Thought leadership can be a woolly concept, but Andrew Mildren, Managing Director, Edelman Business Marketing EMEA, explores research into its powerful effect on businesses’ reputation, relationships and revenue.
Thought leadership is one of most widely used, yet misunderstood, terms in business. How many times has someone in your company (often a person not involved in marketing) said “Ah, we could get some great thought leadership on that” or “The CEO wants to talk about this, so can you just write a thought leadership article?” It often becomes a catch-all for thinly disguised product marketing or overt company promotion swayed by the views of a few senior executives.
The latest Edelman and LinkedIn Thought Leadership Impact study surveys 3,500 B2B decision makers and challenges these misconceptions. At a time of global uncertainty and cautious business decision making, the research reveals that thought leadership can play a powerful role in building trust, proving value, and galvanising potential B2B buyers into action. Five key themes emerge:
- Businesses must prompt out-of-market buyers to rethink their business challenges to stimulate demand:
The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science famously found that 95% of companies aren’t considering buying a new service or seeking new partners and are unlikely to do so for months or even years, with only 5% of buyers currently ‘in the market’ for say a new technology services provider or banking partner. Highly targeted marketing and bid support teams can work closely with sales to win those deals but what about the other 95%?
High-quality thought leadership is one of the most effective tools for showcasing new ideas; challenging assumptions and nudging potential buyers to reexamine their business needs. Three-quarters of business leaders say that a particular piece of thought leadership content has led them to research a product or service they weren’t previously considering. Among this group, 60% say that the content made them realise their organisation was missing out on a significant business opportunity.
Nearly two-thirds (60%) say that that thought leadership is a powerful tool for building credibility when entering a new category, with 57% saying it can help less well-known brands punch above their weight against incumbent players. Brand-led marketing needs time to build recall and mental availability with decision makers, whilst simply pushing product features won’t cut through against established category leaders but people are receptive to smart ideas and provocative thinking even if they are less familiar with the company proposing them.
- Effective thought leadership exerts a surprisingly strong influence on sales and pricing
Our study shows that thought leadership has a measurable impact throughout the business buying process. From awareness, perception and ensuring you get invited to bid more often at the top of the funnel; improving understanding, building trust, and deepening customer relationships in the middle of the funnel; and helping convert business, cross and upsell services and boost margin when deals get made.
A striking 73% of B2B buyers consider thought leadership a more trustworthy basis for judging a company’s competencies than traditional marketing materials. Earning trust drives actions amongst buyers, with 54% saying that organisations which consistently produce good quality content have prompted them to research their offers and capabilities, and 86% saying they would be moderately or very likely to invite the company to participate in a tender process.
When it comes to pricing, 60% of business decision makers say they are willing to pay a premium to organisations which can demonstrate the quality of their thinking and talent of their people.
- Offence is your best defence: you can’t stand still when it comes to thought leadership
Thought leadership may be a powerful tool for research and discovery but it can also enable your current customers to find alternative service providers who can steal your business!
Nearly three quarters of business leaders admitted that a piece of thought leadership content made them question whether they should continue working with a current supplier. Over half (54%) said the content made them realise there were other suppliers that had a better understanding of the challenges their organisation was facing, and a similar percentage (51%) said they realised that other suppliers were smarter or more visionary.
Ultimately, of the B2B buyers who questioned supplier relationships due to a competitor’s thought leadership, 25% have ended or significantly reduced their relationship with a current supplier. As with many personal and professional relationships, organisations need to surprise and delight with new formats, fresh ideas and distinctive creative.
- Thought leadership is under-resourced, misused, and not appropriately measured
Nearly a third (30%) of producers of thought leadership say that their organisation does not really know how to use thought leadership as a sales or marketing tool. Alarmingly, one in five respondents also say that their company does not have any process in place for measuring effectiveness, while nearly half (42%) state that their primary measure of effectiveness is looking for increased web and social traffic. Without these elements in place, no wonder thought leadership is often misunderstood and under-resourced.
Thought leadership is often seen as less tangible but it can be helpful to think about its role through the buying process – in terms of reputation (making new connections, building trust, changing perceptions), relationships (deepening existing customer relationships, reaching new decision makers, improving understanding) and revenue (it’s ability to aid conversion, cross and upsell and improve margin.)
The same reputation, relationship and revenue lens can be useful in terms of maximising the value of each campaign. When planning a programme, is there content available at each of these stages? Can a single campaign be sliced to support each phase of the customer conversation?
- When it comes to quality, good is no longer good enough
As more and more content is produced, a mediocre middle is emerging which makes it increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd. Just under half (48%) of respondents say the quality of the thought leadership they receive is good but only 15% say it is either very good or excellent.
Business decision makers provide a clear view on what they want to see in thought leadership. There can be a temptation to rely on a company’s own executives but 62% of respondents are looking for views from prominent, well-respected third-party experts. Over half (55%) expect strong and new data, not just secondary research or reworking of existing data. Rather than solely focusing on longer-term, future trends, 43% are seeking concrete advice, tangible examples, and fresh perspectives on the challenges their organisation faces today.
Distinctiveness, through creativity, unique formats and styles are also cited by 66% of B2B leaders. Companies like Microsoft, Maersk, Siemens and Zendesk are all good examples of companies with a memorable style, clear storytelling, which have invested in creative craft to stand out. They are also business brands willing to test and develop new formats.
You get out what you put in when it comes to thought leadership. The study shows that business decision makers remain eager for provocative opinions and new perspectives and there is tangible value in terms of prompting out-of-market prospects into action, boosting customer retention, improving margin, and making it easier to get the next sale.
About the research
The Edelman & LinkedIn Thought Leadership Impact study is based on a survey of 3,484 global business executives across a range of industries and company sizes. The research was conducted online, using the LinkedIn platform and took place between 30th November – 14th December 2023.
To learn more, please check out the full findings of the 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Study.
