Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Thought Leadership Survey, Top B2B CMO Priorities, Google’s New Trends Portal, & HubSpot Adds AI

B2B Decision-Makers Value Research and Data in Thought Leadership Content 51 percent of B2B marketers have said thought leadership content that is quick and easily-absorbed provides the greatest value, with 49 percent pointing to thought leadership that references robust research with supporting data — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released survey data. MarketingCharts [bctt tweet="“In tough times, B2B thought leadership is your key advantage.” — Alexandra Rynne of @LinkedIn" username="toprank"] B2B marketplaces refine their expansion strategies B2B marketplaces such as Amazon Business have shifted strategies in 2023, including greater use of machine learning (ML) applications and artificial intelligence (AI), propelling the industry to annualized sales topping $25 billion, with estimates expecting continued growth that will reach $80 billion by 2025, according to newly-published report data. Digital Commerce 360 The Top Priorities of CMOs at Enterprise B2B Firms 46 percent of enterprise B2B organization chief marketing officers have said that developing technology strategy is the top marketing technology priority that will be faced over the next 18 months, with 41 percent noting the enhancement of data capabilities, while 40 percent said expanding the existing marketing technology stack — three of numerous findings of interest to digital marketers contained in recently-published survey data. MarketingProfs HubSpot debuts ChatSpot generative AI tool HubSpot has introduced an alpha release version of ChatSpot — the firm's new generative AI tool that combines a variety of HubSpot and third-party AI technology including OpenAI's ChatGPT and image-generation tool DALL-E 2, all aimed at augmenting functionality within HubSpot's customer relationship management (CRM) offerings, HubSpot recently announced. MarTech Shopify sees renewed interest from B-to-B merchants Traditionally aimed solely at B2C merchants, Shopify — with gross merchandise value (GMV) of $61 billion during the fourth quarter — has continued its expansion into the B2B sector with its B2B on Shopify and other offerings, attracting a growing number of purely B2B brands, while BigCommerce has made similar moves, as Modern Retail explores. Modern Retail Amazon Business App Adds Purchase Reconciliation Tool for B2B Buyers B2B buyers who use the Amazon Business mobile app can now use its three-way match option previously only available to desktop and handheld scanner users, in a move aimed at helping accounts payable and procurement teams at B2B firms, Amazon Business recently announced. PYMNTS Google launches new Google Trends portal Search giant Google has rolled out a revised interface for Google Trends — its trend-surfacing utility for discovering how various search terms have changed in popularity over time — now including links to relevant news articles and more frequent trend data updates, among other additions, Google recently announced. Search Engine Land Fifty-Eight Percent Of Enterprise Marketers Plan To Use AI For SEO, Study Finds Just 10 percent of enterprise marketers have said that they currently combine AI and search engine optimization (SEO) when it comes to creating content, while 58 percent expect to use AI as a part of their organization's SEO efforts during 2023 — two of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released survey data. MediaPost Microsoft aims to reduce “tedious” business tasks with new AI tools Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 business management platform, Power Platform developer tool, and AI Builder product have all received updates that incorporate Microsoft's specific flavor of ChatGPT generative AI technology, as the firm seeks to reinvent its productivity offerings with AI, Microsoft recently announced. Ars Technica The Future Of Human Agency, Give Or Take 12 Years 56 percent of technology experts have said that they predict humans will no longer control key areas of decision-making by 2035, while some 44 percent noted that by 2035 smart machines and similar AI-infused systems will incorporate technology necessary for humans to control most technology-aided decision-making, according to newly-published Pew Research Center survey data of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “Marketing Planning” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist AI Chatbot Obviously Trying To Wind Down Conversation With Boring Human — The Onion TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — Be Bold, Be Empathetic, Lean into New Ideas: Lessons Learned at B2B Marketing Exchange (B2BMX) 2023 — Integrate
• TopRank Marketing — Four B2B Digital Marketing Predictions For 2023 — Forbes

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW: Oli Gardner @oligardner Gemma Davies @gdavies2 Charlie Riley @Charlieriley Joe Chernov @jchernov Masha Finkelstein @masha3003 Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry. Have you found your own top B2B marketing news item for the week that we haven't yet mentioned? If so, please don't hesitate to drop us a line in the comments below. Thanks for joining us for the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope you'll return again next Friday for another round-up of the most up-to-date and relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

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Intent-Based Strategy is the Future of SEO

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12 Women in B2B Marketing Worth Celebrating This (and every) Month

Historically, women have been underrepresented in the B2B marketing space, but we all know there are endless inspiring stories of female leaders driving innovation and creating revolutionary strategies. March marks Women's History Month, and today is International Women's Day. This month — and every month — let’s celebrate all of the amazing women in B2B marketing who are leading the industry with boldness, bravery and innovation. From marketing mavericks to storytellers, from unique strategic approaches to creating a brand and culture of diversity and inclusion, these executives are setting powerful examples for others – especially young professionals — to follow. Let’s take a look at just some of this remarkable talent that is pushing forward progress on behalf of businesses around the world! Women have played and continue to play a significant role in B2B marketing. Here are some notable women in B2B marketing: Ann Handley — Chief content officer at MarketingProfs and a bestselling author, known for her insights on content marketing.   Lauren Vaccarello — Chief marketing officer at Salesloft and a seasoned marketing executive, known for her expertise in digital marketing and demand generation. Lori Wizdo — Vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, known for her research and insights on B2B marketing and sales. Ardath Albee — CEO and B2B marketing strategist at Marketing Interactions, known for her expertise in creating buyer personas and developing content marketing strategies. Jill Rowley — GTM advisor and LPGTM advisor & LP at Stage 2 Capital, social selling evangelist and keynote speaker, known for her expertise in building relationships through social media. Kathy Klotz-Guest — Marketing storyteller and keynote speaker, known for her expertise in storytelling for B2B marketing. Meagen Eisenberg — Chief marketing officer at Lacework and a seasoned marketing executive, known for her expertise in account-based marketing. Christina Bottis — Chief marketing officer at Medix and a marketing executive with over 20 years of experience in B2B marketing. Lisa Nakano — Vice president, research director; demand and account-based marketing strategies service at Forrester, and a marketing executive with over 20 years of experience in B2B marketing. Alicia Tillman — Chief revenue officer at Capitolis and a marketing executive with over 15 years of experience in B2B marketing. Pam Didner — Vice president of marketing at Relentless Pursuit, author of multiple B2B marketing books, and one of the most influential people on the topic of B2B marketing. Pam recently met with our own CEO Lee Odden and shared her latest insight, in "B2BMX Speaker Spotlight: Pam Didner on Artificial Intelligence Impact on B2B Marketing." Ty Heath, director of market engagement, The B2B Institute, at LinkedIn, and a leading B2B marketer, speaker, author, community builder. Ty shared her insight on creativity and inclusion in B2B marketing as a guest on our Elevate B2B Marketing Podcast, in "Elevate B2B Marketing Podcast: Creativity & Inclusivity in B2B Marketing with Ty Heath." TopRank Marketing is committed to amplifying the voices that are rocking the world of B2B marketing. Check out the last few lists of woman who are elevating B2B marketing:

• 25 Women Who Rocked as B2B Industry Influencers in 2022
• Words of Wisdom from 10 Women Who Inspire Great B2B Marketing 

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What Does B2B Content Marketing Look Like in 2023?

Sometimes marketers can spot trends as they are on the rise and sometimes we are hit over the head with them (can we say ChatGPT?). What we’ve seen so far this year has been a mix of both: trends that have been gaining steam for a long time and quick pivots as marketers adapt. The past six months alone have given us everything from AI writing to Twitter uncertainties. Everyone loves to talk about their predictions at the start of the new year, but it’s always interesting to watch reality unfold. Are we crystal ball-gazers? Of course not! But we’ve been watching and listening and have seen some themes emerge for B2B content marketing — trends that will likely continue beyond 2023. 

Content efficiency matters more than ever

Had anyone heard of Mastodon a year ago? Or how about the rise of TikTok as a social channel for B2B brands? Have the words “media company” been floated around your content team? But as marketing teams have felt the pressure of the economic downturn, they know the task at hand: produce content on smaller budgets and with fewer resources. That means honing in on the content strategies that are working. There isn’t much room for investing your time across multiple channels if you’re not seeing results.  More than ever, teams need to:

• Use resources wisely
• Automate (or possibly eliminate) tedious tasks
• Repurpose content to gain more mileage

“Content repurposing is about getting the maximum return from every single piece of content you create. Content repurposing can take many forms, and there are lots of different and creative ways that you can repurpose your content, but every content creator must repurpose.” - Amy Woods, Content 10X While you may be relying on the savvy of your in-house team, if they’re stretched too thin it’ll impact their work. And if your resources are limited, be mindful of what you’re asking them to do. Very few content marketers are unicorns who excel across multiple types of content, so play to their strengths. If you need to, supplement your team with external resources for very specific tasks (like editing or an eBook).  [bctt tweet="“Repurposing is about getting the maximum return from every single piece of content you create. Content repurposing can take many forms, and there are lots of different and creative ways that you can repurpose.” — Amy Woods @content10x" username="toprank"]

Attribution is a tricky business

As content teams branch out more into media like video and podcasts, it becomes harder to measure the ROI of these efforts — at a time when your content team may be feeling the pressure to produce results.  We wrote about dark social back in 2021 and the black hole for attribution has only grown. Take a look at LinkedIn and Twitter: how often do you see products mentioned in posts by fans (rather than a company employee) or in comments? And as buyers feel the pressure of the economic downturn, they’ll rely even more on people they trust — friends and colleagues — for recommendations. We’ve seen the rise in roles like community managers, brand evangelists, and B2B influencers as a direct result of dark social. People with strong personal brands showing up where potential buyers are: not with a hard sell, but with helpful insights or comments.  Can all of these efforts be directly attributed to a lead or sale? No. But can you find a way to measure success? Absolutely. You can think about the goals and metrics that make sense for each platform, as well as how these KPIs work together towards business goals. 

High-quality content wins (but don’t ignore AI)

There’s no doubt that AI content is making headlines. Companies promise human-sounding content — even entire blog posts — in minutes. While these tools may look flashy in demos or videos, the reality is much different. Google has redefined quality content for SEO. And any AI writing tools need careful prompting from a human to get decent output and strong editing so that a draft has nuance and depth. Basically, qualities that separate humans from robots! If you rely too heavily on AI, your content will start to sound like everything else on the internet. Truly unique content will be sprinkled with interviews with subject-matter experts, proprietary data or surveys, and thought leadership. That being said, your content team should explore how AI can make their jobs easier. Whether it is ideating more quickly or pulling insights from a long transcript, AI has a role as a vital supplement for busy content teams. You should be exploring use cases, and encouraging your team to do the same.

Maintain your focus

We’ve shared previously on ways to boost B2B marketing efforts with better focus.  In our mind, 2023 may not be the year for big new initiatives, but instead, this is a time for B2B marketers to be laser-focused on what is working and what drives impact.  “I think the biggest challenge for marketers right now is prioritization. There are too many channels to organize and keep up with. Simplifying and focusing on what reaches your audience is key.” — Nick Bennett,  Airmeet [bctt tweet="“I think the biggest challenge for marketers right now is prioritization. There are too many channels to organize and keep up with. Simplifying and focusing on what reaches your audience is key.” — Nick Bennett @NickB2005" username="toprank"] By focusing on the content you know you can produce well that creates engagement and conversion, and are able to duplicate the process and results, you will build a solid foundation to continue to build on with more creative content in the future.  There will always be ebbs and flows. Use this time to solidify your brand voice, show up consistently, and engage with your customers. Moving further into 2023, if you are looking for a content partner who can help identify what is working, what needs to be optimized and a team that can create efficient content that builds credibility, increases engagement and gets you more customers, it may be time to connect with the TopRank Marketing team. Book a time to learn more!

The post What Does B2B Content Marketing Look Like in 2023? appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

That’s A Wrap – Top Take-Aways from B2BMX 2023

[one-sixth-first][/one-sixth-first][one-sixth][/one-sixth][one-sixth][/one-sixth][one-sixth][/one-sixth][one-sixth][/one-sixth][one-sixth][/one-sixth] B2B marketers are facing more and more challenges. We are asked to do more with less, cultivate human connection balanced with high-tech experiences, all with the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) coming for our jobs. Staying ahead of trends, finding efficiencies that drive impact, maintaining a growth mindset and looking for inspiration are ways TopRank Marketing commits to our missions to elevate the B2B marketing industry. All of this is fueled by community: seeking, creating and engaging in the B2B marketing community of brands and thought leaders doing the work and sharing their highs and lows throughout the journey. This week, our team had the opportunity to attend the annual B2B Marketing Exchange conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Talk about community — this event was packed with experts, topics and opportunities to connect and collaborate. In case you missed the conference, here are a few highlights and top takeaways: Marketing + “The Machine”: Sizing Up AI’s Emerging Impact On Efficiency Vs. Risks To Creativity Pam Didner, vice president of Relentless Pursuit, set the conference tone on day one talking about all aspects of AI and its impact on B2B marketing today — from content creation and campaign structure to audience mapping. Our CEO Lee Odden shared a sneak peek of this session and a deeper dive into the topic last week. Check out the speaker spot here.  It was great catching up with Pam in person! Well, There Goes My Buyer's Journey... Sphere Strategy CEO Jeff Marcoux opened the first general access day talking about the changes we are seeing in the world, brands, markets and audiences. He taught the group the importance of engaging the whole account in the go-to-market (GTM) strategy, how to pivot account-based-marketing (ABM) to cover demand and best practices for metrics for the ideal customer profile (ICP). Read the full speaker spotlight here. 

Who do B2B marketers need to influence across the sales journey? - End users and influencers - Decision makers - Friendly due diligence team Jeff Marcoux #b2bmx pic.twitter.com/u7bskWidUz

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) February 28, 2023

“You don’t need to be Coke to the world. You need to be Coke to the customers you care most about.” @jeffmarcoux #b2bmx pic.twitter.com/EfDALa10nJ

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) February 28, 2023

Learn How to Crack The Code on ABM & Intent Data Dan Cafiero of Seagate Technology and TechTarget CMO John Steinert shared how they are working together to crack the code of AMB and intent data. They talked about the importance of marketing and sales alignment in ABM and the power of intent data. Check out the live blog post here with my three key takeaways from the presentation.

Top themes of sessions & conversations include all things AI, ABM, intent data + metrics that matter ? check out this #B2BMX live blog on Cracking The Code on ABM & Intent Data from @TechTarget and @DanCafiero from @Seagate on the @TopRank blog ?? https://t.co/QnPTEomTWg

— Katelyn Drake (@KB_Drake) March 1, 2023

Tired Of Chasing Vanity Metrics? Drive Better Marketing Outcomes & More Sales! Sophia Agustina (IBM), Carol Mallia (Citrix), Nick Bennett (Airmeet), Danny Sachdev (Beeleads) presented on a panel moderated by Will Aitken (Lavender). These experts emphasized the need for data and goals that align with sales outcomes, the crucial role of personalization throughout the funnel, creating experiences that truly elevate your brand, connect and convert, as well as so much more. Check out my live blog with top quotes from the session.  Are We Ready To Trust The Machines? Building A More Intelligent Content Stack With AI, Automation & Analytics Phyllis Davidson from Forrester presented on the powerful triad of AI, automation and sophisticated analytics. She asked if we are ready to trust the machines and broke down the reasons we need to be ready to trust.

“Should B2B marketers trust AI? We may not be ready to trust but we should be ready to try.” @PhyllisMusings @forrester #b2bmx pic.twitter.com/RYHeMdYuAy

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) February 28, 2023

Now That We Have Your Intention: How Buyer-Level Intent Data Will Transform Your Marketing Netline's chief strategy officer, David Fortino, reminded us that accounts don't make purchases — people do. He stressed that B2B marketers need to know who is searching for what and that buyer level intent leads directly to fast tracked sales dialogues.

Don’t play Marco Polo with your marketing. @David__Fortino says buyer-level intent = fast track to initiating a sales dialogue with your customers. @NetLine_Corp #b2bmx pic.twitter.com/mVtLbBoXNH

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) February 28, 2023

Cisco Enables Channel Partners to Win SMB Customers Luxy Thuraisingam shared the recent shift in Cisco's Global Partner Organization to accelerate growth.

SMBs are a huge opportunity for Cisco but brand perception had to be shifted. How? Cisco VP @Luxythu says by speaking the language of SMB: simple, relevant & transactional. #b2bmx pic.twitter.com/AbEqpc5vzA

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) February 28, 2023

Great takeaways from @Luxythu from @Cisco on B2B marketing to SMBs: - Small business is BIG business - Simple is hard, but worth it - Invest to win through digital AND partners#b2bmx pic.twitter.com/8xq77Dgpq6

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) February 28, 2023

Here are a few more highlights and quotes from B2BMX:

Learning about ways that #B2Bmarketers are innovating from @weareMNTN's Ali Haeri ?

Is your #B2B brand utilizing less than obvious social channels like @Snapchat, @Reddit and @tiktok_us?! ?#b2bmx pic.twitter.com/lLjyfr50Pd — Katelyn Drake (@KB_Drake) March 1, 2023

Wise words from a B2B brand CMO: “Stop focusing on activity and focus on impact.” Natalie Cunningham @Terminus pic.twitter.com/FJaf3QrQ72

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) March 1, 2023

Truth: “Marketing that creates emotions outperforms marketing that doesn’t.” @jaybaer #b2bmx Thanks Jay!!! pic.twitter.com/FXEkBGmzOK

— Lee Odden - B2B Marketing (@leeodden) March 1, 2023

Thank You B2BMX!

Thank you to all the amazing speakers and attendees that made this an amazing event! If you had the opportunity to attend, please let us know your favorite sessions and insights from the conference!

The post That’s A Wrap – Top Take-Aways from B2BMX 2023 appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Elevate B2B Marketing News: LinkedIn’s New B2B Tools, ChatGPT Gets API, B2B Content Marketing Sees High ROI, & B2B E-Procurement Rises

E-procurement sales top $1 trillion [B2B Marketplaces Report] B2B buying within e-commerce channels experienced 18 percent growth during 2022, with B2B marketplace sales reaching $112 billion, while overall B2B e-commerce sites and apps reached $1.94 billion during 2022 — three of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published report data. Digital Commerce 360 B2B Marketers Remain Enamored with Content Marketing 62 percent of B2B marketers have highlighted content marketing as the channel with the highest return on investment (ROI) when it comes to producing leads, with 41 percent pointing to live events, 39 percent email, and 38 percent word-of-mouth, according to recently-released survey data. MarketingCharts [bctt tweet="“Content marketing is evolving and becoming more efficient, as a result. 70% of B2Bs that use it say that it’s much more effective than it was last year.” — A. Lee Judge @ALeeJudge" username="toprank"] LinkedIn rolls out new relationship intelligence tools for B2B marketers and sellers Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has released an array of new tools aimed at finding and fostering the most relevant B2B audience relationship on the professional social platform, with its new Relationship Explorer, along with other improvements including expanded Sales Navigator search functionality and new intent data, LinkedIn (client) recently announced. The Drum OpenAI launches an API for ChatGPT, plus dedicated capacity for enterprise customers With the release of its new application programming interface, OpenAI — the organization behind generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT technology, has begun courting greater business integration, while also launching API developer access to its automatic speech recognition system Whisper, OpenAI recently announced. TechCrunch LinkedIn Adds More Ad Targeting Criteria, Provides Tips for Campaigns LinkedIn has added more than 120 new product interest options for marketers using the platform's advertising services, along with expanded service interests within its LinkedIn Economic Graph feature, the professional social platform recently announced. Social Media Today Bing Webmaster Tools Adding Bing Chat & Index Coverage Reporting Microsoft’s Bing search engine has begun rolling out an array of new integrated performance reporting data for its Bing Chat AI feature, which will make its way to the firm's Bing Webmaster Tools, Bing announced recently at the Pubcon conference. Search Engine Roundtable LinkedIn Adds New Visual Display Elements on User Profiles, Scheduling Tools for Newsletters B2B marketers will have more options for highlighting content on LinkedIn user profiles, as videos, articles, images and additional content types have gained greater visibility with the rollout of LinkedIn’s newest user profile feature update, including the ability to more prominently feature LinkedIn newsletter content, the professional social platform recently announced. Social Media Today Google Ads: New Features For Performance Max Campaigns Google’s multi-channel advertising platform Performance Max has received an update that includes support for the specific exclusion of brands with new filtering options, along with a greater variety of performance reporting options, Google recently announced. Search Engine Journal Only 25% of marketers report having all the data needed for personalization 49 percent of marketers have said that when it comes to having all the data they require to improve personalization efforts, they somewhat agree, with 25 percent strongly agreeing that they have the data they need, while just 26 percent noted not having access to as much personalization data as they would like — some of the findings included in newly-published marketing personalization data survey results. MarTech Do B2B Demand Gen Priorities Differ This Year? [Report] 45 percent of largely U.S.-based B2B marketers have said that they see improved sales and marketing alignment as a top 2023 priority, with 41 percent pointing to having better ways to measure return-on-investment (ROI) on demand generation efforts, according to recently-released survey data of interest to B2B marketers. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “The AI Pivot” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist If we plan to live on the Moon, it's going to need a time zone — The Register TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• • TopRank Marketing — Four B2B Digital Marketing Predictions For 2023 — Forbes
  • Lane R. Ellis — This Week in Marketing: Influencing Customer Engagement — LinkedIn (client)

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW: Kathleen Booth @WorkMommyWork Justin Gray @Jgraymatter Maureen Blandford @MaureenB2B John Jantsch @ducttape Melissa Ariana Case @startabuzz Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry. Have you come across a particularly pertinent B2B marketing news item for the week that we haven't yet mentioned? If so, please don't hesitate to drop us a line in the comments below. Thank you for taking the time to join us for the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope that you will return next Friday for another arrayof the most up-to-date and relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

The post Elevate B2B Marketing News: LinkedIn’s New B2B Tools, ChatGPT Gets API, B2B Content Marketing Sees High ROI, & B2B E-Procurement Rises appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Tired Of Chasing Vanity Metrics? Drive Better Marketing Outcomes & More Sales! – B2BMX

          While reviewing metrics, it can sometimes be hard to identify the metrics that matter vs vanity metrics. Vanity metrics are metrics that may look impressive on the surface but do not provide meaningful insights into the performance of a marketing campaign or business. They are called "vanity" metrics because they make us feel good but are ultimately superficial and not indicative of real success. Some examples of vanity metrics for marketers include:

1. Likes and followers on social media: While having a large following on social media may look impressive, it does not necessarily translate into actual engagement or conversions.
2. Pageviews: Pageviews can be a useful metric for understanding how many people are visiting a website, but they do not provide any insight into whether those visitors are actually engaging with the content or taking any desired action.
3. Impressions: Impressions refer to the number of times an ad or piece of content is displayed, but they do not measure how effective that content is at driving engagement or conversions.
4. Click-through rates (CTR): While CTR can be a useful metric for measuring the effectiveness of an ad or email campaign, it does not provide any insight into whether those clicks are actually resulting in conversions or sales.
5. Email open rates: Open rates can be a useful metric for measuring the effectiveness of an email campaign, but they do not provide any insight into whether those emails are actually driving conversions or sales.

As B2B marketers, it is important to focus on metrics that provide actionable insights into the campaign/brand performance that show true impact and relevance to make make informed decisions about marketing strategies and optimizations. These metrics should be tied to specific business goals and should be tracked over time to measure progress and identify areas for improvement. At B2B Marketing Exchange, I joined the session on vanity metrics, presented by Sophia Agustina (IBM), Carol Mallia (Citrix), Nick Bennett (Airmeet), Danny Sachdev (Beeleads), and Will Aitken (Lavender). Here are the top quotes from these experts on driving real marketing outcomes that impact sales: "Instead of jumping into tactics, spend the time to start with the outcomes. Use data to know where your audience is, how they are interacting with your brand to learn how they want to hear from you." — Sophia Agustina (IBM) [bctt tweet="“Instead of jumping into tactics, spend the time to start with the outcomes. Use data to know where your audience is, how they are interacting with your brand to learn how they want to hear from you.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM" username="toprank"] "When it comes to data, marketers can not operate in a black box. Marketers need more data overall and need to be able to pull data from multiple sources to launch campaigns and strategy that drive results." — Danny Sachdev (Beeleads) [bctt tweet="“When it comes to data, marketers can not operate in a black box. Marketers need more data overall and need to be able to pull data from multiple sources to launch campaigns and strategy that drive results.” — Danny Sachdev of @BeeLeadsInc" username="toprank"] "If you are in an ABM or growth marketing role, you need to advocate for an in-house BI lead. It is a game-changer." — Carol Mallia (Citrix) [bctt tweet="“If you are in an ABM or growth marketing role, you need to advocate for an in-house BI lead. It is a game-changer.” — @CarolMallia of @Citrix" username="toprank"] "Being able to show the data, where you are targeting and why adds credibility for marketing when working with sales and that credibility is key." — Carol Mallia (Citrix) [bctt tweet="“Being able to show the data, where you are targeting and why adds credibility for marketing when working with sales and that credibility is key.” — @CarolMallia of @Citrix" username="toprank"] "Personalize. Personalize. Personalize! That is my number one piece of advice. Use your data to identify the buyers and deliver personalized messaging based on what you already know." — Sophia Agustina (IBM) [bctt tweet="“Personalize. Personalize. Personalize! That is my number one piece of advice. Use your data to identify the buyers and deliver personalized messaging based on what you already know.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM" username="toprank"] "I think the biggest challenge for marketers right now is prioritization. There are too many channels to organize and keep up with. Simplifying and focusing on what reaches your audience is key and the need for personalization and a seamless experience across every channel is the new standard." — Nick Bennett (Airmeet) [bctt tweet="“Simplifying and focusing on what reaches your audience is key and the need for personalization and a seamless experience across every channel is the new standard.” — @NickB2005 of @Airmeet" username="toprank"] "A lot of marketers focus on tactics — we have to start with the outcome. What sales is being measured on? Marketing should have the goals and measurables so we are not working in silos." — Sophia Agustina (IBM) [bctt tweet="“A lot of marketers focus on tactics — we have to start with the outcome. What sales is being measured on? Marketing should have the goals and measurables so we are not working in silos.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM" username="toprank"] "Three things I am always focused on are driving quality traffic/leads, generating demand and creating a strong sales partnership so we have the same goals that we can work towards together."  — Sophia Agustina (IBM) [bctt tweet="“Three things I am always focused on are driving quality traffic/leads, generating demand and creating a strong sales partnership so we have the same goals that we can work towards together.” — Sophia Agustina of @IBM" username="toprank"] "As marketers, our challenge is — how do we create an experience that truly elevates? How can we authentically reach out to convert as well as keep relationships going?" — Nick Bennett (Airmeet) [bctt tweet="“As marketers, our challenge is — how do we create an experience that truly elevates? How can we authentically reach out to convert as well as keep relationships going?” — @NickB2005 of @Airmeet" username="toprank"] "The game-changer for us is the BI data — know the target accounts, the imperatives around those accounts and how are we clustering them. What is actually of interest based on what they are consuming." — Carol Mallia (Citrix) [bctt tweet="“The game-changer for us is the BI data — know the target accounts, the imperatives around those accounts and how are we clustering them. What is actually of interest based on what they are consuming.” — @CarolMallia of @Citrix" username="toprank"] Are you leveraging data to inform your marketing strategy from the beginning? Is your data working for you and creating credibility for your marketing department and strategy? Let's all challenge ourselves and our marketing departments to go beyond the surface data and identify and utilize the metrics that matter that elevate our marketing efforts to create growth and drive sales for our brands. Thank you to this fantastic group of B2B marketers for sharing their time and expertise! Check out our other posts and content from #B2BMX this week:

• B2B GTM Disruption
• AI's Impact on B2B Marketing
• Cracking the Code on ABM & Intent Data

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