How Thought Leadership Impacts Demand Generation

How Thought Leadership

Impacts Demand Generation

Jeff Weiner

Chief Executive Officer

Phil Gomes

Sr. VP of U.S. B2B Digital,

Edelman

Kelly Kyer

Global Director, Technology Vertical Marketing

LinkedIn Marketing Solutions

Housekeeping

How Thought Leadership

Impacts Demand Generation

Jeff Weiner

Chief Executive Officer

Phil Gomes

Sr. VP of U.S. B2B Digital,

Edelman

Kelly Kyer

Global Director, Technology Vertical Marketing

LinkedIn Marketing Solutions

Today’s agenda

04 The True Value of Thought Leadership

06 About the Study

10 Key Findings

17 What Makes for great Thought Leadership

21 Examples of Thought Leadership

23 Recommendations for B2B Marketers

24 Q&A

EDELMAN + LINKEDIN

The True Value of Thought LeadershipThe business value of thought leadership is often assumed but rarely

measured

So what role does

thought leadership

play in the complete

buying process?

More Questions

For B2B companies,

complex sales cycles

and multiple deal

influencers

complicate

attribution.

Complexities

Beyond driving

awareness, the ROI

of thought leadership

has long been hard

to evaluate.

Uncertain ROI

About the Study

What is Thought Leadership?About the Study

“Free deliverables that organizations or individuals

produce on a topic that they know a lot about, and

they feel others can benefit from having their

perspective on. Thought leadership, in this context,

does not include content primarily focused on

describing an organization’s products or services.”

What is Thought Leadership?About the Study

Formats of thought leadership include, but are not limited to:

• Research reports

• Thought pieces

• Essays

• Videos

• Webinars

• Presentations (live or published online)

• Similar such items that organizations make freely

available (or in return for submitting contact information)

Understanding the Attribution GapHow Thought Leadership Works Across the Purchase Funnel

AWARENESS

CONSIDERATION

PREFERENCE

PURCHASE

We Surveyed:

• 1,300 business decision

makers

This included:

• 680+ producers of thought

leadership

• 180+ CXOs

Key

Findings

Thought Leadership Opens The ConversationDecision makers take commercial action after reading thought leadership

Creators of thought leadership believe:

33

%

It generates incoming

calls from potential

clients

42%It helps with lead

generation

What Decision Makers actually do after engaging with thought

leadership:

Gave the organization

your contact information

Reached out to the

organization to follow

up

44%

55%

Business decision makers

C-Suite executives

31%

42%


C-Suite executives

Generates RFP OpportunitiesOpportunities for which your firm was not previously considered


17%

“Thought leadership gets us more RFPs”

Decision makers said:

37%

41%


C-Suite executives

“After seeing its thought leadership: invited the

organization to propose on a project”

Increase Respect and AdmirationThe trust necessary to feel comfortable buying from your firm


“It enhances our brand reputation”

What Decision Makers think after engaging with thought

leadership:

88%

89%


C-Suite executives

“My respect and admiration for the

organization increased”

59%Much higher

trust-building

effectiveness

than creators

realize

Builds Decision Maker TrustDe-risks the sales cycle


49%

“It (thought leadership) builds trust in our

organization among potential clients”


82%

81%


C-Suite executives

“It (thought leadership) increased my trust

in the organization”

Helps Close BusinessThought leadership is key to a win—more than most realize


20%

“It helps us close and win”


45%

48%


C-Suite executives

“Directly led you to decide to give business

to a company”

Commands Premium PricesDriving not just more revenue, but more profitability


10%

“It allows us to charge more than our

competitors who produce lower quality thought

leadership”


49%

47%


C-Suite executives

“I am more willing to pay a premium to work

with an organization that has publicly

articulated a clear vision for the future”

What Makes for Great

Thought Leadership

What Makes Prospects Engage with Thought

Leadership?Some surprises in terms of what prospects value

Business decision makers (total sample)

C-Suite executives

70

48

86

67

68

84

Comes from a source that I have opted into

Forwarded by my boss

Forwarded by someone I know and respect

Sources

36

50

63

34

53

63

Ideas are completely new and original

It is short and easily absorbed

Topic is something I am currently working on

Content

Timeliness and

relevance more

important than

pure originality

Thought Leaders Need to Deliver Facts, Insights

and Substance… Quickly.

Business decision makers (total sample)

C-Suite executives

49%

50%

67

%

45%

53%

71 % 78%

79

%

66%

63

%

63

%64%

Facts and

Insight

Lengt

h

Short-form 3-4

page documents

Short-form 3-4

minute videos

Snackable media

that can be digested

in 1 -2 minutes

Identification of new

trends or issues that I

should know about

The analysis of the causes and

drivers underlying important

current events and issues

The data (e.g., charts,

infographics, key facts or figures)

Percent who rate each factor as important in getting them to engage with thought leadership (top 3 shown)

Thought Leadership can also be a Double-Edged

SwordNearly 1 In 2 BDMs Are Disappointed With The Quality

44% 51%

Percentage of the time I gain valuable

insight from thought leadership

Percentage of survey respondents who are

disappointed by this

Highly Engaged Thought Leadership on LinkedIn

Key

Takeaways

Align thought leadership

with demand generation

efforts

Convene all relevant parties to explore where the two workstreams might intersect.

Recommendations for B2B Marketers

Educate rather than sell No one wants to be sold to, but (almost) everyone wants to learn more.

Know your customerExplore where the customer “pain points” are by function to help make thought

leadership more relevant and strategic.

Be timely and brief Understand not only what you customer needs to see, but when and in what form.

Harness the power of

employees

Thought leadership should not only be about what the customer needs to see, but

what your employees will be inspired to share.

Close the attribution gapAlign with sales KPIs and plan your analytics and measurement approach early to

help judge content performance and effectiveness.

Q&A

Thank you