A deep dive into the latest Superpowers Index reveals what’s important to professional services buyers, the top priorities for professional services marketers, and the key trends impacting the professional services sector in 2025.

The landscape of professional services marketing is evolving at an unprecedented pace. The Superpowers Index provides a comprehensive analysis of the critical factors influencing professional services buyers, highlighting their priorities and preferences.

This report delves into the essential insights from the research, offering marketers a strategic roadmap to navigate the complexities of the sector. By understanding the top priorities for professional services marketers and identifying the key trends shaping the industry, this report equips you with the knowledge and tools needed to excel in 2025.

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A deep dive into the latest Superpowers Index reveals what’s important to tech buyers, the top priorities for tech marketers, and the key trends impacting the tech sector in 2025.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the technology sector, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for marketers aiming to make a significant impact.

This report delves into the findings of the Superpowers Index, offering invaluable insights into the preferences and priorities of tech buyers. This comprehensive analysis highlights the top priorities for tech marketers and identifies the key trends that will shape the industry in 2025.

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A deep dive into the latest Superpowers Index reveals what’s important to financial services buyers, the top priorities for financial services marketers, and the key trends impacting the financial services sector in 2025.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of financial services, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for marketers aiming to capture and retain customer interest.

This report offers a comprehensive analysis based on insights from the Superpowers Index. It delves into the core values and priorities of financial services buyers, highlights the top strategies for marketers, and identifies the key trends that will shape the sector in the coming year.

The post What Marketers in the Financial Services Sector Need to Know to Win in 2025 appeared first on B2B International.

A deep dive into the latest Superpowers Index reveals what’s important to manufacturing buyers, the top priorities for manufacturing marketers, and the key trends impacting the manufacturing and industrial sector in 2025.

As the manufacturing and industrial landscape continues to evolve, marketers within this sector must stay ahead of emerging trends and shifting buyer priorities to maintain a competitive edge.

This report delves into the critical insights from the manufacturing cut of the Superpowers Index, highlighting what matters most to buyers, the top priorities for marketers, and the key trends shaping the sector.

The post What Marketers in the Manufacturing & Industrial Sector Need to Know to Win in 2025 appeared first on B2B International.

B2B International’s Superpowers Index research, an annual study into the dynamics of B2B buying behavior, has revealed a significant trend: the growing importance of active thought leadership.

Each year, the study examines 30 decision drivers, covering both professional and personal factors, to uncover what truly differentiates winning brands from their competitors. In 2024, “being an active thought leader in the category/sector” jumped from 20th to 3rd place globally, a clear sign of its growing relevance as a key tool in the B2B marketer’s toolbox.

For Gen Z and Millennial B2B buyers, thought leadership holds even greater weight, ranking as the #2 decision driver. This signals a generational shift in expectations and priorities for B2B brands.

Top Decision Drivers in 2024

The top factors that set winning brands apart:

1. I feel safe signing a contract with them
2. Is known as being a good employer
3. Active thought leaders in their category/sector
4. Comply with regulations, law, industry standards & ethical practices
5. Takes care of its suppliers, business partners, and communities

A Gap in Thought Leadership Performance

Despite its growing importance, few B2B brands are excelling at thought leadership. Only 25% of B2B buyers believe the brands they engage with are doing it well—a statistic showing no signs of improvement from 2023.

Encouragingly, B2B marketers recognize this gap, with just 30% rating their brand’s content creation efforts as strong. This presents an opportunity for B2B brands to meet the demand for compelling thought leadership. However, to create compelling content, brands must understand what makes effective thought leadership.

Further Reading

The 2024 Superpowers Index: Full Report

Download now

What Makes Effective B2B Thought Leadership?

Our research identified areas where B2B brands are succeeding and falling short when it comes to thought leadership:

The Basics – Doing Well

These are the foundations, where brands are performing effectively:

• Identifying topics that your target audience needs to know in response to trends
• Keeping your audience up to date on trending topics

Neglected Areas – Room for Improvement

These are the areas critical to buyers but where brands are underperforming:

• Communicating on industry-specific topics and trends
• Exploring unique angles on topics others overlook
• Conducting original research on trending issues
• Offering an interesting point of view on trends

Low-Impact Areas – Deprioritize

These are less important to buyers and therefore may not be worth the focus:

• Being the first to talk about topics later adopted by others
• Communicating on trends specific to individual job roles

Further reading

4 Reasons to Use Thought Leadership Research to Inform Your Content Marketing Strategy

Read now

Summary

Interestingly, the focus is on the quality of content that adds value to the buyer, rather than being the first to discuss a topic. As thought leadership grows in importance, B2B marketers need to ask:

• Are we focusing on what really matters to our audience?
• Are we offering unique insights and perspectives?

By addressing neglected areas and elevating the quality of their content, B2B brands can position themselves as trusted thought leaders, ultimately building greater trust in their brand overall.

At B2B International, we conduct primary research that empowers brands to create impactful, evidence-based content. As part of dentsu B2B, our team of copywriters, creatives, and strategists is here to help you make the most of your unique insights. Learn more about our thought leadership research.

To discuss how our tailored insights programs can help solve your specific business challenges, get in touch and one of the team will be happy to help.

The post B2B Thought Leadership: Why It’s Important & How to Do It Well appeared first on B2B International.

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In this episode of the B2B Insights Podcast, B2B International’s Conor Wilcock and Oliver Truman dive into the findings of the 2024 Superpowers Index to discuss the big trends in B2B and what makes the difference between winning and losing in 2024.

Key discussion points include:

• The headlines from this year’s Superpowers Index Study

• The newly introduced Superpowers Index Score and what it means for brands

• The commercial benefits for brands whose Superpowers Index Score outperforms the market

• Why the performance gap between winning brands and losing brands continues to narrow

• How B2B marketers’ priorities are shifting and how well that aligns with what today’s buyers want

• What brands can do to widen the performance gap between themselves and the competition

• What B2B marketers can do to build stronger brands

• What brands can do to keep close to customers, to speed up decision making, and close deals more quickly

• What B2B brands can do to create meaningful differentiation and deliver those experiences successfully

Listen to the full episode:

Listen on Spotify >
Listen on Apple Podcasts >

Watch the full video:

Download the report:

Further Reading

The 2024 Superpowers Index: Full Report

Download now

The post B2B Insights Podcast #63: 2024 Superpowers Index: Deep-Dive Into the Latest Findings appeared first on B2B International.

Four years ago, we started a journey to understand the B2B buyer better, asking B2B buyers about their recent purchase experiences. We wanted to understand what was making the difference between winning and losing. And we wanted to go into detail we didn’t see in other studies.

Covering over 25,000 brand experiences, The Superpowers Index, conducted by B2B International in collaboration with dentsu B2B, is the largest ever systematic study of B2B buying behavior globally.

The 2024 report provides a new perspective on many of the big trends in B2B: the importance of trust and brand building; the ever-narrowing gap between winning and losing; the growing influence of thought leadership; and the challenges of scaling ABM.

To read some of the big headlines from the 2024 Superpowers Index, download the report below.

Listen to the podcast episode:

Listen on Spotify >
Listen on Apple Podcasts >
Watch the Full Recording >

Want to learn more about The Superpowers Index? Check out the Superpowers Hub on the dentsu site.

The post The 2024 Superpowers Index appeared first on B2B International.

Our 2023 Superpowers Index research shows that B2B buyers are placing increased importance on ESG topics when choosing a brand to do business with. A significant opportunity exists for B2B brands willing to demonstrate a true commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

But how many B2B brands are embracing this challenge?

As in any market, there exists a diverse array of companies with varying behaviors, attitudes, and needs. In this infographic, we explore the 5 clear segments categorizing businesses in terms of their attitudes towards sustainability.

View infographic >

To dive deeper into why sustainability is an important growth driver in the B2B sector and the specific ESG-related purchase decision drivers that matter most to buyers, view the full report.

Further Reading

Learn how sustainability can lead to profitability in the B2B sector

Read the full report

Ready to take action? Get in touch to learn how B2B International can help you understand what your target audience values and measure the effectiveness of your sustainability messaging.

The post [Infographic] Exploring B2B Attitudes Towards Sustainability appeared first on B2B International.

B2B buyers are placing increased importance on ESG topics when choosing a brand to do business with, according to our latest Superpowers Index research, and businesses who prioritize sustainability are 28% more likely to have seen increased revenues in the past 12 months.

Despite this, only 52% of businesses saw sustainability as a significant area of focus for their business.

This points to a missed opportunity. Brands willing to genuinely embrace and demonstrate a commitment to social and environmental responsibility are much better placed to grow their businesses into the future.

In our latest report, you’ll learn why sustainability is an important growth driver in the B2B sector and the specific ESG-related purchase decision drivers that matter most to buyers, so your business can put the building blocks in place to take advantage of this opportunity.

Download now to discover:

• The importance of sustainability in today’s B2B sector from the point of view of customers, employees, investors, and regulators
• The five newly significant B2B purchase decision drivers relating to ESG topics
• The commercial benefits of excelling on these decision drivers
• How businesses’ attitudes towards sustainability fall into five clear segments, and how many businesses are in each segment

Read the report >

Further Reading

Learn how B2B brand experiences need to evolve in 2023

Download The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

Ready to take action? Get in touch to learn how B2B International can help you understand what your target audience values and measure the effectiveness of your sustainability messaging.

The post Being a Force for Good Is Just Good Business: How Sustainability Can Lead To Profitability appeared first on B2B International.

Having analyzed more than 1,300 manufacturing brand experiences across the world, we found that brands are not reaching the inflated expectations of manufacturing buyers, and there is a huge opportunity for those who can deliver the right experiences at the right time.

Our latest infographic uncovers what matters most to today’s manufacturing buyers and the significant commercial benefits of successfully delivering against these needs to help B2B manufacturing brands create commercially powerful brand experiences.

View infographic >

View the other infographics in the industry series:

Driving Commercially Powerful Brand Experiences in Financial Services
Driving Commercially Powerful Brand Experiences in Professional Services
Driving Commercially Powerful Brand Experiences in Technology

About the report

It’s non-negotiable – B2B brands must evolve their brand experiences, at speed and at scale, to stay relevant to increasing buyer needs and expectations.

According to our latest B2B Superpowers survey, brands are not reaching the inflated expectations of B2B buyers, and there is a huge opportunity for those who can deliver the right experiences at the right time.

Our Merkle B2B 2023 Superpowers Index looks at what drives competitive advantage in the B2B world in 2023, what has changed in the last 12 months, and outlines what matters most to B2B buyers today. It is the indispensable guide for B2B marketers to deliver world-class experiences and keep pace with the dynamic environment.

We surveyed more than 3,600 buyers and users of B2B offerings so we could bring you the inside scoop on the B2B brand experiences. The survey was inclusive of buyers across key sectors including tech, financial services, manufacturing, and professional services, as well as key markets across the world including North America, EMEA and APAC.

Further Reading

Learn how B2B brand experiences need to evolve in 2023

Download The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

The post Driving Commercially Powerful Brand Experiences in Manufacturing appeared first on B2B International.