The State of B2B Thought Leadership: Analysis of 2024 B2B Marketing Awards Entries

Trust and primary objectives

Building and strengthening trust emerged as a foundational element across B2B thought leadership campaigns, with 65% of entries explicitly citing trust-building as a key objective.

This underlying focus on trust manifested through various approaches including third-party validation (75% of entries), proprietary research (85%), customer testimonials (60%), expert collaboration (55%), and academic partnerships (35%).

However, while trust-building formed this critical foundation, campaigns typically aligned with specific business objectives:

Market leadership and category creation emerged as the dominant primary objective (31.25%), with companies like Stein IAS and Bango focusing on establishing new market definitions or benchmarks.

Revenue and pipeline growth followed (25%), exemplified by ServiceNow’s specific $6M pipeline target and Circana’s market share objectives. Industry change initiatives accounted for 18.75% of primary objectives, with companies like ScottishPower and Topcon seeking to drive sector-wide transformation.

Geographic expansion (12.5%) and commercial product creation (6.25%) rounded out the stated primary objectives, with 6.25% showing no clear primary focus.

 

Key trust challenges identified included:

  • Market complexity and technical barriers (addressed by 45% of campaigns)
  • Industry change and transformation concerns (40%)
  • Data and security concerns (35%)
  • Environmental and sustainability credibility (50%)

 

Circana's 'Demand signals' campaign with Eureka Communications
Circana’s ‘Demand signals’ campaign with Eureka Communications

Brand vs demand objectives

While most campaigns (85%) stated multiple objectives, specific prioritization emerged:

Brand Objectives (90% total, 40% primary):

  • Thought leadership positioning (75%)
  • Market awareness (70%)
  • Reputation enhancement (65%)
  • Category creation (35%)

Demand Generation (85% total, 35% primary):

  • Lead generation (80%)
  • Pipeline building (75%)
  • Website traffic (70%)
  • Event attendance (60%)

Sales Conversion (70% total, 25% primary):

  • Sales enablement (65%)
  • Deal acceleration (55%)
  • Cross-selling (40%)
  • Account expansion (35%)

 

Thematic Focus

Three dominant themes emerged, with significant overlap:

Sustainability/ESG (50%):

  • Energy transition
  • Environmental impact
  • Social responsibility
  • Governance transformation

Digital Transformation (31.25%):

  • Technology adoption
  • Process automation
  • Data and analytics
  • Customer experience

Industry Evolution (37.5%):

  • Future trends
  • Market disruption
  • Innovation
  • Competitive positioning

 

Man Bites Dog's campaign for GHD
Man Bites Dog’s campaign for GHD

Form and format

Campaigns employed multiple formats, with significant overlap in approaches:

Primary Formats:

  • Research reports and whitepapers (85%)
  • Digital interactive content (60%)
  • Video content (50%)
  • Infographics and data visualization (75%)
  • Webinars and virtual events (55%)
  • Podcasts (25%)
  • Physical books or printed materials (15%)

Format Innovation:

  • Interactive data tools (35%)
  • Customizable content platforms (30%)
  • Real-time insight dashboards (20%)
  • Multi-language adaptations (45%)
  • Hybrid digital-physical experiences (40%)

 

Metrics

Results reporting focused on multiple areas:

Brand Metrics (95%):

  • Media coverage (85%)
  • Social media engagement (90%)
  • Brand awareness (60%)
  • Share of voice (40%)

Demand Generation Metrics (90%):

  • Lead generation (85%)
  • Pipeline impact (70%)
  • Website traffic (80%)
  • Content downloads (75%)

Sales Impact Metrics (70%):

  • Revenue influence (65%)
  • Deal acceleration (55%)
  • Sales engagement (50%)
  • Account expansion (45%)

 

Verizon Business's campaign by Ogilvy Global
Verizon Business’s campaign by Ogilvy Global


Unexpected trends in B2B thought leadership

Several surprising trends emerged from the analysis:

1. Consumer-Style Elements. 35% of campaigns incorporated B2C marketing techniques, including:

  • Celebrity endorsements (e.g., UBS with Roger Federer)
  • Pop culture references (e.g., Bango’s Star Wars theme)
  • Retail distribution channels (e.g., Park Communications’ book sales)
  • Consumer-style creative approaches (e.g., Embraer’s “Profit Hunter” campaign)

 

2. Physical Presence. Despite digital transformation, 45% of entries featured significant physical or in-person elements:

  • Live events and roadshows (40%)
  • Printed materials and books (25%)
  • Physical communities and forums (20%)
  • Hybrid experiences combining digital and physical elements (35%)

 

3. Sales Team Integration. 40% of campaigns involved sales teams in content creation rather than just distribution:

  • Content development input (35%)
  • Campaign feedback and iteration (30%)
  • Expert speaking roles (25%)
  • Client relationship insights (40%)

 

4. Traditional Channel Performance. Several campaigns reported surprisingly strong results from conventional channels:

  • PDF downloads outperforming interactive content by 3:1
  • Direct mail achieving 68% engagement versus 25% for digital
  • Newsletter subscriptions converting at unusually high rates (8.6% in one case)

 

5. “Anti-Thought Leadership”. 25% of entries adopted a more collaborative, learning-focused approach:

  • Acknowledging uncertainty and knowledge gaps
  • Positioning as industry partners rather than experts
  • Creating collaborative learning communities
  • Sharing evolving insights rather than fixed positions

 

6. Living Thought Leadership: 40% of campaigns created evolving content platforms:

  • Continuous insight generation
  • Community-driven content
  • Regular updates and iterations
  • Responsive to market feedback

 

Conclusion

The analysis reveals a maturing B2B thought leadership landscape, where trust-building forms the foundation but is consistently paired with specific business objectives.

While traditional approaches remain important, the integration of consumer marketing techniques and focus on targeted engagement suggests evolution in the sector.

The prominence of sustainability (50%), digital transformation (31.25%), and future-focused themes (37.5%) indicates thought leadership’s critical role in positioning brands within major societal and industrial transformations.

Most significantly, the shift from pure digital to hybrid approaches (45% featuring significant physical elements), and from broad reach to targeted engagement (30% using micro-targeting), suggests B2B thought leadership is entering a new phase: where effectiveness is increasingly measured by depth of engagement rather than breadth of reach.

This maturation is further evidenced by the sophisticated integration of sales enablement (70%) and the emergence of “living” thought leadership platforms (40%), indicating a move toward more sustainable, long-term thought leadership approaches that deliver both immediate impact and lasting value.

 

Learn all about the 2024 B2B Marketing Awards winners

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