Services
ROI calculator.
Find out what research could be worth to you.
Investing in research
Research is an investment that can pay back.
Knowing what your work achieves, being heard as an authority and spending your effort where it counts all have a value. Surveys of business decision-makers suggest that value can be substantial: evidence changes who they buy from, who they invite to bid and what they are willing to pay.
There are three ways it tends to pay back.
Evidencing your impact
Keep what you have, and make more of it
Clear evidence of the difference you make helps you hold on to clients, commissioners and funders, supports your case at renewal and gives new audiences a reason to choose you. Small gains matter: a 5% rise in customer retention has been found to lift profits by 25 to 95%.
Reichheld (1996), Bain & Company; confirmed in Harvard Business Review (2014).
Original research and sector reports
Be the name they think of
Research that others can rely on gets you noticed. 86% of decision-makers say they would be likely to invite a company to bid based on its thought leadership, and one report can feed articles, talks and posts for months, saving you the cost of producing them separately.
Edelman-LinkedIn (2024).
Finding the right opportunities
Spend your effort where it counts
Only about 5% of the organisations you might work with are actively in the market at any one time. Evidence helps you find them, shows them you understand their position and gives you a reason to get in touch, so fewer conversations are wasted.
Dawes (2022), Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and LinkedIn B2B Institute.
Want the full picture? See the evidence on Why research?
Your numbers
What could it be worth to you?
Put your own figures against each of these: how many clients you have, what they are worth, how often you win. You will see what you could make or save, route by route and all together.
We have started you off with cautious figures, so what you see is on the conservative side.
Every starting figure can be changed. Hover over the ? icons to see the thinking behind each one. The methodology and sources are further down the page.
Evidencing your impact
Original research and sector reports
Finding the right opportunities
Before you rely on it
Important caveats.
- Revenue vs. margin: All returns shown are gross incremental revenue. Multiply by your margin rate for profit impact.
- Attribution: Models assume direct attribution. Real-world causation is rarely this clean.
- Evidence quality: Key sources are based on self-reported data. Treat figures as directional, not precise.
- Overlap: Options 1 and 2 share return mechanisms (retention, pricing). Combined totals may overstate if both are pursued.
Calculation methodology
Summary bar
Total invested = sum of investments for included options
Total return = sum of incremental returns for included options
ROI (%) = ((Total return − Total invested) / Total invested) × 100
Option 1: Evidencing your impact
Models three revenue streams: client retention, new client acquisition via case studies, and premium pricing on renewals.
Clients lost = Active clients × Baseline churn rate
Clients retained = Clients lost × Churn reduction
Retained revenue = Clients retained × Avg contract value
New revenue = New clients (case study) × Avg contract value
Renewing clients = Active − Lost + Retained
Premium revenue = Renewing × Avg contract value × Premium uplift
Total return = Retained + New + Premium revenue
Option 2: Original research and sector reports
Models RFP conversion, premium pricing on existing renewals, and avoided content production cost.
RFPs won = New RFP invitations × Win rate
New revenue = RFPs won × New contract value
Premium revenue = Renewals affected × Renewal value × Premium uplift
Content value = £7,500 (fixed: avoided external production cost)
Total return = New revenue + Premium revenue + Content value
Option 3: Finding the right opportunities
Models account-based targeting with evidence-backed propositions.
Clients won = Targets per cycle × Conversion rate
Effective value = Base contract value × (1 + Deal size uplift)
Total revenue = Clients won × Effective contract value
Evidence sources and default assumptions
Option 1 defaults
Churn reduction (20%). Edelman-LinkedIn (2024, n ≈ 3,500): 70% of C-suite said competitor thought leadership made them question an existing supplier; 25% ended or reduced a relationship. The 20% default applies this conservatively to the at-risk cohort only.
Premium pricing (5%). 60% of decision-makers willing to pay a premium for thought leadership producers (Edelman, 2024). The 5% default is intentionally conservative against stated willingness.
Case study influence (1 new client). 73% of B2B decision-makers say case studies influence purchasing (CMI, 2025). One new client per year is a minimal estimate.
Option 2 defaults
RFP invitations (3). 86% of decision-makers more likely to invite to RFP based on thought leadership (Edelman, 2024). Three per year is conservative.
Premium pricing (7%). 92% of C-suite willing to pay a premium (Edelman, 2025). Higher than Option 1 on the basis that a sector-defining report supports a stronger pricing position.
Content asset value (£7,500). Estimated avoided external production cost for 12+ derivative pieces at ~£600 per piece. Fixed value.
ROI context. IBM/Wiley (2025) reported 156% average ROI from thought leadership across 4,000 C-suite globally.
Option 3 defaults
Conversion rate (20%). Lower end of the ABM range (15–35%). General B2B win rate is 19–21% (Ebsta, 2025). The default does not assume outperformance.
Deal size uplift (25%). DemandBase reports 33% average ACV increase. The 25% default applies a moderating discount.
Key sources
Edelman-LinkedIn (2024) Reaching Beyond the Ready, n ≈ 3,500 · Edelman-LinkedIn (2025) Invisible Influence, n ≈ 2,000 · Anderson & Marshall (2025) / IBM IBV, n = 4,000 C-suite · Content Marketing Institute (2025) · Reichheld (1996) / HBR (2014) · Forrester (2025) · DemandBase (2024) · Ebsta x Pavilion (2024–25) · Ehrenberg-Bass / LinkedIn (Dawes, 2022)
No controlled experimental evidence exists demonstrating the causal effect of thought leadership on B2B revenue in any single sector specifically. All figures are from adjacent B2B research.
Get in touch
Let’s talk about your project.
Whatever your size or stage, we’d be glad to discuss how we can help.