4 Keys to Targeting and Personalization as Data Privacy Evolves

Targeting and personalization driven by data are cornerstones of today’s marketing. That isn’t going to change anytime soon. What will be changing, however, is how we make that targeting and personalization happen. It’s getting a lot more complicated to find the data marketers traditionally use for their targeting and personalization campaigns. Google keeps threatening to finally pull the plug on third-party cookies. Consumers everywhere are growing more protective of their data. A recent Prosper Analytics survey reported that 64.5% of respondents would like to see legislation enacted that prevents social media sites and search engines from selling their data. Many nations are implementing new, stronger data protection laws which will set a precedent for data regulation moving forward. The rising demand for data privacy presents marketers with a unique challenge: how do we continue to target our audiences without the data we use to find them? Marketers aren’t waiting to have this question answered for them. The industry has been hard at work developing alternative means of targeting and personalization. The opportunities they’ve discovered have proven to be more than a simple means of preserving a status quo. These four new keys to modern targeting and personalization represent a chance to gain even better data and use it to target and personalize even more effectively. Here’s how:

Getting the data we need

First-party data

You’ve probably read plenty about “the end of cookies.” That frame is actually a bit of a misnomer. Google isn’t doing away with all tracking cookies at all — just “third-party” cookies. Third-party cookies are browser extensions that are designed to follow the user from site-to-site. Meanwhile, first-party cookies only follow and store information on certain actions the user takes on a single site. First-party cookies also require the explicit consent of the user to activate. First-party allows organizations to collect the same kind of information third-party cookies did without privacy concerns. Even more importantly, however, they also offer more valuable intent-based data. After all, everyone who you collect data on using first-party cookies opted into giving you that information.

Zero-party data

Zero-party data is data your audience gives you explicitly. Form fills are an example of zero-party data. Your audience actually writes in this information, usually in exchange for some gated content. First-party data is more valuable than third-party data because the users that provide it are more intentional. Zero-party data is the next step up. Users who take the time to give you information about themselves are obviously very interested in your content. That makes them highly-qualified potential leads. The key to gaining zero-party data is providing the kind of content your audience highly values. The more they want what you’re providing, the more they’ll give you in exchange. Ask them for the right information, and you’ll get customer information more valuable than anything third-party cookies could provide. [bctt tweet="“The key to gaining zero-party data is providing the kind of content your audience highly values. The more they want what you’re providing, the more they’ll give you in exchange.” — Harry Mackin @Shiitakeharry" username="toprank"]

How to use the data we find

Buyer-intent data and hyper-personalized outreach

First and zero-party data tracks the intentions of interested parties more specifically and closely. The key to better targeting and personalization is to lean into this value. “Account-level” data is information about whole organizations. B2B companies use it to identify whole organizations that may benefit from their products and services. Buyer-level data is information about single, specific buyers — ie: decision makers within the organization you’d find with account-level data. First-party data and especially zero-party data each provide more information about specific buyers. Depending on what you ask them for, therefore, you can use that data for more incisive and effective personalization than ever. For example, if a potential lead tells you who they are and why they’re interested in downloading a guide on your site, you can use that information to reach out to them with hyper-personalized content from the first time you contact them. [bctt tweet="“First and zero-party data tracks the intentions of interested parties more specifically and closely. The key to better targeting and personalization is to lean into this value.” — Harry Mackin @Shiitakeharry" username="toprank"]

Intent-based marketing

When audience members visit your site or find your content in search engines, they have a certain intent for doing so. First and zero-party data is, at least in large part, as valuable as it is because it allows you to understand this intent better. The better you understand why your audience is interested in your marketing, the better you can speak to their interest going forward. Intent-based marketing maximizes the value of first and zero-party content by making personalization more effective than ever before. Instead of just marketing toward demographics or what you think your audience is looking for, you’ll be able to respond to specific queries your audience supplied you with themselves. The result is true marketing-as-a-service: you can find the audience who needs your products and services and explain how you can help them on their terms. And all with their help. To learn more about the exciting possibilities intent marketing represents, check out our new guide: Marketing with Intent: The Future of SEO and Qualified B2B Traffic.

The post 4 Keys to Targeting and Personalization as Data Privacy Evolves appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Digital Harmony: The Secret Power of Consistency in B2B Marketing

What is consistency’s secret power in the 2023 world of B2B marketing, and why aren’t more marketers taking advantage of it? It’s well established that consistency is a key component in the world’s most successful B2B marketing efforts. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity — in existence since the 1950s and beginning last year the home of the Cannes Creative B2B Lions awards — highlights consistency as a vital ingredient in the most creative marketing. “The rudiments of the most effective creative work have not changed - topicality, building intrigue, and consistency and commitment to a universally appealing brand platform, are proven qualities of the most impactful work,” the organization noted in its most recent event wrap-up. Consistency is especially important during uncertain times, when we tend to seek out the surety and comfort of the tried and true. "Brand is purpose and the purpose is the brand,” Michael Park, chief marketing officer at ServiceNow recently observed during LinkedIn's* inaugural B2B Summit event, B2Believe. “Without consistency, you produce a thousand points of dim light. The recession is a known pattern; we’ve seen this before. Use the macro crisis as an opportunity; have the courage to align to a new vision; we own the narrative and can address concerns with a positive tone," Park added. TopRank Marketing was at B2Believe, where our CEO Lee Odden shared insight from LinkedIn vice president of marketing Jim Habig, on the challenges uncertain times present and more, in "LinkedIn #B2Believe and The Playbook for Promise Making in B2B Marketing with Jim Habig." The secret power of consistency, however, comes when it is used with the right combination of other marketing qualities to form a unique state of digital harmony. Let’s jump in and find out four of the top ways to incorporate consistency into your B2B marketing efforts and built a more harmonious strategy. [bctt tweet="“Without consistency, you produce a thousand points of dim light.” — Michael Park CMO at @ServiceNow" username="toprank"]

1 — Increase Consistency With Your B2B Marketing Tool-Belt

B2B marketers in 2023 have a wealth of tools at our disposal — AI and otherwise — that can sometimes prove overwhelming, however finding the ones that perform the best for your particular way of working and adding them to your tool-belt can take your marketing efforts to new levels. Using the right tools not only makes life easier for B2B marketers and helps them create better client outcomes, but can also help marketers create consistency through efficiency – especially when certain tasks can be automated using the ideal tool for a particular task. Some see consistency as one of the most vital elements in 2023 B2B marketing efforts. “Consistency is more important than genius,” Mark Schaefer, B2b marketing author and speaker, recently observed. “To become a habit with your audience, you have to show up on time,” Schaefer added. 37 percent of enterprise content marketers said that achieving consistency with messaging was a top challenge at their organization, according to Content Marketing Institute’s recent “Enterprise Content Marketing: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – Insights for 2023.” To help you find the right B2B marketing tools, we've published lists such as "Marketer’s Toolkit: 10+ New Tools To Enhance Your B2B Marketing Stack," and looks at some of the key tools being put to use in the generative AI side of  marketing in 2023, in "Humanize, Organize, Strategize & Personalize: 4 Ways To Boost B2B Influencer Marketing With Generative AI." [bctt tweet="“Consistency is more important than genius. To become a habit with your audience, you have to show up on time.” — Mark Schaefer @markwschaefer" username="toprank"]

2 — Ingrain Consistency With The Habit Of Scheduling

Turning something new into an ingrained habit will come more naturally to some people than others. Achieving harmony in your consistency takes time and effort, and with it comes the ability to recognize just the right content publishing cadence, as our own senior content marketing manager Joshua Nite examined in “How B2B Content Marketing Can Build Trust that Stands the Test of Time.” “Customer experience expert Shep Hyken says the secret to creating a raving fan is to consistently exceed expectations,” Nite observed. “It’s the ‘consistently’ part that makes all the difference. For B2B content, that means establishing a regular cadence for publishing high-quality content and continually following through. It’s much better to publish one amazing content piece a month than four mediocre ones. Set your content calendar to a level of commitment that combines consistency and quality,” Nite added. A harmonious consistency can apply equally well to customer and internal experiences, as Patrick Bosek, CEO at Heretto recently suggested. "The key is consistency. We need to deliver the same knowledge to employees and customers consistently throughout their journey," Bosek noted. Diligently building consistency by making certain tasks part of your daily routine also takes time, yet the rewards can last a lifetime, as we explored in "Enduring Engagement: 5 Easy Ways To Build New B2B Marketing Connections & Make Them Last." [bctt tweet="“It’s much better to publish one amazing content piece a month than four mediocre ones. Set your content calendar to a level of commitment that combines consistency and quality.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites" username="toprank"]

3 — Differentiate With Consistency and Influence

Once you have it in place and running smoothly, don’t be afraid to promote the consistency of your B2B marketing content. With so much content being produced hourly — by human hands and by AI — efforts that stand the test of time have the opportunity to rise above less consistent efforts. In B2B influencer marketing consistency is also important, as our own Lee Odden recently observed in a new Partnershup Unpacked podcast interview with Mike Allton, head of strategic partnerships at Agorapulse. “To be successful at influencer marketing in the B2B space, invest in the relationships with people, and that means an always-on, ongoing effort. It doesn’t mean a lot of effort, but it does mean a persistent effort, just like any other kind of relationship. It requires care and feeding,” Odden shared in “Why So Many Brands Fail At B2B Influencer Marketing w/ Lee Odden.” Allton has also recognized the power of consistency, especially when it comes to building trust. “Consistency is key: Regularly sharing valuable content with your audience is crucial for building trust and credibility. Develop a content strategy and commit to consistently posting on your chosen platform,” Allton recently observed. [bctt tweet="“Consistency is key: Regularly sharing valuable content with your audience is crucial for building trust and credibility. Develop a content strategy and commit to consistently posting on your chosen platform.” — Mike Allton @Mike_Allton" username="toprank"]

4 — Elevating Your B2B Marketing With Consistency

When is the right time to expand on what you have already made a consistent part of your B2B marketing? Once a tactic or task has become ingrained in your business routine, consistency has been achieved, yet do find digital harmony you'll want to take on new challenges, try new techniques, or expand on an existing element of your B2B marketing strategy. 80 percent of the top-performing technology marketers said organizations that give customers a consistent experience across their journey was a top priority, while just 62 percent of all technology marketers agreed, according to Content Marketing Institute’s most recent “Technology Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2023.” “Maintaining brand consistency may be challenging, but the benefits are worth it,” May Habib, co-founder and CEO at Writer, recently shared in Advertising Week’s “3 Reasons Why Brand Consistency Should be Top Priority.” “Don’t miss out on growth opportunities by underestimating this powerful element in a marketing strategy,” Habib added. You can learn even more about the importance of consistency in B2B marketing in our “Steady As She Goes: Why Consistency Builds Better Long-Term B2B Marketing.” [bctt tweet="“Maintaining brand consistency may be challenging, but the benefits are worth it.” — May Habib @May_Habib" username="toprank"]

Make Harmony Your B2B Marketing Secret Power

via GIPHY As important as consistency is, it’s also good to keep in mind that practicing it doesn’t have to mean giving up on creativity, new ideas, or exploration. One of the reasons for consistency’s great power is its versatility, as it can easily be applied to an endless stream of new digital marketing tactics. We hope you've found this look at the usefulness of consistency — especially when taken to the next level with a well-rounded digital harmony — to be helpful, and that you'll be able to incorporate some or all of these insights into your own B2B marketing efforts. More than ever before, creating consistent B2B marketing that elevates, gives voice to talent, and humanizes with authenticity takes considerable time and effort, which is why more brands are choosing to work with a top digital marketing agency such as TopRank Marketing. Reach out to learn how we can help, as we’ve done for over 20 years for businesses ranging from LinkedIn, Dell and 3M to Adobe, Oracle, monday.com and many others. *LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing client.

The post Digital Harmony: The Secret Power of Consistency in B2B Marketing appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Why Intent-Qualified Organic Traffic Will Power the Future of B2B Marketing

At the heart of every B2B purchase decision lies a motivation. The buyer is trying to solve a problem, or improve a process, or gain an edge over their top competitor. Maybe all that and more. These underlying motivations propel unique journeys that will, hopefully, lead to your brand and solution. But you don’t want to leave it to chance, and that’s why marketing exists. B2B marketers have grown very adept at using data to find their target audiences across digital channels and media. But too often, they stop short of understanding why prospects and customers are where they are. An intent-based SEO content strategy centers on buyer motivations, supporting their journeys at various stages with helpful, enlightening, problem-solving content that makes a powerful impression. [bctt tweet="“An intent-based SEO content strategy centers on buyer motivations, supporting their journey with problem-solving content that makes a powerful impression.” — Nick Nelson @NickNelsonMN" username="toprank"] It’s why we believe intent-qualified organic traffic will be foundational to B2B marketing success going forward, as we explain in our new free guide, Marketing with Intent. Within you will find a process for creating content that excels based on this framework. Here, you can learn a little bit more about why adopting this philosophy is essential to future growth in B2B.

Search engines are evolving around user intent

The first thing to understand about search engines like Google is that they are very smart, and getting smarter. You’re not going to game them with keyword stuffing, or empty long-form content, or AI-generated muck. The best way to reach the top of the rankings – and earn the valuable organic traffic that entails – is to create helpful, useful, high-quality content that perfectly matches the intent of the search query. “Many of us have experienced the frustration of visiting a web page that seems like it has what we’re looking for, but doesn’t live up to our expectations,” acknowledged Danny Sullivan, Google’s public liaison for search, in a 2022 post. “The content might not have the insights you want, or it may not even seem like it was created for, or even by, a person. We work hard to make sure the pages we show on Search are as helpful and relevant as possible.” Indeed, Google’s big algorithm update late last summer was known as the “helpful content update,” making no secret of the qualities their engine is looking for in prioritized results. [bctt tweet="“Google’s big algorithm update in summer of 2022 was known as the 'helpful content update,' making no secret of the qualities their engine is looking for in prioritized results.” — Nick Nelson @NickNelsonMN" username="toprank"]

Not all organic traffic is equal

Organic search traffic is the lifeblood of a sustainable and efficient B2B content marketing strategy. A report from BrightEdge found that 53% of traffic to business websites is accounted for by organic search, making it “the dominant source of trackable web traffic and the largest digital channel.” With that said, organic traffic is not universally all that valuable. To make a business impact, it needs to be qualified for relevance to your brand, and the simplest method is by orchestrating your SEO strategy around intent. This way, marketers can ensure that each piece of content they’re creating serves a distinct audience-focused purpose and will generally attract a specific type of individual: folks who are interested in your industry or specialization, educating themselves on key topics and concepts, or keeping up on the news and trends. Sometimes search intent will drive a person directly toward product evaluation and making a purchase. Obviously those opportunities are extremely valuable, which is why lower-funnel and demand-based content are key components of any B2B SEO strategy, but it’s critical to keep in mind that at any time, a vast majority of your potential buyer audience is not in-market. That doesn’t mean they aren’t carrying out their job duties everyday, solving problems and answering questions that relate to their role and your solution category. An always-on strategy that accounts for the entire spectrum of buyer needs and motivations ensures you’re providing full coverage and casting a wide net that still filters for relevance.

Example of an intent-driven content experience that delights

Let’s say Joan is a senior financial decision-maker at a major brand, and you’re marketing a tech product geared toward automating financial processes. Joan’s great with numbers but struggles with managing her organization’s expansive and inconsistent digital data. She’s a good fit for what you sell, although she’s not currently aware it exists and not actively seeking it out as a solution. You create a page all about financial data management and analysis, with content that comprehensively answers the common industry-specific questions your research surfaced around this topic: how to do it, the best tools for the task, and links to resources. Because your team took the time to strategically plan around user intent, and created stellar content to match that intent, you reached the top end of the search engine results page (SERP) for several related queries. Joan finds your page, loves it, and shares it with her team. Why was this experience so valuable for your company?

1. You were able to qualify Joan as relevant to your brand without requiring any personally identifying information or tracking data – tools that are going extinct in the age of cookie deprecation. The same dynamic is at play for almost anyone who visits this page via organic search: their mere interest in the topic, and their intent in seeking out the information, makes them relevant to your brand in some way.
2. Joan clicking on your result near the top of the SERP is a win, not only because it brought her to your content but also because she is smart enough to know what a high-ranking result means: that other searchers have found the content helpful, and that Google deems its source credible and trustworthy.
3. When Joan clicks through to the content, she finds out why these things are true. Your company knows what it’s talking about in this area, and there’s plenty more on your website to explore. She clicks around. She shares content to her team. Your brand has made a salient impression in her mind.

That’s a content experience money can’t buy. Lucky, you didn’t need to – the click was free! Investing up-front in strategic and focused SEO content sets the stage for these kinds of budget-efficient, needle-moving engagements to take place in perpetuity.

Grab your guide to intent-based B2B search strategy

The effectiveness of this approach is no simple hypothesis: At TopRank Marketing, we’ve been watching it pay dividends for big-name B2B brands we partner with each day. The premise is fairly straightforward (and nothing revolutionary) but there are certain key things that you’ve got to get right, and most don’t. By downloading our guide, Marketing with Intent: The Future of SEO and Qualified B2B Traffic, you can unlock tips from our experts and a framework for developing content that ranks for the right keywords. By reaching out to us, you can get started on putting this model into motion with the help of a proven agency partner.

The post Why Intent-Qualified Organic Traffic Will Power the Future of B2B Marketing appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Marketers See Uptick in Business, Google’s New AI Ad Tools, Falling Instagram & Facebook Effectiveness, & LinkedIn’s Video Success

Very Few B2B Salespeople Say They Typically Deal With A Single Decision-Maker 30 percent of B2B salespeople have said that their sales teams generally deal with between two and four people, with seven percent interacting with just one person, while 14 percent pointed to intra-departmental buying committees of five or more people — three of the findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MarketingCharts Some B2B agencies see a spike in business as market conditions remain unclear 46 percent of B2B marketers are placing more emphasis on expanding services with existing customers, with 37 percent increasing marketing budgets to boost market share, as some B2B agencies are seeing an uptick in business, with more marketing tools being put to use to help counter economic uncertainly, and DigiDay takes a look. DigiDay [bctt tweet="“There’s a blurriness between sales and marketing in B2B that you don’t see in consumer ad spending.” — Brian Wieser @BrianWieser" username="toprank"] What B2B Marketing Teams That Outperform the Competition Do Differently 25 percent of B2B marketers at high-performing firms have said that their brand activation efforts are extremely creative, compared to just eight percent of firms in lower-performing categories, while 20 percent at high-performing firms said they had a common plan and worked as a team with sales, compared to some 13 percent noted by lower-performers, according to recently-released survey data. MarketingProfs Google Ads Tests AI To Help You Create Ads Search giant Google has conducted tests that allow artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in the creation of ads within its Google Ads platform, including using the technology to suggest ad headlines and descriptive information, Google recently announced. Search Engine Roundtable The secret sauce behind LinkedIn’s $5bn advertising business Microsoft-owned LinkedIn (client) will reach its 20th birthday during May, and expects to top the one billion user threshold during the next few years, and The Drum has taken a look at how the professional social media platform continues to enhance marketer opportunities specifically in the B2B sector. The Drum Despite All The Hype, Dentsu Survey Finds Just 27% Of Consumers Have Used Generative AI Tools 42 percent of U.S. consumers have said that they are interested in generative AI, while over 70 percent said they believed that brands should disclose its use — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MediaPost New Study Highlights Key Tips for LinkedIn Video Campaigns, Based on Analysis of 16k Campaigns When it comes to what works in LinkedIn video efforts, the inclusion of relevant statistics, data-rich notes, and highlighting key campaign points early on were all seen as helping to increase video engagement rates, according to recently-released joint LinkedIn and VidMob study data. Social Media Today Agencies’ Confidence in Instagram and Facebook’s Effectiveness Wanes 45 percent of marketing agency professionals have said that they are either confident or very confident in Instagram when it comes to driving marketing success during the first quarter of 2023, which is a six percent drop from the same period in 2022, with fellow Meta-owned firm Facebook seeing a drop in confidence from 59 percent last year to 44 percent this year, according to recently-published survey data . MarketingCharts LinkedIn Adds Algorithmically Suggested Posts to Boost Engagement LinkedIn has rolled out expanded suggested posts within its users' content feed, in a move that could increase new and trending content exposure opportunities for brands on the professional platform, LinkedIn recently announced. Social Media Today How Video Consumption is Changing in 2023 [New Research] A robust 91 percent of businesses have said that they utilize video in marketing efforts, with consumers being 52 percent more likely to watch video content than other types, while 66 percent said they had watched video content in order to learn about a product or brand during 2022 — three of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released HubSpot report data. HubSpot ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “Navigating AI Hype” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Facebook Entirely Memorialized Accounts — The Onion TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — This Week in Marketing: Redefining the Qualified Lead — LinkedIn (client)
• Lee Odden — Tips for partnering with a B2B influencer on LinkedIn — CPA Australia

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW: Charlene Li @charleneli Duena Blomstrom @DuenaBlomstrom Efi Pylarinou @efipm Cathy Hackl @CathyHackl Kimberly Bryant @BlackGirlsCode 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 we haven't yet covered? 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 that you'll return next Friday for another assortment 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.

The post Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Marketers See Uptick in Business, Google’s New AI Ad Tools, Falling Instagram & Facebook Effectiveness, & LinkedIn’s Video Success appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

B2B Marketers on the Move: Celebrating Spring 2023 Leadership & Talent Growth

Springtime epitomizes new growth and the possibility for harvesting future successes, and as B2B marketers adjust to the changes that 2023 has brought, the industry continues to offer growth opportunities as well as shifts that often seem to happen so fast that they are difficult to fully appreciate. For over two decades TopRank Marketing has had the honor of helping a diverse selection of the world's top B2B marketers and major global brands elevate and go beyond merely being competitive, to standing out from the crowd with creative and award-winning successes. In 2023 we've increased our focus on elevating through intelligence, relevance, and the kinds of human touches that allows efforts to stand out from the increasing reach of those touched more by artificial intelligence (AI) than by human hands. In this spirit, for over a year now we have regularly made a point of taking the time to honor and congratulate B2B marketing leaders who have recently seen career advancement. When B2B marketers take on new leadership roles, it's only natural to seek out trusted resources that will help professionals in new positions hit the ground running, and TopRank Marketing is honored to have been a go-to B2B content and influencer marketing agency for so many top marketers in new leadership roles. In 2023 we also continue to seek out B2B technology industry influencers advancing in their careers to partner with on compelling and unique content collaborations. We offer heartfelt springtime congratulations to each of the B2B marketing leaders featured in this ninth edition of B2B Marketers on the Move, and extend our thanks for sharing their insightful B2B marketing career advice.

B2B Marketers on the Move: Elevating Springtime B2B Marketing Leaders

Tequia Burt has been promoted to Editor in Chief, LinkedIn Collective & LinkedIn Ads Blog, Senior Content Marketing Manager at LinkedIn*.

Though it’s satisfying and rewarding to be in a place where you are fully in command of your job (hey, I can do this in my sleep!) the minute you find yourself becoming too comfortable, it’s time to shake things up. When you’re not enjoying yourself and learning new things in your work, your career growth will surely stall. Don’t get threatened by something new at work – whether it’s a new process, tool, or manager – embrace change and make it work for you.

Tequia was featured in our "Top 25 B2B Content Marketing Influencers and Experts To Follow #CMWorld 2022." Abby Johnson has been promoted to Senior Director Communications at Gray.

I can’t imagine a more exciting industry to be part of than marketing! Marketing is fun, and sometimes, the fun is forgotten. Stick with your passion, don’t be afraid of hard work, never stop learning, and above all, demonstrate authenticity, care, and compassion.

Abby was featured in our "25 Women Who Rock Social Media – 2014." Geoffrey Colon has been promoted to Senior Director, Digital Marketing at Dell Technologies.

All opportunities are found at intersections where things connect. This requires skills like critical thinking and pattern recognition. Don't try to be 100 percent analytical or 100 percent creative. Strive to be a little of both. Being exposed to different concepts than what we're used to is great at understanding the world around us and how people navigate it. And remember to stay humble, hungry and curious.

Kate Asleson has taken a new position as Marketing Consultant / Sr. Marketing Manager at Antea Group USA. Steve Kearns has been promoted to Group Manager, Global Head of Content, Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn*.

CMOs and CFOs can be an unbeatable team together. You share the language of value: investment, return on investment, expenses, revenue. If you're not working on attribution models that connect your actions to revenue, this is the time to start.

Cecilia Marshall has been promoted to Sênior Director, Americas Marketing for Taulia + SAP | Working Capital Management at SAP. Polina Medvedeva has taken a new position as Head of Marketing at Bits & Pretzels.

My career path was messy. I started by marketing BIO dog food, continued with Gucci shoes, then entered the FinTech world full of fun and fraud, followed by B2B SaaS. Finally, after ten years, I decided to take a break to figure out where and how I wanted to continue developing myself as a marketer. Switching industries is challenging, but it is definitely worth it if you know what you want.

Jared Johnson has taken a new position as Director of Marketing at SalesRiver. Jared was featured in our "50 Top B2B Content Marketing Influencers To Follow in 2021 #CMWorld." Anna Griffin has taken a new position as Chief Market Officer at Commvault.

Every business has to change because the customer expectation is now for that frictionless experience, and that’s going to be required in every interaction they have, particularly now, going into B2B. It’s a fascinating time to be in this next evolution of tech and what’s going to be possible.

Anna was featured in our "50 Influential Women in B2B Marketing Who Rocked in 2020." Jared Del Prete has been promoted to VP Performance Marketing at SmartAsset. Kimberly Krause Berg has taken a new position as Accessibility Design Lead at Bread Financial.

During my own career journey in web design and SEO, I realized the missing piece is the basic right to choose how to navigate our digital environment. Accessibility as a design practice is simply a way to lend a hand so people with disabilities can complete the tasks they want to.

Nick Eubanks has taken a new position as Head of Digital Asset Acquisition at Semrush. Em Seyb has been promoted to Account Executive - Mid Market at Smartsheet.

When considering a move to another organization, the first impression that a sales executive has is with a recruiting team. "Are they responsive? Are they transparent? Are they giving me an accurate view into what the role looks like?" These are the questions I ask myself in the beginning of a process to help evaluate if this could be a good fit for my long-term growth.

David Burnand has taken a new position as Chief Marketing Officer at Staffbase. David was featured in our "12 Ways to Ignite Your B2B Marketing #IgniteB2B." Jess Larkin has taken a new position as Senior Manager Strategic Marketing at Confluent.

Invest in the tools that will enable your strategic marketing team to build and then scale. You have to spend money to make money, I think is a good way to put it, and that's especially true in ABM. We do need tools to be able to get the motions up off the ground, and it's really important to have that budgeted when things are starting off.

Stephen MacIntyre has taken a new position as Senior Digital Marketing Specialist at Grantek.

Success in B2B hinges on customer needs and innovation. Be an empathetic trailblazer, solving their problems with ingenuity. Tackle their challenges, deliver exceptional solutions.

Liana Li Evans has taken a new position as Adobe Analytics Senior Manager at Protiviti. Jennifer Baier Anaya has taken a new position as Senior Vice President Global Marketing at Ingram Micro.

This continuous journey we’re on is all about people, our ecosystem and the experiences and growth we share. My work and personal life are changed for the better because I see what’s possible first, and for that I am so grateful.

Michelle Peterson has taken a new position as Content Marketing Manager at NetSPI.

Show up and say yes! I gained this mentality while volunteering with Minnesota PRSA and MnSearch over the years. It's amazing the opportunities that come your way when you simply show up and say yes. I take this a step further with the commitment to doing what you say you'll do. Show up, say yes, and have follow-through. The sky's the limit with this perspective!

Jamie Gier has taken a new position as Chief Marketing Officer at DexCare.

Create your own personal board of directors. Carefully select trusted individuals who can provide honest feedback, serve as a sounding board for career choices, and connect you to new opportunities. Cultivate these relationships to build a strong support system for your professional growth.

Beverly Jackson has taken a new position as Vice President of Brand and Product Marketing at Zillow.

I will always push for candid and direct feedback in team environments. It’s the best gift when building powerful and effective teams.

Beverly has in featured in our "10 Marketing and Communications Leaders to Inspire You in 2021," and "10 Inspiring B2B Marketers Who Spark Greatness." Rachael Goulet has been promoted to Director, Social Media at Sprout Social.

Here’s to the future of social. Here’s to anyone who wants to carve a career path out of nothing.

Leslie Cozatt has been promoted to VP, B2B Corporate Content Marketing + C-suite Audience Engagement at Optum. Leslie was featured in our "50 Influential Women in Digital Marketing: North Stars & Rising Stars 2016." Sandy Carter has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer at Unstoppable Domains. Sandy was featured in our "50 Influential Women in B2B Marketing Who Rocked in 2020" and "32 Top Social Media Marketing Influencers To Follow." Michael Newman has taken a new position as Vice President Marketing, Demand Gen at ON24.

As the #CreatorEconomy continues to grow, the creators’ voice is growing stronger and it has a simple message for the companies they work for: The end-to-end payment experience is important and we’ll leave if it’s not simple or payment errors persist.

Amanda Todorovich has been promoted to Executive Director, Digital Marketing at Cleveland Clinic.

I want to tell the world that the fight is worth it. That enduring the pain, sweat and struggles of this marathon can mean everything to your customers and can truly change your career, your life. Content marketing is special.

Amanda was featured in our "Top 25 B2B Content Marketing Influencers and Experts To Follow #CMWorld 2022" and "Break Free B2B Series: Amanda Todorovich on Creating Content that Pays Off." LaSandra Brill has been promoted to VP, Global Digital Marketing at NVIDIA.

'What got you here won't get you there' has inspired me since I first heard it at a Women's Unlimited leadership workshop. It serves as a reminder for me to constantly strive for self-improvement while also acknowledging that the rules of the game may change with each step forward.

LaSandra was featured in our "32 Top Social Media Marketing Influencers To Follow." Shannon Sullivan Duffy has taken a new position as Chief Marketing Officer at Asana.

Marketing leaders need to focus their innovation strategy on customer data. Right now, only one in three marketing leaders is satisfied with their ability to reconcile customer identities across data sources. Technologies like customer data platforms will help brands manage data across any channel to get that all-important unified customer profile. And then be able to personalize every interaction for them based on those insights.

Shannon has been featured in our "50 Influential Women in B2B Marketing Who Rocked in 2020."

Thanks To Each of These Inspiring Leaders For Helping Elevate B2B Marketing In 2023

Thanks to each of the talented B2B marketing professionals we've featured here, who have all recently been promoted or taken on new industry positions. We're certain that you'll elevate with intelligence, relevance and a human touch, and reach new heights in your new roles in 2023. You can find our previous edition of B2B Marketers on the Move here, and if you want to talk about how to make your own content spring to life this year, we’re ready to help. *LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing client.

The post B2B Marketers on the Move: Celebrating Spring 2023 Leadership & Talent Growth appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Spring Forward: 3 Ways to Grow Your B2B Content Marketing Garden

For much of the world, spring has sprung. As readers may know, however, TopRank is a Minnesota-based company and — though we all work remotely now — I’ve made the somewhat-questionable decision to remain here in the land of 10,000 lakes. This is what April “spring time” looks like here in Minneapolis. Pictured: a beautiful spring day But despite (or perhaps because) of the fact that my own spring is taking its time outside, within my closed-up, heated apartment, at least one spring is springing: Content marketing in 2023. It’s going to be a very big year for content marketing, with marketers everywhere responding to big and often surprising shifts in our discipline by going back to basics and rethinking their content strategies from the ground up. And it’s the perfect time to do so: to stick to the metaphor, the seeds we sow right now as content marketers will make or break our success in the season to come. So, in the spirit of spring (wherever it may be), let’s discuss a few ways we can all start growing our content gardens right now to ensure a beautiful bloom in 2023 and beyond:

1 — Prune your keyword lists with search intent

These days, most content marketers worth their salt start their process by cooperating with their SEO teams (even if they are their SEO teams) to derive a list of pertinent keywords. While this is still a great place to start, however, it’s not all content marketers should be doing to home in on what their audiences are interested in. Search intent is a fundamental aspect of SEO, but it tends to be a little overlooked in content planning — especially when content marketers have limited time and/or resources to present their initial plans. While keywords alone can tell you what your audience is searching for, they can’t tell you why. That’s what intent is for. By paying attention to search intent from the beginning of your content ideation, you can “prune” down your list of keywords to the most relevant to your goals… and maybe even discover some new subject matter in the process. Focus on keywords with intent you can actually build into your marketing pipeline, such as “commercial” intent keywords or “informational” intent keywords you can use to educate your audience on a Category Entry Point (CEP) they may not have considered before. The more relevant and valuable your initial keywords are, the more relevant each piece of content you produce to support them will be! Before you keep producing, therefore, it’s worth taking a step back this spring to reevaluate how you’re speaking to your audience’s intent. [bctt tweet="“By paying attention to search intent from the beginning of your content ideation, you can prune down your list of keywords to the most relevant… and maybe even discover some new subject matter in the process.” — Harry Mackin @Shiitakeharry" username="toprank"]

2 — Fertilize your content with ongoing care

One of the biggest mistakes even the best content marketers can be guilty of is “firing and forgetting.” We get so wrapped up in producing our next piece of content that we forget about the ones we’ve already sent out the door. This is a problem, because publication is the beginning of a piece of content’s lifecycle, not the end. Whenever you produce a piece of content, it pays to produce a complete strategy and schedule for promoting that content. Experiment with different ways to promote the content: on different channels, at different times of day, tagging different people or using different hashtags, etc. You could even A/B test messaging and individual elements of the content itself to see if you can improve performance within the piece’s lifecycle. Then, you can use your findings to alter current and future promotional strategies. It’s also a good idea to keep paying attention to your results on a daily basis. Even lower performing content may see spikes at different times of day or with different audiences. All the insights you can glean from your analytics tell you something about how to create future content — and even how to better promote the content you’ve already put out. [bctt tweet="“Publication is the beginning of a piece of content’s lifecycle, not the end.” — Harry Mackin @Shiitakeharry" username="toprank"]

3 — Hybridize your content for diversity, strength, and community building

This is going to be big in 2023: according to the Content Marketing Institute, tech marketers are diversifying their content investments in a big way, with up to 74% planning to invest in events and 73% in owned media assets. Short videos will also be a major trend, particularly short videos that are designed to be shared on social media. An even more exciting trend is the way in which a lot of content marketers seem to be embracing content hybridization — that is, producing several different types of content to get at their point. For example, a content marketing team might produce a major owned asset behind a paywall (to get at some of that sweet zero-party data), then proceed to support the release of that asset by breaking into smaller blogs, producing short-form videos to talk through different aspects of the insights contained in it in further detail and context, or even host a remote event where they talk through the findings with the writers or other experts. Discussing larger assets in collaboration with influencers in your industry can be a particularly good way to boost your content’s reach and establish your authority as a thought leader. Producing this kind of hybrid content strategy is a great idea for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s an excellent way to keep your ideas fresh and relevant in the minds and on the feeds of your audience, without simply resharing the same blog again and again. Different people respond to different content mediums in different ways, after all; an audience member you might have missed with a blog could wind up clicking on the video you populate to their feed, then appreciating the video enough to go back and check out the blog! Most importantly, supporting larger content ideas with multiple hybrid approaches also establishes and re-establishes your brand as up-to-date, agile, and passionate about what you’re doing. You’re not just creating content for the sake of content; you’re interested in starting conversations, responding to feedback, and moving the industry forward. By committing to ongoing and diversified support for your biggest content initiatives, you can start a conversation and even build a community around your work. Not only does this lead to much more engagement, but it will improve your brand’s reputation with your most valuable audience. Hopefully, these tips and the exciting opportunities they represent for content helped brighten your day… whether or not spring has actually sprung for you yet. 2023 is shaping up to be a really exciting year for B2B content marketing. If you want to talk about how to make your content spring to life this year, we’re ready to help.

The post Spring Forward: 3 Ways to Grow Your B2B Content Marketing Garden appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Pipeline Study, AI’s Rising Video Use, Google’s New Verification Tools, & What B2B Buyers Want

B2B buyers want purchasing to be more social and entertaining 62 percent of B2B buyers have said that they would like more entertaining online purchasing processes, with 60 percent noting that they plan to increase their use of digital purchasing channels, while over 40 percent will abort an online buying process if it takes more than three seconds — three of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. Digital Commerce 360 B2B Sellers Should Include Financial Data In Emails, Not Sound Robotic: Study 81 percent of B2B sellers said that an understanding of a client's financial performance is important when it comes to engaging executives, while 72 percent reported greater success when such financial data was used, according to recently-released B2B seller survey data. MediaPost Elon Musk and others urge AI pause, citing 'risks to society' A six month development pause on the most powerful new variants of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been urged by over 1,000 AI industry experts — including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak — in an open letter from the non-profit Future of Life Institute, as the rapid pace of AI evolution has caused increasing concern across industry boundaries. Reuters Google Announces The Ads Transparency Center And 2022 Ads Safety Report Search giant Google is launching new advertising transparency data and tools with the global rollout of a new Ads Transparency Center — combining ad data from its Google Search, Display, and YouTube platforms — along with new insights from its most recent Ads Safety Report, Google recently announced. Search Engine Journal Remove Boredom and Frustration from Your Customer Journey Marketers who are able to recognize and overcome customer challenges relating to frustration and boredom along the purchasing path stand to connect with customers on new emotional levels, and the Harvard Business Review takes a look at the power of making new things familiar and familiar things new. Harvard Business Review Digital Not Immune From Current Ad Recession, Falls 2% YTD Overall U.S. advertising spending fell by 6.9 percent during January and February 2023, however the digital segment recorded a decline of just two percent, as digital's share of overall ad spending climbed to 59 percent, according to newly-published Standard Media Index data. MediaPost Is AI the Future of Video Creation? We Asked Wistia's Head of Production AI has seen growing use within video creation, as content creators look to increase efficiency and tap into a new realm of creativity made possible by the nascent technology, and HubSpot recently explored how Wistia's head of production has implemented an AI workflow in the video creation process. HubSpot [bctt tweet="“AI is opening the door to new ideas, new executions, and new visuals that I may not have come up with on my own. It's expanding my creative palette, not just saving me time.” — Chris Lavigne @crlvideo" username="toprank"] Five new ways to verify info with Google Search Google has published new details about its updated “About this result” and other digital information verification tools, as the search giant seeks to bolster its digital fact-checking features and to help pinpoint contextual information gaps and increase information literacy, Google recently announced. Google Zoom is adding new features to compete with Slack, Calendly, Google and Microsoft Zoom has begun rolling out an array of new and updated features, including meeting summaries fueled by AI, whiteboard generation, and Zoom IQ for Sales which offers video call sales data, among other new functionality, Zoom announced recently. TechCrunch To Boost Conversion Rates, B2B Marketers Look to Better Understand Their Pipelines 43 percent of U.S. B2B marketers have said that improving the quality of the leads they gather and the nurturing they perform is a top priority when it comes to increasing conversion rates, with 39 percent pointing to improved pipeline analysis, and 34 percent who pinpointed better having a better understanding of which leads convert in their organization's pipeline — some of the findings included in newly-published survey data of interest to B2B marketers. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “AI Written, AI Read” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Two Hearted IPA’s new campaign celebrates its utter disdain for what’s trending — Ad Age TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lane R. Ellis — This Week in Marketing: Spring Cleaning for Marketing Strategies — LinkedIn (client)
• TopRank Marketing — Manufacturing Best Practices for Influencer Marketing — Industry Today

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW: Jenn Herman @jenns_trends Allen Weiss @allenweiss Ashley Faus @ashleyfaus John Jantsch @ducttape Pam Didner @PamDidner Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry. Have you come across a top B2B marketing news item for the week that we haven't yet covered? 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 come back again next Friday for another selection 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.

The post Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Pipeline Study, AI’s Rising Video Use, Google’s New Verification Tools, & What B2B Buyers Want appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.