B2B Marketing News: Top B2B Video Marketing Challenges, Google Axing Teasers, Changing B2B ABM Objectives, & LinkedIn’s Strong Revenue Growth

How the Pandemic Has Affected Account-Based Marketing 42 percent of B2B marketers say that the pandemic has changed their account-based marketing (ABM) business objectives, according to recently-released survey data, with 30 percent noting that their ABM budgets fell due to the global health crisis, while 26 percent saw their ABM spending increase. MarketingProfs Despite In-Housing Trend, Clients Continue To Value Agency Relationships Greater alignment with brand priorities brings increased value to agencies, according to newly-released Forrester report data of interest to digital marketers, which also showed that some 75 percent of brand decision makers were satisfied or very satisfied with their agency rosters. MediaPost Social Media Ad and Video Spend Skyrocketed in Q4 2020 The final quarter of 2020 saw a 92.3 percent year-over-year rise in social media advertising spending in North America, according to recently-released report data, with global increases for the period topping 50 percent. Social Media Today Google Starting To Meet Consumer Demand For Organic Search Overall organic search volume increased by 30.5 percent during the last quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter a year earlier, with mobile organic search volume rising by 32.7 percent, according to recently-released Merkle report data of interest to online marketers. MediaPost Microsoft earnings rise as pandemic boosts cloud computing, Xbox sales LinkedIn (client) saw a revenue increase of 23 percent during the second quarter of fiscal year 2021, according to earnings release information from parent company Microsoft, led by strong advertising performance on the professional social platform. Reuters Google may not display Web Stories that are teasers Readers are averse to feeling forced to click through from content that relies too heavily on teasers, Google recently said, urging the use of online stories over Web teasers, while also noting that it will show less teaser-based content in its Web Stories within Google Search and Google Discover. Search Engine Land Why social listening guides the marketing strategy for a media management platform [Sprout Social.] Some B2B marketers have failed to see the power of social media marketing as a method for humanizing audience connections, according to Sprout Social chief marketing officer Jamie Gilpin, who recently shared social media listening data from the firm. AdAge Google says it may have found a privacy-friendly substitute to cookies Google has released test data from its Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) browser-tracking cookie replacement technology, which it says achieves at least 95 percent of the conversions per dollar marketers are used to seeing with traditional cookie-based ads, the search giant recently announced. Axios Report: Location-based marketing is increasingly valuable, but data accuracy remains in question 95 percent of global firms use location-based data and services for reaching customers, a year-over-year increase of 10 percent, according to data from the Location Based Marketing Association (LBMA)’s recently-released Global Location Trends report, which also showed that 21 percent of marketers use the technology to increase brand recall. CMO Troubles Measuring Impact Hinder B2B Video Efforts The top barriers marketers face with B2B video marketing include measurement of impact, staff allocation, creating engaging videos, and the production of video content that accurately represents a brand, according to recently-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “pop-ups and user experience” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist A New Way to Trace the History of Sci-Fi’s Made-Up Words — Wired TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• TopRank Marketing — Digital and Real World Influence is About Community — Brian Solis
• LinkedIn (Client) — LinkedIn Sets LinkedIn Spark Virtual Sales Education Event — Adweek

Have you found your own top B2B marketing story from the past week of industry news? Please let us know in the comments below. Thanks for taking the time to join us for this edition of the TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope that you will return again next Friday for more of the most relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

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5 Ways to Humanize Your B2B Content Marketing – And Why It Matters

Never underestimate the corporate world’s ability to take something that should be intuitive, and make it weird by overthinking it. Case in point: We used to say, “B2B doesn’t have to be boring.” Which indicates that for a long time, folks truly believed that B2B did have to be boring — that B2B buyers were a unique species of creature that operated without emotion and wanted the driest content possible. Now we’re talking about how we need to “humanize” B2B content.  And doesn’t that sound like some kind of filter you run your content through after you make it? I picture something that looks like a fax machine, where you load the content in the top, and push a big red button marked “HUMANIZE.” “We’re ready to ship that blog post, Johnson — wait! Don’t forget to humanize it!” Now, I get that B2B brands are dealing with millions of dollars worth of business. It makes sense to be mindful about how you represent the brand. But there’s a difference between caution, and so much second-guessing that you end up having to relearn how to talk like people. We can’t make content first, and then “humanize” it as an afterthought. Content should be about humans, by humans, and for humans, from the early planning stages to publication and beyond. Here are a few ways you can make your content more relatable.

5 (More) Ways to Humanize Your Content

Nearly all of the marketers I know are actual humans (I’m still convinced Brian Solis is a highly advanced android from the future, but that’s beside the point). We’re all capable of making content for and by humans — we just need to unlearn some misconceptions and give ourselves permission to do it. These tips can help you start.

1 — Talk Like a Person

Corporate jargon is a language all its own, with its own vocabulary, cliches, and even sentence structure. It can sound stiff, dry and deeply unnatural to your audience. For example, we might say: “Going forward, our software solution can be used by busy sales professionals to activate their data and achieve more meaningful results.” When what we mean is: “You can find more potential prospects in your data with our solution.” There are a few elements that set corporate-speak apart from actual human language:

• • Passive voice. For example, “This article was written by me” is passive. “I wrote this article” is active. Active voice is more powerful, more emotionally compelling, and far more natural.

• Lack of “I” and “you.” I blame high school English class for this one. Every piece of marketing content should have an actual author who is present in the text. The word “I” is not your enemy. On the flipside, it’s okay to say “you” when you’re talking to your audience. Engage them directly! Even better, if you and your audience are part of the same group, use the most powerful word of all: WE. We need to address this problem. We all feel a certain way sometimes. I can’t overstate how powerful a sincere we can be.

• Fussy vocabulary. Don’t utilize a less common word when you can use a simple one instead.

• Jargon. If you’re talking about how your solution delivers customer-centric data-driven insights… well, that’s how the marketing team would talk about it, sure. But what does it mean to your audience? Use terms that match how your audience talks and thinks — and don’t just guess. Part of keyword research is learning your audience’s preferred terminology.

2 — Feature Your People

The first section is all about the minor adjustments that make your content sound more human. For the rest of the post, we’re going to talk about how to make sure it actually is more human.  To start with, I said above that every piece of content should have an actual author who is present in the text. That means using first-person pronouns regardless of what Ms. Funke in 9th-grade English would say. But it also means having a point of view, an individual outlook on the world as opposed to a corporate one. One of the best ways to do this is to co-write the content with people in your company. Writing about your brand’s customer service? Interview a customer service agent. Want to explain how your solution works? Feature one of your R&D folks or engineers. As the marketer, of course, you’ll help shape and polish the content. But you’ll be ensuring each piece has a unique point of view, and that it doesn’t all sound like marketers trying to sound like other folks.

3 — Make Your Customers the Stars

Another easy way to make your content more human is to feature your customers. It makes sense: Your target audience is people who would benefit from your solution, which means they’re folks who are a lot like your existing customers.  This goes beyond just featuring customer success stories or case studies. Those are a staple of content marketing, of course, but they’re not the only way to get customer voices into your content. Look for ways to bring your customers’ expertise to a wider audience. What do they know about their business that could help others in a similar situation? What can they say about current trends or upcoming developments?  Putting customers front and center not only helps humanize your content and bring more value to your audience, it also helps deepen your relationships with the customers themselves.

4 — Co-Create with Influential People

In the B2C space, influencer marketing is more like micro-level celebrity endorsement — it’s all about giving people money to feature your product. B2B influencer marketing is more about co-creation — working with experts to make content that is valuable to your audience. It’s not, “Bob Johnson says to try our solution.” It’s “Here’s what Bob Johnson says about the future of your industry, and we’re happy to bring you his insights.” When you involve influencers in your content, you’re adding additional human voices to your content. Let the influential people in your industry add their credibility, expertise, and most importantly, personality to your content. It’ll make your content smarter, more personable, and more likely to connect with people. [bctt tweet="“Let the influential people in your industry add their credibility, expertise, and most importantly, personality to your content. It’ll make your content smarter, more personable, and more likely to connect with people.” @NiteWrites" username="toprank"]

5 — Find the Stories

As the survivor of many college creative writing classes, there are three words tattooed on my heart: Show, Don’t Tell. Look for the stories that illustrate what you want your reader to know.  We understand this instinctively in conversation. Humans are hardwired for narrative. You wouldn’t say to a friend, “Our new dishwasher is 37% quieter than our old model! It registers at just 15 decibels, more quiet than a whisper!”  Instead, you might say, “So last night, I started the dishwasher, but I forgot the baby was sleeping! I was so scared she would wake up — it took so long to get her down last night. And you know that old dishwasher sounded like a freight train when it hit the rinse cycle! But the new one is so quiet she didn’t even stir! She was in such a better mood today after a good night’s sleep.” Whenever you find your content getting sales-y, try to refocus on the story. Look for the emotions, the moments of drama that relate to what you’re trying to say. And no fair saying there are no emotional stories to tell about your brand’s solution. If human beings are buying and using your product or service, they are experiencing emotions and generating stories.  [bctt tweet="“If human beings are buying and using your product or service, they are experiencing emotions and generating stories.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites" username="toprank"]

Humanize for Human Eyes

Every B2B marketer is also in someone else’s target audience. We have all experienced an emotional connection with content, even with marketing content (mine will always be the Like a Girl campaign). So it should be intuitive to make the kind of content that we respond to — “humanization” shouldn’t be an afterthought. This doesn’t mean, of course, that your case study about your SaaS should make someone break down in cathartic tears. But it should mean that the case study tells a compelling story that it engages the reader’s attention and rewards it, and sounds like it was written by a person rather than a committee. Need help utilizing data-driven customer-centric content (just kidding)? Check out our content marketing page and hear what our customers have to say.  

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5 Standout Traits of the Best B2B Content Marketers

My favorite part of playing a sports video game is the “Create a Player” function. It gives me the opportunity to set realism aside and dream up the most legendary, dominant athletic specimen imaginable. On the basketball court, no real-life point guard would be able to match up against “Dimes McGee,” my customized 7-foot-10 wunderkind with 99 ratings for shooting, passing, ball-handling, speed, and defense. Talk about optimization! What if you could “create a player” in B2B content marketing? Which attributes would you want to max out in order to fabricate the most successful practitioner possible? It’s a fun and interesting question to contemplate, in large part because the answers now are different than even a few years ago. Which traits and characteristics define the most effective B2B content marketers in 2021?

Optimized: 5 Traits of the Best B2B Content Marketers

Certain requisite skills, such as being creative and a good communicator, are so obvious as to go without stating. But a new set of traits are emerging that differentiate the best B2B content marketers in this reshaped business environment. If you’re looking to hire a content marketer (or agency), or you’re looking to grow your own skills, these are the traits worth emphasizing.

Curious

The game is changing. New innovations are disrupting the profession and many fundamentals are in flux. In charting the top B2B marketing trends for 2021, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden envisions a massive shift toward digital-first tactics and practices, citing AI and chatbots as technologies that will help lead the way as organizations zero in on digital customer engagement. Adapting to this revolution requires a curious and open mind. Those who are rigidly set in their ways, or committed to conventional thinking, will be in trouble. We must be willing — eager, even — to challenge our own assumptions about our audiences’ needs, and how best to meet them. A great B2B content marketer is not someone who insists they know everything. Instead, it’s someone who readily admits what they don’t know, questions what they think they do know, and shows a fervent curiosity to learn more. [bctt tweet="“A great B2B content marketer is not someone who insists they know everything, but someone who readily admits what they don’t.” @NickNelsonMN #B2B #ContentMarketing " username="toprank"]

Analytical

This can be a sticking point. Given that content marketers tend to be writers by trade, many of us (myself included) are averse to math. So the idea of crunching numbers and calculating metrics can feel a bit daunting. The good news is that marketing analytics tools can handle most of the math for us; it is incumbent upon B2B content marketers to take these insights and draw meaningful, actionable conclusions from them. Put another way, being analytical means being scientific in our curiosity. Intuition and instincts are important, but they should never overshadow solid evidence in our thinking. The widespread availability of data today brings a world of opportunities to verify, validate, or revise any theory we might have. For practical guidance on the subject, I encourage you to check out Annie Leuman’s post on how data insights can lead your B2B content marketing strategy, from benchmarking and goals to audience and personas to content mapping and more.

Bold

A critical caveat: being analytical doesn’t mean content marketers should get bogged down in a chronic state of decision paralysis. While remaining flexible, and vigilantly mindful of analytics, we should be ready to pursue our convictions decisively and take the lead. The newly released Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 lays out a mandate for businesses and CEOs: “Act first, talk later.” With businesses currently being rated as more trustworthy than NGOs, government, or media, content marketers have a unique opportunity to speak up and solidify the credibility of their brands. Those who boldly capitalize and deliver for their audiences will separate themselves this year. [bctt tweet="“Act first, talk later.” - @EdelmanPR on the path to boldly building trust in 2021. #B2B #ContentMarketing" username="toprank"]

Empathetic

Another key directive from Edelman’s latest report: “have the courage to provide straight talk, but also empathize and address people’s fears.” This is not necessarily an easy balance to strike. In a recent survey by Singular, CMOs identified empathy as the biggest supertrend in marketing this year after digital transformation. Nothing else came remotely close. Content marketers are the primary conduits between a business and its potential customers. They help internal stakeholders understand the audience’s needs and values, and they shape external perceptions of how the brand is serving those needs and values. Empathy is instrumental in ensuring these two sides align. To an extent, empathy comes naturally, but it can be honed and strengthened through a curious and analytical mentality. “Experienced marketers are being more strategic about ways to invest in customer experiences to showcase customer satisfaction and retention in addition to complementing customer acquisition strategies,” wrote Brian Solis in a post from Forbes last year that remains highly relevant today. “By measuring the customer’s real-time and aggregated experience, marketers can learn exactly how and where to improve them, in times with-COVID and post-COVID markets.”

Patient

It was almost exactly one year ago that I laid out this top priority for B2B marketers in 2020: slow your roll. From customer experiences to strategy-setting to social media management and SEO tactics, I saw opportunities to take a beat and become more methodical. As it turns out, we didn’t have much choice. The arrival of a global pandemic soon after forced the business world at large to slow down as budgets were reduced, employees were confined to their homes, and buying decisions were delayed. Distractions and disruptions ran rampant. LinkedIn’s State of Sales 2020 report found 44% of respondents saying their customers’ sales cycles had grown longer in the face of COVID-19. Now, we just need to adjust. Patience will be a virtue for those B2B content marketers who thrive in the year to come: patience with coworkers, customers, business partners, and measuring results. Keeping a positive and productive mindset through a year of transition and uncertainty projects confidence and stability. As the old saying goes: “Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”

Bring Your Marketing ‘A Game’ in 2021

Through curiosity, analysis, boldness, empathy, and patience, B2B content marketers can be prepared for everything that comes their way in 2021. Let these traits shine and your output will do the same. Ready for more advice on overcoming the challenges ahead? Learn which attributes will drive the most successful influencer marketing efforts this year by clicking over to Lee’s post for tips and examples.

The post 5 Standout Traits of the Best B2B Content Marketers appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

B2B Marketing News: Trust in 2021, Top Content Marketing Goals, Twitter Alternative, Cookieless Targeting

2021 Edelman Trust Barometer: Plague of mistrust follows COVID-19 After a year of unprecedented disaster and turbulence – the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis, the global outcry over systemic racism and political instability – the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals an epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust of societal institutions and leaders around the world. Edelman What Are B2B Marketing Leaders Measuring: Five Key Takeaways from Forrester's SiriusDecisions 2020 Metrics Study Forrester’s study asked worldwide B2B leaders which metrics appear on their company’s top-level dashboards. Key insights include: Leadership attention is precious, High-growth companies focus more on the customer lifecycle and others. Forbes New Study from SEMRush Shares Top Goals for Content Marketers in 2021 79% more quality leads, 74% more website traffic, 57% improve brand reputation, 47% improve customer engagement and loyalty. eMarketer Twitter Is Helping To Build An Alternative To Twitter, Says CEO Jack Dorsey The move by Twitter on @bluesky is one of several in the works by blockchain developers in the wake of the takedowns by social media services and providers like Amazon. The surprise is that Twitter would contribute to a concept that may lead to its own demise. Deadline 88% of marketers say collecting first-party data is a 2021 priority, Merckle study says Forty-one percent of marketers say digital media activation will be the area most impacted due to the rise of privacy-related data restrictions, per Merkle's 2021 Customer Engagement Report that was emailed to Marketing Dive. In addition, web analytics (39%), digital media measurement (35%) and direct marketing activation (35%), among other areas, are expected to be impacted. MarketingDive Buyer Survey: Global Digital Spend To Rise 18% In 2021 Global digital advertising growth is expected to accelerate to about 18% year-over-year during 2021, up from about 10% growth in 2020 — and continue to show annual growth in the low double digits over the next five years, according to Cowen’s 9th Annual Ad Outlook report. MediaPost LinkedIn Launches 'LinkedIn Marketing Labs' to Provide Education on the Platform's Ad Tools LinkedIn has launched a new education platform to help marketers learn more about effective use of LinkedIn ads, and the tactics that they can employ to generate better results. Social Media Today Comscore To Intro Cookie-Less Targeting Solution Comscore announced that it will launch a cookie-free audience targeting solution sometime during the first quarter, called Predictive Audiences. MediaPost The Big Trends That Will Influence Creativity in 2021, According to Adobe Stock The creative trends slated to dominate 2021 include compassionate, psychedelic, gradient and electronic audio content, according to Adobe Stock, the software company’s stock image platform. The 2021 Visual & Creative Trends Report is an annual forecast compiled by Adobe Stock’s creative team informed by consumer behavior from the previous year. AdWeek Father of the Web Tim Berners-Lee prepares 'do-over'. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who was knighted for inventing the internet navigation system known as the World Wide Web, wants to re-make cyberspace once again with a new startup called Inrupt, which aims to combat walled gardens with personal data pods, easier authentication, and greater user control. Reuters The State of Mobile 2021 2020 saw an acceleration of mobile usage habits by 2 to 3 years — strengthening mobile’s role as the most crucial instrument for engaging customers. This new report features in-depth analyses from 11 industries and 30 markets in an interactive format allowing for deeper dives into the rich data and insights. App Annie Marketers’ Top Digital Transformation Priority? The Customer Experience If COVID-19 has spurred anything along in a positive way it’s been digital transformation according to The Marketer’s Toolkit 2021 from WARC. The new report found that 93% of the more than 1,000 global marketing executives surveyed agreed that the pace of digital transformation has been hastened by COVID-19. MarketingCharts Twitter Shares Planning Guide for Your 2021 Tweet Strategy. The team at Twitter has compiled some of their best Twitter tips and tools into a new 108-page guide, the 2021 Twitter Planner, to help marketers get ready for 2021. Twitter Business What Video Marketers Should Know in 2021, According to Wyzowl Research Video remains a key priority for marketers with usage and spend both, overall, increasing slightly throughout 2020, and plans to increase again in the next 12 months. HubSpot YouTube Analytics Adds ‘First 24 Hours’ Metric. First day performance data joins the new ability to compare metrics between two videos in YouTube update. Search Engine Journal ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: Culture of New Ideas by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• TopRank Marketing — Digital And Real World Influence Is About Community — Brian Solis
• Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing — What Does 2021 Hold For B2B Influencer Marketing? — Demand Gen Report
• Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing — Influencer marketing in professional services — RedStarKim
• Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing — Influencer Marketing in 2021: An essential ingredient in your communication mix — Cognito

Have you found your own top B2B marketing story from the past week of industry news? Please let us know in the comments below. Thank you for joining us for this edition of the TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope that you'll return again next Friday for more of the most relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

The post B2B Marketing News: Trust in 2021, Top Content Marketing Goals, Twitter Alternative, Cookieless Targeting appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

5 Inspiring Reasons For B2B Marketing Optimism in 2021

How can the intense brightness that often follows humankind's darkest moments help us achieve greater team unity and newfound marketing energy, gratitude and strength? As the pandemic marches on into its second year, B2B marketers looking to rise above despair and make this a brighter and more successful year can look especially to the five reasons we've gathered here for being optimistic about the many positive opportunities and experiences that 2021 holds in store. Let's jump right in and take a look at five inspiring reasons for B2B marketing optimism in 2021 and beyond.

1 — We're More United As Teams & As Communities

Despite the difficult pandemic challenges of 2020 that have continued into 2021, B2B marketers have gained a newfound understanding of the power of successful teamwork, even as remote work has typically meant less physically time together. Online collaboration systems are undoubtedly flourishing as never before, as teams meet and share in fascinating and sometimes unanticipated new ways using Zoom, Slack, monday.com* and so many other powerful tools for digital integration. Teams that haven't been used to working together remotely have gained not only new technology skills, but a new sense of understanding and appreciation for work associates and the challenges we all face — issues that were largely unseen in professional life during pre-pandemic times. [bctt tweet="“Teams that haven't been used to working together remotely have gained not only new technology skills, but a new sense of understanding and appreciation for work associates and the challenges we all face.” — Lane R. Ellis @lanerellis" username="toprank"]

2 — We're Poised To Unleash Tremendous New Energy

Be ready to tap into the pure and boundless energy that are likely to overflow when our professional and personal lives are safely able to return to not quite what they were, but as close as we can come. The day World War II ended saw great global celebrations and relief, and while the pandemic recovery won't likely be such an overnight occurrence, when we collectively switch to lives more closely resembling those we had before the global health crisis, each of us will be able to harness tremendous new energy, which can't help but inspire our marketing efforts and lives in new and exciting ways. When this post-pandemic energy is released into the B2B marketing world, the floodgates of creativity are likely to open and drive increased focus on campaigns that connect brand and customer in deeper and more meaningful ways. [bctt tweet="“When post-pandemic energy is released into the B2B marketing world, the floodgates of creativity are likely to open and drive increased focus on campaigns that connect brand and customer in deeper and more meaningful ways.” @lanerellis" username="toprank"]

3 — Our Gratitude Will Create Great Marketing That Makes a Difference

Living for over a year under trying circumstances has helped us to be thankful for our little victories, and to appreciate a new sense of gratitude brought on by some of those small aspects of our lives that have turned out to mean so much more than they did in pre-pandemic times. This hard-won gratitude will go far in creating marketing efforts that tell more authentic stories, and help humanize content campaigns that allow B2B marketers to get closer to their customers. To help you prepare to harness all that newfound gratitude, check out the following posts that explore how thankfulness can make for more powerful marketing:

• Gratitude In Uncertain Times: What the TopRank Marketing Team is Most Thankful For
• 5 Ways To Inspire Your Marketing With Gratitude

[bctt tweet="“Try your best to make goodness attractive. That’s one of the toughest assignments you’ll ever be given.” — Fred Rogers @FredRogersCtr" username="toprank"]

4 — We've Got More Tools & Tactics Than Ever

During 2020 global usage of technology climbed in ways it's never done before, resulting in a proliferation of new social media tools, expansion of online communication options, and the growth of marketing tactics that can help us succeed with each new possibility. The sky's the limit for B2B marketers who find the right tools that allow them to build relevant best-answer content. With such a wealth of application, tool, utility and service choices, the hardest challenge may simply be finding the ones that allow you to work in the manner that brings out your best. To help you find new tools, we've published insight into some of the top tools for B2B marketers, such as these:

• 5 More Handy Tools For 2021’s Busy B2B Marketers
• 5 Unheralded SEO Tools for Content Marketers
• 10 Fresh Social Media Marketing Tools To Boost Brand Storytelling
• 8 Things B2B Marketers Need To Know About Reddit in 2021
• Best SEO Tips for Marketing During the Pandemic Plus 9 Top SEO Platforms

[bctt tweet="“Marketers have incredible power to spread some calm in a chaotic world right now. Use it wisely.” — Britney Muller @BritneyMuller" username="toprank"]

5 — We're Stronger From Overcoming Pandemic Marketing Challenges

It may not be immediately apparent yet, but by overcoming the challenges the pandemic has thrown at our professional and person lives, we have gained strength that may take some time and reflection to fully appreciate. In 2021 this strength will unfold and eventually work its way into our efforts as B2B marketers, bringing a fresh zest for the power our content has to change hearts and minds. To help us see and appreciate the strengths we've added, it's helpful to look back and reflect on the challenges we've faced and overcome during the past year — whether small or monumental. Some find that making a comprehensive list of the obstacles we've survived helps to bring into clearer focus the progress that will infuse our 2021 marketing efforts with new strength. [bctt tweet="“It may not be immediately apparent yet, but by overcoming the challenges the pandemic has thrown at our professional and person lives, we have gained strength that may take some time and reflection to fully appreciate.” @lanerellis" username="toprank"]

Embrace A Positive 2021 Overflowing With New Marketing Opportunity

via GIPHY Combined, these five reasons for B2B marketers to be optimistic — our greater team unity, energy, gratitude and strength along with powerful new tools — can provide new inspiration as we gather ourselves to face the many challenges and opportunities of 2021. * monday.com is a TopRank Marketing client.

The post 5 Inspiring Reasons For B2B Marketing Optimism in 2021 appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Top B2B Marketing Trends for 2021

Each year I've taken inventory of the major trends emerging within our B2B marketing agency practice and with the crazy year that was 2020, the new year requires even greater focus on what's ahead. Some of the marketing predictions and trends I've shared in the past include: Top 10 B2B Digital Marketing Trends in 2020

• Personalization
• Video content and live video
• AI and Machine Learning
• Voice engagement and Podcasts
• B2B Influencer Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Chatbots and Conversational Selling
• Customer Experience
• Visual and Interactive Content
• ABM

Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2019

• Live, Interactive Video
• Voice Search
• AI/Machine Learning/Chatbots
• Data/Privacy/Transparency
• Influencer Marketing 2.0
• Purpose Driven Brands and Gen Z

It's interesting to see things like Video, Voice, AI and influencer marketing persist each year. The fact is, when it comes to B2B marketing trends, the world is moving fast and while marketing innovation hasn't slowed, there are still fundamental shifts in B2B buyer preferences for information discovery, consumption and engagement that have not yet been implemented by the majority of marketers yet. As a result, a lot of the "trends" we'll see a focus on in 2021 are not particularly new, just not evolved. The chaos of 2020 created some important shifts including 80% or more of the sales cycle happening in digital (Forrester) and impacting B2B verticals in very different ways. The uncertainty caused 50% of buyers to hold off on purchases (Harvard Business Review) but with Tech and Telecom least affected (eMarketer) that also meant an opportunity, especially for those B2B marketers that understand the new normal of go-to-market strategies is here to stay (McKinsey). So, with all that's changed in 2020 due to the pandemic as well as political, economic, and social uncertainty, what are the major trends B2B marketers need to be aware of for success in 2021? Here are 20+ that stand out:

Brand Trust

With an "epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust of societal institutions", 70% of respondents to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer study said brand trust is more important today than it was in the past. Part of the problem is that globally, CEO credibility is at an all-time low and changing expectations create an opportunity to create that trust. 86% from the Edelman study think CEOs should speak out publicly about societal challenges and some are doing that. For example, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared an email he sent to Microsoft employees expressing gratitude and the steps Microsoft is taking to support customers and the community as a long form blog post on LinkedIn. We saw an increase in the number of CEOs communicating in this way and the continuation of that trend in 2021 will help regain both CEO and brand credibility. Building trust in B2B brands goes beyond CEOs of course and marketers would do well to take inventory of what current perceptions are of the brand and ensure marketing strategies and customer engagement are aligned around creating promises and experiences that strengthen credibility.

Digital First

One major impact of 2020 for B2B marketers was a shift to a digital-centric approach when it comes to marketing and sales. Because of the pandemic, the virtual loss of field marketing, outside sales and in-person events created a massive shift to virtual events and online information discovery, consumption and engagement for buyers. B2B marketers had to make significant changes from legacy tactics to digital. As a result, there's been a big wake-up call to move B2B marketing to digital formats and according to research by Singular, 76% of marketing leaders say that digital transformation in marketing technology is their most critical focus for 2021 (Forbes).

Experience

According to Gartner’s Buyer Enablement Survey, more than 3 out of 4 people said the latest B2B purchase journey was very complicated. The challenges brought by 2020 have created even more complexities for marketers and buyers alike and that spells an opportunity to double down on optimizing experiences. Customer Experience is a priority, but so is employee experience and any experience created through the content and media published by a brand. It's no longer enough to simply inform audiences with information. In 2021 B2B brands will focus on authenticity in their communications and make substantial efforts to better empathize with buyers, be "more human" and add emotion to their marketing strategy. “2021 will call on brands to authentically infuse empathy and emotion into their brand strategy, and I cannot think of a more appropriate time to build those emotional connections with customers and cultivate relationships,”  Jennifer Chase, SVP and Head of Marketing at SAS (Forbes). As the majority of B2B buyers have shifted to digital channels, B2B marketers must understand the expectations that drive information discovery, consumption and engagement experiences and then optimize accordingly.

Pandemic Pivot

The challenges of 2020 forced B2B marketers to re-evaluate everything from their core offering to their approach to marketing. 94% of respondents to the Content Marketing Institute B2B Content Marketing Trends Report said that they had to adapt their content marketing strategy because of the pandemic. These pivots during the pandemic have driven some important changes in business and marketing strategies. Many of those changes will persist as most CMOs feel that their go-to-market models in reaction to 2020 will continue for the next 12 months or more. (McKinsey) Areas of greater focus include:

• More emphasis on marketing ROI - With slimmer marketing budgets, marketers have become more accountable to the business impact of their efforts. Greater ROI focus has impacted everything from strategies to tactics to measurement to technology and processes.
• Retention marketing - According to Harvard Business Review, a 5% increase in customer retention can deliver up to 95% increase in profits. With 2020 budgets on hold and uncertainty about when they will open up in the new year, keeping current customers is more important than ever and that trend will continue in 2021.
• Virtual events - Effective virtual events offer both livestreamed content on a schedule as well as on-demand video and online networking. At the same time, webinars and virtual events spiked in 2020, but people are looking for more. Zoom fatigue has set in and Lori Wizdo from Forrester thinks that physical events will rebound but with a new digital dimension. This will create some new opportunities in 2021 for hybrid event models for customer engagement.
• Social purpose/cause marketing - According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, in 2020 65% of consumers said they are looking for brands that reflect their values. 43% said they’ll switch loyalties if companies don’t align with their beliefs. And 63% of Americans believe that brands that issue a statement in support of racial equity need to follow up with concrete action. Consumer expectations extend to B2B brands and there's plenty of research supporting the importance of Millenial and GenZ preferences for what a brand stands for. The events of 2020 have made brand positioning on social causes even more important in 2021.

B2B Marketing Tactics

• Influencer Marketing - The influencer marketing industry was worth $8 billion in 2019, and it is estimated to grow to $15 billion over the next two years. Our research into B2B influencer marketing has revealed that collaborating on content with industry experts helps improve customer engagement and marketing effectiveness in three key areas: 1. Trust: 77% of B2B marketers say they believe that prospective customers rely on advice from industry experts. 2. Experience: 77% agree that influencer marketing improves customer and prospect experience with the brand. 3. Performance: 63% say their marketing would have better results if it included a B2B influencer marketing program.
• Content Marketing - 83% of marketers surveyed for a report by the Content Marketing Institute said publishing content that provides value to their customers contributed significantly to the success of their content marketing efforts.
• SEO - Search engines (56%) are more trusted than traditional media (53%), owned (41%) or social media (35%). Edelman Trust Barometer.
• Video - 70% of the B2B buyers watch product videos as a part of their research. Cisco estimates that by 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic. Research from Google has indicated that 70% of B2B buyers and researchers are watching videos throughout the buying journey.
• Podcasts & voice - Voice engagement is on the rise from accessing information on mobile devices and smart speakers to formats for information consumption like podcasts and the new audio-only social network, Clubhouse. Audio and voice will continue to be a trend for information discovery, consumption and engagement in 2021.
• Episodic Content - One of the content trends we've found to be gaining momentum within our own content marketing practice is "shows" and packaging episodic content as seasons. There are longstanding episodic B2B content examples like Moz's Whiteboard Friday. We walk the talk at TopRank with episodic content through the Break Free B2B Marketing series and the Inside B2B Influence show.
• Personalization - The loss of cookies and the move to first party data creates new opportunities for personalization in B2B marketing. Buyers do expect more meaningful, useful content experiences and personalization will only grow in importance to deliver on those expectations.
• Interactive Tools and Content - According to Demand Gen Report research, interactive content is 23% more effective at educating buyers than static content. A good example is this Salesforce ROI calculator and in 2021, delivering engaging content experiences and driving greater marketing performance means more of this kind of tool.
• Learning Hubs for Leads - While not exactly new, the attraction to cross-train and advance skills is greater than ever. To meet that need, B2B brands are increasingly investing in learning hubs where audiences can exchange their contact information for access to rich educational resources. Examples include HubSpot Academy, SEMRush and many more.
• Email and Marketing Automation - Email's one to one connection continues to be important. 84% of respondents to a SmartInsights study have implemented email as a marketing tactic. What different in 2021 is a greater focus on storytelling, personalization and more informal content vs. explicit sales offers.
• ABM - A great example of a B2B marketing trend that has been on many lists over the past few years is ABM. There are very vocal advocates for ABM but it still has not as much momentum as other disciplines when it comes to active implementation. However, past research from SmartInsights reveals ABM is a top priority for B2B marketers (46%) compared to video (41%), influencer marketing (38%) and AI (38%).
• Agile Marketing - Continuous improvement in marketing is as important as ever, especially after a year like 2020. According to CMI, 94% of B2B marketers said they had to change their content marketing during the pandemic. 80% of those that adopted a more agile content marketing strategy felt it was effective (Forbes/CMG Partners). And according to research from Merkle, 85% of marketers plan to increase agile usage in the next two years.

LinkedIn

It's been reported in the past in a study by Oktopost that 80% of B2B leads are generated from LinkedIn. It's hard to argue that any other social network is more important than LinkedIn for B2B marketers. LinkedIn provides an incredible opportunity for everything from building brand thought leadership to specific prospect targeting through organic content and networking as well as their evolving advertising and sales solutions. In 2021 will continue to be the leading community for B2B marketing opportunities. (LinkedIn is a client of TopRank Marketing)

AI and Chatbots

Research from Salesforce found that 80% of business buyers expect real-time responses from brands they interact with and the digital first approach most B2B marketers are taking in 2021 means AI technologies like chatbots and virtual assistants will become a part of the mix. As far as AI and machine learning overall, the expectations of modern buyers requires processing huge amounts of data to deliver personalized experiences across platforms and channels. To do that, two-thirds of B2B marketers are currently planning, evaluating, or implementing AI for marketing or sales initiatives. Nearly 10 years ago I published a book called Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing. One of the key concepts from the book was the model we use to stay current with what customer preferences are for the information they need during their journey. Understanding buyer preferences for information discovery, consumption and engagement will reveal all the trends you need to know in order to deliver relevant and actionable marketing that best serves the customers that will grow your business. While it's tempting to chase shiny objects with trends posts, as I reviewed the major trends for 2021, I found that the discovery, consumption and engagement model to be just as true and useful today as it was 10 years ago. 2020 caused business customers to change their behaviors in significant ways and those B2B marketers that stay tuned in to information preferences will know what strategies, tactics and technologies they need to focus on.

The post Top B2B Marketing Trends for 2021 appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

B2B Marketing News: Top B2B Content Barriers Study, Google Adds New My Business Data, Top Posting Times Report, & Tech Spending On The Rise

The Top Barriers to Creating Great B2B Content [Study] Workload, resources, interference and changing priorities rank as the leading obstacles faced by B2B content marketers, according to recently-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. MarketingProfs Google My Business launches new performance reporting Google has added new performance reporting features to its Google My Business service, which now includes search term data from Google Search and Maps, among other new reporting information available. Search Engine Land The Best Times to Post Your Social Media Updates in 2021 [Infographic] One LinkedIn post a day published on Tuesday through Thursday between 7 to 10 a.m. or 5 to 6 p.m. are the top posting days and times on the platform, according to newly-released report data, which also covers other social media platform top posting times. Social Media Today Pandemic Accelerated Consumer Media Tech In 2020, Makes For Tough Comps In Next Few Years U.S. consumer technology industry sales grew by 17 percent during the pandemic year of 2020 — its strongest performance of the past seven years — a growth rate that isn't expected to continue during 2021 or 2022, according to recently-released forecast data. MediaPost What Kinds of Online Ads Do Early Tech Adopters Say Catch Their Attention? 47 percent of early technology adopters prefer social network side banner ads and brand promotional content, while 37 percent prefer online video ads and some 34 percent favor traditional website banner ads, according to recently-released survey data of interest to online marketers. MarketingCharts Advertiser Perceptions: Google Looms Large Over The ID Resolution Market, But Indies Are Also Making A Splash 29 percent of advertisers and agencies use Google as their top identity resolution solution, ahead of second place LiveRamp and Salesforce, according to new data from the Advertiser Perceptions ID resolution marketplace report. AdExchanger Pinterest A Safe Haven For Brands As They Reportedly Cut Budgets Amidst Turmoil The role of the primarily-positive social media platform Pinterest has undergone change during recent tumultuous times — changes that certain brands are benefiting from, as Pinterest announced fourth quarter usage gains. MediaPost 2021 Instagram Stories Benchmark Report Brands are utilizing Instagram Stories more than ever, according to new RivalIQ report data of interest to digital marketers, detailing how retention rates are relatively flat and reach rates have fallen. RivalIQ Consumers Want Warm And Cuddly Ads, Study Finds Inspiration, joy, love and hope represent the top emotions that consumers are seeking in advertising, while 73 percent said that they wanted brands to feature greater diversity in campaigns during 2021, according to recently-released survey data examined by MediaPost. MediaPost Here’s What Women Want to See from Brands in Advancing Gender Equality More female leadership, stronger support, and more accurate portrayal in advertising are among the initiatives most wanted among brands seeking to advance the stature and representation of women, recently-released survey data shows. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “marketing beyond cookies” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist How Old-School Text Adventures Inspired Our Virtual Spaces — Wired TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Nick Nelson — 10 Important Lessons Small Businesses Can Learn from 2020 — Small Business Trends
• TopRank Marketing — B2B Influencer Marketing: Vorteile richtig nutzen [In German.] — Contentpepper

Have you found your own top B2B marketing story from the past week of industry news? Please let us know in the comments below. Thank you for joining us for this edition of the TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope that you'll return again next Friday for more of the most relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

The post B2B Marketing News: Top B2B Content Barriers Study, Google Adds New My Business Data, Top Posting Times Report, & Tech Spending On The Rise appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Break Free B2B Marketing: Oliver Christie on Making Life Better With AI

Just what is a B2B influencer, and what do they actually look like? In our third season of Break Free B2B Marketing video interviews we're having in-depth conversations with an impressive array of top B2B influencers, exploring the important issues that each expert is influential about. Successful B2B influencers have a rare mix of the 5 Ps — proficiency, personality, publishing, promotion, and popularity — as our CEO Lee Odden has carefully outlined in "5 Key Traits of the Best B2B Influencers." Offering up all of those boxes and more is Oliver Christie, chief artificial intelligence (AI) officer at PertexaHealthTech, who we're delighted to be profiling today. Nothing helps individuals and the businesses they work for break free from the norm quite like a tech disruption. The microprocessor. The internet. Mobile data. E-Commerce. When these technologies came onto the scene, everything changed… but what’s next? According to Oliver Christie, it’s AI. In his own words: "Artificial Intelligence is the biggest technology disruption of our generation." As far as he’s concerned, A.I. isn’t just the future, it’s the present. In today’s new episode of the Break Free B2B Marketing Interview series, Christie speaks about the role of artificial intelligence in our lives, including topics like A.I. and morality, bias in A.I., and the direction of A.I.’s future. Artificial intelligence isn't science fiction. It's very much a science reality, and Oliver Christie is one of the leading experts talking and consulting on the topic. In today's 31 minute interview with TopRank’s own Josh Nite, he'll be passing some of that expertise along.

Break Free B2B Interview with Oliver Christie

If you’re interested in checking out a particular portion of the discussion, you can find a quick general outline below, as well as a few excerpts that stood out to us.

• :55 - Introduction to Oliver Christie
• 3:05 - Human-centric artificial intelligence
• 4:14 - Personalization and how to avoid the "diabolical side"
• 5:46 - The ways Oliver believes AI will impact the life of the everyday person in the next couple years
• 7:10 - Personalization on Amazon
• 11:13 - How AI will be reshaping business
• 13:46 - What's your new question?"
• 16:50 - How the pandemic is changing the way technology is being developed
• 19:10 - Bias in AI
• 22:46 - How Oliver Christie found his niche as a thought leader
• 27:58 - The importance of being yourself

Josh: I'm really interested in what we were talking about before we started. The idea of human-centric AI. AI can feel like this distant or cold thing or something that is, you know, it's powering my Netflix algorithm. But I don't know how it relates to my day to day. How is it a human-centric thing? We're thinking about people and individuals. Oliver: Something we're moving more and more towards is thinking about people as individuals and what matters to us. How we talk. How do we act? What are our interests? You mentioned Netflix. The algorithm which says what you should watch next. If that's successful, you watch more. If it has an understanding of what you might like, you can see more media if you get it. If it gets it wrong, if it doesn't know who you are, it is a turnoff and you never see the difference between that and other media services. I think that the next big leap is going to be our products and services are going to be much more reactive to who we are. How will we live? And so on. But there are some big challenges. So it's not a quick and easy thing to do. But I think the future is pretty exciting. [bctt tweet="“I think that the next big leap is going to be our products and services are going to be much more reactive to who we are.” @OliverChristie #BreakFreeB2B #ArtificialIntelligence #AI" username="toprank"] Josh: Have you ever been on Amazon while not logged in? It's such a striking thing to open an incognito window or something and you see how much personalization goes into that page and how just clueless it seems when it's not on there. Oliver: Amazon’s an interesting one. It's algorithm is better than nothing. And it works to a degree. Some of the time, if you match a pattern — so the music you listen to, the books you buy — f someone is quite close to that, it works. As soon as you deviate, it pulls down or as soon as you're looking for something original, it also doesn't work. So I think Amazon is a good example of where we are at the moment, but not where we could be next. Amazon doesn't once ask, what are you trying to achieve in your shopping? What are you trying to do next? And I think that's going to be one of the big shifts that will happen. Josh: What are we trying to achieve with that shopping, though? Besides, for me, it's filling the void of not being able to go out to a concert and having a party, having something to look forward to with deliveries coming in. What kind of intent are you thinking about? Oliver: Imagine you had the same shopping experience and let's say it's for books, videos, or courses. And the simple question can be, what would you like to achieve in your career in the next six months? Where would you like to be or what's happening in your personal life? Want some advice and information which could be really useful? I think this sort of tailoring is where things are heading. So it's still selling books and courses and videos and so on. But it's understandably the intent behind content. What could this do to your career? What could this do for your family life, your love life, whatever it might be? Now, of course, we're all locked down at the moment. So it's a very different sort of situation. But I think some of the same things still apply. There's going to be a back and forth. So how much do you want to give up about your personal life? Better recommendation. And I think it's kind of early in some respects. But the data they passed shows, yes, if you get something positive out of it, you'll have to give up some of that previously. [bctt tweet="“Amazon is a good example of where we are at the moment, but not where we could be next. Amazon doesn't once ask, what are you trying to achieve in your shopping? What are you trying to do next?.” @OliverChristie #BreakFreeB2B" username="toprank"] Keep your eye on the TopRank Marketing Blog and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Break Free B2B interviews. Also check out episodes from season 1 and season 2. Take your B2B marketing to new heights by checking out out previous season 3 episodes of Break Free B2B Marketing:

• Episode 1: Kevin L. Jackson, GC GlobalNet — The Future of Cloud Computing
• Episode 2: Tim Crawford, AVOA — The New Normal

The post Break Free B2B Marketing: Oliver Christie on Making Life Better With AI appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

5 Unconventional Sources of Customer Feedback for B2B Marketers

Are you wondering whether you’re missing valuable customer feedback because you're just not looking in the right places? Our digital landscape today offers a wide array of well-used standard methods for B2B marketers to collect customer feedback, with just a few including:

• Monitoring Social Media Activity
• Customer Experience Surveys
• Feedback Forms
• Website Data Analysis
• Customer Reviews & Other User Generated Content
• Direct Interviews
• Testimonials
• Usability Test Data
• Sales & Customer Service Team Data

There are many other traditional ways as well, and each method excels in its own specific way, holding the promise of providing insightful information about customers or prospective customers. There is also an entirely different realm of customer feedback opportunities, however — an area filled with less-explored avenues that offer a great deal of audience insight to B2B marketers willing to venture off the beaten feedback path. B2B marketers can optimize their 2021 marketing efforts by using any or all of the five powerful unconventional sources of finding customer feedback that we’ll explore. Let’s jump right in with five unconventional sources of valuable customer feedback.

1 — Google Question Hub & Other Tools

Getting to the heart of the questions most important to your customers and potential audience is a helpful path to learning more about your customers and gaining the information necessary to provide best-answer solutions. We’ve looked at numerous tools for finding the questions customers are asking, such as those I explored in “10 Smart Question Research Tools for B2B Marketers,” and now Google has expanded on its Google Search Console offering with the recent U.S. rollout of its Question Hub, a new service for finding unanswered search question data. Google Question Hub, previously only available in three non-U.S. nations, focuses on the unanswered questions searchers are seeking to answer — data that can then be used to create content that fills these informational gaps — a potential goldmine for B2B marketers looking to differentiate their business with best answer content. Google Question Hub uses topic categories to organize unanswered questions searchers have submitted, and allows those using the tool to add their own answers, in the form of articles or videos on sites verified in Google Search Console, or via YouTube video. Question Hub lets users of the utility see how well the answers they’ve submitted have performed, and although the search giant notes that providing answers in Question Hub doesn’t affect search rankings for connected sites, forthcoming updates could eventually consider this sort of content among new search ranking signals should Google choose to do so. As a new free tool, B2B marketers looking to both learn more about customers and the questions they’re asking, and to provide answers through Google Question Hub may find it worthwhile to explore this new Google functionality.

2 — Asking In Unexpected Places

Sometimes asking for customer feedback in unexpected places — and during unexpected times — can catch a customer at just the right spot to provide extremely frank insight. As I explored in “5 Stars: 20+ Tips to Invigorate Your B2B Marketing Using Testimonials & Reviews,” Airbnb saw success by making video reviews a simple and optional part of customer feedback surveys. Offering brands the best of both traditional text-based input and — for those who choose — the advantages of video reviews, Airbnb’s system allowed users to easily leave video by turning on their phone or computer’s camera to leave a video response. This video review format leads some customers — especially those who like the option to leave audio or video feedback — to share lengthier and more precise feedback, which in turn can give businesses greater insight into customers. The richly emotional opportunities afforded through direct video feedback can help B2B firms lend a more empathetic ear, and can lead to the creation of content that addresses any concerns brought up in customer video feedback. “If they say yes, then we’ve incorporated a video widget into the survey where they can just turn the camera on on their phone or computer and leave a response,” Airbnb customer insights manager Raj Sivasubramanian has said. “The customers that chose that option really embraced it. And we actually had a lot of customers tell us in the video, ‘This is really cool. I love the fact that I can do this,’” Sivasubramanian added. The technology to gather video or audio feedback — whether via survey forms or other feedback systems — has never been easier to implement, and in 2021 savvy B2B marketers looking to up their customer feedback strategy would be wise to consider such possibilities. A key element to this approach is offering the ability to leave video or audio feedback at a point in the customer journey where it isn’t necessarily expected. This isn’t to say that feedback options shouldn’t also exist in the traditional places on company websites or social platforms, however the power of surprising a customer with the ability to share their thoughts verbally and visually — without having to type in feedback — may be underestimated among B2B organizations.

3 — Niche & Up-and-Coming Social Platforms

Where do you go in the online universe when you want to find honest thoughts from real people about topics that are new to you, whether they revolve around a local business or a global enterprise? More people than ever have started including the search term “Reddit” in their search queries, to see what word on the digital street is regarding almost any particular subject, which may be why the social news aggregator and discussion platform is courting the half billion average monthly active user mark, and why its generated more than 30 billion monthly views of user-generated content. Whether it’s gathering customer feedback in the form of ask-me-anything (AMA) events or keeping tabs on how your audiences are venting about possible frustrations relating to your brand, Reddit offers a slew of insight for B2B marketers willing to explore, as I dug into recently in “8 Things B2B Marketers Need To Know About Reddit in 2021.” With its sizable growth in past years Reddit can hardly be considered either an up-and-coming social platform or a niche-only network any longer, but others in the social landscape are still in that wild west stage of finding a specialty, and B2B marketers can benefit by taking a look at these communities, such as Clubhouse, Slack Communities, and others.

4 — Social Polls

Polls offer a special two-for-one value for B2B marketers, providing quality customer and prospect feedback while also offering brands a powerful interactive social media content marketing element. Brands that take the time to listen to what customers are saying through their answers to poll questions gain an inside glimpse into where marketing efforts may be put to the most effective use, and are also a helpful way to increase brand awareness. While social media polls are by nature more limited in the number of responses that can be offered, brands can draw people in beyond simply selecting an existing poll choice by using the final poll choice to encourage responses in comments. Brands can also gather social media poll data to get feedback on existing products and services, to learn customer pain points, to test interest in new product offerings, and to gauge reactions to new industry trends. To learn more about social media polls check out my LinkedIn*-specific guide, “Social Media Polls For Marketers: 6 B2B Brands Winning With LinkedIn Polls,” helpful tactics for a variety of social platform polls in our content marketing manager Nick Nelson’s “The Power of Social Media Polls: The Drill-Down on 3 Platforms + 5 General Best Practices,” and take a look at what poll data can tell B2B marketers in my “Show Me The Numbers: 20 B2B Marketing Insights From Audience Poll Data.”

5 — New Forms of Audience Usage Information

Websites today can collect more data than ever, yet filtering out the noise to harness the truly relevant gems of helpful customer feedback information may also be at an all-time level of difficulty. Whether in the form of real-time human support chat logs, chatbot interaction data, or website usage information, pulling out the good stuff has been an ongoing challenge faced by B2B firms. Luckily, to combat the record volumes of data, an impressive array of powerful data extraction tools have been developed, some focused primarily on gathering customer feedback. There are some online spots holding potentially valuable customer feedback that may often get overlooked, especially some of the chat functions in applications used alongside virtual events. Just a few in these categories, where you may find customer feedback, include:

• Zoom Chat Logs
• Slack Channels
• Skype Chat Logs
• Google Hangouts Chats
• Microsoft Teams Chats
• Custom Event Chat Application Logs

Smart B2B Marketers Stand Out With Better Customer Feedback

via GIPHY In the increasingly complex business environment of 2021, B2B brands need more than ever to clearly differentiate themselves from the competition. Thankfully, finding and using customer feedback in places your competitors may not be monitoring can prove to be a strong technique to help your business stand out. We hope the unorthodox forms of finding customer feedback we’ve looked at here, from Google Question Hub to Clubhouse and more will help with your B2B marketing efforts in 2021. Getting closer to customers takes many forms besides feedback, and to learn more check out “How B2B Marketers Can Get Closer to Their Customers,” by our senior content marketing manager Joshua Nite.

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