Thursday, 8 December 2022
Wednesday, 7 December 2022
Take the Lead with Full-Funnel B2B Lead Gen
The definition of a ‘lead’ has been a point of contention for ages. Marketers feel like anyone who gives up their contact information in exchange for an asset should be considered a lead. Sales thinks the term should be restricted to people who are actually part of the decision-making process and currently in-market. The classic battle of marketing vs sales, but we are here to help connect the dots. As businesses brace for a potential recession, marketers will increasingly be held accountable for the quality of leads we provide. We will need to get closer to the sales definition: People who are relevant, on the buying committee, and at least a few steps into their customer journey. 
The good news is that our existing B2B content marketing tactics can deliver all of the above. It’s just a matter of strategy. Content marketing isn’t just part of a full-funnel B2B marketing plan—it’s the foundation. Our team has developed a playbook to guide your full-funnel lead gen strategy for optimized quality and conversion. Download your copy now: 
Here are a few highlights from this resource to help you take the lead (get it):
1 — Develop a full-funnel content strategy
It’s easy to focus your content marketing efforts on the demand side. How often have we heard that content marketing shouldn’t be too sales-y or brand focused? But once we’ve raised that awareness and gen’d that demand, we can’t just drop people into the void. Content is the vehicle to move people through the entire funnel. Our agency defines full-funnel content like this:
Your content strategy should include content for all three stages. What’s more, each should include a point of entry for someone in a previous stage and a logical next step to keep the journey going.
2 — Use content, influencers & promotion to select your audience
B2B marketers have the privilege of choosing our most valuable audiences. All we have to do is use the tools at our disposal. First, how you angle your content determines who will respond to it. Best answer content to specific search queries will draw in the specific audience you’re looking for. Influencer contributions are another way to select a specific subset of potential readers. Look for influencers who already have a following that matches your ideal customer profile. Finally, use targeted ads (especially on LinkedIn) to promote your content to people in the right industry, role and seniority to become potential leads.3 — Best answer content + strategic promotion = great results
One stellar example of full-funnel content marketing comes from our client Smartsheet. They wanted to raise awareness of a new Microsoft Teams integration, as well as drive new downloads and implementation of the tool. TopRank Marketing deployed a full-funnel campaign, starting with social-first posts featuring influencers, continuing through blog posts for middle funnel, and finally a campaign hub page to drive conversions. The result: Smartsheet saw a 30% increase in app downloads, in addition to top-of-funnel KPIs like traffic and page-views. Check out the full case study hereIt’s time to be a lead gen leader
B2B organizations are battening down the metaphorical hatches as the economic forecast shifts. That can mean tighter budgets for marketers, not to mention more pressure to tie their efforts directly to revenue. Full-funnel content marketing can help you achieve greater marketing value and prove your worth to the business. Ready to take the lead? Download B2B Full-Funnel Lead Gen: A Guide for Optimized Quality & Conversion to get started. Ready to connect with one of our lead gen experts now? Book a time to talk about how we can elevate your 2023 strategy!The post Take the Lead with Full-Funnel B2B Lead Gen appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
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Monday, 5 December 2022
20+ Reasons B2B Brands Are Increasingly Moving To Influencer Marketing
Why are B2B brands increasingly turning to influencer marketing? B2B influencer marketing is the business-oriented cousin to the B2C Instagram entertainment and lifestyle influencer. In B2B, some influencers go by creators, subject matter experts, industry experts, or other terms that disassociate them from the B2C influencer. Whichever term is used, B2B influencer marketing provides an ideal way to combat disintegrating brand trust, so it’s no wonder that by the end of 2022 the B2B influencer marketing vertical is expected to reach $11.7 billion in revenue, with over 38 percent of B2B firms exploring influencer marketing for lead-generation and more, according to AdAge. B2B influencer marketing is a many-faceted digital diamond that when done well shines brightly, however brands need to be wary of treating it like its vastly different B2C counterpart. Let's take a look at 20-plus advantages that B2B influencer marketing holds over traditional marketing strategies.
B2B Influencer Marketing Offers Key Advantages
New analysis published in the Harvard Business Review has shown that average brand boost could reach 16.6 percent by properly utilizing influencer marketing, with influencer originality accounting for a 15.5 percent rise in return on investment (ROI). B2B marketers have said that influencer marketing will be among their three top priorities in the next three to five years, as 59 percent of marketing leaders noted that they considered B2B influencer marketing a priority today, and 64 percent pinpointing it as a top priority over the upcoming three to five years, according to recently-released survey data from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). The academic world has also begun to take notice of the power of B2B influencer marketing, such as the comprehensive "B2B Influencer Marketing: Conceptualization and Four Managerial Strategies" study recently-published by Science Direct / Elsevier, including numerous citations to our own groundbreaking first industry B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report. Social media publications are also increasingly becoming aware of B2B influencer marketing, such as Social Media Today's recent article "15 Ways the B2B Influencer Marketing Industry is Changing [Infographic]," featuring our own latest infographic filled with data from our newest free 59-page 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report. Influencer marketing has emerged as a key way that B2B brands can get the most marketing bang for their buck and help recession-proof marketing strategy. U.S. organizations are expected to spend $6.16 billion on influencer marketing during 2023, climbing from the $5 billion seen during 2022, as influencer marketing has been more resilient than other forms of marketing, with influencer marketing budgets staying strong, according to recently-published forecast data from Insider Intelligence.Enduring Relationships & Increased Thought Leadership
B2B influencer marketing helps build successful and lasting relationships, as our CEO Lee Odden recently explored in a fascinating podcast with Justin Levy, director of social and influencer marketing at Demandbase, in "The Impact of Building Long-Term Relationships with Influencers with Lee Odden." 42 percent of organizations with more than 1,000 employees work with influencers and creators, while only 28 percent of smaller businesses with under 100 workers do, according to Hootsuite’s newly-released annual social trends report. 2023 is likely to see more B2B organizations of all size either expand their existing influencer programs or beginning their first. B2B influencer marketing helps improve brand reputation and awareness, as well as generating new leads, as diginomica recently explored in "Influencer Marketing - first, catch your influencer...," also featuring data taken from our most recent research report. B2B influencer marketing offers an ideal framework for successful content planning, creation, and promotion, as we covered recently in "Planning, Creation & Promotion: 5 Top Tactics For Creating Inspired B2B Content." B2B influencer marketing can have a direct impact on building thought-leadership and executive influence, and the time to redefine influencer marketing may have arrived, as our own senior content marketing manager Joshua Nite has explored in "How to Create More Authentic Influencer-Driven Content to Attract Qualified Prospects." "In our survey, over half of respondents said they included internal executives in their influencer content. Nearly half said they included their employees as well. This is a clear opportunity to create more valuable content and build your organization’s thought leadership at the same time," Joshua observed. "It’s time to redefine influence. Your most valuable prospects are looking to industry leaders, practitioners and peers for advice. Your team can deliver all of the above with the right mix of influencers," Joshua added. [bctt tweet="“It’s time to redefine influence. Your most valuable prospects are looking to industry leaders, practitioners and peers for advice. Your team can deliver all of the above with the right mix of influencers.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites" username="toprank"]B2B Influence Creates Meaningful Brand Experiences & Builds Trust
When it comes to creating meaningful brand experiences and authentically connecting with buyers, B2B influencer marketing has found growing success. "In times like these, the importance of influence is critical for B2B brands that need to connect authentically with their buyers and create meaningful experiences," Lee observed in our "2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report: New Data, Insights, Case Studies, Predictions." [bctt tweet="“In times like these, the importance of influence is critical for B2B brands that need to connect authentically with their buyers and create meaningful experiences.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden" username="toprank"] Social media platforms have proven to hold both influence and attention, while the influencer economy has gained precedence as a top form of customer communications, as B2B brand content creators increasingly become the faces of the brands they represent, as Talkwalker recently covered in its Social Media Trends 2023 Global Report. “Content creators will become the faces of the brands they represent, especially in B2B. People trust people more than companies. Expertise is key to building trust with your audience,” Daniel Murray, founder of The Marketing Millennials observed. [bctt tweet="“Content creators will become the faces of the brands they represent, especially in B2B. People trust people more than companies. Expertise is key to building trust with your audience.” — Daniel Murray @Dmurr68" username="toprank"]Dispelling The Boring-To-Boring Myth & Boosting Engagement
The type of digital experiences that work so well within a B2B influencer marketing framework go a long way towards dispelling the longstanding notion of B2B being nothing but boring-to-boring, as Lee detailed in the recent "Break Free of Boring B2B with Influencer Content Ft. Lee Odden" episode of The Data-Driven Marketing podcast with host Mark Richardson, director of global content operations at Dun & Bradstreet. The popularity of influencer marketing is on the rise, as 85 percent of respondents to our extensive survey expect activity to increase over the next year, with B2B marketers increasing their level of maturity and sophistication and shifting towards always-on, relationship-based influencer communities. You can take an eye-opening look at the future and power of B2B influence from 10 of the world’s top experts and influencers in our “10+ B2B Influencer Marketing Predictions From Top Experts & Influencers.” (Click Through For More Predictions) B2B influencer marketing also helps when it comes to boosting content engagement. In fact, 32 percent of marketers and influencers have said that influencer marketing has increased engagement, while 65 percent of marketers said that influencer marketing works more often than it fails, recent data has shown. Additionally, 30 percent of consumers have reported that recommendations from influencers are among the most important factors in purchase decisions — more than the 27 percent who pointed to friends or family, while an upcoming greater reliance on influencers has joined greater adoption of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), according to HubSpot’s look at the future of social media.B2B Influence Will See Increasing Use Among Brands in 2023
via GIPHY While this list of more than 20 of the reasons why B2B brands are increasingly moving to influencer marketing only scratches the surface, 2023 is certain to see new takes on B2B influencer marketing that we can't yet set, however by keeping on top of the most recent industry shifts, we'll be better prepared for what the coming years hold in store. Especially with B2B influencer content, crafting award-winning B2B marketing that elevates, gives voice to talent, and humanizes with authenticity takes considerable time and effort, which is why more brands are choosing to work with a top digital marketing agency such as TopRank Marketing. Reach out to learn how we can help, as we’ve done for over 20 years for businesses ranging from LinkedIn, Dell and 3M to Adobe, Oracle, monday.com and many others.
The post 20+ Reasons B2B Brands Are Increasingly Moving To Influencer Marketing appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
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Saturday, 3 December 2022
Weekend Favs December 3
Weekend Favs December 3 written by Shawna Salinger 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.
- Xtiles – Allows you to organize all of your ideas, projects, and to-do’s visually and in one place. Finally a single source of truth for both work and personal tasks.
- Heyday – Heyday is an AI-powered memory assistant that helps you recall things you’ve seen online, so you won’t forget any of it. The program allows you to remember more with no extra effort on your part.
- Mindstamp – Increase viewer engagement and conversions on your videos with Mindstamp. This software allows you to create fully interactive videos with clickable graphics and buttons right in your videos. You can also create workflows, quizzes, polls, questions and much more right.
These are my weekend favs; I would love to hear about some of yours – Tweet me @ducttape
If you want to check out more Weekend Favs you can find them here.
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Friday, 2 December 2022
B2B Marketing News: B2B Influencer Marketing A Growing Priority, LinkedIn’s Scheduled Posts & Competitor Analytics, & The Media Time Paradox
Changes to B2B ecommerce coming fast [SURVEY DATA] B2B executives expect eCommerce revenue to grow from 20 percent to 31 percent during 2023, while in 2021 digital-first B2B buyers said that they utilized 10 separate sales channels, up from 7.5 in 2020 — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published report data. Digital Commerce 360 3 Trends Driving The Consumerization Of B2B E-Commerce 60 percent of digital-first B2B buyers have said that they view e-commerce experiences as very important, with some 67 percent noting they switched to vendors that presented a more consumer-like experience, according to recently-released survey data. Forbes [bctt tweet="“The size of the B2B e-commerce market and its potential impact on the global economy should really be driving more headlines.” — Justin Main @jtothemain" username="toprank"] LinkedIn Adds New Tools for Company Pages, Including Updated Competitor Analytics Microsoft-owned LinkedIn (client) has unleashed an array of new features for business pages on the professional social media platform, including follower and engagement metrics relating to competitors, along with new search engine optimization (SEO) elements for LinkedIn's newsletter offering, LinkedIn recently announced. Social Media Today Marketers Continue to Up the Number of Data Sources They Use Marketers are not only using more sales channels than ever, but also use an average of 15 data collection sources, a number expected to rise in 2023, according to newly-published customer data source survey results of interest to digital marketers. MarketingCharts IAB releases guide for brands to start marketing in the metaverse The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has published a new resource for brands looking to enter or expand marketing within the metaverse, where continued connections with customers and greater exposure to new audiences are expected to drive significant value, according to data from the IAB report. VentureBeat LinkedIn now lets you schedule posts for later LinkedIn’s previously-announced post-scheduling features have begun rolling out for users of the platform's web and Android front ends, with Apple iOS support forthcoming, all allowing digital marketers the convenience of content planning and publishing directly within the platform, LinkedIn recently announced. TechCrunch 
Does Influencer Marketing Really Pay Off? New analysis published in the Harvard Business Review has shown that average brand boost could reach 16.6 percent by properly utilizing influencer marketing, with influencer originality accounting for a 15.5 percent rise in return on investment (ROI) — two of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in the report data. Harvard Business Review IPG's Magna Finds 'Media Time Paradox' -- People Spending Less Time With It By 2023 U.S. adults will spend 11.2 percent less time using media than during 2019, driven in part by increasing prioritization of experiences in real life along media burnout, as average weekly time spent with online media was expected to drop from 3.9 hours per week in 2022 to 3.6 hours in 2023 — faring better than non-digital media, according to recently-released forecast data. MediaPost Employee Advocacy: Most Will Share Company Posts if Encouraged When information about a company comes from an employee, consumers are three times more likely to trust it, while 62 percent of social media users have said that they would post content from their company if it made the process easier by writing content for them — some of the findings contained in newly-published survey data. MarketingCharts Marketers Must Be More Agile B2B marketers have said that influencer marketing will be among their three top priorities in the next three to five years, as 59 percent of marketing leaders noted that they considered B2B influencer marketing a priority today, and 64 percent pinpointing it as a top priority over the upcoming three to five years, according to recently-released survey data from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). ANA ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: 
A lighthearted look at “Marketing Babble” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Your High School Sweetheart Viewed Your LinkedIn Profile – Here Are 57 Things That Could Possibly Mean — The Hard Times The Onion Is Giving Away $8.3 Trillion In NFTs — The Onion TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
- Lee Odden — This Week in Marketing: Tasty Content Leftovers — LinkedIn (client)
- TopRank Marketing — B2B influencer marketing: Conceptualization and four managerial strategies — Science Direct / Elsevier
- TopRank Marketing — 15 Ways the B2B Influencer Marketing Industry is Changing [Infographic] — Social Media Today
The post B2B Marketing News: B2B Influencer Marketing A Growing Priority, LinkedIn’s Scheduled Posts & Competitor Analytics, & The Media Time Paradox appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
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Thursday, 1 December 2022
Finding Your Voice And Using It To Make Ridiculously Good Content
Finding Your Voice And Using It To Make Ridiculously Good Content written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing
Marketing Podcast with Ann Handley
In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Ann Handley. Ann is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author focused on helping businesses worldwide escape marketing mediocrity to ignite tangible results. Her work has appeared in Entrepreneur, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Chicago Public Radio, and the Financial Times. She’s the Principal at MarketingProfs and the author of Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content 2nd Edition.
Questions I ask Ann Handley:
- [2:30] Why did you feel called to write an updated version of your book?
- [6:26] What in the 8 years since your first book was released has changed the most about content?
- [13:33] How does somebody find their voice, and how do they use it well?
- [17:56] Would it be safe to say that if you are going to try to decide on a direction to go, the voice of the customer is always the best direction to go in?
- [19:30] Who would be your writing twin or someone that has a similar style as you?
- [24:38] What would E.B. White think of your advice?
More About Ann Handley:
More About The Agency Workshop:
Take The Marketing Assessment:
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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