I recently listened to a podcast that welcomed Cindy Anderson (Global Lead for Thought Leadership Engagement and Eminence) and Anthony Marshall (Senior Research Director for Thought Leadership) at the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) to reflect on their recent research ahead of the release of The ROI of Thought Leadership.

The survey aimed to assess the value of thought leadership and how it influences business and purchase decisions.

"We asked them how they use that leadership, what they do with it, if it’s valuable, what does it mean to them? And we also asked them how it impacts their business decisions, how it impacts their purchase decisions. And we were able then using that research and that data to calculate in our ROI a return on investment for thought leadership"

The key findings:

• CEOs spend an average of 2 hours consuming thought leadership a week.
• 87% of CEOs indicated they had made a purchase decision for their organisation directly influenced by thought leadership they had read.

The statistic that most stands out…

• The ROI for thought leadership was calculated at 156%, significantly higher than typical marketing campaigns (which will return around 9-10%)

The research conducted by Cindy and Anthony clearly indicates thought leadership's position as a major business asset and as a key differentiator in how a firm's marketing activities can influence the buying decisions of today's industry leaders.

But what do these findings mean for marketers at major players in law and professional services?

Working with some of the industry leaders in law and professional services, it's easy to isolate the behaviours that lead to a strong output of thought leadership. 

Consistency: 

Firms that consistently provide thought leadership to clients tend to see greater success, especially when content creation and knowledge sharing are integrated into their business development strategies. Over time, this approach leads to improved content performance. The key is ensuring that your firm's knowledge is always accessible to clients as they engage with thought leadership regularly.

Relevance:

The highest engagement is always awarded to content that focuses on topics most compatible with the solutions your client is looking for. Readership data I see on thought leadership points to 3 main prompts to creating successful content:

• A recent conversation with one or more clients regarding an ‘of-the-moment’ topic.
• Challenges your clients are facing now and your knowledge of solving those challenges.
• Upcoming events (political, legislative, cultural…) may impact your client. How can they be prepared?

Cross-pollination:

With such a high proportion (87%) of CEOs indicate thought leadership leads to a purchase decision, those who excel in their content marketing strategies ensure the full breadth of knowledge at their firm is available to digest. Strong thought leadership programs also centre on experts' ability to share interdepartmental knowledge with clients when they need it most. If your firm can provide the answers to a variety of topics, filtering relevant knowledge to your clients could swing a decision in your firm's favour. 

As trusted advisors, your subject-matter experts have the relationship advantage when sharing content with clients, even if the topic sits outside their MO. Speak to Passle about exciting advancements in cross-selling with thought leadership.

ROI

Measuring the return on thought leadership varies across firms, with those using an inclusive feedback loop being the most successful. While marketing teams track the impact of thought leadership content, direct feedback from experts highlights its true return. Successful programs also rely on strong support from business leaders, with experts sharing success stories benefiting both marketers and the broader business.

To read a summary of Edelman-LinkedIn’s 2024 Thought Leadership Impact Report, click here.