from the top of the funnel to the flip at the end.

Why Ask Why?
Creative Services, Thought Leadership
Tom Nixon
The Power of Storytelling

"Show me, don't tell me."

That is the art of effective communication.

What I learned in sixth grade holds true today. If you’re using your marketing content and messaging to TELL people why they should engage with you, nobody will relate.

But if you SHOW them—through storytelling, testimonial, metaphorical allusions, emotional connection—your story will resonate. And be remembered.

Allow me to show you how…

The Power of Storytelling
Thought Leadership, Creative Services
Tom Nixon
Don't Be a Hero

Who Is the Hero In Your Story?

If I told you my life story, would you care?

What if I asked you tell me your life story?

Eugene M. Schwartz’s The Brilliance Breakthrough: How to Talk and Write So That People Will Never Forget You should be (and often is) considered to be the “bible” of effective copywriting and storytelling. One of the many tenets Schwartz embraces is the notion of making the reader (or the customer) the hero of the story you’re trying to tell.

Too often, we put the capes on our own backs. And that’s where the writing falls short.

Don't Be a Hero
Thought Leadership, Podcasting
Tom Nixon
Let Content Be Your Praise Singer

You Don’t Have to Be in the Room to Gain Influence

Adrian Lurssen tells the story of when he went to see Nelson Mandela deliver an address in his home country of South Africa. He still draws upon the experience today, but in the most unusual context.

As Adrian has recounted this tale to Jay Harrington and me on an episode of The Thought Leadership Project podcast, he likens this notion of a praise singer to how we considers thought leadership content to work on behalf of the expert that shares it.

See how…

Let Content Be Your Praise Singer

AI

Creating Copy That Can't Be Copied

Creating Copy That Can't Be Copied

Is It You?! Is It Really YOU?!

When AI content tools went mainstream, they produced something that made a lot of marketing teams quietly uncomfortable. The content coming out of these systems was competent. Well-structured. Readable. Informative in the way that a good FAQ is informative—perfectly clear and almost entirely forgettable. 

And the discomfort came from a recognition that most organisations weren't quite ready to sit with: this looks a lot like what we've been publishing. That recognition is where the real conversation starts. 

The dominant fear in content marketing right now is that AI will flood the market with content as good as yours and drown your signal in noise. Understandable. But it misidentifies the problem. 

Ideas, Not Words

Ideas, Not Words

People Don’t Need More Words; They Need Better Ideas

Your job as a thought leader is not to create content; it’s to deal in intellectual property.

So says Jay Acunzo, author of Break the Wheel and a brand messaging strategist.

People can get words from anywhere these days. Thanks in part to AI, we are no shortage of content. But what the world will continue to seek out is expertise. Fresh ideas. New approaches to solving problems.

And if the content you’re publishing isn’t delivering on those needs, it might as well just be words on a page. In fact, it is.