Thought Leadership ROI is a topic that is near and dear to me because a substantial portion of our company’s net new growth over the past 20 years has come from our own thought leadership efforts – engaging the B2B marketing industry with original research, (including a new report on B2B Thought Leadership coming soon) unique perspectives and strategic direction about how to move forward and succeed in the world of B2B.
So when I had an opportunity to connect with Cindy Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer and Global Lead for Engagement and Eminence at the IBM Institute for Business Value and co-author with Anthony Marshall of the excellent book, The ROI of Thought Leadership, it was a key moment in the evolution of my understanding of thought leadership and the significant impact it can have on business.
I first met Cindy at the Thought Leadership for Tomorrow conference held by iResearch Services in NYC (thanks to Ty Heath for the heads up on that). When Cindy shared on a panel of CMOs that the cumulative value of purchases made directly as a result of executives consuming thought leadership to be $265 billion each year globally, I was floored. The research that she and Anthony conducted at IBM found that 87% of executives have made a purchase in the past 90 days as a direct result of the thought leadership they consumed.
After connecting again at Content Marketing World, Cindy and I agreed it would be great to talk further on the Beyond B2B Marketing podcast. Joining me from Singapore where she is based in her role at IBM, we covered a lot of ground from defining thought leadership to how it best works as a platform for marketing and topics like the role of synthetic AI-generated data. If you want to better understand the role of thought leadership in growing your business, this is a must see/hear episode.
Below you can watch, listen or read my conversation with Cindy about:
- The three traits that set thought leadership apart: data, expertise, and independence from commercial messaging
- Why 87% of executives make purchase decisions influenced by thought leadership
- How the “hub-and-spoke” model multiplies ROI by turning one big idea into many derivative assets
- Why thought leadership should be the platform other marketing campaigns are built upon – the “8th P” of marketing
- The growing importance of original research as a trust signal in the AI era
- How AI can extend thought leadership content without sacrificing credibility
- The role of synthetic data in niche research – and the risk of losing trust if misused
- Why every B2B organization can quantify and prove the ROI of their thought leadership initiatives
Watch the full interview with Cindy Anderson here:
Listen to our conversation here:
If you’d prefer a text summary of our discussion about the ROI of B2B thought leadership, here you go:
In this episode of Beyond B2B Marketing, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Cindy Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer at IBM’s Institute for Business Value and co-author of The ROI of Thought Leadership. From her early days in journalism to leading one of the most influential thought leadership organizations in the world, Cindy’s journey is a masterclass in how credibility, data, and perspective intersect to create business impact. She draws a sharp distinction between thought leadership and content marketing – where content drives clicks, thought leadership drives trust. It’s about independence, evidence, and insight that helps decision-makers move forward with confidence.
“Thought leadership requires data. It requires research. It requires perspective. And it must be independent from the commercial aspect of the enterprise.”
As Cindy shared, one of the biggest breakthroughs in her research was quantifying the true business impact of thought leadership. After years of marketers being asked to “prove the value” of their efforts, she and co-author Anthony Marshall decided to do just that-surveying 4,000 C-suite executives around the world to connect thought leadership consumption with purchasing behavior. The results were incredible:
“Eighty-seven percent of executives said that in the last 90 days, they could trace back a specific purchase decision to a piece of thought leadership they consumed. And that thought leadership delivers a 156% return-16 times higher than traditional marketing campaigns.”
That level of ROI reframes thought leadership as an engine of business performance, not a cost center. It validates the role of research-driven content as a trust builder, demand driver, and revenue catalyst – echoing what we call the Best Answer Marketing approach here at TopRank Marketing: combining credibility, data, and originality to become the go-to source in your category.
Cindy also broke down how great thought leadership scales. She described the hub-and-spoke model, where a single, research-backed idea becomes the foundation for an entire ecosystem of content – each “spoke” tailored to different audiences and channels. That central “hub” of credible research becomes the platform (what she calls the 8th P of marketing) that drives awareness, consideration, and conversion. Now that AI search and answer engines are reshaping how buyers discover answers and solutions, she argues that this model gives marketers the consistency, authority, and adaptability they need to stay visible and relevant.
“The most effective thought leadership is built on a platform, a hub that you own and a series of spokes that extend its impact across audiences and channels.”
Looking ahead, Cindy sees the future of thought leadership as a balance between innovation and integrity. She also acknowledges the potential of AI and synthetic data to extend content and uncover niche insights, but she’s clear that speed can’t come at the cost of trust. Thought leadership isn’t just about ideas, it’s about credibility. Her advice for marketers is both pragmatic and urgent: start measuring ROI now, because the CFOs are watching and the value is real.
Be sure to follow Cindy on LinkedIn for her continued wisdom on thought leadership, see her work at the IBM Institute for Business Value, check out the Global Thought Leadership Institute (GTLI) at APQC, and also, buy the book: The ROI of Thought Leadership on Amazon.
Also, be sure to continue following us here for the newest research report from TopRank Marketing and Ascend2, Answer Engine: The State of B2B Thought Leadership in 2026.
You can find Beyond B2B Marketing wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts (links below). Of course you won’t want to miss the next conversation with a B2B marketing pro, so be sure to subscribe. And remember, there’s no better time than now to break free of boring B2B!
About the author
Lee Odden has been recognized as a top B2B Marketing professional by Forbes, The Economist and the Wall Street Journal. For over 20 years he’s worked with his team at TopRank Marketing to help elevate the B2B marketing industry through creative marketing programs that deliver more authentic, experiential and inclusive content for brands like LinkedIn, Dell and Adobe. Lee is the author of Optimize and has published over 1.4 million words on his agency’s B2B marketing blog. As a trusted marketing thought leader, he has given nearly 300 presentations in 20 different countries on B2B content, search and influencer marketing. When not marketing, Lee is probably running, cooking or traveling.
