News drives public relations; I won’t argue that. What I question sometimes is do we need to play the hand we’re dealt or can we decide to play checkers instead?

If we only look at your company’s “news,” we are going to miss a lot of great placement opportunities. There’s “news” – something inherently new, noteworthy or different that’s also timely. But there’s also “thought leadership” – valuable information, based on your own experience and perspective within the industry.

I think B2B companies want to provide this valuable type of content, but sometimes have a hard time coming up with successful (read: publishable) ideas for one simple reason—they want to promote the company’s “news.”

To this, I say: work backward. Stop asking yourself, “What do we have to say?” or “What’s new?” and start asking, “What does my audience want to know?” “What challenges face our industry?” “How can we help the end user?”

To develop a successful thought leadership article, you need customer insight. You need to know your audience. This is important because (and I hate to break this to the Field of Dreams fans) in public relations, just because you build it doesn’t mean they’re going to read it.

Spend some time getting to know your supply chain. Find out what obstacles prevent the use of your type of products and start providing solutions the industry needs to jump those hurdles. (Type of products is important because editors don’t care about your products; they care about industry challenges).

However, one article will not move mountains. You’ll need a series of solutions that tackle your industry’s complex challenges. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a planner. So, I suggest arranging these topics in advance, so there’s some continuity. You should consider additional ways to integrate the content across a variety of digital and print marketing platforms/tactics, such as your company’s website and social media program. A branded series of white papers and articles adds some depth to tradeshow and sales collateral, too!

But, with thought leadership, great collateral is not enough—your goal is also article placement. So, you need to develop a content strategy that takes into account your public relations goals. While researching your audience and its needs, don’t forget your editors. Most editors make it really easy to know just what they want to read by posting their submission guidelines and editorial calendars online.

Think of these calendars as free listings of the hot topics for the year. Look at the topics and ask yourself, “What useful information could we provide that would either 1) help the industry or 2) raise awareness of the need for/existence of our type of products?” Although editors prefer the first category of content, marketing professionals prefer the second. Finding a happy medium is our challenge. Finding a topic shouldn’t be.