This Is Not an Op-ed: Editorial Alternatives for Thought Leadership

It’s not just an opinion—op-eds are becoming harder to place. “Unless you’re George Clooney or Jamie Dimon,” that is.

According to new reporting from Axios’s Eleanor Hawkins, the environment for contributed editorials has become near-impenetrable as major news outlets pull back on or eliminate opinion sections altogether.

So what’s a CEO (who isn’t Dimon) to do? And how’s a communications professional supposed to help them get their expertly written thoughts out into the world?

Self-Publishing Success

Look to self-publishing platforms—and LinkedIn, in particular—to help fill the gap. According to LinkedIn’s own data, CEOs have increased post frequency by 23% year over year, gaining 39% more followers. Though LinkedIn has made some changes to its “creator mode” in recent months, it still allows users to follow an influential executive without formally connecting, including right from a post in their main feed. This affords CEOs an opportunity to build up an audience and perpetuate their reach for future articles and posts.

While it’s often worth trying to shoot for the stars with a top-tier op-ed placement, it’s also important to recognize when self-publishing—especially on LinkedIn—can be more efficient, and perhaps just as effective. There is something to be said for the ability to completely control a message and the shareability afforded by social media platforms. A like or comment from the right user could put a self-published article in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

An added bonus? LinkedIn content can garner media coverage in and of itself, something I’ve experienced firsthand. In a recent interview, a reporter asked my client about a past LinkedIn post that spoke to her unique brand of leadership. A reference to it appeared in the resulting profile in a top financial news publication.

Don’t Ignore the Trades

Bigger picture, it’s also important to note that op-eds are not the only game in town when it comes to contributed content. Other types of bylined articles, ones that aim to inform and inspire a particular audience, are still in high demand, especially from trade publications.

As newsroom staffs have contracted, many industry-specific trades are hungry for contributions from outside experts, particularly when these pieces contain a mix of education and actionable insight. This can be something timely—for instance, what a new regulation will mean for a particular subset of the investment universe—or evergreen, such as a list of ways to stay on track toward a comfortable retirement.

My colleagues and I regularly help craft and place such pieces on behalf of executives and other subject matter experts (SMEs), making for a true win-win scenario: The publication has fresh content from a credible industry source to share with its readership, while the author has a tangible testament to their and their firm’s thought leadership that can be repurposed across social media, marketing communications and sales efforts.

Stay Away from Sales

Speaking of sales, one key to successful earned (unpaid) contributed content is understanding that it cannot be an 800-word commercial for the business. Certainly, all such pieces are advancing the author’s point of view to some extent, but you cannot make overt sales pitches and expect to pass editorial muster. While an op-ed should take a strong stance, an educational byline doesn’t have to as long as it’s providing something of value to the reader.

In either case, not only does an earned article need to say something, the ideas and words contained therein really should come from a human and not a generative AI tool. Editors are increasingly running submissions through AI detectors and will reject unoriginal content. (Even Medium, well-known as a self-publishing platform, has implemented strict anti-AI policies.)

Sponsored Content

For the right campaign, there is, of course, utility in sponsored content as well. Paying for a contributed placement, white paper or sponsored report allows the author to be more overtly promotional of the company and products or services they represent. While paid placements are labeled as such in any publication worth its salt, a savvy reader won’t begrudge the sponsored disclaimer if they are genuinely interested in the topic at hand.

The upshot here is that even as some venues for sharing one’s views become harder to broach, other, more egalitarian platforms are rising up in their place, and there are ample opportunities for CEOs and other SMEs to make their voices heard—or, well, read.

A skilled communications team can help determine whether pursuing an earned, owned, social or paid strategy—or some combination—will be the most successful in reaching and driving engagement from target audiences. Maybe that’s just my opinion, but I think my industry peers would agree.

Jade Faugno-Maria is a Senior Vice President at Dukas Linden Public Relations (DLPR).