Key Takeaways
- •The Trust Gap: Buyers trust employees and experts 3x more than corporate messaging. People buy from people, not logos.
- •Reach is Dead: Corporate page organic reach is down to ~2%. Your 'brand voice' is shouting into a void. Personal profiles are the only channel with impact.
- •The Solution: You must decouple your message from your logo. Use Sequenced LinkedIn Ads to distribute your executives' insights directly to your target accounts.
- •Operationalize It: Building influence isn't about 'posting more.' It's about auditing internal experts, sequencing their narrative, and guaranteeing delivery.
For the last decade, B2B marketing has followed a simple playbook: Build the brand. Polish the logo. Speak in the "corporate voice."
In 2026, that playbook is broken.
We are living in the era of the Trust Gap. As AI floods the internet with generic, corporate-sounding content, buyers are retreating to the only thing they still trust: People.
The Data: People > Logos
3x
Buyers trust employees 3x more than corporate brands.
Corporate Visions
74%
Trust in "Technical Experts" to tell the truth about innovation.
Edelman Trust Barometer 2024
The math is brutal. You can spend $10,000 promoting a whitepaper from your company page ("Acme Corp thinks..."), or you can spend $1,000 promoting an insight from your CTO ("Here is what I learned building...").
The CTO (or Technical Founder) will win every time.
Employee Advocacy 2.0
Most companies think "Executive Influence" means asking their team to repost the company blog.
That's not influence. That's spam.
Narrative Leadership is about empowering your subject matter experts (SMEs) to share their expertise, in their voice.
The Old Way vs. The New Way
Old Way (Corporate Brand)
New Way (Executive Influence)
How to Operationalize Influence
You can't just tell your execs to "post more." You need a system to capture their brilliance and distribute it.
Audit Your Voices
Identify the 2-3 people in your company who have genuine expertise. It might not be the CEO. It might be the Head of Engineering, a Product Manager, or a Customer Success leader.
Sequence the Narrative
Work with them to structure their insights into a Narrative Journey (Episode 1: Problem, Episode 2: Philosophy, Episode 3: Proof). See the framework.
Guarantee Delivery with Sequenced Ads
Use Thought Leader Ads to guarantee targeting. We set up a Frequency Squeeze (30 imps/week) to ensure your key accounts see your CTO's insight, then rotate to the next episode.
Ampy is the Sequence Engine.
We monitor your executives' profiles, detect their best content, and automatically distribute it to your target accounts via Sequenced LinkedIn Ads.
The result? A Warm Account List that knows, trusts, and respects your leadership before Sales ever calls.
Data Sources & Citations
- Corporate Visions: Data on employees being trusted 3x more than corporate brands.
- 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer: Data showing high trust (74%) in technical experts and peers regarding innovation.
- Socialinsider LinkedIn Benchmarks 2025: Data regarding the decline of company page reach to ~1.95%.
About the Author
Karl Newlin is the Founder & CEO of Ampy. With 12+ years in B2B Demand Gen, he pioneered the "Story Arc" methodology for LinkedIn ABM.
He helps B2B revenue teams turn executive thought leadership into targeted pipeline using Account-Based Influence.