55% of Decision Makers Use Thought-​Leadership Content to Vet Businesses

BY Kathy Crosett
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Are you still having trouble convincing your B2B clients that they need to develop thought-​leadership content? They may be hesitating because they don’t understand the kind of impact this content can have on their bottom line. Here is some data to help you change their minds.

Growing Interest in Thought-​Leadership Content

This year’s Thought Leadership Impact Study from Edelman shows that 37% of B2B decision makers are spending 1–3 more hours a week this year reading this kind of content. And 38% of these folks are spending four more hours a week engaged with content than they were last year.

What’s driving this interest? For many, it’s the desire to get acquainted with a business. At least 55% of decision makers use thought-​leadership material to vet businesses. When they see high-​quality material, they become more interested in doing business with that organization.

Great material doesn’t just influence a specific reader. Forty-​seven percent of decision makers share contact information with others after checking out a good thought-​leadership piece.

Thought Leadership and RFP Invitations

We all know that the B2B world involves RFPs. To win more contracts, your clients need to get on the list of businesses invited to submit an RFP. One way to do this is to maintain visibility with thought- leadership content. Forty-​five percent of leaders with access to budgets have extended an RFP invitation to a business after noticing content they’d published.

Quality over Quantity

Remind your clients that quality content is what counts. Decision makers can be unforgiving on this front. When they encounter low-​quality content, they’ll stop following the organization or writer (60%). When your clients ask what constitutes quality, here are the answers:

  • The content must include valuable insights.
  • The content must be relevant to industry trends and topics.
  • The content should have a clear future regarding the future.
  • The authors should be respected and knowledgeable about the topics they write on.
  • Smart but small” content wins — especially when the target audience can easily share it on mobile devices.

To learn more about audiences that read online content like blogs and whitepapers, check out the AudienceSCAN profiles available at AdMall from SalesFuel.


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