Influencing the C-Suite: How Tech Thought Leadership Can Convert Insight into Revenue

In a world where tech buying cycles are longer and product features alone no longer cut through, insight-led thought leadership has become a critical tool for influence and growth.

At a recent techUK webinar - Supercharging Sales with B2B Tech Thought Leadership - Man Bites Dog and BT shared a powerful new playbook for turning thought leadership into commercial impact. The takeaway? Bold thinking, underpinned by bespoke data, is the new currency of influence in tech marketing.

Why Thought Leadership Matters in B2B Tech 

Claire Mason, CEO & Founder of Man Bites Dog, and Fiona Buckley, Technology Divisional Director, shared findings from our transatlantic Thought Makers research, revealing how senior decision-makers engage with thought leadership and how it drives their buying decisions.

• 94% of C-Suite leaders consume brand-created thought leadership weekly
• 74% consider it in buying decisions
• 77% expect suppliers to challenge their thinking on emerging trends
• 85% trust content from tech consultancies more than traditional media

These findings prove that thought leadership is far more than just brand building. It’s the spark that ignites boardroom conversations and shapes vendor shortlists. One-off white papers and isolated blog posts won’t break through at the C-Suite level. To win real influence and drive commercial impact, tech brands need a sustained stream of provocative, data-driven insight that challenges assumptions, earns a seat at the decision-making table and directly fuels revenue growth.

BT: Reframing Cybersecurity as a Growth Opportunity

The webinar spotlighted BT’s Cyber Agile Organisation campaign - developed in partnership with Man Bites Dog - as a powerful example of thought leadership driving strategic repositioning and measurable growth.

The campaign was built around a bold hypothesis: that cyber-agile organisations outperform their peers. Research proved it true, revealing that businesses with strong cyber agility achieved 20% higher growth rates over three years. By reframing cybersecurity as a growth enabler, not just risk mitigation, BT elevated the conversation to the boardroom, repositioning security as a competitive differentiator.

Brand, Marketing and Sales, Side by Side 

Turning thought leadership into measurable growth requires more than great content, it takes close collaboration with sales too.

Hassiena Albohaithi, BT’s Global Head of Field Marketing, explained:“As part of this campaign we wanted to cement and showcase our expertise in security, and thought leadership gave us the platform to do that. This was a unique opportunity to work side-by-side with sales to drive demand, accelerate pipeline and position BT as an expert voice in this space.”

Sales engagement was amplified through a benchmarking tool and strategic influencer partnerships, opening doors to new conversations. And LinkedIn Live sessions proved successful in reaching senior buyers at scale. The campaign also created momentum internally, aligning wider teams behind a unified value proposition and accelerating go-to-market impact.

Become a Thought Maker: Embedding Thought Leadership in Your Go-to-Market Strategy 

Whether you're a scaling tech SME or a global enterprise, the mandate is the same: anchor your go-to-market strategy in content that delivers new insight, credibility and commercial impact.

At Man Bites Dog, we work with intelligent brands to create thought leadership that commands C-Suite attention and accelerates growth. If you want to learn how to turn your expertise into influence, and influence into impact, download our latest Thought Makers report, or get in touch to find out how your brand can become the next Thought Maker in your market.