思想领导力报告

Helping

yourmarketlearncan

also

help

you

earnInsights

gained

after

surveying300executives

and

managers

in

themanufacturingecosysteminvolved

inmakingdecisionsonofferingswith

long

sales

cycles.INTRODUCTIONInabusinessenvironmentflooded

withinformation,contentthathelpscustomersandprospectslearnsomethingnewand

valuablecutsthroughthe

noise

and

improves

business

outcomes.This

is

the

finding

from

afirst-of-itskindreportconductedbybusiness-to-business(B2B)marketingfirmRHBlake.

Thestudymeasuredhowthoughtleadershipcontentcreated

bysellersofproductswithlongsalescycles(LSC)influencespurchasingbyexecutivesandmanagersinmanufacturingandprocessindustries.2Buyersspendmoretime

researchingindependentlyonlinethantheydomeeting

withpotential

suppliers,if

they

meet

at

all:33%of

buyerswantaseller-freemarketershave

lessinfluence.Marketers

of

long

sales

cycle(LSC)offerings

haveseveraldistinctchallenges,including:Ever-largerbuyingteams

struggle

to

align,

slowingsalescyclesandproducingmore“no

decisions.”The

average

B2B

buyingteam

today

has11members;3

researchersestimate

that

40-60%ofbuyingprojectsendinnodecision.4Greaterrisktothebusinessinmakingthe

wrong

decision.Offeringswithlongsalescyclestendtobehigh-investment,relatively

complex,

andhave

a

far-reachingimpactontheorganization.6Buyersaremoreskeptical

todayaboutmarketinginformation.Googlereportsahuge

rise

inthekeyword

“legit”in

thepast

five

years,meaning

buyersareincreasinglyverifyingpotentialsuppliers,productclaims,andcustomerreviews.2Harder

to

capture

marketattentionina

worldflooded

withinformation,

exacerbatedbyAI-generatedcontent.Buyershave

moreinformationthaneverbefore,makingthem

moreoverwhelmedthan

empowered.1buyingexperience.5

This

self-educationmeans3I

N

T

R

O

D

U

C

T

I

O

NThoughdaunting,thesechallengesalsopresentopportunitiestomarketers

of

LSC

offerings.Marketingprofessionalsmustimprovetheirabilitytoinfluencechangingbuyingbehaviors—and

better

support

theirsalespeople—byconvincingbuyers

of

thevalueof

theofferingswithhigh-

qualitythoughtleadershipcontent.4I

N

T

R

O

D

U

C

T

I

O

N>DEFINITIONS

&METHODOLOGYFor

this

report,

we

define

“thought

leadership”as

content

that

delivers

expertise,guidance,or

a

unique

perspective

on

a

professional

topicor

field(suchastechnology,businessprocesses,

industrytrends,etc.).Thiscontentmaybepresentedinmanyformats:articles,

blogs,podcasts,presentations,research

reports,

videos,webinars,

whitepapers.Itexcludesadvertisingorproductandpromotionalliterature.5Responses

from

and

the

United

States.Standard

analytic

research

data

quality

controls

were

applied.For

the

study,data

was

collected

by

a

leading

global

research

firm

via

asurveyofarandomsampleofB2Bexecutives,managersandotherdecision-makersfromvariousindustriesandcompanysizes.Participantswerescreenedtoisolateindividualswho:Areinvolved

withpurchasingproductsthathavesalescyclesofthree

months

or

more.The

salescyclewasdefinedasthetimefrom

thepointof

firstcontact

withapotentialcustomertowhenafinal

purchasedecisionismade.Work

for

a

company

that

sellsphysicalordigitalproducts—such

ascapitalequipment,softwareand/orservices--tomanufacturers

andprocessindustries.$The

survey

garnered

300

respondents

from

Canada,

Germany,

the

United

Kingdom

ContinentsD

E

F

I

N

IT

IO

NSA

N

DM

ET

HO

DO

LOGY3+forproductsorservicesin

theircompany.6ParticipateinpurchasedecisionsThe

margin

of

error

is+/-4.9%.3KEYFINDINGS7of

decision-makersindicate

that

they

are

more

likely

toconsider

buying

from

an

organization

thatproduces

thought

leadership

content.Fromthis,onecanconcludethatcompaniesnotproducingthoughtleadershiparerestrictingmarketplaceconsideration.1.

Thought

leadership

openseyes,doors

and

wallets.Eyes.8K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGSDoors.The

report

found

that

of

decision-makers

said

they

would

bemore

receptive

to

sales

outreach

from

an

organization

that

producesthoughtleadershipcontent.Wenotedearlierthatmanybuyersprefernottomeetwithsalespeopleonsite.Goodthoughtleadershiphelpsmitigatethistrendandopensdoorsforsalespeople.Top-lineopportunitiesarethusimprovedwiththoughtleadership.9K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGSWallets.Goodthoughtleadershipcanevenimprovebottomlines.This

is

basedon

the

report’s

finding

that

76%ofdecision-makers

say

they

are

morelikely

to

pay

a

premium

to

workwithanorganizationthatproducesthoughtleadershipcontent.Thismeansmarketerscandomorethanjustbuildawarenessandpreference;

theireffortscanimproveprofitability.10K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGS2.Buyersgivethoughtleadershiptheir

most

precious

gift:time.The

study

showed

that39%of

decision-makersspendmorethan6hoursaweekreviewingthoughtleadershipcontent.Sixhoursisasizableamountof

timeinabusy

workweek,evenawholedayof

work

bysomestandards.8

Ifcustomersandprospectsare

investingadayaweekreviewingthoughtleadership,successfulmarketersshouldhavehigh-qualitythoughtleadership,as

well

asgoodmethodstogetsuchcontentinfrontofcustomersandprospects.spend

more

than6hoursa

weekreviewingthought

leadershipcontent11K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGSTimespentstudyingthoughtleadershipcontentimproves

a

reader’s

knowledge,andevenchangestheirminds.This

is

based

on

the

study’sfinding

that87%of

decision-

makerssaidthatthoughtleadershipcontentledthemtoresearchaproduct,service,

orsolutionthey

werenotpreviouslyconsidering.content

led

them

to

researchaproductsaid

that

thought

leadership12K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGSUse

of

thought

leadership

during

the

buying

journey.Thestudyrevealedthatdecision-makersrelyonthoughtleadershipthroughout

the

buying

journey,with72%indicating

that

they

engage

withthoughtleadershipcontentduringthedecision-makingstage.Thisfindingshowsthatthoughtleadershipcontentisbeingincludedin

internal

justificationstoeducateotherstakeholders.High%of

decisionmakersrelyonthought

leadership

acrossthebuying

journey75%68%AWARENESS

DECISION>K

E

Y

L

EA

R

N

RNNI

G

S1372%CONSIDERATION3.

Thoughtleadershipburnishesreputations,

boostsmarketshareandbuoysbuying.Marketers’

jobdescriptionsoftensay,“buildthebrand”and“increaseawarenessandpreference.”

Thoughtleadershipcontenthelpsmeetthese

objectives.The

study

showed

that

92%of

decision

makersthinkmorepositivelyof

organizationsthatconsistentlyproducethoughtleadershipcontent.Preference

is

hard

to

earn,and

often

is

a

result

of

a

buyer’s

previousexperiencewithasupplier.If

theexperiencewasgood,buyersarelikelytobuyfromthesupplieragain.Goodthoughtleadershipincreases

the

chances

of

repeat

orders,and

also

increases

thechances

of

first-time

orders,as

90%of

decision-makers

saythat

thought

leadership

increases

trust

in

existingor

potential

suppliers.14K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGSofC-level

said

that

they

purchased

orstarted

working

with

an

organization

thatproduces

thought

leadership

contentThought

leadership

helps

here

too:83%ofdecision-makerssaidthatthoughtleadershipcontenthelpedthemrealizethatthereareothersupplierswhoare

smarter,moreinformed,andmorevisionarythantheircurrentsupplier.Thoughtleadershiphelps

winattention,butdoesithelpwintheorder?The

answer

appears

to

be

yes,as84%of

C-leveldecision-makerssaidthattheypurchasedorstarted

workingwithanorganizationthatproduces

thoughtleadershipcontent.Marketers

need

to

grow

market

share,

whichrequires

winningcustomersfromcompetitors.15K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGS4.Good

thought

leadershipshowsactualgoodthinkingbased

on

real

experiences.Somemarketersdisguisepromotionalmaterialasthoughtleadership,hopingtopresentitas

valuable

industry

insight.This

doesn’t

work.B2Bdecision-makershavehighstandardsfor

thought

leadership.

They

look

for

contentbasedonresearchthatisrelevanttobusiness

needsandcommunicatedfromaprofessional

andunbiasedperspective.C-suiteexpectations

areevenhigheracrossallcharacteristics.Basedonreal-worldexperiences,casestudies

andexamplesReferencesstrongresearchdataInnovativethinkingthatchallengesconventionalwisdom,offering

visionaryordisruptiveideas.AddressesrelevantindustrychallengesCommunicatedbyrecognizedindustryexpert(s)CommunicatedinanunbiasedfashionOriginal:offering

uniqueperspectivesorinsights

notwidelyaddressedelsewhere.Communicatedwithadecisiveviewpoint93%

96%98%90%88%98%86%90%92%80%100%What

is

good

thought

leadership?(%decision-makers

rate

as

importantor

veryimportant)16K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGS.

C-Suite●

Total89%84%94%92%87%92%81%Thebestexamplesof

thoughtleadershipincludesuccessfulimplementationsthatshowanovelbusinessapproach(leadingthoughts),alongwithbenefitsthataccruedtotheof

decision-makers

said

that

the

best

thought

leadership

is

basedon

real-world

experiences,case

studies

and

examples.customerasaresultof

deployingtheoffering.Enterprisingsalespeoplesellsuccessfully

withthistypeof

content.17K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGS5.

The

multiplier

effect.Quality

thoughtleadershipalsosignificantlyincreasesthechancesof

contentbeing

shared,especially

among

influential

audiences.Based

on

thousands

ofVoice

of

the

Customer

interviews

we

have

conducted

with

B2B

manufacturingdecision-makers,

word

of

mouth

is

a

critical

factor

in

shaping

decisions.By

creatinghigh-quality

thoughtleadership,

youcanbetterposition

yourself

attheheartof

theseimportantdiscussions,allowing

yourbrandtoexpanditsreachinacost-effective

way.Furthermore,since

the

content

is

shared

by

a

trusted

source,

it

carries

greater

credibilityandcansignificantlyimpacttheperceptionof

yourexpertise,ultimatelydrivingtrust

in

your

brand.Indicate

they

often

or

always

share

thought

leadershipcontent

with

their

colleagues

or

network.of

decision-makers

ofC-Suites18K

EYL

EA

R

N

I

NGS&FINDINGSYOU

CAN

MAKEIf

thoughtleadership

is

notalreadypartof

yourmarketinginvestment,wehopethisthoughtleadership

hasgivenyougoodreasontoconsiderincludingit.19Toaccompanythereport’sfindings,wechallengeyoutofindthefollowing5things:1.Findtherightcontent.If

yourcompanymarketsLSCofferings,yourofferingshaveadegreeof

complexitythatcamefromexcellentengineering,extensiveexperienceor

innovative

ideas.Your

offerings

have

uniqueselling

propositions,or“plus1s;”

competitiveelementsthatappearin

yourcolumnduringabuyer’s

evaluation.So,you

have:differentiatedtechnologiesorapplications;proprietarybusinessmodelsorprovenprocesses,oradvancedR&D

or

engineering

from

which

to

find

thoughtleadership.Explore

your“plus1s”and

find

areas

thatmakebusinesssensetopromotewiththoughtleadership.Sincemuchof

thevalueofyour

company

resides

in“plus1s,”highlightingtheminpublicthoughtleadershipmaytakesomemanagementconvincing.Butbusiness

isabalance

of

risk

and

reward.FI

N

D

I

NGSYOUCANMA

K

E20If

you

can’t

find

a

person

willing

to

shareknowledgeeasily,youmustmakeanextraeffort.

Most

SMEs

are

aware

of

theircontributiontocompanysuccess.Expresstothemthatexternalthoughtleadershipdeveloped

withtheirknowledge

willallowthem

to

make

an

even

bigger

contribution,andenhancetheircareer.SometimesSMEs

will

statethat

they

don’t

have

the

time.In

our

experience,with

careful

planning,

you

can

respect

their

timeandstillget

what

youneed.2.Find

the

right

voice.If

youarefortunate,youwillfindaSubjectMatterExpert(SME)in

your

company

who

is

a

master

oftheircraftandreceivescareersatisfactionfrom

sharingknowledge.Suchapersonmayalready

havegoodcontenttoworkwith,suchasapaper

presentedataconference,orinternaltrainingcontentthatcanbere-purposed.FI

N

D

I

NGSYOUCANMA

K

E21>Anexperiencedwriterwho

isfamiliarwithyourindustryandwithyourtype

of

offeringis

a

good

place

to

start.

As

stated

earlier,thoughtleadershipcontentcanbepresentedin

many

formats,so

you

may

need

a

content

developmentteam.If

you’refortunate,thevoice

youfound

willhave

writtenorpreparedsomethingthatcanbethebasisforthought

leadership.

Ifso,goodmarketingcontentdeveloper(s)should

work

with

the

SME

tocastthetechnology,processorsubjectin

themost

accurate

and

appropriatelight.If

youdonothaveareadybasisfordevelopingexternalcontent,youmayneedtofindamoreseasonedcontentdeveloper

whoisfamiliarenough

withtheindustry

youserve,theproductsyouprovide,thevaluesavailabletoyourcustomersfromyourofferingsandwithbusinessin

general.Such

a

content

developer

can

askthe

right

questions

to

draw

out

the

best

ways

tocreatecompellingc