Digital Marketing News: LinkedIn’s Lookalike Launch, B2B’s Social Responsibility, & Twitter’s B2B Crackdown

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Inspired Marketing: Interview with Kirsten Allegri Williams, CMO at SAP SuccessFactors

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Unconventional B2B Marketing: 5 Of The Most Woke Marketers

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So Long, San Diego! Top Takeaways From #SMMW19

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Dear Friend: Secrets to Creating a Newsletter People Want to Read From Ann Handley

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Attribution Analysis: How Marketers Can Stay on the Cutting Edge & Prove Impact

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How to Use Customer Service as a Marketing Opportunity With Shep Hyken

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Chris Brogan’s Guide to Building a Fast Blogging Framework

Blogging is a part of our origin story here at TopRank Marketing. In fact, we just celebrated the TopRank Marketing Blog’s 15^th birthday this past December. But despite our blogging longevity, we’re always refining and optimizing, too. That’s why I attended Chris Brogan’s session on creating a fast blogging framework at Social Media Marketing World 2019. While there, I learned this bestselling author's approach to writing blog content (and had a few laughs along the way).

Be Fast

The key to Chris’ framework? The word “fast.” Being fast matters to Chris, informing the audience that “the average human only read 19 minutes a day. That includes texts, emails, and BuzzFeed articles. They’re not going to read your 2,000-word missive.” So, be quick. Get to the point. Don’t complicate things. Don’t write a white paper when it’s supposed to be a blog post.

Follow the Great Blogging Checklist

Chris is able to be a fast blogger because he has a list of what every blog post needs:

• A great title
• A relevant graphic
• A “strong+story” first paragraph
• A great first example
• A second and/or third example
• A list of action items
• A call to action

To create blogs, Chris starts at the top of the list and works his way down, checking things off as he goes. But just like most lists, there are items on there that are prioritized. According to Chris, a great title is at the top of the framework because in today’s world “the subject line is the blog post.” Your title or subject line is what gets read the most by your audience. And if it doesn’t pull people in, convey the story you want to tell, and convince them to read, you’ve already failed. But what comes after that? How can you keep people on your blog once they’ve agreed to read it? Chris suggests reflecting on your own experience: “Think about when you read blog posts. You rarely ever read the whole thing. You can’t write your story like it’s a murder mystery and reveal the butler did it on the last page. Get the story into the first paragraph.” [bctt tweet="You can’t write your blog like it’s a murder mystery and reveal the butler did it on the last page. Get the story into the first paragraph.” - @chrisbrogan" username="toprank"]

Brevity Is Your Friend

As Chris said, people only read an average of 19 minutes each day. They don’t have the time to read a long, run-on sentence or a paragraph that refuses to end. Once you’ve finished your blog post, go back and see where you can make it more simple and get to the point faster. Your audience will appreciate the time you’re saving them in the long-run. For us, this doesn't mean long-form content is out. It means be concise, deliberate, and intentional with your language. If there’s a sentence that isn’t needed, cut it.

Connect on a Human Level

When it comes to the nitty gritty part of actually writing your blog post, Chris suggests letting go of your stuffy corporate identity and instead be human. Don’t be the brand. Be the person that represents the brand. Show your audience that you have feelings, opinions, jokes, and more.

Be a Guide

Chris’ last blogging tip is probably the most important: be a guide. Sure, a cool story is fun to read. But is a story really valuable if it doesn’t teach you something? Your blogs need answers to important questions. They need to solve problems. And one of the best ways to do that is to be a guide for your audience, helping them avoid disaster and reach their destination.

Blog Like Brogan

Content is everywhere—and so is our audience's attention. As Chris said, we need to strive to create blog post that people actually want to read. For Chris, that means eloquently getting to the point early on to hook readers, and then delivering on your promise in an intentional way. You're not trying to fill a web page. You're trying to fill your reader's mind with information they truly care about. Experiencing FOMO when it comes to Social Media Marketing World? Subscribe to TopRank blog or follow me on Twitter to stay up to date.

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Dropping Digital Distractions With Brian Solis

Photos. Texts. Emails. Video. Digital is a pivotal part of our daily lives. So what if we stopped using it? Brian Solis, the author of Lifescale: How to live a more creative, productive and happy life, wants us to think hard about our digital distractions and drop them from our habitual behavior. As digital marketers, this notion sounds antithetical to our mission. But Brian promises that disconnecting is beneficial to marketers as well. Below, I share Brian’s thoughts on digital distraction and business from his session at Social Media Marketing World 2019.

Focus Is Elusive

“My ability to be creative, to dive deep, to focus, to give myself time away from my device, was not only difficult but impossible,” Brian said. In fact, this inability to tune out the noise and focus prevented Brian from finishing his eighth book. Now, Brian isn’t suggesting that we stop using technology. He’s just suggesting we use it in a different way. Instead of using it for productivity, Brian suggests using our devices for the purpose of creativity. If we’re able to put our devices down and truly ignore the notifications, we can focus on the tasks that are important. It will improve our output in quality and quantity.

Disconnection Improves Our Health

How we currently use digital devices isn’t healthy for us. Brian pointed out that an astonishing 41% of people have had an accident relating to our smartphones. There’s a new health concern called “selfie wrist.” Plus, depression and anxiety are on the rise among teenagers, the world’s most avid social media users. “As with cigarettes in the early days, we didn’t understand that our digital indulgences were made to be addictive, and we didn’t have information about the health effects on our bodies, emotions, and psyches,” Brian said. He then added: “Living our best life isn’t really living at all.” It’s just posturing. These distractions weigh down our cognitive load, robbing us of creative moments and pulling us out of focus, and this has a real business impact and we need to change:

• The average person spends 2 hours on our smartphones each day – and it’s not work related
• Humans used to shift attention every 3 minutes – it’s now 45 seconds

How to Disconnect

Be Aware

Getting over our digital distractions boils down to one thing: Awareness. If we’re aware of our dependency on the digital world, we’re more empowered to do something about it. We can make more intentional choices about how to avoid these distractions and stay focused.

Measure Your Distractions

Check how many times a day you:

• Reach for a device
• Check messages
• Check your feeds for updates
• Share a picture

Knowing how often you’re taken away from your work is a good indicator of how much creativity you’re losing. This also allows you to make more noticeable improvements in your work, life, and mental health.

Dedicate Time for Creativity

Write. Draw. Paint. Play guitar. Sing. Creativity is like a muscle that needs to be worked. So just like you workout at the gym, you need to make time to be creative. And it’s not about talent, it’s just about expressing yourself. It’s about being happy, mindful, present, and intentional about how you spend your time. Block off time to be creative and block off time to check email, respond to tweets, etc. Just make sure you don’t mesh the two.

Dropping Our Dependencies

To do our best work, we need to be our best selves. And digital distractions take us away from the creative activities and ideas that make us happy. As a result, digital distractions make it impossible for us to focus on the things that really matter in life and instead take us out of the moments we’re living. So, take some advice from Brian: “Allow yourself to color outside the lines and do something absolutely silly.” Hear more of Brian’s thoughts on creativity and digital distraction by reading our full interview with him.

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Digital Marketing News: B2B Content Effectiveness Study, Modern Marketing Skills, & Influencer Social Benchmarks

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Why Marketers Need to Care About Blockchain With Joel Comm and Travis Wright

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Robert Rose Shares How to Add Purpose & Focus Back Into Your Content Strategy at SMMW

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Augmented Reality: How to Leverage AR in Marketing With Cathy Hackl

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Once Upon a Time: Storytelling in Today’s B2B Content Marketing Landscape

Everything—no matter how innocuous or dated—had its use. It was a mantra he lived by. Born in 1946 to an Irish immigrant father and an American mother of French-Canadian descent, his parents’ coming of age was marked by the Great Depression plus decades of war. Unsurprisingly, this meant that his parents, Pat and Stella, were more than practical when it came to purchases and investments. They were intentional. They were frugal. It was “waste not, want not.” And they never threw anything away—a way of life that he held on to long into adulthood. But one day, Pat and Stella’s hoarding and his resulting belief that everything was useful, changed my life. After one of his routine check-ins with Pat and Stella, Dad arrived home with what looked like a small, hardcover suitcase. It was a shiny steel blue. He swung the case onto the kitchen table and called me over. He unlatched the cover and pushed it back to reveal the contents. My eyes widened. He smiled. We hugged. And I ran my fingers over the black keys of the old typewriter as I pondered which story I would write first … This is a piece of my story. And everyone has a story to tell; a glimpse to provide—including your B2B brand.

The Intersection of Storytelling & B2B Content Marketing

Storytelling is civilization’s oldest form of communication, helping us teach, entertain, preserve our histories and cultures, and instill our values. We’re programmed for stories. Our brains light up when we hear and see stories unfolding. This hunger for narrative combined with our desire and ability to guide our own quest for answers, storytelling has naturally become a fundamental staple of B2B content marketing. As Ursula Ringham, Global Head of Influencer Marketing for SAP, says: “In marketing, story is everything.” But the challenge for many B2B marketers is to weave a story web that is everything to their customers and prospects. It needs to provide that meaningful glimpse. It needs to be familiar. It needs to be authentic. And it needs to resonate. “Every content creator should consider themselves a storyteller,” Nick Nelson, Senior Content Strategist at TopRank Marketing, declares in his piece on building trust through storytelling. “When we write, we are invariably sharing a story: about our solution, about our customers, about the pains we can help solve.” He adds: “Tying multiple pieces of information together in a coherent, chronological, and—above all—relatable way makes the message far more affecting. The content suddenly becomes experiential instead of merely educational.” [bctt tweet="In #marketing, story is everything. @ursularingham #B2BContenMarketing #Storytelling" username="toprank"] The bottom line? It’s no longer enough to inform buyers. Instead, you must provide story-driven content that connects on both intellectual and emotional levels. Read: Creating Content Connections: 10 Lessons in Resonance from Content Marketing Pros

How to Create B2B Content Connections Through Storytelling

Whether you’re building a large-scale brand narrative or pulling at story threads, here are a few things to keep in mind as you commit to storytelling in your B2B content marketing initiatives.

#1 - Commit to storytelling by doubling-down on what’s already familiar.

Contently co-founder and recognized journalist Shane Snow is widely known in marketing circles for his knack for storytelling and his dedication to helping other marketers harness their storytelling skillset. A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of seeing Shane speak on this very topic at MarketingProfs B2B Forum. At that time, he laid out a three-step framework for telling better stories and it resonated with me.

1. Create timely, seasonal, and evergreen content that tells a story at every stage of the funnel.
2. Connect your audience with your stories by determining the right distribution channels and content types—based on your audience’s preferences and your objectives.
3. Optimize and refine your stories to ensure your creating content that undoubtedly connects.

The concepts outlined in his framework should feel really familiar—they’re meant to, from my perspective. (Familiarity is a hallmark of good storytelling.) The switch is defining how you show and tell stories your buyers will care about, rather than simply creating more content. For a more in-depth look, check out Shane’s storytelling course that outlines the science of great stories, the elements of effective storytelling, and much more.

#2 - Introduce your audience to new characters.

Content is absolutely everywhere. And trust in marketing—among consumers and your C-suite—is low. As a result, buyers are looking to those they know or those they think they know for insights, answers, and recommendations. And this means there’s never been a bigger opportunity to partner with other “storytellers” to add new dynamics to your content. “In order to tell a compelling story, you have to be immersed,” Ursula Ringham states. “Bring empathy and understanding, bring purpose, and bring insight—the latter of which influencers can certainly help with. When you co-create content with influencers, you not only provide influential experts with a medium to share valuable insights, but you can also provide your audience with a mix of perspectives—significantly upping your storytelling capabilities and credibility. “Partnering with an influencer allows you to highlight your brand’s own existing narrative in a new way, so that you can reinforce the proof points you really want your customers to know,” Whitney Magnuson, Global Head of Social Media and Influencer Programs for IBM, told us not long ago. [bctt tweet="Partnering with an #influencer allows you to highlight your brand’s own existing narrative in a new way, so that you can reinforce the proof points you really want your customers to know. @whitneymagnuson @IBMSystems" username="toprank"]

#3 - Steer clear of fantasy or fiction.

With trust in marketing low, authenticity and transparency are increasingly critical. As my colleague Nick Nelson so eloquently said: “Storytelling backfires when it strikes people as false or disingenuous. Share real anecdotes and back them with third-party evidence or quotes. Telling hard truths, even if it means acknowledging a shortcoming in your business, can be tremendously beneficial in the long run. Even more than being true to the facts, you must be true to yourself, and your brand.” Boom. [bctt tweet="Storytelling backfires when it strikes people as false or disingenuous. Even more than being true to the facts, you must be true to yourself, and your brand. @NickNelson #B2BContentMarketing #Storytelling" username="toprank"] Read: Be Honest Like Abe: How Content Marketers Can Build Trust Through Storytelling

It’s Storytime

The nostalgic tale I opened with is more than a fond memory. It’s a glimpse into who I am, where I came from, and how I got here. It’s my truth. It’s my context. It’s a piece of my story. Every brand has the opportunity to find, show, and tell their own stories. Stories about who they are, what they stand for, and how they solve problems. Stories that bring truth and add context. Stories that resonate and inspire. So, dust off your brand’s old hand-me-down typewriter and get to work. It’s storytime. Senior Director of Digital Strategy Ashley Zeckman and Content Strategist Annie Leuman are on the ground at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego from March 20-22, 2019. And as always, you can count on us to deliver you first-hand learnings and stories from the conference floor. Follow @azeckman, @annieleuman, and @toprank on Twitter to get live updates.

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Our 2019 List: The Top 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers

It's that time of year, marketers. Once again, we're absolutely thrilled to present our annual list of 50 influential leaders who are engaging on social networks around the topic of social media marketing. The goal of this annual list? To showcase the top 50 influential voices in the marketing industry we can all learn from and follow. List Methodology: Influencer Relationship Management (IRM) Platform Assisted: Ranking of the people in this list leverages data and algorithms from Traackr, which is an influencer relationship marketing platform. Unlike the vast majority of lists like this that are published online, this list considers many more data sources than just Twitter. To provide a better sample across the web, Traackr rankings can include citations and links from data sources such as blogs, publications, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. Ranking data sources and scoring: For the ranking, this list leverages a combination of data points including:

• Relevance: A score that indicates how influential a person is to a specific topic based on the keywords you provide. Signals for relevance include keyword mentions, keyword diversity, content production rate, freshness of content and other contextual measures. In this case, it was "social media marketing" as well as 10-plus derivative phrases.
• Resonance: A score of how impactful the influencer is with their audience. Resonance measures engagement activity that occurs as a result of publishing (mostly social) content.
• Reach: A score derived by the reach algorithm that takes into account followers, fans, subscribers, visitors and other audience metrics. Remember, this is more than just Twitter.
• Audience: Unsurprisingly, this refers to overall social audience size.

Each of these signal sources are factored into the algorithmic ranking for identified influencers with a focus on topical relevance, resonance of message with the audience and then audience reach. The result is a combination of broad-based influencers as well as individuals with a very specific focus and very high resonance and relevance scores. You'll see new faces as well as as a variety of disciplines and specialties represented. Many thanks to all who continue to actively share their knowledge about social media marketing through year-round engagement and by providing help to others with insight and expertise in our vast social realm. We hope this list will serve as a handy jumping off point to start your ongoing journey of learning from these leading social media marketing industry influencers. You'll likely see both many familiar faces and a wonderful variety of new social media influencers. We plan to learn new lessons from these 50 social media marketing influencers and hope you'll do the same throughout the year.

2019 — 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers

Kim Garst @kimgarst CEO, KG Enterprises Donna Moritz @sociallysorted Visual Content Strategist, Socially Sorted Ian Anderson Gray @iagdotme Founder, Seriously Social Neal Schaffer @NealSchaffer CEO, NealSchaffer.com Madalyn Sklar @madalynsklar Social Media Speaker & Consultant, MadalynSklar.com Dan Gingiss @dgingiss Vice President of Marketing, Persado Brian Fanzo @isocialfanz Founder and CEO, iSocialFanz Mari Smith @MariSmith Social Media Speaker & Consultant, MariSmith.com Rebekah Radice @rebekahradice CEO, RadiantLA Jasmine Star @jasminestar CEO, JasmineStar.com Carlos Gil @CarlosGil83 CEO, Gil Media Co. Tamara McCleary @tamaramccleary CEO, Thulium.co Dustin W. Stout @dustinwstout Co-Founder, Warfare Plugins Peggy Fitzpatrick @PegFitzpatrick Marketing & Social Media Manager, Kreussler Inc. Michael A. Stelzner @mike_stelzner CEO & Founder, Social Media Examiner & Social Media Marketing World Lee Odden @LeeOdden CEO, TopRank Marketing Christopher Penn @cspenn Co-Founder and Chief Innovator, Trust Insights Owen Hemsath @owenvideo Video Producer, The Videospot Bernie Borges @bernieborges Co-Founder & CMO, Vengreso Samantha Kelly @tweetinggoddess Owner, Tweetinggoddess Heidi Cohen @heidicohen Chief Content Officer, Actionable Marketing Guide Brooke B. Sellas @brookesellas Founder & CEO, B Squared Media Gini Dietrich @ginidietrich CEO, Arment Dietrich, Inc. Roberto Blake @robertoblake Owner & Creative Director, Create Awesome Media Chris Strub @chrisstrub CEO, I Am Here LLC Mark Schaefer @markwschaefer Executive Director, Schaefer Marketing Solutions LLC Jay Baer @jaybaer Founder, Convince & Convert Nicky Kriel @nickykriel Social Media Consultant & Strategist, Nicky Kriel Social Media Park Howell @parkhowell Business Story Strategist & Keynote Speaker, Business of Story Amanda Webb @spiderworking Social Media Trainer & Strategist, Spiderworking Andrew Pickering @andrewandpete Co-Founder, Andrew and Pete Viveka Von Rosen @linkedinexpert Co-Founder & Chief Visibility Officer, Vengreso Sean Cannell @seancannell Founder, Think Media Amy Porterfield @amyporterfield Online Marketing Expert & Trainer, Amy Porterfield, Inc. Steve Dotto @dottotech President, Dotto Tech Guy Kawasaki @GuyKawasaki Chief Evangelist, Canva Sue Beth Zimmerman @suebzimmerman Keynote and Breakout Speaker, Sue B. Zimmerman Enterprise Ann Handley @annhandley Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs Sunny Lenarduzzi @sunnylenarduzzi Social Media Strategist & Consultant, SunnyLenarduzzi.com Laura Rubinstein @CoachLaura CEO & Social Media Strategist, Transform Today Josh Elledge @joshelledge Founder, UpMyInfluence.com Ramon Ray @ramonray Editor and Founder, Smart Hustle Magazine Chalene Johnson @chalenejohnson CEO & Social Media Consultant, Team Johnson and SmartLife Brian G. Peters @brian_g_peters Strategic Partnerships Manager, Buffer Robert Rose @Robert_Rose Chief Troublemaker, The Content Advisory Lewis David Howes @lewishowes Founder, School of Greatness John Jantsch @ducttape President, Duct Tape Marketing Ian Cleary @iancleary Founder, RazorSocial Jo Saunders @mrslinkedin Trainer & Conference Speaker, Wildfire Social Marketing™ Billy Gene Shaw @askbillygene Founder & CEO, Rethink & Relive LLC

Spread the Social Wisdom & Love

Statistical analysis, no matter how deep and well-researched, can only go so far in finding the people who you'll find the most helpful and influential in your daily professional marketing lives, which is why we'd love it if you'd please share the name of social media marketers that influence you most in the comments section below. Some of our social media marketing influencers will be speaking at this week's Social Media Marketing World 2019 conference, and we'll have plenty of live-blog coverage of the event throughout the week, from our Senior Digital Strategy Director Ashley Zeckman and Content Strategist Anne Leuman. See where we'll be here. To further your own social media marketing expertise, here's a bonus list of our top 5 posts about social media marketing from the past 12 months:

• Where Do Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Stand With B2B Video? Nick Nelson
• TopRank Marketing’s Top 6 B2B Social Media Marketing Predictions & Trends to Watch in 2019 Caitlin Burgess
• Our Top 10 Social Media Marketing Posts of 2018 Lane R. Ellis
• A Taste of Social and Influencer Marketing: What B2B Can Learn from B2C #SMBMSP Debbie Friez
• Tapping Key Takeaways from Recent Research on Fortune 500 Social Media Usage Nick Nelson

The post Our 2019 List: The Top 50 Social Media Marketing Influencers appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Social Media Marketing World 2019: What to Do & Who to See

The average person has 5.54 social media accounts and spends an average of 116 minutes on social media each day. But social media is changing – especially for marketers. From data and privacy concerns to new product launches like live video and 3D photos, the social media marketing landscape is in constant flux. And you need to quickly adopt and adapt if you want to effectively raise brand awareness and engage audiences over social. That’s why you can find us at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego this week. We’re excited to hear where the social media industry is headed, how they’ll adapt to potential data regulations, and expert advice on how to account for these changes in our social media marketing strategies. And just like we never execute a marketing campaign without a plan, we have a plan for this conference as well. See how we’re going to make the most of our time at #SMMW19 and how you can, too.

#SMMW19: Our Plan of Attack

#1 - Go to the networking events.

Hands down, learning is the top reason behind our attending this year’s Social Media Marketing World. However, followed closely behind that is to meet other peers and experts in our industry. And the conference’s many networking breaks and events are a great way to do that. If you’re going to the conference, we’d love to meet up with you there. In fact, you’ll be able to find us at the opening night networking party or at one of the networking lunches.

#2- See Brian Solis discuss digital distraction and how to change.

Brian Solis, Principal Analyst at Altimeter Group, is one of our favorite digital experts. And the future of social media is one of our favorite topics. Combine the two and what do you get? A #SMMW19 session that is guaranteed not to disappoint.

• What: The Rise of Digital Distraction: How Businesses (and You) Need to Change
• When: Thursday, March 21 at 11:35 a.m.
• Where: 29ABCD

To get a taste of Brian’s expertise, watch (or read) our conversation with him on his newest book, Lifescale - How to live a more creative, productive and happy life.

#3 - Learn influencer marketing lessons from Ursula Ringham.

Your target audience doesn’t want to be marketed or advertised to. They want great information and advice from trustworthy sources. Influencer marketing can help your brand provide that. And Ursula Ringham, the Global Head of Influencer Marketing for SAP*, is one of the leading voices in influencer marketing strategy and program management. Her session at #SMMW19 is a can’t-miss.

• What: Influencer Marketing: Lessons From the Trenches
• When: Thursday, March 21 at 11:35 a.m.
• Where: 24ABC

What kind of insight can Ursula provide? Read our latest interview with her.

#4 - Find out what’s next for Facebook from ‘Queen’ Mari Smith.

Cambridge Analytica. Congressional testimonies. Fake ads. Facebook is having quite the year. And marketers everywhere are wondering what the platform will do to recover and address consumer (and government) concerns. Luckily the “Queen of Facebook” herself, Mari Smith, will be at #SMMW19 to preview what the future of Facebook will look like and how marketers can adapt.

• What: Facebook Marketing In a Changing World: Your Road Map for The Future
• When: Friday, March 22 at 8:30 AM
• Where: 20ABCD

If you’re struggling to generate an ROI on Facebook, check out our recap of Mari’s SMMW 2017 session.

#5 - Listen to Shep Hyken’s customer service tips.

What’s the best way to get a brand’s attention today? Mention them over social media, of course. With the invention of social media came a new, much more public channel for customer service. To avoid a publicity nightmare, or celebrate a special customer-brand interaction, you need to know how to perform service over social media effectively. And Shep Hyken, author of The Convenience Revolution, is the perfect person to offer that advice.

• What: How to Use Customer Service as a Marketing Opportunity
• When: Friday, March 22 at 10:15 AM
• Where: 25ABC

Discover additional ways marketers can improve the customer experience from our full interview with Shep.

#6 - Witness Ann Handley’s content marketing genius.

Few people give an impactful keynote like Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs. We’re sure this session from Ann will be no different. This year for Social Media Marketing World, Ann’s session promises to do the impossible – help marketers create newsletters that people want to read. Considering her newsletter is one that we revisit time after time, we can’t wait to hear what her secret is.

• What: How to Write an Email Newsletter That People Clear Their Schedules to Read
• When: Friday, March 22 at 11:20 AM
• Where: 29ABCD

Learn Ann’s secrets to success by reading our interview with her from Content Marketing World.

#7 - Document our experience and key learnings.

As a leading B2B digital marketing agency, our No. 1 goal is to empower other marketers to become masters of the craft. We want our clients to be seen as the heroes of their organization. We want to provide our audience with solutions to their top marketing problems. To do that, we need to share and spread our knowledge. With that goal top of mind, we’ll be live blogging, tweeting, and recording our time at #SMMW19. If you’re missing out on the conference this year, missed a buzzed-about session, or just want a recap of the event, keep your eyes glued to this blog and your Twitter feed for session summaries, key takeaways, actionable tips, and more. Uncover content gold at your next industry event. Read our post, How to Unearth Content Gold at Marketing Industry Events.

*BONUS* Enjoy the warm weather.

In case you weren’t aware, our agency is based in Minneapolis, MN. And this winter has been rough. In fact, this February was the snowiest on record and the polar vortex led to wind chills near negative 60-degrees Fahrenheit. So, we plan to take full advantage of this year’s conference location of San Diego. While we will probably be too busy to go to Coronado Beach, you will definitely see us shedding our winter wardrobe and soaking up the sun. Our hope is that the extra warmth and Vitamin D will keep us charged until summer.

We’re Ready to Roll

Attending a conference is anything but easy. And we want to make sure we leave no stone left unturned and get the most out of the conference. To do that, we’ll be networking with other social media marketers, attending several must-see sessions, sharing our experience, and more. If you want to make the most of your time at Social Media Marketing World, we suggest laying out a similar event strategy. Keep up on the latest happenings at this year’s Social Media Marketing World by following @toprank, @azeckman, and @annieleuman on Twitter for live coverage, as well as the TopRank Online Marketing Blog. *Disclosure: SAP is a TopRank Marketing client.

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Digital Marketing News: Influencer & Data-Driven Marketing Stats, B2B Social Usage, & Twitter’s New Video Analytics

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Where Do Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Stand With B2B Video?

Modern B2B marketers understand that the key to an effective digital content strategy is meeting customers where they’re at, and giving them what they want. With this in mind, the appeal of social media videos only makes sense. We know that billions of people are on social networks, and we know (or at least research leads us to believe) they want video. Then again, certain developments may cause us to question what we think we know. How meaningful is it, really, if X% of users are watching X% of a video while scrolling through their feeds? And how can we be confident this data is even accurate, after the whole inflated metrics fiasco? If this matter is pressing on your mind, you’re not alone. Social media is an eternally tough nut for B2B marketers to crack. In Content Marketing Institute’s (CMI) 2019 benchmarking report, fellow practitioners called out changes in social media algorithms as the second-biggest issue of importance this year, behind search algorithms. We believe that best answer content is the most reliable way to remain visible amidst Google’s unpredictable shifts. Is video the best answer for enduring social media relevance? To explore that question, let’s dive into the latest news surrounding the three most prominent social platforms for B2B marketers: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn*.

Facebook: Pivoting Once Again?

Not so long ago, Facebook was one of the leading forces behind the “video takeover” movement. In 2016, Mark Zuckerberg was predicting that within five years, he “wouldn’t be surprised if … most of the content that people see on Facebook and are sharing on a day-to-day basis is video.” It was a natural direction. The engagement metrics for video were stellar, and brands couldn’t help noticing the way this content type was gaining higher placement in the platform’s feed algorithm. But later that same year, the company disclosed a “miscalculation” that led to inflation of video view numbers. This later became the subject of a lawsuit from advertisers, alleging that Facebook knowingly obscured and downplayed this information. And now? Facebook doesn’t seem to be quite as all-in on video as they once were. Earlier this month Zuckerberg laid out his privacy-focused vision for social networking, and talked about private messaging as a central emphasis going forward. The only time video was mentioned in his overview was a reference to “video chat.” Casey Newton of The Verge surmises this “pivot to privacy” will result in diminishing prominence of the News Feed, which would lower the impact of all public-facing content including video. It bears noting that Facebook video isn’t disappearing anytime soon. A recent study found that video posts drive more interaction on the platform than other types, and a product called Facebook Premiere launched late last year, enabling interactive video polls, pre-recorded live broadcasts, and more.

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At this moment, there’s no reason to abandon video on Facebook. However, the company’s evolving priorities are worth tracking. So too are the movements of their top competitors in the social space...

Twitter: Powering Up Video Analytics and Engagement

As Facebook appears to be taking its foot off the gas pedal with video, Twitter is pressing right down. We wrote last year about the platform’s renewed push for live video, and it seems that was only the beginning. A post on the company’s blog earlier this month asserted that “video is reshaping digital advertising,” and called out the format’s significant inroads. “There are around 1.2 billion video views on Twitter each day, which is 2x growth in 12 months according to Twitter internal data,” wrote Liz Alton. “Tweets with video attracted 10x more engagements than Tweets without video. And Promoted Tweets with videos save more than 50% on cost-per-engagement.” Within the past few weeks, Twitter has rolled out new tools for maximizing video engagement by helping publishers understand which times of day people are most likely to watch, based on historical data. This is helpful info, since the ephemeral nature of Twitter’s feed can make it tough to nail down timing. The insights are extremely high-level so we can’t necessarily draw specific conclusions about when audience segments (say, the B2B crowd) might be more likely to engage. But it’s a start, and I suspect we’ll only see the platform steepen its commitment to growing out video capabilities for brands.  

LinkedIn: Let’s Do It Live!

Finally, we come to the No. 1 social network for B2B lead gen. LinkedIn has made video a major focus since launching the feature for brands last summer. The big fresh development here is the platform’s brand-new live streaming video service, which debuted in February. “LinkedIn Live” is still in beta form, so it’s not available to everyone, but we can safely assume it will be soon. In the past, we’ve shared pros, cons, and examples of real-time video for content marketing. The engagement, authenticity, and accessibility are attractive perks, and now marketers will have an opportunity to tap them with more B2B-centric audiences (and deeper professional insights around viewers). TechCrunch says of LinkedIn’s vision for live video: “the plan is to cover conferences, product announcements, Q&As and other events led by influencers and mentors, office hours from a big tech company, earnings calls, graduation and awards ceremonies and more.” It’s easy to see how B2B audiences would find value in this kind of content, and you might already be seeding ideas for relevant broadcasts in your brain.

The State of Social Media Video for B2B Brands

There’s an old saying that change is the only constant, and it certainly applies for social media. Keeping up with all the pivots and posturing can feel exhausting. Given the relative cost of investing in video content, this is a weighty issue for marketers. We’re here to help you keep a finger on the pulse of this key tactical area. And while this is all — of course — subject to change, these appear to be the top present takeaways for B2B marketers where social media video is concerned:

• Video still drives engagement on Facebook, but the platform’s heightening focus on privacy and direct messaging casts some doubt on the long-term impact. However, now is not the time to call it quits.
• Twitter is only increasing its commitment, building out the advertiser’s toolkit after elevating live video last year.
• Speaking of live video, it’s coming soon for all brands on LinkedIn, and offers an intriguing assortment of possibilities there for high-value B2B content.

Want more insight on where social media marketing stands today and where it’s heading? Check out some of our recent updates:

• Social Media Marketing Benchmarks: What Works & Where to Focus
• From Messenger Bots to the Growth of ‘Gram, Social Media Examiner’s Annual Report Reveals Trends to Watch
• How to Survive the Social Media Midlife Crisis

*Disclosure: LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing Client. TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden is on the road again. His next stop? inOrbit 2019 Conference in Portorož, Slovenia on Thursday, March 14, 2019. Learn more here.

The post Where Do Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Stand With B2B Video? appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.