How should companies invest in intangible assets for maximum ROI?

Full Explanation

Strategic intangible asset investment requires understanding which asset classes drive the most value in your specific business model, then allocating capital accordingly. For SaaS businesses, the highest-ROI intangible investments are typically in product development (technology) and customer success (retention), because these drive NRR and reduce churn. For consumer brands, brand marketing and customer experience investments produce the highest returns through pricing power and organic growth. For professional services, human capital investment (training, recruitment, culture) drives value because people are the primary asset. The framework for optimising intangible investment involves: first, audit your current intangible asset base to identify strengths and gaps (Opagio's questionnaire provides this baseline). Second, benchmark against peers to understand where you over- or under-invest relative to industry norms. Third, prioritise investments in assets with increasing returns to scale — software, data, and brand investments compound over time, while assets like assembled workforce require ongoing investment to maintain. Fourth, measure returns rigorously: track the relationship between intangible investment (R&D spend, marketing spend, training spend) and outcome metrics (revenue growth, margin expansion, customer retention). Fifth, protect existing intangible assets while building new ones — an IP portfolio that is not maintained (patents not renewed, trademarks not defended) depreciates rapidly. The Corrado-Hulten-Sichel research consistently shows that companies allocating 15-25% of revenue to intangible investment outperform peers on total shareholder return over 5-10 year horizons.

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