The post 8 Tips for B2B Marketers with ADHD to Elevate the Writing Process appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Monday, June 13, 2022
Four Ways B2B Influencer Content Builds Better Marketing Reach & ROI
Nearly every marketer is familiar with B2C influencer marketing, such as it is. Celebrities promoting iPhones, various alcohols and even “probiotic” yogurt. You like the celebrity, so you’re supposed to like the product. But does associating a brand or product with a popular individual really work for B2B marketing? …really? Well, in a sense, yes, as TopRank Marketing has been proving for quite awhile now with companies like LinkedIn, Dell, SAP, and many more. B2B influencer marketing represents a huge opportunity for companies of all sizes to expand their reach and generate better ROI from their content. However, activating influencers to advance B2B marketing and business goals doesn’t work exactly the same as with B2C. Instead, effective B2B marketing that includes working with influencers is all about connecting your brand with subject matter experts who have built a devoted following by really knowing their stuff. B2B influence is less about popularity and more about relevance - but both are still important. Working with industry experts raises a B2B brand's profile and makes the most of an online presence in multiple ways. Here are a few of the ways B2B brands are benefitting from B2B influencer marketing and how you can too:
Finding and sharing highly-qualified audiences
All influencers bring followers with them - that’s a big part of why they’re valuable in the first place. It’s also why B2B influencers can be particularly valuable, especially if you team up with the right one for your business. B2B influencer followers can represent highly-qualified and, often, highly-motivated prospective customers. These potential buyers follow the influencer because they have an active, ongoing interest in the subject matter that the influencer covers. They want to stay up to date and involved in the conversation. By co-creating content with the right influencer, you can make your organization a part of the ongoing industry conversation their followers are so interested in. Not only will you reach new audience segments who may not have known about you before, but those audience members will be perfectly suited to understanding the unique value proposition of your organization relative to your industry. And you’ll have impressed them by demonstrating you’re in the know, just like they are. Which brings us to another huge benefit to B2B influencer content:Demonstrating social proof
The proliferation of information broadly available on the internet has changed the way B2B marketing works forever. Simply put: about 75% of B2B deals are made… before the company’s sales team ever gets involved. How is that possible? Because of content. These days, B2B buyers devote a lot of time to researching a company before you even reach out. They’re scrutinizing every element of your website, buyer reviews, and LinkedIn profiles. They’re reading your case studies, researching your former clients and competition, and looking up your employees. All this before they even respond to your email one way or another! And, while some particularly meticulous researchers may be loath to admit it, a great deal of this research is socially-based. To borrow the old adage, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” B2B buyers want social proof that you are who you say you are - and they want to get it from someone other than your own marketers or salespeople. Influencers are one of the best ways to give that proof to them. When an influencer works with you, they’re staking their reputation on you. Working with a highly-respected and renowned influencer shows that, at least according to them, you’re the real deal. And if your buyers follow and respect the influencer, that means they’ll respect you, too.Becoming newsworthy
Nothing stays still for long in the B2B world. Everyone’s making moves - acquiring other businesses, developing new products and services, coming up with new innovations - and everyone’s always looking for what’s next. To take advantage of this dynamic environment, it's essential that your marketing taps into what’s next. B2B Influencers do this almost inherently. After all, they didn’t pick up their following by repeating the same old spiel over and over again. They’re tuned into what’s happening in the areas of their interest and constantly finding a way to stay at the forefront of it, offering interesting insights and takes on the latest goings ons. Their audience follows them because they’re hungry for the insider scoop on whatever’s about to happen. If your B2B brand can provide that scoop with the help of one of the influencers your industry knows and respects, you won’t just have a highly-relevant and effective piece of content on your hands; you’ll be more relevant than the competition. No matter what industry you’re in, make no mistake: connecting with today's buyers is about moving fast, and there’s always news to be found. With the help of the right influencer, you can be that news.Fostering lasting relationships
Achieving marketing ROI takes place on a longer timeline in B2B than when selling consumer products. In most cases, B2B buyers aren’t one-time-only… at least, hopefully. Instead, they’re long-term clients you may enjoy a working relationship with for years. You want these clients to look to you as a trusted service provider and subject matter expert. Influencer content can help facilitate those long term customer relationships. By partnering with the movers-and-shakers of your industry to cover the hot topics of today, you’re not just extending your reach or enticing highly-qualified new prospects. You’re also showing existing (and former) clients that you’re relevant and leading the competition. Each new piece of influencer content can put your B2B brand back at the forefront of your industry’s combination. The long term, ongoing content collaboration relationships B2B brands develop with relevant and popular influencers can in turn, help create long term relationships with customers. New and old clients alike often see influencer content as proof that you’re still looking out for them. You’re still hungry, still engaged, and still actively working on finding new innovations and delivering better client experiences. At TopRank Marketing we've seen this situation happen time and time again: a B2B brand loses a customer. Months pass, or maybe years. But the lost customer still follows the B2B brand on LinkedIn while the brand's sales team considers the opportunity dead in the water. Then, the B2B brand collaborates with an industry influencer to publish new content: a video, an interview, a podcast. Someone from the lost customer company reacts to the influencer content and InMails their former contact at the B2B brand. The relationship rekindles, and the B2B brand is back in. This is the magic of Always-On influencer marketing.
If you are interested in more in-depth insights, case studies, best practices and predictions for the future of B2B influencer marketing, sign up for early access to the 2022 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report. Or if you want to put our 10 years of B2B influencer marketing experience to work for your B2B brand, let's talk.
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Friday, June 10, 2022
B2B Marketing News: 28th CMO Survey, Growing B2B Creative Confidence, Google Core Update Completed, New Linked Platform
The CMO Survey: The latest results. The 28th edition of The CMO Survey examines the issues top of mind for marketers including the latest focus for marketing activities, spending, jobs, and performance. Deloitte Majority of B2B leaders globally say “creative confidence” is growing: LinkedIn research from B2B Institute. 81% of senior B2B marketers believe B2B brands are increasingly producing creative campaigns that rival consumer brands. What's New in Publishing Google is combining Meet and Duo into a single app for voice and video calls. The new unified calling app offering rolls Duo’s functionality into Google Meet - The Verge Chasing TikTok, Meta rolls out new Reels features and expands Instagram Reels to 90 seconds. A new Sound Sync feature will be available on Facebook Reels along with support for longer Instagram Reels of up to 90 seconds, instead of 60 seconds, previously TechCrunch 
The B2B Marketing-Sales Divide: More Leads vs. Better Leads. B2B marketers say their biggest marketing concern is how to generate more leads, whereas B2B salespeople say their biggest marketing concern is how to improve lead quality, according to recent research from SharpSpring and Ascend2. MarketingProfs Digital revenues skyrocket for B2B businesses - B2B firms saw their revenue from digital channels skyrocket in the past two years. These companies say 40% of their revenue now comes from digital channels compared to 28% two years ago, according to Salesforce’s State of Commerce report. MarTech 2022 Demand Generation Benchmark Survey: Marketers Prioritizing Quality Over Quantity; Increasing Aggression Around Growth Initiatives. Demand Get Report
LinkedIn Launches New ‘Business Manager’ Platform and a New B2B-Aligned Marketing Consultancy. B2B Edge will provide dedicated marketing and brand building advice based on academic research and first-party data. Social Media Today Google May 2022 core update is finished rolling out - This update took 15 days to roll out and is now done, you should now dig in and see how your site was impacted and what actions to take next. Search Engine Land Fortune 500 Marketers Say Shift Against Cookies to Lead to Increased Spend on Social, Search. Organic search and social media marketing are the most commonly used channels by Fortune 500 marketers, according to a study [pdf] from the Loyalty Research Center. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:"In B2B, people don't buy for pleasure. They buy to alleviate pain. Alleviating pain brings them pleasure." Tamara McLeary, CEO at Thulium
the innovation funnel - "If we’re not careful, the innovation funnel leads to survival of the safest ideas."— Marketoonist TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
- Lee Odden — The Unsung Hero: 5 Underrated Benefits of B2B Content Marketing - LinkedIn Marketing Blog
The post B2B Marketing News: 28th CMO Survey, Growing B2B Creative Confidence, Google Core Update Completed, New Linked Platform appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Creative Tips For Better Virtual Brainstorming in B2B Marketing
For the most part, we’ve all adapted to remote work pretty well. As we got used to working separately, we tended to find ways to transition, transform, or replace most of our old work routines to make sure everything keeps getting done. But most — as every remote work naysayer is quick to point out — is not all. If there’s one big element of the in-person work process still missing from your new reality, it’s the big, impromptu “throw-it-all-at-the-wall” brainstorming session. Sessions like those probably led to some of your team’s biggest and brightest ideas… and they’re also the kind of thing you may think simply can’t happen remotely. Well, as you’ve probably surmised from the title of this blog post, that’s what we’re here to prove wrong. The truth is, not only can you still conduct the kind of brainstorming sessions you threw together in person remotely, but there’s evidence they could be even more effective. That is, if you do it right. Here’s why remote brainstorming is still well worth making the time for, along with how (and how NOT) to do it right:
1 — Remote brainstorming helps prevent “The Dominators”
You know the ones we’re talking about. They’re the kids in class whose hands always shot up first when the teacher asked a question… but all grown up. During traditional, in-person brainstorming sessions, you’ve probably noticed that a few people tend to dominate the conversation. They present their idea, and then before you know it, the rest of the session is spent discussing this idea… rather than necessarily hearing anyone else’s. This is not just a function of a couple of outspoken people on your team. In fact, it happens in almost all in-person brainstorming thanks to a phenomenon called production blocking. The more extroverted, forward members (our “Dominators”) tend to lead, and everyone else follows. The larger the group the worse this issue tends to get, which makes it a particular problem for in-person office brainstorming. This is one area where virtual brainstorming actually has a serious advantage over in-person. Production blocking doesn’t happen nearly as frequently in virtual meetings. In fact, there’s even a positive relationship between group size and performance that continues to scale, even to large sizes. Taking it further: Use muting etiquette and the “raised hand” feature provided by most teleconferencing applications to further moderate and democratize the brainstorming process, ensuring everyone can speak in turn and whenever they have something to add. Avoid: Designating “leaders” of the brainstorming session or devoting the entirety of a session to discussing the particularities of a single idea. Instead, find ways to encourage everyone to speak up, such as assigning each individual or small groups particular topics to focus on. [bctt tweet="“Find ways to encourage everyone to speak up, such as assigning each individual or small groups particular topics to focus on.” — Harry Mackin @Shiitakeharry" username="toprank"]2 — It helps everybody else speak up
Virtual brainstorming doesn’t just help dampen the blocking effect of the dominators, either; it also actually helps everybody else speak up, too. According to the research, virtual brainstorming helps impart a sense of anonymity in participants — even if they can see each other. As the Harvard Business Review notes, when brainstorming participants feel more anonymous, they suffer from less “evaluation apprehension,” which is the anxiety that they or their ideas will be judged because of who they are rather than for their idea (we are all, no doubt, aware of this phenomenon). The less evaluation apprehension your participants feel, the more likely they are to speak up when they have an idea, even if they might not in an in-person brainstorming environment. Taking it further: During brainstorming, encourage all of your participants to turn off their webcams. This will increase the feeling of anonymity and give participants a chance to voice ideas without feeling like they’re caught in the spotlight. Avoid: Disengagement by a few or even most of the participants. Try to keep brainstorming sessions relatively short, and focus on a particular objective. Then, encourage everyone to speak up and facilitate back-and-forth conversation whenever possible.3 — It creates a wider variety of ideas
You’ve probably already derived this benefit out of the first two, but it’s worth focusing on anyway. When you: A: Get more people talking and sharing new ideas equally B: Encourage people who may not normally speak up to join the conversation You end up with a much greater variety of ideas. Even more importantly, the ideas your team puts together will be fresher and, in all likelihood, quite a bit different from the type of ideas you would find yourself normally generating in person. This happens precisely because they are coming from people who often go unheard. Taking it further: Studies have shown that individual brainstorming often encourages participants to offer a wider variety of ideas when those ideas are shared with a group. Virtual brainstorming provides a natural way to facilitate this. Schedule breaks into your virtual brainstorming sessions for having each member individually focus on a topic that comes up during the session. Have them write out their own notes on that topic for a pre-set period of time, and then when you come back together, have everyone share their thoughts. You could also break the brainstorming session into a few small groups of people during these pre-set breaks. These people could collaborate on their note-writing, and then present their ideas together when they return to the main session. We do this kind of collaborative brainstorming at TopRank Marketing all the time, and it always proves more heads are better than one. Avoid: Letting your brainstorming sessions become a series of presentations. It may sound counterintuitive, but you should avoid getting your participants too much “homework” to bring into the brainstorming session. You want the ideas to be generated during the session itself, not prepared beforehand and then recited to a tuned-out audience. It’s OK to let the participants know what you want to brainstorm about beforehand, of course, but try to encourage positive collaboration instead of over-preparation. TopRank Marketing’s team have been working remotely for quite a while now, but we’ve never stopped believing in the power of brainstorming — and our virtual brainstorming sessions have really paid off. If your team has been hitting a wall or feeling uninspired lately, try virtual brainstorming. You might be surprised what you think up. And, of course, if you’d ever like to brainstorm about how you can make your B2B marketing more relevant, authentic, and impactful than ever, we’d be thrilled to join you. Get in touch with the team at TopRank today to brainstorm about how we can help take your brand to the next level.The post Creative Tips For Better Virtual Brainstorming in B2B Marketing appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
Monday, June 6, 2022
Friday, June 3, 2022
B2B Marketing News: Collaboration’s Rising Importance In Marketing, LinkedIn’s New Remote Work Data, & TikTok Expands Social Publishing Tools
LinkedIn Shares New Insights into the Rise of Remote Job Postings [Infographic] Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has released new remote job posting data showing that the technology, information, and media industry tops the list of sectors with the largest share of remote jobs, emcompassing a 41.2 percent share of all remote jobs, according to recently-released workforce report findings. Social Media Today Report: Diverse Ads Can Contribute More To Market Share Growth For Brands Advertisements that featured a diverse array of people combined with memorable storytelling elements performed better than the average ad in the U.S., and helped brands achieve stronger bottom line results — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released diversity in advertising survey data. MediaPost [bctt tweet="“Life’s so much richer when we welcome diversity and build strong, inclusive communities where we all can connect and belong — and are free to be you and me.” — Anne Chow @TheAnneChow" username="toprank"] Twitter Adds New Option to Pin Tweets Within Communities Twitter has rolled out a new option that will allow marketers using the Twitter Community feature to pin a tweet to a community's timeline — a change aimed at bringing more enduring engagement opportunities on the platform, Twitter recently announced. Social Media Today Facebook is set to lose users in US for the first time By 2023 fewer than 15 percent of Meta-owner Facebook's users will be among the under-25 age group demographic, and the overall number of users on the social platform is forecast to drop by 1.4 million in 2022, representing a 0.8 percent decrease, according to newly-released forecast data. eMarketer Meta Announces the Next Step in its Metaverse Transition Facebook and Instagram parent firm Meta will retire its NASDAQ stock exchange ticker symbol "FB" and begin using "META," as the organization continues its rebranding transition and puts more of its weight behind the forthcoming metaverse elements it has planned, Meta recently announced. Social Media Today The State of Marketing Operations Talent: 2022 [Report] There has been a 228 percent rise in the number of companies utilizing marketing automation software since 2016, accompanied by a 66 percent increase in the size of the average marketing operations team since 2020 — two of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released marketing operations talent report data. Demandbase 
Social Media Managers Can Now Post to TikTok from Their Favorite Social Media Management Tools Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Sprinklr and six additional popular social media publishing tools have been giving the ability to work alongside TikTok for publishing social posts, in a shift that brings TikTok within easier reach of B2B organizations that make use the social publishing tools, TikTok recently announced. Social Media Today Podcast Listeners Plan Major Purchases 44 percent of podcast listeners have said that they plan to purchase new office or home technology within the next 12 months, with some 17 percent noting that they expect to buy at least one financial product during the next year — two of several statistics of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-released porcast analysis data from Nielsen. MarketingCharts Snapchat Adds 'Shared Stories' to Fuel Collaborative Content Snapchat has launched a new feature that allows users to more easily co-create content on the social platform, with the rollout of a collaborative Shared Story option, offering marketers and influencers alike potential increased exposure opportunities, Snapchat recently announced. Social Media Today Alignment is Key to Agile Marketing Strategies A leading 63 percent of marketers have said that collaboration and alignment was a key piece of an agile marketing strategy within their organization, with some 54 percent having pointed to project management and communication tools, and 50 percent noting data as a key agile marketing component, according to newly-released survey data. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: 
A lighthearted look at “how to do strategic planning” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist 1.1 quintillion operations per second: US has world’s fastest supercomputer — Ars Technica TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
- Lee Odden — Semrush’s Top 100 Influencers in Content Marketing [2022] — Semrush
- Lane R. Ellis — Deadlines, the Metaverse for marketing, and budget templates — Cronycle
The post B2B Marketing News: Collaboration’s Rising Importance In Marketing, LinkedIn’s New Remote Work Data, & TikTok Expands Social Publishing Tools appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
5 New Marketing Books Every B2B Marketer Should Read
Looking for inspiration and new insight to forge new B2B marketing successes as we drive ahead to 2023? We’re taking a look at five forthcoming or recently-published books that offer an array of fascinating tactics, tips, case studies, and other insight from some of the industry’s top business marketers and subject matter experts. A good marketing book will not only help you stay current with the latest B2B marketing industry trends, but also gain inspiration in the process — and we've compiled a list of books that fit the bill on both counts. Let’s turn the page and jump right in with our list of five new marketing books every B2B marketer can learn from.
1 — Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (2nd Edition)
Ann Handley MarketingProfs logo Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
The much-anticipated second edition of Ann's popular "Everybody Writes," which is used in college classrooms and by writers the world over, will be released on October 18, 2022, when B2B marketers will be able to read the completely revised and expanded update to this marketing and writing classic. "Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content" is slated to include all-new examples, an even-more-detailed writing framework, and new material reflecting the latest changes in content marketing since the original version was published.
2 — Change Masters: How to Actually Make The Changes You Already Know You Need to Make
Barry J. Moltz Speakers & Author, Shafran Moltz Group, LLC
In "ChangeMasters: How To Actually Make the Changes You Already Know You Need To Make," Barry shares his small business subject matter expertise, including an examination of just why change is so difficult, and how to focus on and complete the critical changes that will make a difference. From the brain science behind the mechanisms of change to how various areas of business can create change and more, Barry's book offers helpful take-aways B2B marketers can apply in multiple areas of their professional and personal lives.
3 — The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Content Marketing, Podcasting, Social Media, AI, Live Video, and Newsjacking to Reach Buyers Directly
David Meerman Scott Limited Partner and Strategic Advisor, Stage 2 Capital, also Entrepreneur, Advisor, Keynote Speaker and WSJ Bestselling Author, Freshspot Marketing
A new eighth edition of David's book "The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Content Marketing, Podcasting, Social Media, AI, Live Video, and Newsjacking to Reach Buyers Directly" has recently been released, updated with new techniques and information that will be of interest to B2B marketers. From details blueprints and strategies for getting your ideas implemented to generating buyer attention, the latest edition of David's book offers a helpful look at both fundamentals and the current state of marketing. David has also published the well-received "Fanocracy" book, which our CEO Lee Odden covered in "How to Tap the Most Powerful Marketing Force in the World – Fanocracy."
4 — The Widest Net: Unlock Untapped Markets and Discover New Customers Right in Front of You
Pamela Slim Author, Speaker and Small Business Strategist
Pamela's "The Widest Net: Unlock Untapped Markets and Discover New Customers Right in Front of You” explores an array of dynamic ideas for creating marketing and business customer connections that may be outside your usual field of view. The Widest Net utilizes case studies and examples to take a deep dive into creating newfound business and marketing success.
5 — CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest
Carolyn Dewar Global Practice Leader - CEO and Board Excellence, McKinsey & Company Scott Keller Global Practice C0-Leader - CEO Excellent, McKinsey & Company Vikram Malhotra Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller "CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest" looks at successful chief executives from global major organizations including Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, General Motors, and Sony, and explores the unique qualities that we can all learn from them. Carolyn, Scott, and Vikram's book provides B2B marketers a helpful look at what we can learn from the way that CEOs shape culture, and how they in turn are changed by it.
Learn From B2B Marketing Page-Turners
via GIPHY We hope that you’ve enjoyed our exploration of five books by these leading marketing and business authors, and that they'll help inspire you in your own marketing work throughout the years ahead. Looking for more books to enhance your B2B marketing and related skills? Check out these other articles we’ve published:- Read It & Reap: 11 Top New Marketing Books To Savor On #NationalBookLoversDay
- 10 SEO Books for B2B Marketers
- Brian Solis on Lifescale – How to Live a More Creative, Productive and Happy Life Plus Improve Your Marketing
- How to Tap the Most Powerful Marketing Force in the World – Fanocracy
- The Future (& Present) of Marketing: Collaboration, Technology & Innovation
The post 5 New Marketing Books Every B2B Marketer Should Read appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
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