Before we explore the power of thought leaders and thought leadership, let us make sure we are all on the same page as to what a thought leader is? While there is no one definition accepted by all, a solid working definition is the following:
A thought leader is an individual or a company specializing in a field whose authority is honored and respected and whose comments, thoughts, and beliefs are sought after by others.
Based on this definition, a study by LinkedIn and Edelman Communications has uncovered the following:
Decision-Makers consume thought leadership content to stay educated on the trends affecting their industries and to generate innovative ideas for their businesses.
Today, more than half (51%) of C-suite executives say they spend more time, consuming thought leadership content than before the pandemic began.
54% of Decision-Makers – and 48% of the C-suite – say they spend more than 1 hour per week reading and reviewing thought leadership content.
Percentage of Decision-Makers who say the following occurs sometimes or more frequently after engaging with a piece of thought leadership content:
- 42% — Invited the organization to bid on a project (when that firm was not in their original consideration set)
- 48% — Awarded business to the organization responsible for the thought leadership
- 53% — Decided to increase the amount of business they did with the organization
- 54% — Purchased a new product or service from the organization that they had not previously considered buying
More Thoughts on Thought Leadership
- 60% of buyers say thought leadership builds credibility when entering a new category where the brand is unknown.
- 57% of buyers say that thought leadership builds awareness for a new or little-known brand.
- 53% of buyers say it’s essential for new and small companies to produce thought leadership if they want buyers to consider working with them.
- 47% of buyers say thought leadership led them to discover and purchase from a company that was not considered to be among the leaders in a particular category (i.e., a challenger brand)
SOURCE: 2021 B2B Thought Leadership Study Published by LinkedIn and Edelman Communications
More on the power of Thought Leadership Here
