What is thought leadership worth?
A fellow B Corp leader recently wondered how much I thought a case study published by a niche outlet would be worth, if I had to put a dollar amount on it: “How much would it cost to buy this type of publicity?” she asked.
The short answer is, there is no way to put a defensible dollar amount on it in advance and you can’t directly “buy this type of publicity” because credible editorial coverage—either a reported article or a contributed article—can’t be bought.
You can produce a hazy estimate (read on), but any serious consideration of the topic leads to a bigger question: What is thought leadership worth?
Speculative metrics provide numbers, but can’t capture true value
To calculate in advance the value of a contributed (or bylined) article, you could use a traditional PR metric: advertising value equivalency (AVE). That’s a calculation of what the equivalent amount of ad space would cost, boosted by a multiplier to account for the fact that editorial coverage is more credible and therefore more valuable. AVE is out of fashion, though, because the multiplier is pure guesswork and the shift to digital media made calculating the base figure just as speculative, given that many factors determine digital ad prices—not just ad size and position, but also the level of targeting to the right eyeballs at the right second.
If the outlet you’re considering offers sponsored content, another option is to base a value estimate on its rate for sponsored content you supply. That rate will tell you what the outlet believes is the market value of editorial content on its pages. But again it probably undervalues a contributed article’s worth to your business, given the lower perceived credibility of sponsored content.
Thought leadership returns grow over time
Determining the dollar value of a single article post-publication can be equally tricky. Sometimes the return on investment is clear: One article we wrote and placed for a nonprofit client led to a $500,000 corporate foundation grant. But that kind of immediate, direct return is atypical. More commonly, you can get a read on initial results if the article includes a link to your website—ideally a landing page with a downloadable resource, which will allow you to track not only referrals from the article but also engagement with your topic.
But while immediate measures hint at effectiveness, the ultimate payoff for bylined articles comes from building a brand profile and a reputation as a thought leader, both of which are enormously valuable but can’t be pegged to any one article. Brand value builds over time as a growing collection of compelling, original think pieces and explainers boosts the chances that potential partners and customers will find your enterprise—and be impressed when they do.
One example: A cleantech startup we worked with attracted partnership and purchase interest from a multinational energy company due to our client’s high profile in trade magazines, built largely through Thinkshift-ghostwritten contributed pieces. And another: The thought leadership position we created for a field-leading client opened doors and earned her speaking invitations long after she moved on from the venture we were promoting.
The best results accrue to companies that maximize thought leadership value
Creating a “they’re everywhere, and they’re experts” brand vibe requires making the most of carefully crafted contributed articles. The secret is to reuse each one in as many ways as possible:
- Seek opportunities to revise a cornerstone article for publication in additional outlets, especially if you can customize it for multiple vertical markets (assuming you retain rights to the article).
- When an outlet’s window of exclusivity passes, repost the article on Medium or your blog and run it in your newsletter.
- Promote key ideas from the piece on social media over time and repeatedly, using snippets that link back to the published article.
- Send the article to prospects as part of business development conversations.
- Use the article as the basis for speaker proposals and link to it in the speaker’s bio.
- Pop a link to the published piece into the author’s email signature.
Bylined articles can also open doors to other types of coverage. We often include article links in pitches to reporters to name drop the publication and build up our client’s credibility as a source. Article themes often make good podcast topics as well, and including the published piece with a podcast pitch shows the host that your proposed guest has plenty to talk about.
Perhaps most importantly, contributed pieces with a strong point of view put a stake in the ground, allowing the author to claim the company’s position as a frontrunner and recruit others to its mission. So what is thought leadership worth? Add up all the benefits of an ongoing, well-executed campaign and the value is incalculable.
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