思想领导力报告

Helpingyourmarketlearn

canalsohelpyouearn

Insightsgainedaftersurveying

300executivesandmanagersinthemanufacturingecosysteminvolvedinmakingdecisionsonofferings

withlongsalescycles.

INTRODUCTION

Inabusinessenvironmentfloodedwithinformation,contentthathelps

customersandprospectslearnsomethingnewandvaluablecutsthroughthenoiseandimprovesbusinessoutcomes.Thisisthefindingfroma

first-of-itskindreportconductedbybusiness-to-business(B2B)marketingfirmRHBlake.Thestudymeasuredhowthoughtleadershipcontentcreatedbysellersofproductswithlongsalescycles(LSC)influences

purchasingbyexecutivesandmanagersinmanufacturing

andprocessindustries.

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Marketersoflongsalescycle(LSC)offeringshaveseveraldistinctchallenges,including:

Buyersaremoreskepticaltodayaboutmarketing

information.Google

Greaterrisktothe

businessinmakingthewrongdecision.

Offeringswithlong

salescyclestendtobe

high-investment,

relativelycomplex,andhaveafar-

reachingimpacton

theorganization.6

Ever-largerbuying

teamsstruggletoalign,slowingsalescycles

andproducingmore“nodecisions.”

TheaverageB2Bbuyingteamtodayhas11

members;3researchers

estimatethat40-60%ofbuyingprojectsendinnodecision.4

Hardertocapturemarketattentioninaworld

floodedwithinformation,exacerbatedby

AI-generated

content.Buyershavemoreinformationthan

everbefore,makingthemmoreoverwhelmedthanempowered.1

Buyersspendmore

timeresearching

independentlyonline

thantheydomeetingwithpotentialsuppliers,

iftheymeetatall:

33%ofbuyers

wantaseller-free

buyingexperience.5Thisself-educationmeans

reportsahugeriseinthekeyword“legit”inthepastfiveyears,meaningbuyersareincreasingly

verifyingpotential

suppliers,productclaims,

andcustomerreviews.2

marketershavelessinfluence.

3

INTRODUCTION

>

behaviors—andbettersupporttheirsalespeople—byconvincingbuyersofthevalueoftheofferingswithhigh-qualitythoughtleadershipcontent.

Thoughdaunting,thesechallengesalsopresentopportunitiesto

INTRODUCTION

marketersofLSCofferings.Marketingprofessionalsmustimprovetheir

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abilitytoinfluencechangingbuying

DEFINITIONS&METHODOLOGY

Forthisreport,wedefine“thoughtleadership”ascontentthatdeliversexpertise,guidance,

orauniqueperspectiveonaprofessionaltopicorfield(suchastechnology,businessprocesses,industrytrends,etc.).Thiscontentmaybe

presentedinmanyformats:articles,blogs,

podcasts,presentations,researchreports,videos,webinars,whitepapers.Itexcludesadvertising

orproductandpromotionalliterature.

5

DEFINITIONSANDMETHODOLOGY

Forthestudy,datawascollectedbyaleadingglobalresearchfirmviaasurveyofarandomsampleofB2Bexecutives,managersandother

decision-makersfromvariousindustriesandcompanysizes.Participantswerescreenedtoisolateindividualswho:

Participateinpurchasedecisions

Workforacompanythatsells

forproductsorservicesintheircompany.

3+

3

physicalordigitalproducts—suchascapitalequipment,software

$

and/orservices--tomanufacturersandprocessindustries.

Areinvolvedwithpurchasing

productsthathavesalescyclesofthreemonthsormore.Thesales

cyclewasdefinedasthetimefromthepointoffirstcontactwitha

Responsesfrom

potentialcustomertowhenafinalpurchasedecisionismade.

Thesurveygarnered300respondentsfromCanada,Germany,theUnitedKingdomContinents

andtheUnitedStates.Standardanalyticresearchdataqualitycontrolswereapplied.

Themarginoferroris+/-4.9%.

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KEY

FINDINGS

7

1.Thoughtleadershipopens

eyes,doorsandwallets.

Eyes.

ofdecision-makers

KEYLEARNINGS

indicatethattheyaremorelikelytoconsiderbuyingfromanorganizationthat

producesthoughtleadershipcontent.Fromthis,onecanconcludethatcompaniesnot

producingthoughtleadershiparerestrictingmarketplaceconsideration.

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Doors.

Thereportfoundthatofdecision-makerssaidtheywouldbe

morereceptivetosalesoutreachfromanorganizationthatproduces

thoughtleadershipcontent.Wenotedearlierthatmanybuyersprefernot

tomeetwithsalespeopleonsite.Goodthoughtleadershiphelpsmitigatethistrendandopensdoorsforsalespeople.Top-lineopportunitiesarethus

improvedwiththoughtleadership.

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KEYLEARNINGS

Wallets.

Goodthoughtleadershipcanevenimprovebottomlines.Thisisbasedonthereport’sfindingthat76%of

decision-makerssaytheyaremorelikelytopayapremiumtowork

KEYLEARNINGS

withanorganizationthatproducesthoughtleadershipcontent.This

meansmarketerscandomorethanjustbuildawarenessandpreference;theireffortscanimproveprofitability.

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2.Buyersgivethoughtleadershiptheirmostpreciousgift:time.

Thestudyshowedthat39%ofdecision-makers

spendmorethan6hoursaweekreviewingthoughtleadershipcontent.Sixhoursisasizableamountoftimeinabusyworkweek,evenawholedayofworkbysomestandards.

8

Ifcustomersandprospectsareinvestingadayaweekreviewingthoughtleadership,

successfulmarketersshouldhavehigh-quality

thoughtleadership,aswellasgoodmethodstoget

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suchcontentinfrontofcustomersandprospects.

spendmorethan

6hours

aweekreviewingthoughtleadershipcontent

KEYLEARNINGS

Timespentstudyingthoughtleadershipcontentimprovesareader’sknowledge,

saidthatthoughtleadership

andevenchangestheirminds.Thisisbasedonthestudy’sfindingthat87%ofdecision-makerssaidthatthought

KEYLEARNINGS

contentledthemtoresearchaproduct

leadershipcontentledthemtoresearchaproduct,service,orsolutiontheywerenot

previouslyconsidering.

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Useofthoughtleadershipduringthebuyingjourney.

Thestudyrevealedthatdecision-makersrelyonthoughtleadership

throughoutthebuyingjourney,with72%indicatingthattheyengagewith

thoughtleadershipcontentduringthedecision-makingstage.Thisfindingshowsthatthoughtleadershipcontentisbeingincludedininternaljustificationsto

educateotherstakeholders.

KEYLEARNRNNIGS

AWARENESSDECISION

CONSIDERATION

>

High%ofdecisionmakersrelyonthoughtleadershipacross

75%

thebuyingjourney

72%

68%

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3.Thoughtleadershipburnishesreputations,boostsmarketshareandbuoysbuying.

Marketers’jobdescriptionsoftensay,“buildthebrand”and“increaseawarenessandpreference.”Thoughtleadershipcontenthelpsmeettheseobjectives.Thestudyshowedthat92%ofdecisionmakers

thinkmorepositivelyoforganizationsthatconsistentlyproducethoughtleadershipcontent.

KEYLEARNINGS

Preferenceishardtoearn,andoftenisaresultofabuyer’sprevious

experiencewithasupplier.Iftheexperiencewasgood,buyers

arelikelytobuyfromthesupplieragain.Goodthoughtleadershipincreasesthechancesofrepeatorders,andalsoincreasesthe

chancesoffirst-timeorders,as90%ofdecision-makerssaythatthoughtleadershipincreasestrustinexisting

orpotentialsuppliers.

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Marketersneedtogrowmarketshare,which

requireswinningcustomersfromcompetitors.

Thoughtleadershiphelpsheretoo:83%ofdecision-makerssaidthatthought

leadershipcontenthelpedthemrealizethatthereareothersupplierswhoaresmarter,moreinformed,andmore

visionarythantheircurrentsupplier.

Thoughtleadershiphelpswin

attention,butdoesithelpwintheorder?Theanswerappearstobeyes,as84%

ofC-leveldecision-makerssaidthat

theypurchasedorstartedworkingwithanorganizationthatproducesthoughtleadershipcontent.

KEYLEARNINGS

ofC-levelsaidthattheypurchasedor

startedworkingwithanorganizationthatproducesthoughtleadershipcontent

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4.Goodthoughtleadershipshowsactualgoodthinkingbasedonrealexperiences.

Somemarketersdisguisepromotionalmaterialasthoughtleadership,hopingtopresentitasvaluableindustryinsight.Thisdoesn’twork.

B2Bdecision-makershavehighstandards

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forthoughtleadership.Theylookforcontentbasedonresearchthatisrelevanttobusinessneedsandcommunicatedfromaprofessionalandunbiasedperspective.C-suiteexpectationsareevenhigheracrossallcharacteristics.

Whatisgoodthoughtleadership?

(%decision-makersrateasimportantorveryimportant)

Basedonreal-world

experiences,casestudiesandexamples

Referencesstrongresearchdata

Innovativethinkingthat

challengesconventionalwisdom,offeringvisionaryordisruptiveideas.

Addressesrelevantindustrychallenges

Communicatedbyrecognizedindustryexpert(s)

Communicatedin

anunbiasedfashion

Original:offeringuniqueperspectivesorinsightsnotwidelyaddressed

elsewhere.

Communicatedwithadecisiveviewpoint

92%

89%

94%

87%

86%

84%

92%

93%96%

98%

90%

88%

98%

92%

90%

81%

80%100%

●Total

.C-Suite

KEYLEARNINGS

ofdecision-makerssaidthatthebestthoughtleadershipisbasedonreal-worldexperiences,casestudiesandexamples.

Thebestexamplesofthoughtleadershipincludesuccessfulimplementationsthatshowanovelbusinessapproach(leadingthoughts),alongwithbenefitsthataccruedtothe

customerasaresultofdeployingtheoffering.Enterprisingsalespeoplesellsuccessfullywiththistypeofcontent.

KEYLEARNINGS

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5.Themultipliereffect.

Qualitythoughtleadershipalsosignificantlyincreasesthechancesofcontentbeingshared,especiallyamonginfluentialaudiences.Basedonthousandsof

VoiceoftheCustomerinterviewswehaveconductedwithB2Bmanufacturing

decision-makers,wordofmouthisacriticalfactorinshapingdecisions.Bycreating

high-qualitythoughtleadership,youcanbetterpositionyourselfattheheartofthese

importantdiscussions,allowingyourbrandtoexpanditsreachinacost-effectiveway.

Furthermore,sincethecontentissharedbyatrustedsource,itcarriesgreatercredibility

KEYLEARNINGS

andcansignificantlyimpacttheperceptionofyourexpertise,ultimatelydrivingtrustinyourbrand.

&

ofdecision-makersofC-Suites

Indicatetheyoftenoralwayssharethoughtleadership

contentwiththeircolleaguesornetwork.

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FINDINGSYOUCANMAKE

Ifthoughtleadershipisnot

alreadypartofyourmarketinginvestment,wehopethis

thoughtleadershiphas

givenyougoodreasontoconsiderincludingit.

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Toaccompanythereport’sfindings,wechallengeyoutofindthe

following5things:

1.Findtherightcontent.

IfyourcompanymarketsLSCofferings,your

offeringshaveadegreeofcomplexitythatcamefromexcellentengineering,extensiveexperienceorinnovativeideas.Yourofferingshaveunique

sellingpropositions,or“plus1s;”competitive

elementsthatappearinyourcolumnduringa

buyer’sevaluation.So,youhave:differentiated

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technologiesorapplications;proprietarybusinessmodelsorprovenprocesses,oradvanced

FINDINGSYOUCANMAKE

R&Dorengineeringfromwhichtofindthoughtleadership.Exploreyour“plus1s”andfindareasthatmakebusinesssensetopromotewith

thoughtleadership.Sincemuchofthevalueofyourcompanyresidesin“plus1s,”highlighting

theminpublicthoughtleadershipmaytake

somemanagementconvincing.Butbusinessisabalanceofriskandreward.

2.Findtherightvoice.

Ifyouarefortunate,youwillfindaSubjectMatterExpert(SME)inyourcompanywhoisamasteroftheircraftandreceivescareersatisfactionfromsharingknowledge.Suchapersonmayalreadyhavegoodcontenttoworkwith,suchasapaperpresentedataconference,orinternaltraining

contentthatcanbere-purposed.

Ifyoucan’tfindapersonwillingtoshare

knowledgeeasily,youmustmakeanextra

FINDINGSYOUCANMAKE

effort.MostSMEsareawareoftheir

contributiontocompanysuccess.Express

tothemthatexternalthoughtleadership

developedwiththeirknowledgewillallow

>

themtomakeanevenbiggercontribution,andenhancetheircareer.SometimesSMEswillstatethattheydon’thavethetime.Inourexperience,withcarefulplanning,youcanrespecttheirtimeandstillgetwhatyouneed.

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3.Findtheright

contentdeveloper(s).

Anexperiencedwriterwhoisfamiliarwithyourindustryandwithyourtypeofofferingisagoodplacetostart.Asstatedearlier,

thoughtleadershipcontentcanbepresentedinmanyformats,soyoumayneedacontentdevelopmentteam.Ifyou’refortunate,the

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voiceyoufoundwillhavewrittenorpreparedsomethingthatcanbethebasisforthoughtleadership.Ifso,goodmarketingcontentdeveloper(s)shouldworkwiththeSMEtocastthetechnology,processorsubjectinthemostaccurateandappropriatelight.

Ifyoudonothaveareadybasisfordeveloping

externalcontent,youmayneedtofindamore

seasonedcontentdeveloperwhoisfamiliar

enoughwiththeindustryyouserve,theproductsyouprovide,thevaluesavailabletoyour

customersfromyourofferingsandwithbusinessingeneral.Suchacontentdevelopercanask

therightquestionstodrawoutth