B2B Marketing News: Mobile Apps Thrive, Carousels Most Engaging Format on Instagram, Facebook’s Horizon VR, & Data Security’s Customer Loyalty Connection

COVID-19 drives more business to B2B marketplaces Global marketplace growth is being led by the B2B segment, with sales expected to hit $3.6 trillion by 2024 — up from $680 billion in 2018 — according to recently-released report data of interest to digital marketers, which also showed that 89 percent of purchasing managers are spending at least the same or significantly more because of pandemic circumstances. Digital Commerce 360 How Committed Are Big Advertisers to Content Marketing? Over the past two years major advertisers have doubled their commitment to content marketing, with 52 percent of senior-level marketers saying their firm is strongly committed to content marketing — up from 26 percent two years ago, according to recently-released survey data from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and The Content Council. MarketingProfs The Pandemic Pushes A Rebound in Mobile App Opens Technology, Internet and productivity app opens saw a 55 percent year-over-year increase from March through June, with business app opens up 26 percent and finance and insurance industry app opens seeing a 22 percent rise, according to newly-released report data highlighting strong positive shifts from app opens during March. MarketingCharts Facebook Announces Beta Launch of 'Horizon' VR Social Experience Facebook has launched a test version of its Horizon virtual reality (VR) social media experience, offering features for collaboration along with social interaction elements — available via waiting list — the firm recently announced. Social Media Today Influencer Followers Will Continue Spending More Time on Social Media After Restrictions Lift Among U.S. and U.K. consumers who follow social media influencers, 72 percent said they have spent more time using social platforms during the pandemic, and 64 percent also said that they are likely to continue the same level of usage during post-pandemic times, according to recently-released GlobalWebIndex survey data.. eMarketer LinkedIn lets Page owners view, sort, learn more about their followers LinkedIn (client) has launched an array of new features for its business pages, including more detailed page follower information, page-related event listings, and new employee content sharing and curation options, the Microsoft-owned professional social media platform recently announced. Search Engine Land Twitter Tests Replacing 'Retweets and comments' with New 'Quotes' Count Twitter has begun testing the use of a combined "quotes" metric comprised of the platform's longstanding retweet and comment counts, in an effort to visually simplify its user experience elements, the firm has announced. Social Media Today Google Ads to limit Search Terms reporting, citing privacy Google has started notifying its Google Ads users that certain infrequently-searched terms will no longer be available in the Google Ads search terms report — a move the search giant says is aimed at protecting user data and maintain privacy standards, Google recently announced. The move has led certain advertisers to question whether the Google Ads change will remove the ability to discover helpful search terms. Search Engine Land Want to create loyal customers? Get on the bleeding edge of data security Brand loyalty is tied to strong data privacy, with 31 percent of U.S. consumers seeing it as the most important factor, while 40 percent said that trustworthiness is tops when it comes to brand loyalty, according to recently-released survey data also showing that 42 percent refuse to share sensitive personal data for any reason. TechRepublic Instagram Carousels Are the Most Engaging Post Type [STUDY] 10-slide carousel posts have seen the highest engagement rates on Instagram, according to newly-released survey data from Socialinsider of interest to digital marketers. The study of some 22 million Instagram posts also shows that the use of carousels has risen faster than video content, while traditional image publication has fallen. Search Engine Journal ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “the rise of the customer service bots” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist The hashtag turns 13 — Chris Messina TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden / TopRank Marketing — New Report Says B2B Influencer Marketing Still Has Massive Room For Growth — Forbes
• Lee Odden — Keynote Lineup for Pubcon Pro Virtual 2020 — Pubcon
• TopRank Marketing — Nicht nur für B2C: Wie B2B-Unternehmen von Influencer Marketing profitieren [In German] — Futurebiz
• Lee Odden — Monday’s Marketing Minute: The Relaunch — Mack Collier
• Lee Odden — What’s Trending: Who Tells Your (Brand’s) Story? — LinkedIn (client)
• TopRank Marketing — The Essential Qualities B2B Brands Look for in Influencers — MarketingProfs
• TopRank Marketing — MGM Resorts cuts 18,000 jobs, NBA teams to offer arenas as voting locations, and 78% of B2B marketers say prospects rely on influencers’ opinions — PR Daily
• TopRank Marketing — Influencer marketing daje pozytywne skutki w marketingu B2B [In Polish] — SOCIALPRESS

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