The Topics That Will Rule B2B Thought Leadership in 2023

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B2b executives and decision - makers are still drawn to thought leadership. More than half of the surveys did by LinkedIn and Edelman said they had started reading more thought leadership since the pandemic began.

Fifty - four percent of decision - makers said they spend more than one hour per week reading and reviewing this type of content. Other findings from the survey were less encouraging:

66% of these professionals felt the pandemic spawned a huge increase in the amount of thought leadership in the marketplace. Seventy - one percent said that less than half of the thought leadership they consume gives them valuable insights.

Why is so little thought leadership resonating with B2B decision - makers?

Nearly half of these professionals ( 47% ) said they felt most thought leadership was not created with their needs in mind. This points to a challenge and opportunity, for B2B marketers to get better in tune with the pains and priorities of their audiences. While that will inherently require some research and analysis into trends and developments specific to your buyer industry.

There are also some prevailing topics that are likely to be top - of - mind across B2B world in the coming years. As you start thinking about your content planning for 2023, It's probably wise to include these topical focuses in some way:

Sustainability In Business

There was a 112% increase in engagement for climate change and sustainability - focused topics on LinkedIn this year, and the attention around this topic isn't going away. Everyone who interacts with B2B content - from decision makers to current employees to prospective employees - wants to read about sustainability policy.

36% decision - makers say that perceptions of environmental commitment influence their purchase decisions ( and this number is on the rise ) 81% of employees expect their employer to take action on climate change.

75% of millennials - who, themselves, will comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025 - said they would take decrease in salary if it meant working for an environmentally responsible company.

Marketing Through A Recession

According to a probability model run by Nel Davis Research, there is currently a 98.1% chance of a global recession in 2023. When asked, 62% of B2B decision - makers said they're most interested in thought leadership content that focuses on analyzing current trends that are likely to be affecting their business today, rather than content with a more long - range speculative focus.

Decision - makers want thought leadership that's speaking to their current reality, especially the most pressing issues. Helping your audience navigate challenging times and avoid the common pitfalls of recession response can make a real impact and earn your brand serious goodwill.

64% of buyers say that an organization's thought leadership content is more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competency.

Real, Human - Anchored Opinions On Current Trends

Most decision - makers says that less than half of the thought leadership they consume gives them valuable insights. When asked why this thought leadership fails to connect, 46% said it was too focused on selling, 40% said it was unoriginal or lacked new ideas, 31% said it was authored by none - expects and 31% said it was too corporate.

What do these executives want instead? When given a choice, 64% of business executives said they'd rather have thought leadership that has a more human, less formal tone of voice over thought leadership that had " an even toned, intellectual voice ".

67% preferred content written by identifiable named authors expressing their own point of view, rather than a generic brand or company voice expressing neutral company beliefs.

" Thought Leadership has evolved from a one - way broadcast to conversion and community ", Kevin Marasco, CMO of Zenefits, said in the report. " It requires authenticity, having a point of view and delivering something of value ".

The thought leadership that will excel in 2023 will be focused on the moment, tailored to the audiences needs and will offer something to make them think differently.

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Much love!