Friday, 31 December 2021

B2B Marketing News: B2B Buyers Using More Channels, Brands Embrace Digital Personalization, & LinkedIn’s New Workplace Representation Efforts

2021 December 31 McKinsey Chart

2021 December 31 McKinsey Chart Fiddling With First-Party: B2B Firms Face Corporate And Data Integration Hurdles 41 percent of B2B brands have said they use first-party data for marketing segmentation, while 37 percent use it for sales outreach, and 36 percent for advertising and analytics — one of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released Dun & Bradstreet study data. MediaPost Oracle to Buy Cerner in $28B Health Care Play Oracle has announced that it will acquire medical records firm Cerner for some $28.3 billion, a move that will bring a vast expansion to Oracle’s health care segment and bolster the reach of both firms, following a similar move by Microsoft earlier this year, Oracle recently announced. CFO B2B Tech Sector Will Decline In 2022, But Rebound In 2023: Study The B2B technology category is forecast to see a two percent decrease in 2022 in the U.S., while accompanied by a three percent increase in overall sales placing the annual figure at some $106 billion, according to newly-released report data from the NPD Group. MediaPost YouTube Adds New Updates to YouTube Studio App, Bringing it More Into Line with the Desktop Version Google's YouTube has rolled out new features to its mobile YouTube Studio app, which will bring B2B marketers the ability to perform more complex community comment filtering, along with several new analytics upgrades, YouTube recently announced. Social Media Today Study: Brands Are Making Personalization A New Priority During 2021 some 31 percent of brands said that they were able to personalize the majority of digital interactions, a figure that was up from 10 percent in 2020 — one of several statistics of interest to online marketers in recently-released survey data. MediaPost [bctt tweet="“You can't solve personalization before you solve customer understanding.” — Tom Treanor @RtMixMktg" username="toprank"] PR Pros to Turn More to Social Engagement to Measure Efforts 60 percent of communications professionals have said that they plan to use social media engagement as a public relations (PR) metric in 2022, with 28 percent noting that they expect to report on consumer sentiment, according to newly-released survey data. MarketingCharts 2021 December 31 Statistics Image Meta Unveils Future Ad Manager Updates Focusing On Outcomes Facebook parent firm Meta has launched a new Outcome-Driven Ad Experiences (ODAX) feature, offering advertisers six primary objectives including awareness, traffic, engagement, app promotion, leads, and sales, in a program that could make its way to Facebook and Instagram in time, Meta recently announced. MediaPost LinkedIn Launches New Campaign to Highlight the Importance of Representation in the Workplace Microsoft-owned LinkedIn (client) has rolled out a new campaign focusing on efforts that highlight how professionals are shifting to expressing more of their authentic selves in today’s new hybrid and remote workplace environments, LinkedIn recently announced. Social Media Today Brands That Make Life Simpler Score With Global Consumers 76 percent of global consumers have said that they’re more likely to recommend brands that deliver simple experiences, up from some 64 percent in 2018, according to newly-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost B2B buyers and sellers put digital commerce on a faster track It’s not unusual for B2B customers to use 10 or more channels for interactions with suppliers, up from just five in 2016, while some two-thirds of B2B buyers are choosing either remote human interactions or digital self-service methods — two of numerous findings of interest to marketers contained in newly-released survey data of U.S. B2B decision makers. Digital Commerce 360 ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: 2021 December 31 Marketoonist Comic Image A lighthearted look at the “definition of insanity” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Ugly Sweater Party Winner Didn’t Realize That Was The Theme — The Hard Times TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
  • Lee Odden — Optimize for Search and for Trust [Video] — Oracle CX
  • Lee Odden — The Age of Authenticity — Arshiya Kapadia
  • Lee Odden — Ask the Experts: Trends to Grow Your Business [Podcast] — Pam Didner
  • Lee Odden — 12 Social Media Marketing Experts Share Their Best Advice — CocoFax
  • TopRank Marketing — How To Value Your Working Experience As A Freelance Event Planner — Event Planner News
Have you come across your own favorite B2B marketing news for the week? Please drop us a line in the comments below. Thank you for taking the time to join us for this week's TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope you'll come back again next Friday for another selection of the most relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

The post B2B Marketing News: B2B Buyers Using More Channels, Brands Embrace Digital Personalization, & LinkedIn’s New Workplace Representation Efforts appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.



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Wednesday, 29 December 2021

Why You Need To Humanize Your Brand

The World’s Best Buyer Persona System

The World’s Best Buyer Persona System written by Sara Nay read more at Duct Tape Marketing



About the show:

The Agency Spark Podcast, hosted by Sara Nay, is a collection of interviews from thought leaders in the marketing consultancy and agency space. Each episode is designed to spark ideas you can put into practice for your agency today. Check out the new Spark Lab Consulting website here.

About the episode:

In this episode of the Agency Spark Podcast, Sara asks Stormie Andrews how to outgrow and outsmart your competition through the world’s best buyer persona system.

Stormie Andrews is the Founder of Yokel Local. He is an award-winning author, having co-authored “Power of the Platform, Speakers on Success” with Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, and Les Brown. In July, 2020, he released, “The World’s Best Buyer Persona System” which is the foundational first step to outsmarting your competition. The system is so effective, he was recognized by Intercon as one of the Top 50 Tech Visionaries in the world.

More from Stormie Andrews:

  • Outsmarttools.com
  • Click here for free access to Stormie’s Marketing Wheel Audit. Why is this important? You will have the opportunity to self identify your strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities in regards to your marketing efforts. Stormie provides step-by-step video instruction walking you through one of the most valuable processes to help you make better decisions with your time and investment dollars.

Like this show? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts here!

 

This episode of the Agency Spark Podcast is brought to you by DashThis, a very simple-to-use and beautiful automated reporting tool for marketers and agencies. Gather all your data in one automated report with DashThis. They have more than 34 integrations and tons of time-saving features like pre-set report templates, cloning options, and automated email dispatches. See for yourself, with their offer of 10 free dashboards for 15 days. Sign up at dashthis.com.



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Small Business Marketing Trends for 2022

Small Business Marketing Trends for 2022 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Yep, it’s that time of year once again. Time for lots of folks like me to wax on about what we see out there on the horizon so that folks like you can perhaps be a little more prepared to respond to the coming shifts in marketing. 

In a lot of ways, I think the real service posts like this perform is to put a name on things that people are already starting to feel. I don’t claim to have special knowledge about the future, I view things through a lens informed by the thousands of conversations I have with business owners and influencers alike. 

Of course, what I should do is look back at last year’s post and give myself a score, so let’s do that briefly. 

Here’s what I predicted for 2021

·      Paying attention becomes a survival mechanism – This is hard to quantify, but I think that companies that relooked at most of the stages of their customer journey are winning. 

·      Everything gets smaller – More personal, maybe, not sure smaller. 

·      AI gets practical – nailed this one – you can’t produce an app these days without AI baked in. 

·      Talent investment is back in style – I don’t know, the great resignation caused so much scrambling that I’m not sure investment is the right term

·      Video gets personal again – Sure video, including 1 to 1 video, is hot, but I don’t think I saw the audio explosion as a personal medium. 

·       UX and SEO get attached at the hip – yep, another one that Google made real. 

·      Coaching ranks swell – This is still coming in my view, but I’m still bullish as heck on the change in how people, including marketing agencies, position their work. 

With that bit of housekeeping done, let’s move on to what I view as the top small business trends of 2022. 

Brand Purpose takes the place of authenticity.

Authenticity is a decade-old buzzword that most people struggle to define, let alone deliver. One thing the great shake-up entering year 3 has done is force people to search for meaning in their work and certainly is what their brand stands for, promises, and delivers. 

I expect this idea to become a significant differentiator for brands. People will make choices based much more on connection with a brand. Who knows how long this will last but for right now, make sure you help people connect with what you stand for. 

Events are still virtual.

It seemed like this trend if you want to call it that was about to end in the fall of 2021, but alas, it will carry forward into 2022 and continue to influence the habits of business travel and education habits. 

I look for many significant events to get better at hybrid offerings. I also think that forming cohorts of 8-10 to go through an experience together will take the place of the typical course or membership program. 

Co-marketing is no longer a big biz play.

I’ve always loved co-marketing. When you think of this you might immediately think Red Bull and GoPro, but any business can do this. 

Since it’s become pretty much impossible to cold call or even network that well, why not look to other businesses to help you get in front of prospects. 

Co-marketing is essentially a twist on referral, but its passive nature can create great exposure and I think the idea will really catch on in 2022 for proactive small businesses. 

Small business learns to outsource content.

Let’s start with two facts – Content is air, and creating helpful content is hard work. Most large organizations create the storm of content they need for every customer journey stage by building content teams and outsourcing a great deal of content production to freelancers and agencies. 

With the advent of AI in the realm of content creation, many small businesses will be able to compete in the content game by employing inexpensive content partners armed with AI tools. 

NFTs already

In case you haven’t been online, of late, NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which of course, means little. Go read up on this idea if you need to understand all things crypto fully. 

NFTs made a giant splash in 2020 and 2021, mainly in the world of collectible digital art. See, that’s the non-fungible part – unlike bitcoin that you exchange for another token or bitcoin and essentially have the same thing you started with an NFT is usually an original of some sort, but because it’s built on blockchain (usually Ethereum), it’s a bit of a contract. 

There will be copies, but you can prove you have the original. And the artist can enhance or continue your connection, and that’s where this will get interesting. 

Think about buying a concert ticket that comes with special bonuses based on your ticket price or number. Then, think about how content creators will start creating their community tokens. 

Okay, all of this is already happening and way past mainstream, but now it is time for small businesses to start paying attention – not to Gary V, but to folks like Joe Pulizzi and Brian Clark

So, we’ll see how I did in a year or so. 



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Best Of B2B Search Marketing: Optimize Your 2022 With Our Top 10 SEO Posts

Multiracial professional B2B marketers faces collage image.

Multiracial professional B2B marketers faces collage image. Search marketing has morphed and grown in numerous ways throughout 2021. At each of the shifts and changes in the search marketing landscape along the way, we've done our best to not only cover each twist and turn thoroughly, but to also offer insight and research-based strategy that will help B2B marketers meet the increasing challenges placed in front of us. We're fortunate to have a wealth of talented B2B marketing professionals contributing to the TopRank Marketing blog covering the state of search marketing — which will celebrate its 19th year in 2022. To help our blog community grow its search marketing knowledge, we’re happy to offer our annual list of the most popular search marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) posts of 2021 we've published throughout the year.

Our Most Popular Search Marketing Posts in 2021:

1. 6 Timeless SEO Tips Content Marketers Can Do Now — Lee Odden

Timeless SEO Tips How can content marketers improve their search visibility? The best SEO advice isn't worth much if it's never implemented. In our most popular search marketing post of 2021, our CEO Lee Odden shared six timeless SEO tips that you can implement right now, including:
  • Avoid overuse of pronouns
  • Facts tell, stories sell
  • Links are like electricity
  • Be the best answer
  • Close the gap with an SEO audit
  • Always be optimizing
Check out all of Lee’s 2,600+ posts here, and follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn. [bctt tweet="“Strive to 'be the best answer' for what customers are looking for by creating content that is in-depth, engaging, and inspires deeper click-throughs into your site.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden" username="toprank"]

2. SEO Harmony: Why B2B Marketers Need To Integrate Search With Content Strategy — Lane R. Ellis

People pushing giant puzzle pieces together at sunset. Why should B2B marketers should turn segmented SEO and content marketing efforts into an integrated strategy? In the second most popular search marketing post of the year, I shared why uniting the two forms a more powerful and harmonious B2B marketing union, examining:
  • SEO Specialists Gain By Reaching Out To Content Teams
  • Audience Insights Benefit Both SEO & Content Marketing
  • Content Teams Thrive By Making SEO A Fundamental Concern
  • United SEO & Content Form A Powerful B2B Marketing Union
You can check out all of my posts here, and follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn. [bctt tweet="Marketers need to break free over the next 10 years by radically changing how they work with sales, stopping the baton hand-off model and moving much more of an integrated team. ” — Jon Miller @jonmiller" username="toprank"]

3. Trust and the Search for Answers: How Influence Optimizes SEO Performance — Lee Odden

influence search optimization How can B2B marketers optimize content for trust? In the number three spot on our top search marketing posts of 2021 list, Lee shared how trusted content elevates the strength of brand search visibility, and why taking optimization to the next level creates even better customer experiences. Lee shared fascinating and powerful ways to align your content, SEO and influencer engagement opportunities, including:
  • Identify experts creating on-topic content with great search visibility
  • Seek influencers with Knowledge Panels in Google
  • Evaluate influencer’s link attraction rates when they publish or contribute content
  • Provide influencers with SEO audits of their blogs so they can improve their search visibility
[bctt tweet="“Creating best answer content means an approach to content marketing that involves aligning the best practices of SEO and content strategy with influencer marketing and employee advocacy.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden" username="toprank"]

4. What 5 Recent Search Marketing Changes Mean For B2B Marketers — Lane R. Ellis

Black woman marketer deep in thought image. How can B2B marketers adapt to new changes in search engine marketing? From Google’s “About This Result” and feedback features to its new Display & Video 360 data insights, Google Discover, TensorFlow ranking updates, and Bing search engine result page (SERP) chatbot and related-image features, in our fourth most popular search marketing post of 2021 I shared five recent changes, including:
  • Learning More With Google Discover
  • Google’s “About This Result” & Feedback Features
  • Display & Video 360 Bring New Google Data Insights
  • Google TensorFlow Ranking Updates
  • Bing’s New Chat & Related Image Features
[bctt tweet="The biggest overarching trend in SEO in recent years which will undoubtedly continue in 2021 is the focus on E-A-T: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. — Lily Ray @lilyraynyc" username="toprank"]

5. Beyond SEO: B2B Content Optimization for Trust and Customer Experience — Lee Odden

B2B marketing optimization How does B2B content optimization work to build greater trust and better customer experiences? In the fifth most popular search marketing post of 2021, Lee shared how to take optimization beyond search and into customer experience with a more holistic B2B content strategy, including:
  • What Can Be Searched Can Be Optimized
  • Optimize For Customers
  • Optimize For Experiences
  • Great Content isn’t Great Unless it’s Findable and Credible
  • Go Holistic with B2B Content or Go Home
[bctt tweet="“B2B marketers that do not consider creating credible content experiences after the sale are missing out on substantial opportunities to serve customers and subsequently, generate increased revenue.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden" username="toprank"]

6. Content Marketing Optimization Audits – Find Where SEO Can Boost Content Marketing Success — Lee Odden

Content Marketing Optimization Audits How do SEO and content marketing strategy interact with one another in a cohesive way? In our sixth most popular search marketing post of 2021, Lee walked us through the five fundamentals of SEO and audit reports to help you boost your content marketing success, including:
  • Keyword Research
  • Content Audits
  • Technical SEO Audits
  • Inbound and Internal Linking Audits
  • Social Media Audits
[bctt tweet="“To understand where SEO can create performance optimization opportunities, it’s important to evaluate the current situation and uncover the gaps that represent opportunities for improvement through a series of audits.” @LeeOdden" username="toprank"]

7. 5 Tips for Empowering Enterprise SEO Success — Lee Odden

Enterprise SEO How can B2B marketers empower enterprise SEO? From ongoing education and energizing advocates to marketing results and customizing communications, in our seventh most-read search marketing article of the year, Lee shares how, and why even the best SEO advice isn't so great if it's never implemented. Learn all five ways to empower SEO at enterprise companies, including:
  • Ongoing Education
  • Energize Advocates
  • Market Results
  • Be Available
  • Customize Communications for the Enterprise
[bctt tweet="“Successful enterprise SEO projects require a unique combination of creative and mechanical SEO expertise as well as large company political savvy.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden" username="toprank"]

8. Optimizing Digital Assets: How B2B Marketers Can Combine the Best of External & Internal Search Findability — Lane R. Ellis

Professional black woman with digital assets collage image. How can B2B marketers optimize a digital asset workflow that combines best practices for search findability both externally and within your business? In our eighth most popular search marketing post of 2021, I shared how to bring it all together with a digital asset management (DAM) solution, including a look at the following key areas:
  • What Are Digital Assets In B2B Marketing
  • Better Search Findability Externally
  • Better Findability For Your Organization
  • Bringing It All Together With A Digital Asset Management Solution
[bctt tweet="“The more complex your marketing strategies and organization are, the greater the benefits of digital asset management (DAM) will be, especially over time.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis" username="toprank"]

9. Autumn of Search: In-Person & Virtual SEO Events for B2B Marketers — Lane R. Ellis

B2B marketing conference attendees and speakers on stage image. What are the top conferences and events B2B marketers should be considering for hybrid of in-person learning? In the last decade alone the number of conferences has risen drastically, making it harder than ever to hone in on the ones that can best help build your business, boost your networking opportunities, and offer the most relevant new industry education from top speakers, especially in world of B2B search marketing. These 19 hybrid and in-person B2B marketing conferences and events will help elevate and inform your search strategy. From #Pubcon & #SearchLove to #MozCon & more, in our ninth most popular search marketing article of 2021, I share them all. [bctt tweet="“We’re all the same size rectangle on the Zoom screen.” — Vanessa Colella of @Citi" username="toprank"]

10. How Influencers & Best Answer Content Help B2B Marketers Dominate in Search — Lee Odden

Be the Best Answer with B2B Content How can optimized best-answer content help B2B marketers dominate in search? Rounding out our top ten list of search marketing posts for the year, Lee has shared the SEO value that influencers can bring to content marketing through expertise, authority and trust, including a helpful look at the following advantages B2B influencer marketing offers:
  • Industry experts can add credibility to brand content
  • Influencers can help lesser known B2B brands build their exposure and credibility in the marketplace more quickly
  • Trusted influencers can help B2B brands c0-create more authentic content that resonates with buyers
  • Influencer partners can help B2B brands create more content than they could on their own
  • Key opinion leaders can drive conversations about topics important to brands and their customers through content
  • Influencers can help create and promote brand content to new audiences that ignore traditional tactics like ads
  • B2B brands that develop relationships with the experts in the industry that customers listen to can realize important marketing objectives like increased advocacy for the brand and its solutions
[bctt tweet="“Content is the reason search engines began and yet many B2B content marketers are not taking full advantage of opportunities to attract customers that are actively looking.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden" username="toprank"]

Thanks TopRank Marketing Readers

Thanks to each of you, our TopRank Marketing blog readers, for continuing to read and learn from us, including these top 10 search marketing posts of 2021. We published dozens of posts this year specifically about search marketing, and plan to bring you even more in 2022, so stay tuned for a new year of the latest helpful search industry research and insight. Please let us know which SEO-related topics and ideas you'd like to see us focus on for 2022 — we'd love to hear your suggestions. Feel free to leave those thoughts in the comments section below. Many thanks to each of you who read our blog regularly, and to all of you who comment on and share our posts on the TopRank Marketing social media channels at Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. To learn more about the rising power of influence in B2B, watch our CEO Lee Odden in the comprehensive new webinar "How to Accelerate B2B Marketing Results by Working With Influencers," and learn how to create greater content marketing impact with influence.

The post Best Of B2B Search Marketing: Optimize Your 2022 With Our Top 10 SEO Posts appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.



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Tuesday, 28 December 2021

The Top 10 Duct Tape Marketing Podcast Episodes for 2021

The Top 10 Duct Tape Marketing Podcast Episodes for 2021 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

As we’ve tried to return to some sense of normalcy in 2021, the implications of the pandemic have bled into this year — impacting and shaping the future of business and small business marketing as we know it. We’ve faced new and old challenges, pushed hard for innovation, and trudged forward in the face of change and the many lessons learned.

I chatted with some incredible guests on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast over this past year. I wanted to take a look back at the most popular episodes we aired in 2021.

If you enjoyed what you heard here, check out the full line-up of shows.

1. Oliver Burkeman – Making The Most Of Your Time

Oliver-burkeman

Oliver Burkeman is the author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. For many years, he wrote a popular column on psychology for the Guardian newspaper. He’s the author of a new book called Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.

Biggest takeaway:

The average human lifespan is brief. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But often, such techniques often end up making things worse. In this episode, Oliver Burkeman talks about concepts from his book: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. We discuss the many unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time, and how to think and do things differently so that we can show up better in the present moment.

Click here to listen to the episode.

2. Clare Kumar – How To Optimize Your Work Performance

Clare Kumar helps busy professionals optimize their performance. She is a media contributor on productivity, organization, and work-life integration.

Biggest takeaway:

People are busy, and that’s applicable across every and all job roles — entrepreneurs, business professionals, employees, stay-at-home parents, consultants, you name it, we’re busy. Clare Kumar works directly with people and professionals helping them optimize their performance and work-life integration. In this episode, Clare shares how to shift your mindset in a way that will help you build habits that last, boost your productivity, and optimize your work performance.

Click here to listen to the episode.

3. Solo Show – Creating Content For Every Stage Of The Customer Journey

john-jantsch

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker, and author of Duct Tape Marketing, The Referral Engine, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, and The Ultimate Marketing Engine. He is also the founder of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network, which trains and licenses independent consultants and agencies to use the Duct Tape Methodology.

Biggest takeaway:

Content can’t and shouldn’t be viewed as a bunch of one-off projects. The creation of it needs to come out of one comprehensive strategy. Because it is such an important piece of the marketing puzzle these days, it needs to be incorporated in every phase of the customer journey. As a person moves through the customer journey, you must hit them with content throughout the process to keep them engaged with your business, and the best way to do this is to match the content you’d like to develop with the various phases of the Marketing Hourglass. In this episode, I share how to create content for every stage of the customer journey.

Click here to listen to the episode.

4. Mike Michalowicz – How To Create Marketing That Can’t Be Ignored

Mike Michalowicz

Mike Michalowicz is a speaker and bestselling author, the creator of Profit First – which is used by hundreds of thousands of companies across the globe to drive profit. And he’s got a new book today called – Get Different: Marketing That Can’t Be Ignored!

Biggest takeaway: 

Many business owners are frustrated because they feel invisible in a crowded marketplace. They know they are better than their competitors, but when they focus on that fact, they get little in return. That’s because, to customers, better is not actually better. Different is better. And those who market differently, win. In this episode, Mike talks about his new marketing book, Get Different, where he offers a proven, method to position your business, service, or brand to get noticed, attract the best prospects, and convert those opportunities into sales.

Click here to listen to the episode.

5. Ryan Englin – How To Attract The Right Talent

Ryan is the CEO of Core Fit Hiring which helps blue-collar companies fill frontlines with quality technicians and craftworkers.

Biggest takeaway:

Finding the right talent is not an easy task to conquer. In fact, many people waste time hiring the wrong people or have a difficult time retaining the people they worked so hard to attract. In this episode, I talk with the founder of Core Fit Hiring, Ryan Englin, about why people have such a difficult time attracting the right talent today and what you need to do to attract quality frontline workers who align with your company values — and how to get them to stay.

Click here to listen to the episode.

6. Jeffrey Shaw – Making Your Self-Employed Business Sustainably Successful

Jeffrey is an experienced speaker and small-business consultant. He helps self-employed and small-business owners gain control of their business in what otherwise seems like uncontrollable circumstances. He’s also the author of a book called: The Self-Employed Life: Business and Personal Development Strategies That Create Sustainable Success.

Biggest takeaway: 

To be self-employed means more than employing oneself. It’s a choice to challenge yourself to grow personally while building a business. As we develop ourselves, we raise the bar—we’re capable of even more success. What self-employed folks need is both business strategies and personal development to reach and maintain that success. In this episode, Jeffrey Shaw shares his holistic approach for sustainable, self-employed success.

Click here to listen to the episode.

7. Jacqueline Lieberman – Making Brands More Human

Headshot of Jacqueline Lieberman who was a guest on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast

Jacqueline Lieberman is the former Managing Partner and the Head of Strategy Story Worldwide and the current founder of BrandCrudo.

Biggest takeaway:

Brands are people’s introduction to businesses and their way to interact with companies. The more human a brand is, the better that interaction is going to be. All of the beloved brands that are out there are the ones that behave like human beings. They have a conscience, a point of view, a soul, and a personality. In this episode, Jacqueline Lieberman discusses the work that she does with her clients and the ways in which she has helped many brands become more human.

Click here to listen to the episode.

8. Sophia Godkin – The Simple Truths About Happiness

Headshot of Sophia Godkin

Sophia Godkin is a Health Psychologist, Happyologist, and Happiness, Relationship & Transformational Coach. She’s also the author of The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal: Give Thanks, Practice Positivity, Find Joy.

Biggest takeaway:

During her Ph.D. journey, Dr. Sophia Godkin found herself under an incredible amount of stress that led her to an internal realization that life could be lived in a more harmonious internal state. There is so much truth in the statement: “All you have to do is decide to be happy.” But how many people actually have the tools, resources, and mental mindset to be able to decide to be happy? There are many things that actually prevent us from the decision to be happy. In this episode, Dr. Sophia Godkin dives into the simple truths about finding happiness.

Click here to listen to the episode.

9. Tripp Lanier – Reach Your Potential by Living Dangerously

Tripp Lanier is a professional coach, author of This Book Will Make You Dangerous, and host of The New Man Podcast: Beyond the Macho Jerk and the New Age Wimp which — for over a decade — has been downloaded millions of times. We’re discussing his book called This Book Will Make You Dangerous – a guide for the rare, few men who refuse to sleepwalk through life.

Biggest takeaway:

Tripp Lanier has spent thousands of hours coaching forward-thinking men all around the world on how to not sleep through life and how to see opportunities instead of walls. In this episode, Tripp Lanier focuses on mindset and shares how to challenge your fears, align your life with meaning, and find clarity and direction in your life.

Click here to listen to the episode.

10. Allan Dib – Is the 1-Page Marketing Plan Right for Your Business?

Allan Dib is a serial entrepreneur, rebellious marketer, and #1 bestselling author. Allan Dib wrote The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From the Crowd.

Biggest takeaway:

To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn’t get done. In this episode, Allan Dib talks about his 1-Page Marketing Plan – which is a marketing implementation breakthrough that makes creating a marketing plan simple and fast.

Click here to listen to the episode.

 

Is your favorite episode on the list? If not, we’d love to hear which one you enjoyed listening to the most!

For our podcast audience, we can’t thank you enough for your support over the years! If you like the show, click on over and subscribe and if you love the show give us a review on iTunes, please!

 



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Saturday, 25 December 2021

Weekend Favs December 25

Weekend Favs December 25 written by Karen Cutler read more at Duct Tape Marketing

My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week.

I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from an online source or one that I took out there on the road.

  • Website Grader –grade your website in seconds. Then learn how to improve it for free.
  • BTW.SO – Marketing Tools – a curated list of 250 top marketing tools that marketers should be aware of
  • Writers Resource –a comprehensive resource directory that has all the tools and platforms writers and marketers need.

These are my weekend favs, I would love to hear about some of yours – Tweet me @ducttape



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Friday, 24 December 2021

B2B Marketing News: Values-Driven Ads Gain Greater Trust, Podcast Engagement Rises, New Instagram Sharing Options, & Reddit’s IPO

2021 December 24 Visual Capitalist Chart

2021 December 24 Visual Capitalist Chart People trust ads that talk about values, not products, finds Nielsen 89 percent of consumers place word-of-mouth as the more trustworthy form of advertising, followed by brand websites at 84 percent, while humor and brand values were seen as the top drivers of advertising response rates, with value-oriented ads gaining 10 percent from 2015 rates, according to newly-released Nielsen trust survey data of interest to digital marketers. The Drum Reddit files to take the company public Following a 200 percent year-over-year increase in ad revenue during the second quarter of 2021, Reddit has filed to move ahead with an initial public offering (IPO), which could bolster the firm's social platform and 52M daily users, Reddit recently announced. The Verge Instagram Adds New Option to Embed User Profiles on Third-Party WebsItes Facebook's Instagram social networking platform has rolling out new embedded mini-Instagram profiles for use on other web properties, which could bring new cross-platform sharing opportunities to influencers and digital marketers, Instagram recently announced. Social Media Today What Are Advertisers’ Top Programmatic Priorities in the Coming Year? 40 percent of U.S. brand and agency programmatic ad buyers have said that increased viewability will be their top priority in the next year, with 37 percent listing increased consumer engagement and 36 percent noting supply path efficiencies, according to newly-released survey data. MarketingCharts Engagement With Podcasts Increases, Continues To Grow Podcast audience listeners are some five times more inclined to like content sponsored by brands when it comes in the podcast format, with listeners also noting that they're nearly four times more likely to like podcasts directly from brands, according to recently-released survey data. MediaPost [bctt tweet="“While marketers address personalization in their Account-Based Marketing strategies, Account-Based Podcasting is an additional level that advanced marketers are embracing.” — A. Lee Judge @ALeeJudge" username="toprank"] Well, TikTok has a Discord now Online communications portal Discord has seen growth that has attracted an increasing number of brands, now including short-form video creation firm TikTok, which recently launched its first public discussion server on the platform, TikTok recently announced. TechCrunch 2021 December 24 Statistics Image Mobile, Social, Digital Video Are Top Advertising Priorities For 2022 Mobile video and contextual targeting solutions are among the top 2022 media priorities, while 48 percent of U.S. digital media executives have said that in-stream digital audio and podcast ad formats will be a priority, according to newly-released survey data of interest to online marketers. MediaPost The Traits of B2B Firms With Exceptional Marketing and Sales Performance Engaging with relevance throughout the entire buyer journey and increased data investment are among the top traits of leading performers, according to new sales and marketing data research from Dun & Bradstreet. MarketingProfs Ad Market Expands For Ninth Consecutive Month, Posts Best November Ever The U.S. advertising market’s rate of growth grew by 10.3 percent in November compared to the same month last year, with digital categories performing the best, while overall expansion has continued for nine consecutive months, according to newly-released index report data. MediaPost Visualizing Mobile Traffic Worldwide [Infographic] Some 49 percent of global mobile traffic consists of streaming video content, with 19 percent accounting for social media, and 13 percent web traffic, according to recently-released mobile traffic statistical report data. Social Media Today ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: 2021 December 24 Marketoonist Comic Image A lighthearted look at the “ho, ho, holiday labor shortag” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Interview with Santa, “C-Ho-Ho” of Old St. Nic Inc — Sitecore TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
  • Lee Odden — Key ingredients of a great content marketing strategy for 2022 — Oracle
  • TopRank Marketing — 10 of the Best Influencer Marketing Resources for Marketers in 2022 — Shane Barker
Have you located your own top B2B marketing news for the week? Please drop us a line in the comments below. Thanks for joining us for this week's TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope that you will return again next Friday for another array of the most relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

The post B2B Marketing News: Values-Driven Ads Gain Greater Trust, Podcast Engagement Rises, New Instagram Sharing Options, & Reddit’s IPO appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.



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Thursday, 23 December 2021

A Better Process For Finding The Best Talent

A Better Process For Finding The Best Talent written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Ryan Englin

ryan-englinIn this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Ryan Englin. Ryan is the CEO of Core Fit Hiring which helps blue-collar companies fill frontlines with quality technicians and craftworkers.

Key Takeaway:

Finding the right talent is not an easy task to conquer. In fact, many people waste time hiring the wrong people or have a difficult time retaining the people they worked so hard to attract.

In this episode, I talk with the founder of Core Fit Hiring, Ryan Englin, about why people have such a difficult time attracting the right talent today and what you need to do to attract quality frontline workers who align with your company values — and how to get them to stay.

Questions I Ask Ryan Englin:

  • [0:48] In the skilled worker and technician community, it’s been harder to fill positions – can you give me your take on that?
  • [2:36] Is the trade industry itself going to have to make some fundamental changes or use better marketing to draw people to the industry again?
  • [4:28] The best salespeople for getting more people in your organization are happy employees that are pumped about what they’re doing, but how do you bring that into a culture where that hasn’t existed?
  • [5:39] People connect with stories far better than they connect with features – how do you extract stories in industries some of these industries to effectively help them draw employees?
  • [7:12] If people are coming to you now and saying how do we attract and retain people, what is some of the advice that you’re giving people in this particular environment? people?
  • [8:33] If there’s something about your company, your culture, or your team that isn’t attractive, how do you fix that?
  • [9:17] If I’m listening to this show and I’m particularly trying to hire, or at least get my name in front of potential candidates, are you finding a channel that seems to be most effective for getting on people’s radars?
  • [11:00] Do employers need to start lowering their expectations about skill and experience?
  • [12:42] Would you be going to university situations or to vocational schools and trying to get involved at that early point?
  • [14:09] What role are unions playing in this industry today?
  • [15:51] With supply and demand being what it is, is there a pressure on wages right now that is really going to create some costing problems for contractors?
  • [17:14] How big of a problem is poaching?
  • [19:09] If people are interested in this topic and they hire skilled workers, where they can find out more about some of your work?

More About Ryan Englin:

More About The Certified Marketing Manager Program Powered by Duct Tape Marketing

Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please!

 

This episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network.

HubSpot Podcast Network is the audio destination for business professionals who seek the best education and inspiration on how to grow a business.

 



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Wednesday, 22 December 2021

Rethinking Our Relationship To Time

How To Know If Starting A High-Ticket Mastermind Is The Right Move

How To Know If Starting A High-Ticket Mastermind Is The Right Move written by Sara Nay read more at Duct Tape Marketing

About the show:

The Agency Spark Podcast, hosted by Sara Nay, is a collection of interviews from thought leaders in the marketing consultancy and agency space. Each episode is designed to spark ideas you can put into practice for your agency today. Check out the new Spark Lab Consulting website here!

About the episode:

In this episode of the Agency Spark Podcast, Sara asks Chris Williams how to know if starting a high-ticket mastermind is the right move.

The 3 main factors:

  • Are you an expert in your field?
  • Do you love giving to others?
  • Do you communicate well?

Chris spends most of his time raising his five kids, exploring world communities, and trying his hand at adventures like shark diving, ice climbing, running ultra marathons, and riding electric skateboards:)

In his spare time, he works with entrepreneurial and business experts, speakers, coaches, and leaders helping them market, monetize, and lead their own high-ticket mastermind (or group coaching) programs.

As the world continues to shift, many experts are trying to build high-ticket groups for additional income, lead generation, or impact. Chris teaches experts how to generate leads, close high-ticket deals, and build strong, transformational groups. He has his own digital agency, leads two masterminds of his own, and has learned many of these lessons the hard way, so sharing his journey and offering strategies is why he is here.

More from Chris Williams:

  • Group Coach Nation is the #1 resource for step-by-step guides to creating and/or scaling your high-ticket mastermind. The best part about Group Coach Nation is that it’s broken down into 3 sections: Beginner, Advanced and Pro. Go to GroupCoachNation.com and find your resources, your community and your growth.

Like this show? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts here!

 

This episode of the Agency Spark Podcast is brought to you by DashThis, a very simple-to-use and beautiful automated reporting tool for marketers and agencies. Gather all your data in one automated report with DashThis. They have more than 34 integrations and tons of time-saving features like pre-set report templates, cloning options, and automated email dispatches. See for yourself, with their offer of 10 free dashboards for 15 days. Sign up at dashthis.com.

 



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Happy Holidays & 2022 Wishes from the Team at TopRank Marketing

2021 TopRank Marketing Holiday Card Team Collage Image

2021 TopRank Marketing Holiday Card Team Collage Image Positivity may not be what first comes to mind when B2B marketers the world over describe 2022, yet during this holiday season it's the positive energy, outlook, and attitudes from our team, clients, associates, family and friends that spring forth. Overcoming the world's continuing shared challenges with positivity has brought us closer together in new ways, even as most of us collaborate in creative remote and hybrid ways, and as we enter the holiday season all of us at TopRank Marketing bring you special wishes for health and happiness. We wish you and your family a joy-filled holiday season filled with warmth, laughter, and friends. We also wish you a happy 2022 that eases some of the greatest challenges we've all faced the past two years, and sees newfound levels of positivity in your professional and personal life. The trust our many new and long-time clients have continued to place in us during 2021 has allowed us to reach record levels of client retention, and for this we are very thankful. Our team has pulled together and we’ve added major new B2B technology industry, global telecommunications and IT firms as clients. We’ve also continued to expand and grow partnerships with existing clients such as LinkedIn, SAP, monday.com and many more. This unique year has reminded all of us just how important communities are — communities of clients, associates, influencers, executives, our fellow B2B marketers, as well as our local communities here in Minnesota — and we wish you all a joyous holiday season and a very happy new year ahead in 2022. We’re also continuing to grow and hiring in many roles. Take a look at our careers page for a full list.

TopRank Marketing Wishes You the Happiest of Holidays

We’re incredibly grateful for each other, our wonderful clients, subject matter experts, and friends we’ve worked and grown with this unique year. From our marketing family to yours, Happy Holidays!

The post Happy Holidays & 2022 Wishes from the Team at TopRank Marketing appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.



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Tuesday, 21 December 2021

Why There’s a Need for Creative Storytelling in B2B Tech and How Influencer Marketing Can Accelerate Results

Group of B2B marketing business people working in office image.

Group of B2B marketing business people working in office image. Today’s B2B marketers have more challenges than ever, making it hard to cut through the noise and deliver results for their companies. In all of their efforts they must maintain a focus on connecting with new audiences, expanding their reach, and building relationships founded on a sense of mutual trust. Here are a few examples of some of the biggest challenges today’s B2B marketers are facing:
  • Finding ways to boost marketing efficiency: Marketers are often expected to achieve greater results with fewer resources, so finding ways to maximize efficiency is critical to achieve success within budgetary parameters.
  • Increasing marketing impact: Marketers are expected to deliver a higher return on investment (ROI) on their marketing efforts.
  • Improved experiences: Customers have higher expectations than ever before in a digital world, and those expectations will only continue to get higher. Marketers must fulfill those expectations by providing high caliber customer experiences.
  • Being authentic: Customers also expect a certain level of authenticity, even in B2B interactions. Brands need to find ways to be more human in order to build increasing trust with their customers.

Using influencer marketing to overcome these challenges

One of the most effective ways to get past these substantial challenges is to invest in influence marketing. By collaborating with experts who already have earned the trust of your audience, you can develop high-quality content that improves the customer experience, helps position your brand as a thought leader, and in turn earns new levels of trust. Keep in mind that there is a big difference between who or what an influencer is in the B2B world versus the typical B2C world. Many people hear the word “influencer” and think of a celebrity or notable figure who has a paid partnership with a company to show off its products on social media. With B2C, this style of influencing relies heavily on tone, a sense of coolness and image, while also building a certain amount of trust — at least to an extent. B2B influencers need to be significantly proficient in their particular subject matter, and genuinely passionate about what they do as thought leaders. They should regularly publish or create content, whether it’s in the form of text, video, podcasts, or social content. They should already have an audience that pays attention to that content, and they should be well-versed in promoting the content they’ve collaborated on with you. Businesses can successfully turn subject matter experts to influencers for collaboration and integration with just about any kind of content, from thought leadership and lead generation to product launches, reviews, and more.

Studies show greater demand for, effects from influencer marketing

TopRank Marketing performed extensive research into B2B influencer marketing, which we published as part of our 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report. One of the primary insights was just how many brands said that they stood to gain from collaborating with influencers. According to our research, 63 percent of marketers believe they would achieve better results with an influencer marketing program. Another 74 percent of marketers said they agreed that influencer marketing improved the brand experience for customers and prospects. Ultimately, influencer marketing can impact the entire customer lifecycle. It can help attract new audiences and inspire advocacy, engage through greater authenticity and through the voice of the customer. It can also convert new customers thanks to the trust already built-in to the influencer, help retain leads, encourage community participation, and create greater incentive for customers to become brand advocates and refer others.

Learn more about implementing influencer marketing for your business

TopRank Marketing recently developed a comprehensive webinar that takes a deep dive into B2B influencer marketing. In the new webinar we go beyond the information outlined in this article to extensively discuss key issues such as the top ways influencer marketing can address the challenges B2B marketers will face in 2022, and an array of actionable tips on implementing an influencer strategy for your company. Want access to the free video webinar to start your B2B influencer marketing journey? You’ll find it all here.

The post Why There’s a Need for Creative Storytelling in B2B Tech and How Influencer Marketing Can Accelerate Results appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.



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