Your senior leaders are your greatest competitive advantage. Their skills, knowledge, and experience are what set your organisation apart from every other vendor in the market. But those insights often remain locked away in their heads, because writing content always falls to the bottom of the list.
…and the longer they stay locked away, the more likely your competitors are to swoop in and gain the attention of the very buyers you want to reach.
Executive ghostwriting changes that.
As a B2B executive ghostwriter specialising in IT and tech, I extract the ideas from your senior leaders and subject matter experts, and turn them into compelling thought leadership content that sounds authentically theirs.
With 20 years’ experience writing for 200+ IT and tech organisations, I know how to translate complex ideas for the C-suite audiences who need to act on them, without losing the nuance that makes your leaders’ thinking worth reading in the first place.
What is executive ghostwriting?
Executive ghostwriting is where a specialist writer works with a senior leader or subject matter expert to extract their ideas, usually through a structured interview, and then writes content in their voice, on their behalf.
The ideas, the opinions, the expertise: all of that comes from the leader. The craft of turning those raw insights into a coherent, compelling piece of content is where I come in.
This is a completely standard practice in B2B. And when it’s done well, even colleagues can’t tell it wasn’t written by the leader themselves. The best executive thought leadership is where an individual’s network reads it and thinks, “Yes, that’s exactly how they think.”
What is the difference between ghostwriting and copywriting?
| Ghostwriting | Copywriting |
| Attributed to an individual, such as a senior leader or subject matter expert. Produced as thought leadership content to share skills/knowledge/experience. Most used when writing thought leadership content. | Typically attributed to an organisation, although it can be for a team/individual. A huge umbrella term that captures everything from a slogan to a book. Tends to be more promotional , focused on products/services. |
Why do B2B tech companies use executive ghostwriting?
In complex B2B technology markets, people buy from people. A strong product, a good price, a compelling pitch — none of it counts for much if your buyers don’t trust the organisation behind it.
Executive thought leadership is what builds trust at scale. When your senior leaders become visible, credible voices in your market, your entire brand benefits. It humanises your organisation and gives your audience a reason to pay attention, long before they’re ready to buy.
Executive ghostwriting is the right move when you need to:
- Build trust with your target audience.
- Strengthen partnerships and analyst relations.
- Support conference speaking with content that extends the reach of your leaders’ ideas.
- Support enterprise sales by giving buyers something credible to take into internal conversations.
- Increase company valuation by demonstrating thought leadership in your market.
- Enhance and protect your reputation.
Ultimately, you get the insights you need. Your audience gets the interesting, useful content they want. And your senior leaders are happy at how simple and painless the whole process is.
Why your senior leaders aren’t writing their own content
(and why that’s completely normal!)
If getting thought leadership content from your senior leaders feels like pulling teeth, you’re not alone. There are 3 reasons this happens, and none of them reflect badly on your leaders.
They’re unlikely to think about brand consistency
To build a strong brand you need to show up in the same way every time, and talk about products, services, customers, markets, and trends in the same way (it’s why you have brand guidelines!).
They’re too busy
Their time is best spent delivering value to clients. Even with the best will in the world, drafting content will never be their priority, because the moment a client calls or a colleague requests a meeting, your content gets bumped.
They can’t find the words to express their ideas
If a senior leader or subject matter expert struggles to put their ideas into a coherent and compelling piece of writing, that’s entirely normal — it’s not what they’re trained to do.
What makes great executive thought leadership content?
The strongest executive thought leadership content shares 3 qualities:
- It’s authentic: the content reflects how the leader actually thinks and speaks. During our briefing interview, I pay close attention to specific phrases they use, anecdotes they share, and the way they frame their ideas, so the final piece read as genuinely theirs.
- It’s opinionated: safe content gets ignored. Executive thought leadership is where your leaders can share the warts-and-all view — the perspective formed by real experience, which makes people stop scrolling and want to read more.
- It’s consistent: authority is built over time. When done well, your leaders become recognised voices in your market. And buyers will actively seek you out because they trust what you have to say.
When it comes to aligning voice with brand, I also consider the bigger picture: your company’s mission, values, and messaging. For example, if your brand has made a commitment to sustainability and it’s a subject your CTO is particularly passionate about, the writing should dial up the intensity of the language to reflect the strength of that conviction.
Executive ghostwriting across all 5 thought leadership formats
Executive ghostwriting isn’t limited to articles. Your senior leaders’ ideas can be shaped into any of the 5 core thought leadership formats, depending on your campaign goals, your audience, and where leads are in the sales cycle.
As a specialist B2B executive thought leadership writer, I write across all 5:
Thought leadership articles: share your leaders’ ideas to start commercial conversations.
White papers: go deep on a complex subject to build credibility with executive buyers.
eBooks: go broad on a subject to build authority and generate leads.
Reports: use your leaders’ market knowledge to interpret trends your audience needs to act on.
Guides: share practical advice to help move past a challenge or seize a new opportunity.
Regardless of the format you choose, the process remains the same: your leaders’ ideas and expertise stay at the centre of everything. I just do the heavy lifting to turn their insight into content your audience will actually want to read.
How I write executive thought leadership content
The process is designed to protect your senior leaders’ time, reduce the burden on your team, and deliver a final piece of content that sounds authentically theirs. Here’s how it works:
Briefing
I start by understanding your audience, your campaign goals, and the idea your leader wants to explore. This includes a 30-minute interview with your senior leader or subject matter expert, where I pay particular attention to how they speak, the phrases they use, and the stories they tell. This is what makes the final piece sound like them.
Research
I add weight and credibility to your leader’s ideas with relevant third-party evidence, such as industry data, analyst commentary, and market context, so your audience can trust what they’re reading.
Skeleton
Before a single word of copy is written, I map out the structure, narrative, and key messages. You review and approve this first, so there are no surprises further down the line.
V1 copy
I write the first draft, applying copywriting techniques, such as storytelling, behavioural science, and emotional connection, to turn your leader’s ideas into content their audience wants to read.
Amends
I refine the copy based on your feedback, making sure every word reflects your leader’s voice, your brand, and your commercial objectives.
Publish
I deliver the final copy, ready to be placed wherever it’s needed — your website, a key publication, LinkedIn, or as part of a wider campaign.
Typical turnaround
Approximately 4 weeks from briefing to final copy — and often sooner, depending on how quickly feedback can be provided at each stage.
Executive ghostwriting in practice: Gate One
Gate One is a specialist management consultancy that designs and delivers some of the largest organisations’ most complex digital transformation projects. As a people-centric business, they wanted to showcase the expertise of their senior consultants through ghostwritten thought leadership articles, covering topics like AI, shadow IT, and 5G.
The challenge was a familiar one: their consultants were exceptional thinkers, but securing time with them was always difficult. They needed a ghostwriter who could extract the right ideas quickly, capture each individual’s voice accurately, and produce content that felt genuinely theirs.
“When writing on behalf of members of our team, Alice has been able to perfectly capture their individual tone of voice, while reflecting Gate One’s overall brand messaging and positioning. All the articles have been received well internally, and they’re producing some impressive digital statistics on our website.“
How much does executive ghostwriting cost?
For full details of my pricing and working process, visit my services page.
Want to see how executive thought leadership content is put together?
I literally wrote the book on this! From Insight to Influence is a free thought leadership playbook written specifically for B2B tech marketers. It covers the full content writing process — including how executive ghostwriting works in practice, how to capture individual tone of voice, and how to create thought leadership content your audience can’t wait to read.
Ready to commission your executive thought leadership content?
Email hello@alicehollis.co.uk and tell me about your project.