Thought leadership is an essential B2B marketing tool: new research
High-quality thought leadership — in other words, content that demonstrates genuine expertise — is essential for building a strong B2B tech brand.
Building a memorable brand is, in turn, central to successful marketing overall. As marketing expert Philip Kotler once said, “The art of marketing is the art of brand building. If you are not a brand, you are a commodity.” For companies selling a high-ticket enterprise tech solution, being commodified and forced to compete on price is not where they want to be.
However, proving the value of thought leadership measurably can be difficult. As a result, it doesn’t always get the buy-in it deserves from senior management, making it vulnerable to being axed in cost-cutting drives.
So for those of us who believe in the power of thought leadership, recent research by Edelman and LinkedIn showing its value couldn’t be more welcome.
What does the research say about thought leadership?
The research by Edelman and LinkedIn — who surveyed nearly 3,500 business leaders — proves that the value of thought leadership goes beyond increasing brand awareness. For B2B companies, it’s one of the most powerful marketing strategies out there, and one that’s rarely used to maximum potential.
Let’s break down some of the key findings.
It increases sales and pricing power
The research shows that thought leadership drives sales and revenue far more than many might realise. It’s often more effective than traditional marketing approaches, with 73% of decision-makers saying that they trust it over product-focused marketing materials.
More than 75% of the executives surveyed said that a thought leadership asset had influenced them to look into a product or service that they hadn’t previously considered.
Consistent high-quality thought leadership makes around 70% of decision-makers think more positively about an organisation, and makes 60% willing to pay a premium for their products or services.
90% of decision-makers and C-suite executives said they are somewhat or much more likely to be more interested in sales and marketing from a company that consistently puts out good thought leadership.
It defends you against competitors
Thought leadership doesn't just drive new business — it protects existing customer relationships. 70% of C-suite leaders say thought leadership from a rival had made them question whether to continue working with an existing supplier.
Effective thought leadership can prevent competitors from stealing your customers by proving your understanding and approach to industry challenges are up-to-date, relevant and still the best out there.
But it’s often hard to measure - and under-resourced
Despite its strategic importance, most organizations report that thought leadership is under-resourced and not measured well.
The research notes that 19% of companies don’t have a process for measuring the effectiveness of thought leadership, and only 29% of producers can link sales leads back to specific pieces of thought leadership content.
As I mentioned, these two problems are related — a difficulty in measuring ROI can make it hard for marketing leaders to justify thought leadership spending and get budget allocated for it.
The authors suggest there’s a need for improved metrics and analysis. While I agree that companies should look to measure the ROI of thought leadership where possible, they also need to accept much of its impact will always be hard to quantify. Marketers making the case for investment in thought leadership should point to research like this to support their case, rather than claiming that these brand-building activities can be directly and measurably linked to revenue.
There’s a big chance to stand out
According to the research, only 15% of decision-makers rate the overall quality of thought leadership they encounter as very good or excellent.
This mirrors research I previously highlighted which indicates that most business decision-makers are disappointed with the state of thought leadership content. As I argued, this means there’s a big opportunity to stand out for those willing to invest in creating original, expert-driven thought leadership content.
So how do you create high-quality thought leadership?
Get internal experts and senior leaders involved
62% of the survey’s respondents said that thought leadership should be produced by a prominent, well-respected expert. Their authority and expertise lend significant weight and credibility to content, making it more likely to be noticed. This doesn’t mean that B2B ghostwriters like me should be out of a job - but it does mean that we should work closely with senior executives and internal experts when creating content.
We should help these busy people channel their expertise and express their knowledge in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand. There’s a strong chance internal experts will have unique insights and perspectives to offer, cutting through all of the generic content out there and addressing the pain points of your target audience.
Use high-quality data
Publishing original research, gathered internally or in partnership with a research company, provides real value to readers. Offering these valuable insights in turn positions you as a leading industry voice, building trust and credibility.
Even if you don’t publish original data, your thought leadership should include high-quality data points. Just rehashing articles from page one of Google Search doesn’t cut it. Thorough research is a must.
Edelman and LinkedIn’s research indicates that this is the biggest distinguishing factor between good and great thought leadership, with 55% saying that the latter references strong research and data.
Focus unselfishly on the audience’s needs
44% of the executives surveyed said the best thought leadership buyers understand their business challenges. In short, you need to focus on creating content that helps your target audience solve their specific needs and challenges.
Adopting this framework of thinking unselfishly helps you to avoid common pitfalls like:
Self-serving content that is just a thinly-veiled sales pitch, and doesn’t provide value to your target audience.
Content that uses clickbaity tricks to steal people’s attention, without providing any substance.
This doesn’t mean just telling your customers and audience what they want to hear. Bringing an opinionated perspective to popular topics helps you to stand out. But these perspectives need to be well-reasoned, authentic, and focused on the customer’s needs, rather than marketing fluff.