Thursday, 16 February 2023
Wednesday, 15 February 2023
15+ Top Tips For B2B Marketers To Optimize & Humanize LinkedIn Profiles
Since its formation LinkedIn* has been the leading business social media platform, and with increasing numbers of brands and users having turned away from Twitter since its 2022 ownership change and subsequent policy shifts, in 2023 LinkedIn has grown to over 900 million members. With interest in LinkedIn at a new high-point, how can B2B marketers ensure that their place within the LinkedIn universe is accurately represented — both professionally and personally? The many features of LinkedIn member profiles have evolved and greatly expanded over the years, and more B2B marketers than you would expect are missing out on exposure opportunities that are only a click away. Let’s take a look at 15+ optimizations that will take your LinkedIn profile to the next level, with a focus on the human elements that will help you sparkle on the platform.
1 — Examine & Reevaluate Your Public Profile
To begin the process of optimizing and humanizing your LinkedIn profile, take a step back and examine and reevaluate your profile as it appears to others. You can either log out of LinkedIn or choose the “Edit public profile & URL” option that is available on the top right of the desktop version of your profile, and either will allow you to take a few moments to see how your information appears to other logged-in LinkedIn users as well as to the public and to search engines. As you take a top-to-bottom run-through of your profile, perform a quick audit by making a note of any information you spot that needs to be updated, as going through our list will be a prime opportunity to take care of all of the LinkedIn profile changes you may have been postponing. This is also the perfect time to reassess which portions of your profile are public and which are visible only to your first-degree connections, your network of connections including up to three levels removed — the friends of your friends’ friends — or to all LinkedIn members. It’s wise to periodically check these settings as your professional and personal life changes over time, to make certain that your information is as public or private as you wish.2 — Feature The Services You Provide
LinkedIn now offers the ability to feature the services you or your organization provide in a prominent section near the top of your profile, where you can let others know the key areas in which you can provide help professionally. As with the majority of the LinkedIn profile changes we’ll be looking at, adding your services starts by clicking your “Me” drop-down before your smaller upper-right profile image and selecting the “View Profile” option. You’ll then be able to select the “Open To” button and can choose “Providing Services,” which takes you through the straightforward process of creating a service page to highlight your particular services. The service page can be as detailed or as basic as you wish, and once published your fellow LinkedIn users will be able to see the services you or your organization offer, and be able to click that section to learn more, including such options as requesting work proposals.3 — Augment With Articles
When I joined LinkedIn in 2007 it didn’t yet have the ability to write articles beyond the length of a standard social media post, however that’s changed over the years with several methods on tap for sharing longer articles — most notably the namesake “articles” feature. One of the first things I look for when connecting with a new associate on LinkedIn — right after checking to see that they have recent activity — is whether they have written any articles on the platform itself. Oftentimes this can be a quick method to differentiate between casual LinkedIn users and those who take full advantage of its opportunities, and who in turn may offer you a more robust two-way connection. Writing an article on LinkedIn is as easy as choosing the “Write article” option below the standard “Start a post” box at the top of your content feed, and additional help is available for using the article feature. You can add a cover image, links to both on-site and off-site content, indented snippets, slide presentations, videos, and inline images, all allowing you to put together a robust article on LinkedIn. Articles are a great way to stand out on LinkedIn, and to expand the type of stories you wish to share with your audience.4 — Turn On Creator More
Certain LinkedIn features — such as the newsletter feature and the “Talks About” hashtags we’ll explore later — can only be used when you activate the platform’s creator mode, which places an emphasis on helping build greater reach through encouraging users to follow your activity. Since creator mode can be turned on and off, you may want to try it out and see if its array of features — including the ability to become a suggested creator to follow — suit the particular way that you use LinkedIn.5 — Grow Your Network With A Newsletter
LinkedIn’s newsletter feature has become a greater focus for the platform over the past year, allowing users who have activated creator mode and who meet minimal audience base requirements to create and share regular newsletters within LinkedIn. Newsletters can be published at regular intervals, and allow the inclusion of media similar to the articles format we looked at previously, all automatically shared with those who have subscribed to your newsletter. Even if you have an existing newsletter in email or other formats, it can be a relatively straightforward task to also build and share it using LinkedIn’s streamlined newsletter feature.6 — Highlight Your Offsite Writing, Digital Assets & Press Mentions
LinkedIn makes it easy to highlight digital content you’ve created elsewhere on the web, with the featured content section that allows you to share links including a thumbnail image, web-page headline, and a description of the content. This LinkedIn profile section is well worth activating to highlight work that you’re proud of, whether it's a press mention, an article you’ve written, or other content that your LinkedIn audience would benefit from. A second spot for featuring your digital assets comes in the form of a featured media section that’s available for each of your current or past work positions, which also allows you to link to external presentations, websites, videos, and documents. This can be an excellent way to showcase both your ongoing work and that which you’ve created over the years, and is available simply by adding media to each of the work experiences you have added to your LinkedIn profile.7 — Utilize Your “Talks About” Hashtags
You may have noticed that some LinkedIn user profiles now feature a prominent listing of hashtags below their name and job title. This “Talks about” section is available to users who turn on creator mode, and allows you to showcase the topics you explore the most in the form of hashtags. Showing your relevant hashtags can be a great way to let anyone visiting your page know the areas of expertise they can expect you to post about, and is a relatively new feature that’s both easy to activate and helpful in making your profile stand out.8 — Revisit Your Recommendations
Giving and receiving recommendations on LinkedIn have always been valuable methods to let people learn more about you, both in how you write about others and how your associates describe their work with you. LinkedIn’s written recommendation system has been a tried and true method for showcasing your work, yet oftentimes users let years pass without asking for new recommendations or taking a moment to share a recommendation about a trusted teammate or associate. Taking the time to regularly update your recommendations on LinkedIn is an especially powerful way to emphasize the personal elements or your work history, and to help your profile stand out.9 — Add A Link To Your Website
Another relatively new LinkedIn profile addition is the ability to feature a link to either a website or content published on LinkedIn, all prominently displayed within the top introduction section of your profile. Available to those who have turned on creator mode, adding a link to your profile’s introduction section is a straightforward way to highlight your primary website or piece of content on LinkedIn. You even have the ability to choose the text — presently up to around 30 characters — that will feature the link, offering B2B marketers an enticing way to periodically highlight new initiatives.10 — Review & Expand Your About Section
Your LinkedIn profile’s about section allows a generous about of space to share the story of your professional life, and it’s worth a look to see if you are fully utilizing the space you have available to add both nuance and detail your profile’s general information section. Even if you have a fairly robust about section, consider how it looks and whether it could benefit from being divided up in a more organized fashion, perhaps with the inclusion of visual emoji to designate specific portions of your professional story.11 — Spotlight Your Passion Projects
Does your LinkedIn profile include a projects section? Even if you already take advantage of this profile option, it’s worth having another look at what you may not yet have listed as a project in this often-overlooked section. Available when editing your profile under the “Additional” drop-down list as “Add projects,” this category is one that can be applied to many types of past accomplishments, in-progress work, or forthcoming projects. You can create a project name, note whether it’s one you’re currently working on or give specific start and end dates, and provide a detailed description. You can also add co-creators from any of your current or past positions to allow shared team projects to be listed, and you can even include a link to the project. While you’re adding or updating your projects, it can be a good time to also look over the other accomplishments that LinkedIn allows you to feature on your profile.12 — Stand Out With Custom Profile Imagery
Social media common sense dictates that the ideal LinkedIn profiles will feature a custom background photo header image using the latest recommended pixel size specifications — at the time of writing 1,588 pixels wide by 396 pixels tall. Your profile’s header image represents a unique way to visually tell your story, and the best ones can swiftly convey a great deal of information to a potential connection or client before a single word from your profile is taken in. Some prefer a collage of images for a background photo, while others opt for a single image. Whichever you choose, taking the time to make it pixel perfect can pay off, as can keeping the image updated over time. Additionally, if you’re broadcasting a LinkedIn Live video stream, your background photo will automatically switch to becoming a live-stream video during your broadcast.13 — Humanize By Highlighting Your Causes
As B2B marketers look to differentiate from the rise in artificial intelligence (AI) and generative chatbot content — as we explored recently in “What Recent Data Shows About The Rising Importance of Human Touch-Points in B2B Marketing,” LinkedIn’s profile element for highlighting the causes you support takes on even greater importance. Whether it's animal welfare, arts and culture, children, education, health, or any of the other causes available, displaying those important to you can add a human touch to your LinkedIn profile should you choose to activate and use this element.14 — Record and Display Your Name Pronunciation on Your Profile
Another easy addition to spruce up your LinkedIn profile comes when you record a short audio file that allows users to learn how to pronounce your name. Especially helpful for B2B marketers who speak at conferences or travel and network extensively for work, taking a few moments to record how to pronounce your name is a courteous touch that will also help show that you are mindful of your LinkedIn profile.15 — Stand Out With A LinkedIn Profile Video
While rolled out some time ago, another under-utilized LinkedIn profile element is the ability to create and feature and profile video, which allows you to record or upload an introductory video up to 30 seconds in length. Presently available only from within LinkedIn’s mobile application, the profile video feature offers a goldmine of opportunity when it comes to helping others learn about you and your story.Flip Your LinkedIn Profile To Well-Done Perfection
via GIPHY These 15+ areas represent only some of the many overall options that B2B marketers have to optimize their LinkedIn profile, yet they represent some of the areas that will provide the best reward for a relatively small time investment, and we hope that you’ll implement at least a few of the opportunities we’ve highlighted here. More than ever before, creating 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. *LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing client.The post 15+ Top Tips For B2B Marketers To Optimize & Humanize LinkedIn Profiles appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
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Monday, 13 February 2023
Trust Statistics for 2023 that B2B Marketers Will Love
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, that commodified and commercialized celebration of the most bountiful and free resource we have. But cynicism aside, love in all its forms is a beautiful thing worth celebrating. And one absolutely essential part of love is trust. It’s asking someone to put their trust in you and having faith you will get the same in return. That’s something no amount of flowers and chocolate can buy. As a marketer, you want customers to fall in love with your brand. But that type of love requires trust, too. And on that point, we’ve got good news and bad news. Edelman just published their 2023 Trust Barometer. It’s always an eye-opening read, and this year has some fascinating stats that marketers need to know. Here are some key takeaways from Edelman, along with statistics from a few other trustworthy sources.
5 Top Trust Stats for B2B Marketers in 2023
The past few years have shown that as trust in public institutions continues to wane, businesses become one of the few trusted entities left. That’s an opportunity for marketers, but a responsibility as well. We have to respect and reward that trust, or it won’t last.1. Business are the only trusted institution (but that’s not saying much)
While “businesses are trusted” is a great headline, the score on Edelman’s trust barometer is only 62. That’s just two points above a neutral score. By comparison, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are in the neutral zone with just three fewer points. Lagging further behind are government (51) and media (50), both hanging out at the low end of the neutral zone.
[bctt tweet="“As trust in public institutions wanes, businesses become one of the few trusted entities left. That’s an opportunity for marketers, but a responsibility as well. We have to respect and reward that trust, or it won’t last.” @NiteWrites" username="toprank"]
2. Businesses may be trusted, but their communication methods aren’t
Here’s the conundrum: marketers use social media to reach audiences. But trust for social media is constantly decreasing, and consumers are abandoning platforms that they feel no longer add value. In Integral Ad Science’s Industry Pulse Report, 77% of media experts agreed that the eroding consumer trust in social media will cause them to spend less on those platforms. Facebook has the worst reputation of the major platforms, with nearly half (49%) of respondents planning to decrease spend there. If we can’t rely on social media, why not go back to old-fashioned PR and working with journalists? According to Edelman, journalists are among the least trusted institutional leaders, with only government leaders ranking lower.
You can see that the most trusted include “people in my community,” “my neighbors,” “my CEO” and “co-workers.” All of these are built on personal or business relationships — which means marketers should be working on building relationships, too. In our B2B Influencer Marketing Report, 70% of our respondents said their customers rely on advice from experts or insiders. Find the influencers your customers already know and trust on a personal level, and you can help build credibility for your brand. [bctt tweet="“Find the influencers your customers already know and trust on a personal level, and you can help build credibility for your brand.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites" username="toprank"]
3. Reliability, transparency and responsibility build trust
If businesses are going to hold onto that trustworthy status, we can’t rest on our laurels. Building trust is an active and ongoing process, and if we ignore it, trust will decrease over time. Ipsos just published their annual Global Trustworthiness Monitor, and asked respondents what were their top four drivers of trust. In the top three spots, ahead of “Good customer service,” “Good at what it does, and even “good value for price,” are:- Reliable/keeps it promises
- Open and transparent
- Behaves responsibly
These three are especially critical in the age of mass information and citizen journalists. If a company posts about Black Lives Matter, someone (or multiple someones) can point out they have no diversity in their C-suite. A company that pays lip service to sustainability while dumping plastics in the ocean will be found out and boycotted. The same is true for transparency: If your company claims to be open and honest about how it deals with customer data, that claim better be rock-solid.
4. Pursue a higher purpose to build trust
It’s tempting for brands to stay neutral on social issues in the current polarized environment. But the report shows that people not only expect brands to speak (and act) on social issues, they say brands aren’t doing anywhere near enough. Edelman asked about six pressing social issues, and for each one people were +5X more likely to say brands were not doing enough, versus overstepping.
It’s worth noting that in particularly polarized countries (like the U.S.), the majority of people say that brands can’t avoid being political when addressing contentious social issues. However, brands can combat being viewed as political by being a consistently reliable source of information, basing their actions on science, and acting on the same values over time. If your business has a clear purpose, consistently works to make the world a better place, and builds trust and credibility over time, you can avoid the effects of political polarization. [bctt tweet="“Brands can combat being viewed as political by being a consistently reliable source of information, basing their actions on science, and acting on the same values over time.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites" username="toprank"]
5. Positivity is a killer app
The content team at TopRank Marketing has a positivity policy. We want our content to be aspirational, helpful, optimistic and supportive. The days of effective marketing through negativity— fear, discontentment, anger — are over. The world is scary enough without telling someone that if they don’t buy your solution, they’ll get fired and have to live in a van down by the river. It’s easy to see the difference in mindset. For example, compare:- If your business violates privacy laws, you can end up paying millions in fines. Better get yourself a CDP.
- With the right data governance in place, you can personalize your marketing without worrying about compliance. Here’s how.
Now that we’ve found trust, what are we going to do with it?
The last few years have seen businesses take the lead as the most trusted societal institution. But we must admit we’ve hit that position by default: It’s the erosion of trust in government, the media, etc. that put us in the top spot. But we can still reward that trust, make good use of it, and use it to make our businesses both a better partner to customers and a better citizen of society. And that’s better than a box of chocolates any day, even Valentine’s Day. Looking for a trusted partner for your marketing? Contact us today.The post Trust Statistics for 2023 that B2B Marketers Will Love appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
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Saturday, 11 February 2023
Weekend Favs February 11
Weekend Favs February 11 written by John Jantsch 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 I 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 I took on the road.
This week it is all about AI for search and business development.
- Andi– This SEO company offers a range of services such as keyword research, website analysis, content optimization, and link building to increase organic traffic and drive more qualified leads to a website. With its clean design and personalization features you can start to think of it as the next generation of search.
- Neeva– Is also a next-generation search engine. The company promises no ads – just results with online safeguards and privacy from trackers. You can also personalize your results by creating settings that prioritize the sources that you like and trust.
- Cargo– An engagement system that can easily plug into your business’s data warehouse to drive revenue. While the product is in its early stages they have integrated with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and created a Chrome plugin that is great for small business teams. With just a few short prompts this free plug-in can easily create sales emails, follow-ups, ad copy, blog posts, and much more with Cargo’s pre-built templates.
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, 10 February 2023
Elevate B2B Marketing News: Google’s New Bard AI, Microsoft Adds AI To Bing, Business Trust Study, & LinkedIn Content Preferences Research
The evolution of B2B marketing in 5 charts 55 percent of B2B marketing executives have said that the length of purchasing cycles has increased, while 35 percent of B2B marketers consider the top technology investment obstacle to be organizational data that isn’t normalized across systems — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-released survey data. Insider Intelligence Google shows off more of what its ChatGPT competitor Bard can do With the launch of its Bard artificial intelligence (AI) generative chatbot service, Google has signaled a search future in which it looks to temper the benefits of AI with an understanding of those areas where the technology may pose challenges, and the search giant shared examples of what its new Bard ChatGPT challenger is able to do, Google recently announced. CNBC Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing is open for everyone to try starting today Microsoft’s new AI-infused Bing search engine — based on a new Prometheus large-language model that improves upon ChatGPT — has rolled out in a limited preview for desktop users, with mobile support expected soon. New Bing features included the ability to fully interact by voice, while a corresponding new Edge browser included a chatbot sidebar, Microsoft recently announced. The Verge Google, Meta and large media agencies Havas, Horizon are increasingly focused on, and investing in, AI-powered advertising By 2027 some 90 percent of digital advertising campaigns are expected to be influenced by AI, as Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Google, and other technology firms have increased their AI-infused advertising efforts, and DigiDay takes a look at the accompanying industry shifts. DigiDay [bctt tweet="““More advertisers are starting to say to us, ’Now we get what you’ve been saying about how AI is going to play a really crucial role in the future of content creation and also consumption for users, creators and businesses.” — @nicolamen" username="toprank"] What Types of Content Appeal to Technical Audiences on LinkedIn? [Survey] 77 percent of engineers have said that research data is of particular interest on the LinkedIn platform, followed by 73 percent who pinpointed product and service information, with industry news also representing a top content type in the sector, according to recently-published social media survey data of interest to B2B marketers. MarketingCharts Google Search's guidance about AI-generated content Google has published new best-practices guidelines that more thoroughly address the increasing use of online content either fully or partially created using generative AI, laying out new guidance on how the search giant goes about highlighting top content no matter how it has been created, Google recently announced. Google 
Twitter Tests New Quick Boost Option for Tweets Twitter has begun rolling out a new more streamlined take on the social platform's previous quick promotion option for creating paid tweet promotions, Twitter recently announced, in a move that could make it simpler for B2B marketers to boost content on the platform. Social Media Today A Tale of Two YouTubes: Ads Down, Subs Showing ‘Momentum’ as Alphabet Revenue Stalls In 2022 Google parent firm Alphabet recorded a year-over-year rise in revenue of some 10 percent, to $287 billion, up from $257 billion in 2021, with Google advertising revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 totaling over $76 billion, while YouTube advertising revenue dropped from $8.6 billion in 2021 to $7.96 billion in 2022, Alphabet recently announced. The Wrap Using AI to analyze ads for bias—inside the new platform from Larry Adams AI has been tagged to help topple the sometimes walled garden of diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion, as platform X_Stereotype has sought funding to expand its efforts, and AdAge recently took a look. AdAge Trust Still Relies on Reliability and Transparency A leading 36 percent of consumers have said that businesses that are reliable and keep promises drive trust, with 35 percent having pinpointed firms that are open and transparent, while 31 percent considered responsible behavior as a top factor in building trust — three of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published global trust survey data. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: 
A lighthearted look at “Marketing to the CFO” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Graphic Designer Saves New File as “Bane Flyer FINAL FINAL.PSD” — The Hard Times TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
- Lane R. Ellis — This Week in Marketing: Grace Under Pressure — LinkedIn (client)
- Lane R. Ellis — Microwave Creativity … Can ChatGPT rival or replace human writers? Is Generative Art truly original? — Gilbreath
- TopRank Marketing — 40+ Top Influencer Marketing Agencies in 2023 — Shane Barker
The post Elevate B2B Marketing News: Google’s New Bard AI, Microsoft Adds AI To Bing, Business Trust Study, & LinkedIn Content Preferences Research appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
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Thursday, 9 February 2023
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