Executive Summary
Times are tough for B2B marketers. At any given time, a staggering 95% of business clients are not actively seeking goods or services. 1 Lingering economic uncertainty is extending sales cycles, with nearly 90% of global buyers indicating their purchase process became more drawn-out last year. 2 Moreover, B2B buyers now prefer a self-directed journey of digital discovery.
In this environment, getting buyers off the sidelines has become imperative. B2B companies need to prompt buyers to rethink their challenges as a first step to stimulating demand. Thought leadership can provide that competitive edge.
We surveyed nearly 3,500 management-level professionals in December 2023 for insights into how thought leadership can do more than just increase brand awareness. Done well, it makes buyers reexamine their assumptions and inoculates you against competitors trying to woo away your customers.
Such content is an important way to convey what your company stands for — the promise you’re making to your customers3 — and makes your brand powerful and attractive to buyers.
1 “The 95:5 rule is the new 60:40 rule,” Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, September 2022.2 “Forrester’s 2023 Global B2B Buyers’ Journey Survey Reveals That Budget Crunches, Information Overload, and Generational Differences Are Protracting Buying Cycles,” October 2023.3 “Making a Promise to the Customer: How to Give Campaigns a Competitive Edge,” by Roger Martin, Jann Schwarz, and Mimi Turner, LinkedIn B2B Institute.
This study is the sixth annual collaboration between Edelman and LinkedIn examining how thought leadership influences buying behaviors among B2B decision-makers and C-suite executives.
Our previous research confirmed the full-funnel, business-generating impact of strong thought leadership — especially amid economic uncertainty — and the tangible risks of publishing low-quality content.
Please view our 2017-2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 reports.
JoeKingsburyEdelman
DavidBersoffEdelma
AnnieDunleavyEdelman
ScottHillisEdelman
RobynArmesEdelman
TusarBarikLinkedIn
JannSchwarzLinkedIn
Thought leadership that spurs business leaders to rethink their challenges is a powerful tool for stimulating demand for your business’s products and services.It does far more than just create a favorable impression of your brand.
Effective thought leadership exerts a surprisingly strong influence on sales and pricing.Thought leadership can be a more powerful marketing tool than traditional methods and makes people more willing to seek you out — and even pay extra for your expertise.
Offense is your best defense: Protecting your existing customers is critical.If you’re not helping your customers think about their challenges in new ways, someone else will. Thought leadership can help inoculate you against competitors trying to poach your customers.
Despite the clear power of thought leadership to drive business results, most organizations say it is under-resourced, misused, and not measured appropriately.Firms adept at quantifying thought leadership ROI will be better positioned to secure the resources that can amplify their efforts.
Effective thought leadership has three key attributes: it cites strong research and data, helps buyers understand their business challenges, and offers concrete guidance.Doing any of these will elevate your thought leadership above the pack. Doing them all will put you in the top tier.
Thought leadership refers to content that offers expertise, guidance or a unique point of view on a topic or in a field. It includes content like thought pieces, essays, videos, webinars, live presentations, PowerPoint slides, and research reports that organizations make available to the public for free (or in return for registering or giving contact information).
In this context, “thought leadership” does not include content that is primarily focused on describing an organization’s products or services, or thought leadership that you pay to receive — such as client deliverables, subscription services, or reports that must be purchased.
Company executives who consume thought leadership and are involved in making final decisions on their company’s choice of professional service providers or products.
Company owners, partners and founders who consume thought leadership and who have complete or partial ownership of a company, or C-Suite-level executives with responsibility for a business function.
Managers (and higher) who both consume thought leadership and work for an organization that produces free thought leadership.
To help B2B companies understand the impact of thought leadership, Edelman and LinkedIn surveyed 3,484 global business executives across a wide range of industries and company sizes.
Data Collection Online, using the LinkedIn platform to survey LinkedIn member
Survey Length10 minutes
Markets SurveyedUnited States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Australia, India (all surveyed in English)
Margin of Error+/- 2.8%
Fielding DatesNovember 30 toDecember 14, 2023
