Every authority-building tactic sits somewhere on a tradeoff between how much value it delivers and how hard it is to repeat consistently. A survey of 1000 marketers plotted activities like original research, digital PR, and review generation across exactly that tradeoff, and the results show a clear split. Original research and digital PR score highest in perceived business value but also rank among the hardest to scale, while review generation and case studies sit in an easier, though slightly lower-value, zone.

Essential Statistics

• Original research scores highest in perceived business value at nearly 5 out of 5, while also ranking among the most difficult activities to scale.
• Digital PR scores similarly high in business value and similarly high in difficulty to scale.
• Review generation scores high in business value at over 4 out of 5 while ranking as one of the easier activities to scale.
• Customer case studies and analyst relations cluster in the high-value, easier-to-scale zone, alongside review generation.
• Podcast and event appearances score lowest in both perceived business value and difficulty to scale, landing in the lower-value, harder-to-scale quadrant.

Key Takeaways

• The clustering of original research and digital PR in the high-value, hard-to-scale quadrant suggests the most impactful authority activities are also the ones requiring the most sustained investment.
• Review generation and customer case studies scoring high in value while being easier to scale suggests these are likely underused relative to their return.
• Executive thought leadership scoring moderate on both dimensions suggests it occupies a middle ground that may be worth reassessing depending on your team’s capacity.
• Podcast and event appearances scoring lowest overall suggests these activities may be more about visibility than measurable authority building for most brands.
• This framework is worth using to audit where your team’s current time investment sits relative to where the actual value and difficulty tradeoffs point.

Actionable Insights

• Prioritize review generation and customer case studies if your team has limited resources, since these activities score high in value while remaining relatively easy to scale according to this data.
• Treat original research and digital PR as long-term investments rather than quick wins. Their high difficulty to scale suggests they require dedicated resourcing rather than being squeezed into an already full content calendar.
• Reassess time spent on podcast and event appearances if authority building is the primary goal. This data suggests these activities deliver comparatively lower value relative to the effort involved.
• Build a repeatable system for collecting customer case studies, since this activity scores well on both dimensions and is likely one of the more efficient ways to build authority.
• Use this value-versus-difficulty framework as a lens for evaluating any new authority-building tactic your team considers, rather than committing based on trend alone.

The activities everyone wants credit for, research and PR, are also the hardest to keep doing. Meanwhile review generation just sits there, high value, low effort, mostly ignored. – Neil Patel