Houston expert shares how to implement thought leadership into your B2B marketing

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What is thought leadership and how can it help you achieve your marketing goals? This Houston expert explains. Photo via Getty Images

Did you know that 52 percent of decision-makers and 54 percent of C-level executives spend an hour or more per week reading thought leadership content? This is according to a recent Edelman and LinkedIn survey on thought leadership.

I often counsel my clients about the role of thought leadership in B2B marketing. Thought leadership remains a strategic approach that can set a company apart, establish credibility and a strong brand voice and position it as a trusted expert in its industry. But what exactly is thought leadership, and how can it support a B2B marketing strategy?

Why a thought leadership strategy matters

Thought leadership marks a commitment to provide value through insights beyond mere selling. It involves producing content and ideas that address the company's target audience's most pressing challenges and questions. This content helps position the company as a service partner, go-to resource and industry advisor.

Builds credibility and trust: Trust remains vital in a B2B context where longer sales cycles and purchasing decisions undergo scrutiny. Thought leadership lets a company demonstrate its expertise, solution-based thinking and value meaningfully to decision-makers. According to industry data, an estimated 75 percent of decision-makers say an organization's thought leadership content is more trustworthy for assessing its capabilities and competencies than its marketing and product sheets.

Differentiates from competitors: By sharing insights, a company can differentiate itself in a crowded market. Thought leadership helps companies stand out by proving their deep understanding of the customer's challenges and needs and the solutions available for more efficient and cost-effective operations.

Enhances brand awareness: Regular publication of insightful content, whether through blogs, webinars or white papers, can increase brand visibility and keep the company top of mind for customers and potential customers.

Supports sales efforts: Well-crafted thought leadership content can powerfully warm up leads. It provides sales teams with material that resonates with prospective customers' pain points and aspirations. According to the Edelman report, nine in 10 decision-makers and C-suite executives said that they are moderately or very likely to be receptive to sales or marketing outreach from a company that consistently produces high-quality thought leadership.

How to implement a thought leadership strategy

Identify key insights and topics: Start by understanding the questions and challenges the target audience faces. Use this insight to create content that addresses these issues, offers solutions or provides novel perspectives. Include strong research and data, and offer case studies or practical steps. Depending on where the audience spends its time, consider publishing on LinkedIn, industry blogs, podcasts or webinars.

Remember that consistency is key: Thought leadership isn't a one-and-done approach. Build an ongoing and consistent content program. Keeping to a schedule helps maintain audience engagement and reinforces the organization's position as an industry leader.

Measure and adapt: Like any marketing strategy, measuring the effectiveness of your thought leadership efforts remains critical. Setting clear objectives provides the foundation for defining success and measuring outcomes effectively. Metrics could include media coverage, website traffic, social media engagement and business development leads. Additionally, sales impact can be measured by actions such as first-time discovery calls and sales-qualified leads.

Thought leadership proves an invaluable strategy for B2B marketing. It aims to assert the expertise of a company and build meaningful connections with its audience. A business can establish a strong, credible brand that attracts and retains customers by providing valuable insights and solving real-world customer challenges through high-quality content.

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Melanie Taplett provides communications and public relations services to the energy, manufacturing, technology, engineering and construction industries. Contact her at mtaplett@taplycom.com.

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A Houston expert shares her pointers on navigating marketing and communication strategies for startups. Photo via Getty Images

How Houston startups can bolster marketing and communications collaboration

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Marketing and communications remain crucial to startups. Building a more cohesive team dynamic between marketing and communications can offer a young company purpose, direction and language to differentiate its product or service value.

While marketing and communications have distinct goals, magic happens when the two work together to enhance the company's business objectives. Clients often ask me the difference between marketing and communications and how the two can complement each other. Consider these thoughts and steps to better collaboration.

Communication 101

Startups need support for creating a company narrative to help employees tell the story and show company value to customers and prospective customers. A communications plan includes the strategy for meeting business objectives, the target audiences, and the key messages that will resonate with each audience. Communications plans also identify the best ways to tell the story, i.e., media relations, social media sponsorships, website content, and presentations. In-house communications professionals might consider building a team of strong freelance writers to delegate writing projects.

Marketing 101

Marketing promotes products or services to a specific audience, whether reaching new customers or retaining existing ones. A strong marketing plan includes strategy, competitive analysis, market research, and identifying industry trends. Marketers use communications to develop and share messages with these audiences. Marketers should consider engaging freelance writers to create content.

How do marketing and communications work together?

Close marketing and communications coordination can be an advantage for customer engagement. That strong team approach offers an opportunity to ensure marketing and communication efforts center around the customer. For example, marketers may leverage company blog content (written by communicators) in marketing efforts, i.e., sales pitches, customer outreach, and company webinars, to help generate leads, and make conversions. Marketing teams can then provide analytics or customer feedback to optimize future content.

Examples of successful collaboration include a customer featuring a company’s newly enhanced product at an industry conference after reading the recent product launch in trade media, a series of thought-leadership blog posts after the marketing team received prospective customer inquiries on a hot topic or a successful case study provided by marketing for communications to leverage on the website, whitepaper, and social media accounts.

Data, please

Take advantage of the data most startups have at their fingertips because data sharing proves important in developing compelling content. For instance, marketers benefit from sharing industry trends, customer demographics and behavior, market research and internal data (how customers use the product or service) with communicators to enable them to produce more engaging customer copy. Also, marketers and proposal experts often receive requests for information from customers or prospective customers. Those requests can also be helpful to communicators in writing content. Then, once published, communicators can provide data on engagement to ensure that content resonates.

Report efforts

Find ways to share reporting of marketing and communications efforts. For instance, during a recent meeting, did a customer mention a company-bylined article in a trade publication? Did marketing receive a request for information from a prospective customer after reading a company white paper? Did a company expert get invited to speak at an industry conference due to a blog post? All these shared results help to optimize marketing and communications efforts and inform strategy pivots, if appropriate.

Break the silos

Break any silos for improved marketing and communications collaboration. Consider regular team meetings or create a Teams site or Slack channel to exchange information often. For example, one client recently held a successful all-day brand and team-building workshop. Open communication between marketing and communications teams remains critical to executing a solid marketing strategy and achieving business objectives. For a more cohesive communications and marketing approach, know the business objectives, define roles, and responsibilities, meet regularly, share data, and report efforts for better results.

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Melanie Taplett is a communications and public relations consultant for the technology, energy, and manufacturing industries.

A Houston expert outlines what startups and small business need to know about their communications strategy. Photo via Getty Images

Here's what Houston startups need to know about internal communications

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Startup founders often focus on outward victories. However, if they look inward and get internal communications right, this can prioritize, inspire, and retain talent, which is the heart of the company.

Consistent internal communication helps employees to understand the company's core values and mission and the evolving internal policies and procedures — health care benefits, reorganizations, remote work — that accompany a young business. Investing in internal communications also supports external public relations efforts because the best company storytellers are well-informed employees.

Consider these tactics for effective internal communications.

Prioritize messaging

In any startup, internal procedures evolve as the company grows. Take control of the narrative while easing employees' minds by prioritizing internal messaging.

Whether transitioning to a more flexible work schedule, updating healthcare benefits, or rolling out a performance review process, planning messages in advance can help team members understand the change, the impact, and how they can contribute positively to the development.

Well-informed employees help mitigate uneasiness and tend to achieve business goals more quickly. Make sure to allow the employees time to reflect and react.

Support managers

Leaders and mid-level managers play an integral role in internal communications by cascading information throughout the organization. They regularly engage with their employees, so it is important that managers feel confident and supported in their communication skills.

Managers can benefit from a common company language, talking points, or communications training for more effective and productive conversations. By identifying, clarifying, and reinforcing common goals and key objectives for managers, companies can strengthen productivity and eliminate confusion, especially if the company changes teams' roles and responsibilities.

Be consistent

Make sure that the drumbeat remains steady, whether this includes a monthly town hall meeting or weekly CEO emails. Since communication is not necessarily one-size-fits-all, use a communication approach tailored to the workforce.

For example, there might be more effective communication methods than email for employees not behind a desk. As a smaller company, take that time to connect with the team directly because as the company swells, that one-on-one experience will become increasingly difficult to manage.

Listen to employees

Delivering top-down messaging that resonates with the workforce remains critical. However, internal communication is a two-way street.

Allow team members to give valuable feedback. Encourage team members to share their thoughts about the company, concerns, and how to improve communications. Issue internal surveys or hold face-to-face meetings to gain useful insight.

Understanding these critical proof points will enable more effective communication and quick action on any issues.

Be a human

Keep humanity at the heart of internal communications. Amid the company's transition, maintain transparency and recognize the emotional toll some changes can have on teammates. The best talent will remain when they feel connected, informed and listened to.

Greater employee engagement can help build a strong company culture of accountability, authenticity and communication, setting up the business for bigger success.

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Melanie Taplett is a communications and public relations consultant for the technology, energy, and manufacturing industries.

Set the framework for your startup's social media policy. Tracy Le Blanc/Pexels

Houston social media expert urges startups and companies to establish a sharing policy and strategy

Guest column

While employees mean well, they may share or post company information on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, among others) that could be misaligned with business objectives, creating a potential reputational risk for the company. For this reason, it is essential that companies big or small, including startups, develop, and implement a social media policy, so management and employees work from the same playbook.

Build the company’s social media strategy

First, management needs to define its social media to help inform its policy. How active do you want to be on social media? How do you plan to respond to comments? How involved do you want employees to be on social media as it relates to the company, specifically when involving company-issued devices or during business hours?

Companies must consider a proactive role in social media because if the company is not telling its story, someone else will fill the void. Plus, it's a great way to engage with the community and give everyone a glimpse of the company's culture.

Also, define what "social media" is for your company. Companies will likely want to cast a wide net to encompass blogs, personal websites, message boards, Wikipedia, as well as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Determine the company's response process as well. Management's gut reaction might be to censor the content or take down less-than-flattering comments about the company. Management needs to understand the purpose of social media, and instead have a well-thought-out social media response process in place to ensure timely responses to questions and comments, so issues don't linger or snowball.

Once management determines the company strategy, establish tools, i.e., social media monitoring to help achieve the objectives.

Establish social media policy and identify a social media manager

While every company's social media policy is unique, make clear to employees that the company's code of conduct must be followed online as it is followed offline. Employees must protect proprietary and intellectual property and never share any confidential or proprietary information via social media, even through private messaging.

State clearly in the policy that employees can never represent themselves as official spokespersons for the company unless given explicit permission by the company. Moreover, while there should be management support of employee comments or likes on content associated with the company, employees need to make it clear that the views they express on social media are theirs and do not represent the company.

A company should determine one person that is responsible for its public persona and social media efforts, including monitoring and posting regularly on all social media channels. The social media manager must also be the one to handle any negative comments about the company, as well as any media requests.

Conduct regular training for employees

Companies must consider training for employees. Host a brown bag luncheon with social media training to provide employees an opportunity to understand the company's social media policy better, as well as ask questions. Employees often make social media mistakes when they don't know better.

Social media has changed the role of company communications. Companies — both big and small — that build a strong social media strategy and policy see the value of delivering company messages to a broader community, monitoring for feedback, and listening to conversations about their brands.

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Melanie Taplett is a communications professional serving energy, professional services, and healthcare companies. Contact her at mtaplett@taplycom.com or taplycom.com.

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8+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events in January

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Editor's note: Kick off 2026 by hearing insightful talks and making meaningful connections in Houston's innovation scene. From networking workshops to presentations from major industry leaders, here's what not to miss and how to register. Please note: this article may be updated to include additional event listings.

Jan. 13 – Financing the Future

Hear from James Blake, head of capital markets at Fervo Energy, in this informative talk. Blake will cover the current investment landscape for geothermal power, how geothermal projects are structured and the role of policy incentives and innovative financing models in moving the industry forward. A small reception follows.

This event is Tuesday, Jan. 13, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Jan. 13 – Your Path to the Boardroom

Visit Sesh Coworking to hear from Keith Dorsey, an executive advisor and author of The Boardroom Journey, as he shares insights and lessons from hundreds of corporate board members and presents an actionable roadmap for women at every stage of their careers. Dorsey will speak on what "optimal diversity” means in the boardroom, how purpose-driven leaders sustain resilience under relentless pressure and why inclusive leadership is non-negotiable for growth and innovation.

This event is Tuesday, Jan. 13, from 6-8 p.m. at Sesh Coworking. Register here.

Jan. 14 — A Conversation with Dr. Wayne J. Riley on Leading Through Healthcare Transformation

Rice Business Partners will host Dr. Wayne J. Riley, president of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, for a moderated discussion with Dean Peter Rodriguez. Riley will share insights on leading complex healthcare organizations in an era of unprecedented industry challenges and reflect on his time at the Jones Graduate School of Business.

This event is Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at McNair Hall on Rice University's campus. Register here.

Jan. 14 — VDW: Igniting Connections for Startup Success

Entrepreneurial communications instructor Diana Massaro will lead Lilie's latest Venture Development Workshop, focused on soft skills like clear communication, active listening and compelling introductions. Attendees will gain a personalized networking game plan and communication tools to turn casual encounters into meaningful relationships to support their ventures or careers.

This event is Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on Rice University's campus. Register here.

Jan. 21 — Upstream: Digital Tech Meetup

This month's Upstream: Digital Tech Meetup will explore how AI and real-time monitoring are being applied in safety-critical offshore environments, what’s working today, where the biggest gaps remain going into 2026 and how operators and service companies are approaching adoption. Expect to hear from leaders at NOV, Incom Solutions, Timbergrove and others.

This event is Wednesday, Jan. 21, from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Jan. 22 — HEAD AND HEART: Leading Technology with Humanity While Everything Changes

Hear from Chris Hyams, former CEO of Indeed, at the latest installment of Rice's Master of Engineering Management & Leadership Seminar Series. Hyams will present on the intersection of technology, humanity and change—and how AI is reshaping all three.

This event is Thursday, Jan. 22, at 6 p.m. at Duncan Hall on Rice University's campus. Find more information here.

Jan. 22 – NASA Tech Talk

This month's NASA Tech Talks will feature a special delegation from the UK Science and Technology Network. Expect to hear from a panel of UK space experts, followed by a fireside chat featuring David Alexander, head of the Rice Space Institute, and Meganne Christian, ESA reserve astronaut and senior exploration manager.

This event is Thursday, Jan. 22, from 6-7 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Jan. 29 – Ignition Hub Startup Career Fair

Lilie will host the Ignition Hub Startup Career Fair this month in partnership with Rice University’s Center for Career Development and Career Development Office. The fair will bring together some of the most innovative, high-growth companies to offer Rice students exciting opportunities. Startups can apply to be considered for the fair. The event is open to Rice University undergraduate, graduate, MBA, and PhD students.

This event is Thursday, Jan. 29, at Grand Hall on Rice University's campus. Find more information here.

Jan. 29 – Health Policy Symposium: Value-Based Care & the Health Care Workforce

The Humana Integrated Health Systems Science Institute at the University of Houston will host its latest Health Policy Symposium this month, focused on the evolving landscape of value-based care and the importance of preparing and strengthening the health care workforce. Hear keynote addresses from leaders at Humana, UH, the American Medical Association and Houston Health Department.

This event is Thursday, Jan. 29, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine on Rice University's campus. Find more information here.

Jan. 30 — GHP Annual Meeting

The Greater Houston Partnership's premier event will highlight the region’s progress, honor visionary leadership and set the tone for the year ahead. Hear reflections from outgoing board chair, Gretchen Watkins (former -president of Shell USA); welcome incoming board chair, Armando Perez (EVP of H-E-B Houston); and more

This event is Friday, Jan. 30, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Hilton Americas. Find more information here.

CPRIT CEO: Houston’s $2B in funding is transforming cancer research and prevention

fighting cancer

With its plethora of prestigious health care organizations like the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UTHealth Houston, and the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston sits at the heart of cancer research and prevention in Texas.

Of course, it takes piles of cash to support Houston’s status as the state’s hub for cancer research and prevention. Much of that money comes from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

Data supplied by CPRIT shows organizations in Harris County gained $2.3 billion in institute funding from 2009 through 2025, or nearly $145 million per year. That represents almost 60 percent of the roughly $4 billion that CPRIT has granted to Texas institutions over a 16-year period.

“The life sciences ecosystem that has developed and changed in Houston is phenomenal,” Kristen Doyle, who became the agency’s CEO in July 2024, tells InnovationMap. “In the next decade, we will look back and see a great transformation.”

That ecosystem includes more than 1,100 life sciences and biotech companies, according to the Greater Houston Partnership.

Houston plays critical role in clinical trials

Texas voters approved the creation of CPRIT in 2007. Twelve years later, voters agreed to earmark an extra $3 billion for CPRIT, bringing the state agency’s total investment in cancer research and prevention to $6 billion.

To date, CPRIT money has gone toward recruiting 344 cancer researchers to Texas (mainly to Houston) and has supported cancer prevention services for millions of Texans in the state’s 254 counties. CPRIT funding has also helped establish, expand, or relocate 25 cancer-focused companies. In Houston, MD Anderson ranks as the No. 1 recipient of CPRIT funding.

Regarding cancer research, Doyle says Houston plays a critical role in clinical trials.

“[Clinical trials are] something that CPRIT has focused on more and more. Brilliant discoveries are crucial to this whole equation of solving the cancer problem,” Doyle says. “But if those brilliant ideas stay in the labs, then we’ve all failed.”

Researchers conduct more clinical trials in Houston than anywhere else in the U.S., the Greater Houston Partnership says.

Doyle, a 20-year survivor of leukemia, notes that a minority of eligible patients participate in clinical trials for cancer treatments, “and that’s one of the reasons that it takes so long to get a promising drug to market.”

An estimated 7 percent of cancer patients sign up for clinical trials, according to a study published in 2024 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

MD Anderson takes on cancer prevention

Doyle also notes that Houston is leading the charge in cancer prevention.

“We get some national recognition for programs that have been developed in Houston that then can be replicated in other parts of the country,” she says.

Much of the work in Houston focusing on cancer prevention takes place at MD Anderson. The hospital reports that it has received more than $725 million from the CPRIT since 2007, representing approximately 18 percent of CPRIT’s total awards.

“These efforts can have profound impact on the lives of patients and their families, and this funding ensures our exemplary clinicians and scientists can continue working together to drive breakthroughs that advance our mission to end cancer,” Dr. Giulio Draetta, chief scientific officer at MD Anderson, said in a November news release, following the most recent CPRIT award for the hospital totaling more than $29 million.

CPRIT funding for Houston institutions supplements the more than $4.5 billion in federal funding for health and life sciences research and innovations that the Houston area received from 2020 to 2024, according to the Greater Houston Partnership.

“We are curing cancer every single day,” Doyle says of CPRIT. “Every step that we are taking — whether that’s funding great ideas or funding the clinical trials that are bringing promising drugs to Texas and to the world — we are making a difference.”

Houston energy tech co. breaks ground on low-cost hydrogen pilot plant

Coming Soon

Houston’s Lummus Technology and Advanced Ionics have broken ground on their hydrogen pilot plant at Lummus’ R&D facility in Pasadena, Texas.

The plant will support Advanced Ionics’ cutting-edge electrolyzer technology, which aims to deliver high-efficiency hydrogen production with reduced energy requirements.

“By demonstrating Advanced Ionics’ technology at our state-of-the-art R&D facility, we are leveraging the expertise of our scientists and R&D team, plus our proven track record of developing breakthrough technologies,” Leon de Bruyn, president and CEO of Lummus, said in a news release. “This will help us accelerate commercialization of the technology and deliver scalable, cost-effective and sustainable green hydrogen solutions to our customers.”

Advanced Ionics is a Milwaukee-based low-cost green hydrogen technology provider. Its electrolyzer converts process and waste heat into green hydrogen for less than a dollar per kilogram, according to the company. The platform's users include industrial hydrogen producers looking to optimize sustainability at an affordable cost.

Lummus, a global energy technology company, will operate the Advanced Ionics electrolyzer and manage the balance of plant systems.

In 2024, Lummus and Advanced Ionics established their partnership to help advance the production of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen technology. Lummus Venture Capital also invested an undisclosed amount into Advanced Ionics at the time.

“Our collaboration with Lummus demonstrates the power of partnerships in driving the energy transition forward,” Ignacio Bincaz, CEO of Advanced Ionics, added in the news release. “Lummus serves as a launchpad for technologies like ours, enabling us to validate performance and integration under real-world conditions. This milestone proves that green hydrogen can be practical and economically viable, and it marks another key step toward commercial deployment.”

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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