B2B Marketing News: B2B Marketers Eye Metaverse, LinkedIn’s New Carousel Posts, Multicultural Marketer Engagement, & Podcasts Rise Again

The Metaverse Is No Game for B2B Marketers 72 percent of global business executives have said that they expect the metaverse to eventually effect their organization in a positive way, with some 41 percent expecting it to have a breakthrough or transformational impact in the future, according to newly-release survey data of interest to B2B marketers. Association of National Advertisers (ANA) [bctt tweet="“As the audience in the metaverse grows, it will amplify its overall utility. Building a business in the metaverse becomes more meaningful with millions of people in it.” — Sam Huber @SamHuber" username="toprank"] The B2B Trade Show Market Looks Like It’ll Need At Least Another 5 Years to Reach Pre-Pandemic Levels Even with a robust 54.7 percent B2B trade show market growth and accompanying value expected to hit $10.2 billion in 2022, a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels isn't set to occur until after 2026, while the business information market segment is poised to expand beyond pre-pandemic levels in 2022, reaching over $66.1 billion, according to recently-released U.S. B2B forecast data. MarketingCharts WFA Finds Most Advertisers Satisfied With Agency Rosters, Fewer Plan Changes 69 percent of global marketers have recently made changes to their agency roster or plan to do so, even as 75 percent of advertisers have noted that they were at least satisfied with their present agency roster arrangements, up from 2018 figures — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-released World Federation of Advertisers report data. MediaPost LinkedIn Launches Native Carousel Posting Option Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has rolled out an expanded test of its swipeable photo and video carousel post feature — part of the professional platform's efforts to share information in more visual formats — with a full roll-out to creators expected this fall, LinkedIn (client) recently announced. Social Media Today Where multicultural marketers can best engage audiences When it comes to media spending, multicultural groups have continued to be under-represented, despite 42 percent of U.S. multicultural adults reporting that they are spending significantly more time online compared to a year ago — well above the 27 percent of other demographics, with social media and podcasts two of the top format opportunities for marketers looking to reach multicultural audiences, according to newly-released survey data. SmarkBrief Podcast Consumption Rebounds After Q1 Dip Among Young Listeners The number of U.S. daily podcast listeners climbed to 29 percent during the second quarter of 2022, rebounding from a drop of 22 percent during the first quarter of the year, while 86 percent of marketers have said that they find podcasts to be an effective channel, according to recently-published survey findings . MediaPost Google says the cookie is here to stay until 2024 Search giant Google has pushed out its depreciation of third-party web browser tracking cookies until the second half of 2024, further extending a previous delay, as the firm continues to evaluate and test its Privacy Sandbox and other replacement technologies, Google recently announced. The Drum Amazon Business debuts first major campaign in grab at office supplies category Amazon Business has expanded its move into the B2B landscape with the rollout of new campaigns centered around consolidating business supply purchases, as the organization seeks to grow its offerings to the businesses it serves, including some 80 Fortune 100 companies, Amazon recently announced. Marketing Dive Google Launches Ad-Creation Tools, Resets Improvements For Gmail, Calendar Google has rolled out expanded advertiser collaboration features, including video creation within its popular Google Ads offering — featuring a new Asset Library with voice-over capabilities — along with upgrades to email and calendar tools, Google announced recently. MediaPost B2B marketplaces enter the digital commerce mainstream B2B marketplace sales climbed by 131 percent during 2021 to reach $56.5 billion, and are expected to keep pace and hit $130 billion in 2022 — two of several statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released report analysis. Digital Commerce 360 ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “How Same-Day Delivery Works” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist ‘Anti-Instagram’ App BeReal Soars to Top of Apple Charts — PetaPixel TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• TopRank Marketing — B2B Influencer Marketing Guidelines For Thought Leadership — Forbes
• TopRank Marketing — 20 Key Insights from TopRank’s 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report [Infographic] — Social Media Today
• Lane R. Ellis — Jargon, post-sale content, and a study on Millennial decision makers — Cronycle
• TopRank Marketing — 86% of B2B marketers are successfully working with influencers—here’s what they’re doing — Agility PR Solutions
• TopRank Marketing — 20 Key Insights from the 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report — Red Website Design

Have you run across your own favorite B2B marketing news this week? If so, please don't hesitate to let us know in the comments below. Thank you for taking the time to join us for this week's TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope that you will return next Friday for another selection of the most up-to-date and pertinent B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

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B2B Marketers on the Move: Shining Light On Summertime B2B Industry Movers

Summer is in full swing, and today's B2B marketing landscape burns bright with consistent changes, often accompanied by growth that happens so fast that it can be difficult to fully appreciate, no matter the season. For over two decades, TopRank Marketing has been honored to help a wide selection of the world's top B2B marketers and major brands elevate and go beyond merely being competitive, to standing out from the crowd with an array of creative, award-winning successes. In this spirit, we like to regularly take the time to congratulate and honor business marketers, thought leaders, industry influencers, as well as our own talented team members who have recently seen career advancement. When B2B marketers take on new leadership roles, it's only natural to look for trusted resources to help professionals in new positions hit the ground running, and TopRank Marketing is happy to have been a go-to B2B content and influencer marketing agency for so many stellar marketers in new leadership roles. We're also always seeking out B2B technology industry influencers advancing in their careers to partner with on unique content collaborations. We extend summertime congratulations to our B2B technology industry partners, clients, associates, friends and teammates in this sixth edition of B2B Marketers on the Move.

Summertime B2B Marketers on the Move

Michelle Robbins has taken a new position as business analytics manager at LinkedIn*.

Focus on growth opportunities, in organizations with strong leadership and access to mentors, and seek a challenge instead of a title. I've benefited greatly from being curious, expanding my own capabilities with continued learning, and pivoting to where that curiosity takes me.

Alex Pavelich has taken a new position as senior product manager — identity, at Experian.

Don't be afraid to lean into your interests. Finding the intersection of my interests and skill set has brought me the greatest success.

Neal Schaffer has taken a new position as chief marketing officer at Cheeki.

If you want to speak the language of modern marketing, you need to understand the voice of the customer. The only way to do that is to spend more time consuming the exact same content that they are consuming. It sounds like a no-brainer, but I have dealt with many companies who had little to no alignment between their marketing and the customer voice, and as a result found it difficult to gain traction with their marketing.

Anna Henwood has taken a new position as CEO at Stickybeak.

No matter what stage you are at in your career, I encourage you to get really clear on what you want to be (rather than what you want to do). What type of behaviors and experiences bring you joy and energy? The job title, and company don’t matter if you have this.

Scott Cowley has been promoted to associate professor of marketing at Western Michigan University.

I tell all of my digital marketing students to ask potential employers about how they invest in employee education. A company that values its people will make sure they are educated by the best, even if they have to travel.

Katelyn Drake has taken a new position as director of agency marketing at TopRank Marketing.

Be authentic. Be open, honest and true to your own values. Have a growth mindset. Never stop learning and remember that any obstacle can be used as an opportunity to take initiative, lead by example and show others what you and your team are capable of. Build your network. Surround yourself with people who inspire you and constantly stretch, challenge and motivate you personally and professionally.

Adam Dunn has taken a new position as senior motion graphics / compositior / director in residence, at InfiniteWorld.

Video marketing is intriguing, because it brings in real-life storytelling. The biggest factor in successful video content is cohesiveness of vision.

Adam is a TopRank Marketing alumni, and was featured in our Break Free B2B Marketing video interview and podcast series, in "Break Free B2B Series: Adam Dunn on Creating Blockbuster Video Content in B2B." Dave Lloyd has been promoted to senior manager, SEO - document cloud at Adobe.

I made a positive career shift 6 years ago — grateful daily for the learning, challenges, connections, and growth. It's all about delivering client value through innovative delivery and strong teamwork.

Lauren Vaccarello has taken a new position as chief marketing officer at Salesloft.

Time off makes you remember why you love your career in the first place. I love marketing and leading. I love inspiring people to go farther than they thought they could. The best thing about time off is letting your brain wander. I reflected as much on what I was proud of as things I would do differently. I had fun taking the guardrails off, pondering big questions and 'what ifs'... What if I totally changed my career? What if I could truly inspire change? What if I could materially impact the trajectory of a company’s success? What if I could leave any legacy I want?

Lindsay Schleisman has been promoted to head of global public relations at Danfoss Power Solutions. Liz Grey has taken a new position as social media manager at NSW Department of Education.

While a voice alone may be quiet, together those voices create a roar. And whether it’s sport, or any other facet of society facing injustice, it’s that roar that will help to #breakthebias many women face today.

Meagan Dahl has been promoted to corporate experiences strategic advisor at Humana. Tom Treanor has taken a new position as chief marketing officer at Snipp Interactive.

Ad hoc, unsustained and spreadsheet-based influencer marketing programs will end up being a big waste of time and money! To be successful, commit to a sustained strategy, leverage technology and/or agencies to drive the process, and measure the impact and adjust as you go.

Tom is one of the top B2B influencer marketers featured in our all-new 59-page 2022 Influencer Marketing Research Report, and has been featured on the TopRank Marketing blog several times including in the Break Free B2B Marketing video interview and podcast series, in "Break Free B2B Series: Tom Treanor on Perfecting B2B Marketing Personalization." Yuri Kleban has been promoted to global product lead manager (partnerships) at Google. Travis Meeks has been promoted to vice president of marketing at AnalyticsIQ.

No matter how big the audience or how many impressions may be guaranteed, the most successful marketers still turn to and rely on quality data to gain insight into the hearts and minds of their customers and prospects to drive their strategy.

Thanks To Each of These Leaders For Helping Elevate the B2B Marketing Industry

We extend bountiful thanks to each of the talented B2B marketing professionals we've featured here who have recently been promoted or taken new industry positions. We're certain that you'll elevate and reach newfound heights when it comes to the performance you'll deliver in your new roles. You can find the previous edition of B2B Marketers on the Move here. If you're looking for a new change of your own, be sure to check out our own list of current job openings at TopRank Marketing on our careers page. *LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing client.

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Triple Take: How to Make B2B Content Marketing More Influential, Authentic, and Credible

When it comes to creating effective B2B marketing content, these three traits arguably rank as the most essential: credible, authentic, influential.

• Credible: Does the content position its author or brand as a knowledgeable and authoritative expert in their space? Enough so that it aids in justifying a decision to invest in their solutions?
• Authentic: Is the content reflective of what that person or brand is really about? Does it instill trust through truth and transparency?
• Influential: Does the content actually shift perceptions and drive the reader or viewer toward some sort of action?

These three qualities, in a nutshell, differentiate marketing content from plain-old “content.” When all three are realized in the hearts and minds of your audience, a piece of content is almost guaranteed to achieve its objectives — provided you have the right promotion plan in place. I’ve written on this blog in the past about ways to infuse credibility, avoid authenticity pitfalls, and bolster influence through co-creation. The possibilities hardly end there, and the best practices are forever evolving. That’s why I was thrilled to dive into the new 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report. It’s filled with timely data, insight, and guidance from top voices in the industry. The profiles, interviews, and survey findings within can inform a framework for developing reliably credible, authentic, and – above all – influential content in today’s B2B marketing environment. Here are three big things I took away:

1 — Credibility Comes With Connection

There are many “proof points” for credibility that are weighed differently by different people. One theme that came through in the report was that, in terms of influencer effectiveness, connection to the audience is a crucial driver. In her profile interview, Ann Handley, chief content officer at MarketingProfs, cited these top qualities of a great influencer:

• Have a rapport with an audience

• Feel accessible

• Be relatable

• Be likeable. (Do you listen to recommendations from people you don’t like? I don’t.)

Sure enough, Ann embodies these traits herself as an influencer through a bold, memorable personality, and the knowing way in which she communicates with fellow writers and content marketers. She conveys that sense of ‘talking with,’ not ‘talking at.’ Ann also said that, as an influencer, she looks at potential brand partners through the same lens. Her top priorities, after using and/or respecting the company’s product, are “Feel rapport with the brand and with the people behind the brand,” and “Have a sense that we see the world in a similar way. (Not exact, maybe. But similar.)” These are wise questions to ask yourself when devising B2B content and aiming to build credibility. How can you develop a sense of rapport, and give that sense that you share a similar worldview with the people you want to engage? Our survey found that the three influencer qualities deemed most essential by respondents are:

• Relevance of audience (98%)
• Audience sees them as trustworthy (87%)
• Subject matter expertise (78%)

For relevance and trust to outrank subject matter expertise is telling. It’s all about connection. [bctt tweet="“The #B2BIMReport from @TopRank found that relevance and trust outweigh expertise in terms of essential influencer qualities. It’s all about connection. #B2BInfluencerMarketing.” — Nick Nelson @NickNelsonMN" username="toprank"]

2 — Authenticity is Earned Through Actuality

“Actuality” is defined as “actual existence, typically as contrasted with what was intended, expected, or believed.” It’s the best way to describe the function of authentic content – building confidence that your actual brand matches up to the intentions, expectations, or beliefs that it puts forth. This, by extension, helps people gain confidence that your actual product or service can deliver on what it promises. There are several dependable methods for adding an authentic touch to content. It begins with taking a clear stance and expressing a distinct point of view. The content has to have an actual purpose. Another key factor is bringing out real voices, faces, and personalities. Buyers don’t trust brands, per se – they trust the actual people associated with brands. It’s a proxy effect. Elevate those people to magnify it. For example, nearly two-thirds of respondents (65%) in the B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report said that internal executives have been effective at increasing the influence of their brands. The report also revealed a possible area of untapped opportunity. While internal execs were the second-most common type of B2B influencer, behind industry experts/analysts, we found that only 42% of brands are featuring employees in this way, and only 12% are featuring their prospects. If you want current and future prospects in your audience to see themselves in the content, why not feature others who might be in their exact same position? And if you want these prospects to see what your brand is actually about, why not feature the human beings who comprise it? [bctt tweet="“The #B2BIMReport reveals a key opportunity for authenticity-building content, with only 42% of brands positioning employees as influencers. #B2BContentMarketing.” — Nick Nelson @NickNelsonMN" username="toprank"]

3 — Influence is Unlocked by Initiative

Do you have the power and penchant to act or take charge of something before others do? That’s initiative, and it’s what marketers should always be aiming to project with B2B content. Brands need to lean into the second part of the phrase “thought leadership” by presenting an adaptive, proactive, forward-looking front. The stories we tell with our content and the people we partner with to tell them can be extremely powerful in this regard. “I believe storytelling will gain prominence in B2B marketing as brands seek to connect to their audience in new and different ways,” shared Unconventional Ventures founder Theodora Lau in the B2B Influencer Marketing report. “And we have a unique opportunity to help shape the stories through a lens of shared purpose and vision of the future.” Buyers have a wide range of differing priorities, but they all want to work with companies that are a step ahead, ready to help them meet the emerging challenges of their industry head on. B2B content marketing can make this case, when done well. It’s one reason co-creating with established and recognized influencers continues to gain popularity: these folks have a finger on the pulse of their respective niches. The impact of these partnerships is proven out by example after example shared in the report. When your B2B content connects with its target audience, conveys what your brand is actually about, and demonstrates the initiative of a leader ready for what’s next … you’ve got the recipe for credible, authentic, and influential content.

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B2B Marketing News: Effective B2B Data Acquisition, Always-On Brand Social, Facebook’s New Multiple Accounts, & Google’s Updated Ads Creative Studio

Brands Are Investing More Social Budget On Creator Partnerships 74 percent of marketers expect to invest a quarter or more of their social media budgets on partnerships with content creators over the next three to six months, with 53 percent looking to strengthen their social community and some 41 percent using creator partnerships to promote brand values — three of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released Sprout Social study data. MediaPost [bctt tweet="“Creators are the backbone of our business. We take enormous pride in connecting them not only with listeners, but also with advertisers to help them monetize their work.” — Lee Brown of @Spotify" username="toprank"] LinkedIn Business Manager is now in public beta Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has begun public testing of its previously-announced LinkedIn Business Manager, aimed at making it easier for marketers to manage advertising for multiple accounts on the professional platform, with an array of new integrated dashboard and campaign-related features, LinkedIn (client) recently announced. Search Engine Land Meta May Soon Enable Users to Set Up Various Facebook Profiles Tied Back to a Master Account Facebook parent Meta has begun a test that allows users to have up to four separate additional Facebook profiles, a move that would bring an array of new possibilities to marketers utilizing the platform, Meta recently announced. Social Media Today Research Points To Power Of Social Brand Conversation On Consumer Decision Making [Study] 56 percent of consumers see brand conversations conducted via social media as having as much or more impact on purchase decisions than traditional reviews, with always-on brand conversations being viewed as important throughout the purchase journey — two of several statistics of interest to digital marketers contained in recently-released joint Twitter and Publicis Media survey data. MediaPost Content Marketers Are Facing A Range of Issues with Integrated Technology Business intelligence analytics, marketing automation, personalization, and digital asset management (DAM) were the top four technologies content marketers said they use, while the integration of this array of technology was seen as the leading obstacle that content marketers face, according to newly-released marketing technology report findings from Parse.ly. MarketingCharts ANA Releases First-Ever Guidelines For Measuring Influencer Marketing The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has published its initial selection of influencer marketing measurement guidelines, covering social platforms Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Snapchat, the ANA recently announced. MediaPost 2 in 3 Multicultural Internet Users Have Upped Their Online Activity Multicultural groups have continued to be under-represented when it comes to media spending, despite an increased presence online, as some 66 percent of multicultural adults said they had spent more time online compared to a year ago — more than the 55 percent of all other groups, according to newly-released survey data of interest to B2B marketers. MarketingCharts Google Ads Creative Studio Launches With Custom Video And Display Ads Search giant Google has globally released its previously-announced Ads Creative Studio platform, with an array of features centered around working with multiple versions of video campaigns, with display advertising soon to be added to the mix, while the new platform is able to work in conjunction with Google Ads, Display and Video 360, and Campaign Manager 360 offerings, Google recently announced. MediaPost The Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2022 [Infographic] When is comes to the top times for achieving engagement on social media posts, Wednesday through Friday were seen as best for Twitter, Tuesday through Thursday for LinkedIn, and Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for Facebook — some of the findings of interest to digital marketers contained in a newly-released analysis of over 37 million social posts. MarketingProfs Which Contact Data Acquisition Strategies Are Most Effective for B2B Marketers? 79 percent of B2B marketing professionals pinpointed the registration forms contained on the website of their organization as the top B2B tactic for acquiring customer and prospect data, with 54 percent pointing to content downloads or offer forms that exist on their own dedicated landing pages, according to recently-released survey data of interest to B2B marketers. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “How Same-Day Delivery Works” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist TensorFlow Lite – On A Commodore 64 — Hackaday TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• TopRank Marketing — New Report Reveals 86% of B2B Marketers are Successfully Working with Influencers — Associated Press / AP
• Lee Odden — This Week in Marketing: Get Data-Driven to Reach for the Stars — LinkedIn (client)
• TopRank Marketing — Total Annarchy Newsletter #117: Writing inspo from the best thing on Netflix — Total Annarchy / Ann Handley
• Lee Odden — Does SEO Still Matter to Content Marketing When Google Takes Your Clicks? — Content Marketing Institute

Have you found your own top B2B marketing news this week? If so, please don't hesitate to let us know in the comments below. Thanks for joining us for this week's TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and please return next Friday for another selection of the most up-to-date and pertinent B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

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10+ B2B Influencer Marketing Predictions From Top Experts & Influencers

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4 Secret Successes of B2B Influencer Marketing

Does B2B influencer marketing work?  We asked marketers that question for our new 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report. The result: 86% said their programs were either moderately or very successful. But what’s more interesting is how the marketers we surveyed are defining success.  We tend to think of influencer marketing as a top-of-funnel tactic. While it’s definitely effective for raising awareness and building credibility, the benefits don’t stop there. Here are four surprising benefits that B2B marketers are seeing with smart influencer marketing.

#1 — Lead Gen & Revenue

Influencer marketing can bring in prospects to your brand, even without having the influencer endorse your solution or give a sales pitch. In fact, over half of our respondents said their influencer program is directly responsible for generating new leads. What’s more, 33% said they can directly attribute revenue to their program. To effectively use influencer content for lead gen, don’t create an amazing asset and then lock it behind a gate. Influencers will be less likely to amplify gated content, since they’re giving their followers extra work to see the good stuff. Instead, let your central asset go free and offer a value-add behind a gate. It could be a downloadable PDF, a checklist, template, or even a deeper dive piece of content aimed at a specific vertical. If you must gate an influencer asset, make sure to put it on a robust landing page that features your influencers’ content and profiles. That way, you can have your lead gen and influencer amplification, too.

#2 — Customer Relationships

Influencer marketing can bring more customers to your brand. Beyond that, it can help strengthen your relationship with your existing customers. Our research found that nearly half of respondents are looking to their customer base for part of their influencer mix.  Your customers may not have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, but they have priceless practical experience. Including them in your influencer content helps enrich the content, increases your credibility, and contributes to your customers’ success. 

#3 — Executive & Employee Morale

Your employees and executives can also get a boost from appearing in your influencer content. For executives, it helps build their thought leadership and credibility in the industry — direct benefits to their careers that can be directly attributed to the marketing department.  Featuring employees in the content brings in more practical experience, helps humanize your brand and promote your corporate culture, and makes employees feel seen and valued. All told, 56% of our respondents are looking to executives for influencer content, and 46% are tapping employees as influencers. All of these internal influencers can make your content better, and including them can improve morale and strengthen relationships.

#4 — Community Building

Speaking of relationship-building, you can use ongoing influencer programs to create a community of influencers. You can introduce influencers to each other, your most valued customers, and even your brand executives. Give them a space to bounce ideas off of each other and offer opportunities for them to connect in person or on video calls. An influencer community benefits everyone involved:

• It contributes to overall success: 100% of respondents with always-on influencer engagement said their program was successful
• Influencers have the opportunity to network and brainstorm with other industry leaders
• Executives can participate in the conversation and build their own credibility and influence
• All of these conversations can generate more cool content to fuel your next asset

It’s Time to Level Up Your B2B Influence

Influencer marketing for B2B is on the rise. Seventy-three percent of our respondents report an increase in interest over the past year, while 80% said they expect interest to continue to grow for the next year and beyond. It’s time for B2B marketers to approach influencer marketing with more strategy, greater discipline, and dedicated, ongoing effort. Our research shows that always-on programs with documented strategy are more likely to be successful than one-off campaigns.  Ready to win some of these secret successes for your brand? Check out the full report to learn more, or contact us to get started.

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Spotlight on Talent: 20 B2B Influencer Marketing Experts to Follow in 2022 and Beyond

On the heels of publishing our 2022 State of B2B Influencer Marketing research, there are many questions that go beyond what can be contained within a robust 59 page report. While we're ready and happy to answer any of those questions at TopRank Marketing I also know there are many smart B2B marketing practitioners working at companies of all sizes that have important insight, experience and perspectives to share. At our boutique B2B marketing agency, we're bold and ambitious enough to think we can help elevate the industry in several ways. We're working with ambitious and results driven B2B marketers at brands ranging from a mid-market financial technology company to the #1 B2B social network to one of the biggest global telecommunications brands in the world that understand the value (and effectiveness) of creating content and connections that are more authentic and experiential. There are many ways to do that and for our part, we're helping these B2B brands tap the expertise, influence and audiences of industry experts to create more meaningful content experiences. Another way we're working to elevate the B2B marketing industry is by putting a spotlight on marketing talent. A favorite way to do that is by curating and publishing thoughtful lists of professionals that are both practitioners and publishers of useful information. When it comes to influencer marketing in the B2B world, there's a lot to learn and luckily the B2B marketing pros on the list that follows have a lot to teach us. That's right, this is a list of influencers about B2B influencer marketing.

20 B2B Influencer Marketing Pros to Follow and Learn From in 2022

Rani Mani @ranimani0707 Head of Employee Advocacy at Adobe On the value of working with B2B influencers, Rani mentioned in our interview with her, "Something we’ve seen firsthand is crisis management and reputation management. When folks are misconstruing who we are and what we stand for, it’s so nice to have trusted advisors swoop in and save the day and explain what’s happening in a way that’s relatable and digestible for the everyday person. And it’s so much more believable when it comes from a peer vs. an executive from the company or a brand channel." Patrick Jones @whopjones Commercial Client Influencer Relations at Dell Technologies Evy Lyons @evylyons CMO at Traackr On the Renegade Podcast, Evy shared how B2B brands can break free using ideas from B2C influencer marketing: "What B2B is trying to do more of is be more creative and become more bold and find opportunities to stand out because everyone is using the same tactics. I think a B2B brand looking at a B2C company doing influencer marketing can get some ideas on how to creatively partner with folks outside their organization to create interesting content and experiences to reach their audience in an engaging way." Lina Forrestal @linaroque Influencer Marketing Program Manager at Cisco Ursula Ringham @ursularingham Head of Global Influencer Marketing at SAP Ursula share her thoughts in the report on what makes a B2B influencer: "To understand if an influencer is authentic, trustworthy and credible to partner with, first figure out who they are as a person. Read, listen and watch their content. What separates them?" Anton Shulke @anton_shulke Head of Influencer Marketing at Duda Justin Levy @justinlevy Director, Social and Influencer Marketing at Demandbase For the report, Justin offered his thoughts on the value of influence for B2B marketing: "Influencer marketing has accelerated amongst B2B brands and we’ll continue to see roles dedicated to influencer marketing since research shows buyers prefer to rely on industry experts." Treasa Dovander @treasadovander Head of Social Media, Leadership profiling & Influencer Engagement at Ericsson Digital Services Ryan Bares @RyanBares Global Influencer & Advocacy Lead at IBM To help B2B marketers get the most from influencer marketing vendors, Ryan shared: "For an effective B2B influencer marketing program, platform partners need to deliver impactful insights into the audiences of the influencers - line of business, interests, engagement, title." Kenny Gold @KRG Managing Director, Head of Social, Content and Influencer at Deloitte Digital Click Play - This post is brought to you by the 2022 State of Influencer Marketing Research Report - Check out the preview here or download the FULL Report. Rani Mani @ranimani0707 Head of Employee Advocacy at Adobe On the value of working with B2B influencers, Rani mentioned in our interview with her, "Something we’ve seen firsthand is crisis management and reputation management. When folks are misconstruing who we are and what we stand for, it’s so nice to have trusted advisors swoop in and save the day and explain what’s happening in a way that’s relatable and digestible for the everyday person. And it’s so much more believable when it comes from a peer vs. an executive from the company or a brand channel." Rob Hilsen @rhilsen VP, Influence Marketing at Genesys Paul Dobson @svengelsk Senior Director, Social and Influencer Marketing at Citrix In our previous interview with Paul, he talked about the ongoing value of B2B influencer relationships: "What I love most about working with influencers is the kind of range of “aha” moments that you have as you go along. And you work with them to form and build campaigns. Because the plans that you start off with, they kind of wiggle a bit. But you get there in the end and they change ever so slightly based on the interactions that you have with your influencers." Lucinda Henry @lucindarhenry1 Influencer Marketing Strategist at HPE Srijana Angdembey @srijanaa Director, Social Media & Influencer Marketing at Oracle On the topic of finding the right B2B influencers for the 2022 report, Srijana shared, "First ask, does the influencer fit your brand persona? Do your core values align? That doesn’t mean the content the influencer is creating is in your branding, it means that the content is authentic to both the company and the influencer’s audience. It is a win-win for both." Vasudha Badri-Paul @VasudhaBPaul Marketing and Sales Director/Advisor at Alan AI Angela Lipscomb @AngelaLipscomb Influencer Relations Manager at SAS On the future of influencer marketing for B2B companies, Angela shared, "B2B brands will start looking to new platforms to help reach a millennial and Gen Z audience. TikTok creators will join traditional technology influencers on the ‘influencer starting team’. Influencer managers will need to learn the nuances of working with these creators, but the basics will always hold true of being authentic, collaborative and relationship-oriented." Leah Marshall @LeapCast Director, Influencer Marketing at ANA Amisha Gandhi @AmishaGandhi SVP Marketing at Tipalti Amish shared a prediction about B2B influencer marketing: "The future is all about integrated marketing and customer experience. Marketers will need to plug the influencer component into the complex process of B2B purchasing cycles across all the touch points (from blog content to gated experiences to ABM to advocacy) to drive engagement and ROI." Ashley Zeckman @azeckman VP Strategy & Customer Success, North America at Onalytica Drew Tambling @drew_tambling Director of Analyst & Influencer Relations at Sprinklr By no means is this an exhaustive list because there are many more B2B marketing professionals working at B2B brands of all sizes that are actively engaging experts inside and outside the company to build influence - and that's great news to us. The number of dedicated and leadership influencer marketing roles at B2B brands has steadily increased every year since we started providing professional influencer marketing services to B2B companies back in 2012. Publishing and promoting lists like this over the years is truly an example of "a rising tide lifts all ships" as we do our small part to shine a spotlight on the talented marketers and B2B brands establishing the art and science of influence as part of the B2B marketing mix. I encourage you to follow these B2B marketing professionals on Twitter, LinkedIn or your preferred social platform of choice. To find out the best practices this group of marketers relies on for collaborating with influencers to create successful, authentic and meaningful content, be sure to check out our research highlights or download the full 2022 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report.

The post Spotlight on Talent: 20 B2B Influencer Marketing Experts to Follow in 2022 and Beyond appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.