2020 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study
Seizing the Untapped Potential of Thought Leadership
At a glance
The study confirms that B2B Decision-Makers are spending meaningful time consuming Thought Leadership content that, when done well, can significantly influence brand perception and buying behaviors.
Engagement
48% of Decision-Makers spend an hour or more per week engaged
Quality
15% of Decision-Makers rate the quality of the Thought Leadership excellent
Value
29% of Decision-Makers say they gain valuable insights more than half the time
Brand Impact
89% say Thought Leadership has enhanced their perceptions of an organization
Sales Impact
49% say Thought Leadership is at influencing their purchasing decisions
Attribution
26% of producers tie their Thought Leadership efforts to sales and business wins
Overarching Trends
Almost half of Decisions-Makers who engage with Thought Leadership spend at least an hour a week.
There is relatively little high-quality content being produced
When done well, Thought Leadership positively impacts brand perception and sales
Producers are not investing in doing it well and developing processes to measure its ROI
Key Learnings
Thought Leadership is a powerful way to connect.
Marketers are unable to measure impact on business opportunities.
Cultivating a culture of Thought Leadership lead to greater reputation and sales impact.
Report overview
Over the past three years, Edelman has collaborated with LinkedIn to investigate the power and impact inherent in publishing quality Thought Leadership content. This year’s study confirms that B2B Decision-Makers are spending meaningful time consuming Thought Leadership content and, when that content is done well, that it has the potential to significantly influence brand perception and buying behaviors.
For the purpose of this study, Thought Leadership refers to:
Free deliverables organizations or individuals produce on a topic they know a lot about and 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.
Example formats include:
Research Report
Videos
Essays
Thought Pieces
Webinars
Presentations
Audiences in the report...
Purchase Decision-Makers
Consumers of Thought Leadership who are involved in vetting, recommending and/or making final decisions on their company’s choice of professional service providers or products.
Thought Leadership Producers
Consumers of Thought Leadership who also work in an organization that produces freely available Thought Leadership.
Source: 2020 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study
Learn more about how we arrived at these findings below:
