By Ane Unamuno (Engagement Manager)
Marketing leaders in banks and payments know how powerful good thought leadership can be, particularly when your organisation is looking to build credibility and influence in an existing or new market, both of which can be very, very noisy at times.
Despite this knowledge, many teams don’t have a clear picture of the topics, formats, or channels that will have the biggest impact. This lack of visibility usually manifests itself as heavy investments in glossy reports, big-budget webinars, or multi-channel campaigns that fail to engage the very customers they’re designed for.
The solution to this common issue is remarkably simple. The secret lies in using customer, market, and competitor insights together to help you identify real customer pain points, understand what is causing those challenges, connect them to your unique strengths vs. your competitors, and create content that tells that story in a compelling way.
Too much thought leadership is created from the inside out. Teams start with internal priorities (what we want to say) rather than customer needs (what people want to hear) and this leads to content that’s polished and well produced, sure, but it’s largely ineffective.
Think generic trend reports that repeat well-worn themes, lookalike pieces that mirror competitors’ narratives, or thinly veiled product promotion that undermines credibility. The list goes on...
In fact, take the example of a payments provider producing yet another ‘future of fintech’ whitepaper. On the surface it looks impressive, but because every competitor is saying the same thing, it just blends into the noise.
To break out from the crowd and create content that stands out, you just need to look at the data and work backwords. It’s easy really; there are three lenses which you should use in sequence, before tying everything back to your value proposition.
The customer lens helps you pinpoint the problems or pain points that are most pressing. For example, SMEs often report that managing late payments is a bigger challenge than accessing credit.
The market lens then shows you the wider forces shaping those challenges. New instant-payment regulations, for instance, are making late-payment management even more urgent.
The competitor lens highlights what others are already saying, and where the gaps lie. If every rival is still focused on access to finance, but no one is owning the “cash-flow resilience” conversation, that’s an opportunity.
Finally, you bring in your value proposition. The goal is not to highlight just any problem, but the problems you can credibly help solve. If your bank offers cash-flow prediction tools, then thought-leadership around “cash-flow resilience in an era of instant payments” connects customer pain points directly to your strengths.
A simple framework makes this easy to follow:
Consider this example...imagine your customer feedback shows that cross-border payment delays are the biggest frustration. Market dynamics highlight new FX transparency regulations that make the issue more urgent. A competitor scan reveals that most providers are still talking about fees, not transparency. Meanwhile, your firm’s strength lies in faster, more predictable settlement. The result is a differentiated campaign on “The transparency dividend in cross-border payments” - it’s rooted in customer need, timely in the market, distinct from competitors, and aligned with your proposition.
Your use of insights shouldn’t stop there, however. Insights don’t just help you shape the story; they also inform the way you tell it. If customers indicate that they value practical, step-by-step guidance, then a series of short playbooks may be far more effective than a lengthy report. Where research shows that corporate treasurers want in-depth discussion on regulation, the best approach may be to host webinars that allow for live Q&A and interaction. And in cases where every competitor is relying on static PDFs, creating a podcast that brings in real customer voices can help you stand out.
The choice of format should always reflect what your audience finds useful, what the market context demands, and where competitors are leaving space for differentiation.
When thought leadership is born from insights, the impact and business benefit multiplies. It becomes more relevant because it is grounded in real customer pain points. It is differentiated because it avoids recycling competitor narratives. It is timely because it links directly to market dynamics. And it is strategic because it ties back to your value proposition, strengthening brand positioning in the process.
Ultimately, effective thought leadership is not about producing more content; it is about producing the right content at the right time in the right way. The strongest marketing machines are those built on an integrated view of customer, market, and competitor insights, aligned closely to your organisation’s value proposition, and delivered in formats that audiences genuinely consume. By following a simple process - listen, synthesize, shape, and share - marketing leaders can move from shouting about stuff that nobody wants to hear, to genuine thought leadership that grabs attention.
If your team is unsure what content will truly resonate with your audience, this is the moment to pause and reassess. KAE can support you by uncovering the customer, market and competitor insights you need to make sure your content gets seen and drives results. If you’d like to chat, book a call with one of our experts.