Edelman and LinkedIn lately printed their 2025 B2B Thought Management Impression Report, which was based mostly on a survey of 1,934 management-level enterprise professionals from a variety of industries and firm sizes. The survey was carried out March 17 – April 3, 2025.
The first focus of this yr’s research was “hidden consumers” – individuals within the shopping for group who affect a purchase order choice although they aren’t a main person of the services or products being thought of.
The 2025 report contains a number of survey findings for “hidden consumers” and “goal consumers,” outlined as follows:
- Hidden Consumers – “Individuals who . . . are a closing decision-maker in group buying selections and are primarily concerned as a consultant of a perform that doesn’t require in-depth data of the particular services or products. These capabilities would possibly embrace finance, operations, authorized, compliance, procurement, and others.”
- Goal Consumers – “Individuals who . . . are each a closing decision-maker and are primarily concerned as an knowledgeable within the service or product being supplied.”
Listed here are a few of the main findings from the Edelman/LinkedIn report.
Consumption and Use of Thought Management
Hidden consumers devour as a lot thought management content material as goal consumers. Sixty-three p.c (63%) of the hidden purchaser survey respondents stated they spend an hour per week (on common) consuming thought management, in comparison with 64% of goal purchaser respondents.
Fifty-five p.c (55%) of the hidden purchaser survey respondents reported utilizing thought management content material to judge potential distributors, in comparison with 56% of goal purchaser respondents.
Impression on Advertising and marketing/Gross sales Interactions
Seventy-one p.c (71%) of the hidden purchaser survey respondents reported having little or no interplay with vendor gross sales reps. Nonetheless, 95% stated that robust thought management content material made them extra receptive to advertising and marketing and gross sales outreach from firms producing such content material.
Attributes of Robust Thought Management
Ninety-one p.c (91%) of the hidden purchaser survey respondents stated {that a} key attribute of high-quality thought management content material is that it helps them uncover challenges, wants, or alternatives that they hadn’t beforehand acknowledged.
Two Controversial Findings
The Edelman/LinkedIn report comprises two considerably controversial findings. On this research, the researchers requested individuals to price the significance of a number of issues when choosing a vendor.
The next desk exhibits the chances of hidden purchaser respondents who rated every consideration as crucial or reasonably necessary.
As this desk exhibits, hidden purchaser survey respondents rated “Vendor is the ‘most secure alternative‘” as much less necessary than 5 different issues.
The second controversial discovering pertains to the significance of brand name. The researchers requested research individuals how a lot they agreed or disagreed with this assertion: “In vetting distributors, if a corporation produces high-quality thought management, it issues a lot much less to me how well-known they’re.” Fifty-three p.c (53%) of each hidden purchaser and goal purchaser survey respondents considerably or strongly agreed with this assertion.
The Various View
These two findings differ considerably from the outcomes of different latest analysis. One instance of this analysis is a latest research by The B2B Institute, Bain & Firm, and NewtonX (the “B2B Institute Research”).
(Observe: This research is described in a 2024 LinkedIn article written by Mimi Turner and Jann Schwarz, each with The B2B Institute. I perceive The B2B Institute is planning to publish a report or paper discussing this analysis later this yr.)
The B2B Institute Research examined the attitudes and behaviors of hidden consumers and goal consumers utilizing definitions of these phrases much like these used within the Edelman/LinkedIn research. The research discovered that making a “secure” buy choice is a main driver for hidden consumers.
- Hidden consumers care greater than goal consumers about elements corresponding to model reliability and “peace of thoughts.” (See the graphic accompanying “Discovering #2” within the LinkedIn article.)
- About two-thirds of hidden consumers and goal consumers stated they would favor services or products that “present peace of thoughts with out profession development” over services or products that supply “enterprise progress that includes potential profession uncertainty.”
The B2B Institute Research additionally discovered {that a} robust, well-known model is necessary to each hidden consumers and goal consumers, however is extra influential with hidden consumers.
- Eighty-one p.c (81%) of the research individuals stated the model they in the end purchased was identified to everybody or nearly everybody within the shopping for group in the beginning of the acquisition course of.
- Hidden consumers are 31% extra more likely to reject manufacturers they do not know and 70% extra more likely to reject manufacturers that are not well-known to different members of the shopping for group.
My Take
These two research current starkly completely different views relating to the tendency of B2B hidden consumers to make “secure” buy selections and the affect that model has with hidden consumers.
I recommend that almost all of those variations could be attributed to variations within the focus and design of the underlying surveys. The B2B Institute Research centered on high-consideration, high-value expertise purchases by giant enterprises. Sixty-four p.c (64%) of the survey respondents on this research have been with firms having greater than 10,000 workers.
The survey used within the Edelman/LinkedIn thought management research had very completely different survey demographics. In truth, 48% of these survey respondents have been with firms having 200 or fewer workers.
A number of different latest research have highlighted the choice of most B2B consumers for secure buy selections and the necessary function that model performs in B2B shopping for selections.
Below these circumstances, I feel the findings of the B2B Institute Research present a extra correct image of real-world B2B shopping for.
