Nick Nelson

Break Free B2B Series: Judy Tian on Humanizing B2B Through Influencer Marketing

Nick Nelson on Dec 10th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Video Interviews

As the world’s largest social network for professionals, LinkedIn* lies at the epicenter of people and business. 

Profiles on the platform put a real face on our professional brands, allowing visitors to learn about our interests, career experiences, and personalities. Emphasizing this human element, and creating a genuine sense of community among members, is paramount to LinkedIn’s brand mission according to Marketing Manager Judy Tian. 

“As a platform where so much of people’s job opportunities and personal and professional development takes place,” she says, “we really sought to humanize the brand and make it a more community-based platform, where real stories can be told and people would feel like they have relatable experiences there with others.”


Break Free B2B Series: Judy Tian on Humanizing B2B Through Influencer Marketing
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Ashley Zeckman

10 Top B2B Influencer Marketing Predictions for 2020

Ashley Zeckman on Dec 9th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing Predictions for 2020

In late 2018, B2B influencer marketing was on the industry watch list as predictions for what this year would hold began popping up. And what we saw were some major advancements in what B2B marketers had planned for influencer marketing in 2019 including:

Some of these initiatives rose to the top for 2019, while others got lost in the day-to-day shuffle. However, 2019 was the year that B2B marketers really LEANED IN on influencer marketing in a way they hadn’t before. Many of the predictions from last year have become best practices for some of today’s top brands.


10 Top B2B Influencer Marketing Predictions for 2020
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Lane Ellis

Digital Marketing News: Facebook Launches Viewpoints Market Research Tool, Brand Loyalty Remains High, & Instagram Offers a Glimpse of Feed AI

Lane Ellis on Dec 6th, 2019     Online Marketing News

2019 December 6 MarketingCharts Chart

New Study: 2019 Promo.com Online Video Statistics and Trends [Infographic]
A newly-released study of online video viewing trends offers a slew of statistics of interest to digital marketers, including that 49 percent of people watch more than five videos daily, 67 percent watch the most video using YouTube, followed by Facebook at 26 percent and Instagram with 6 percent. 36 percent watch between two to five videos a day, and 10 percent of respondents said that they watch too many to count, according to the Promo.com study. Promo

Brand loyalty remains high at 89%, driven by product and price rather than service
Loyal customers are the most likely to refer brands to others and to join loyalty programs, while being less likely to engage on social — two of many findings of interest to digital marketers in recently-released survey data, which also showed that product and price drove loyalty more than service. Marketing Land


Digital Marketing News: Facebook Launches Viewpoints Market Research Tool, Brand Loyalty Remains High, & Instagram Offers a Glimpse of Feed AI
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Lane Ellis

5 Marketing Podcasts To Strengthen Your B2B Efforts

Lane Ellis on Dec 4th, 2019     B2B Marketing

Red rivets in steel beams image.

Podcasts are a fantastic way to find new takes and tactics for your B2B marketing. They’re also great for picking up new marketing ideas and getting fresh perspectives you might not otherwise find.

We’ve put together a list of five podcasts that offer marketing insight from a wide array of industry innovators — who share their own stories along with tactics and advice to take your marketing efforts to the next level.

From exploring the B2B content marketing trends that will grow in 2020 to first-person stories of life’s professional and personal adventures, the hosts and guests on these five podcasts have a great deal to share.

Here is our random-order list of five podcasts to help strengthen your B2B marketing efforts in 2020 and beyond.


5 Marketing Podcasts To Strengthen Your B2B Efforts
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Nick Nelson

Break Free B2B Series: John Joyce on Taking B2B Content Marketing Back 2 Basics

Nick Nelson on Dec 3rd, 2019     B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Video Interviews

One of the central tenets of best-answer content is comprehensiveness. Your content needs to fully and artfully answer your buyers’ most burning questions. And as John Joyce and his team at Brennan Industries remind us, sometimes that requires going back to the basics.

It can be all too easy for B2B marketers and brands to get caught up in new trends, industry lingo, and the next big lofty concept in their niche. We grow conversant in these matters on a day-to-day basis. But to assume the same is true for all — or even a majority of — our audience is a mistake, and potentially a costly one.

In the latest entry of our Break Free B2B interview series, John shares how a content strategy rooted in educational content helped yield an 800% increase in leads for his company. 


Break Free B2B Series: John Joyce on Taking B2B Content Marketing Back 2 Basics
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Caitlin Burgess

Our Top B2B Content Marketing Trends & Predictions for 2020

Caitlin Burgess on Dec 2nd, 2019     B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

2020 B2B Content Marketing Trends & Predictions

Well, B2B marketers, it’s that time of year again. The holiday season is in full swing. The countdown to a new year and a new decade has begun. And of course, we’re all channeling our psychic powers, hoping to uncover what 2020 has in store so we can seize opportunities, prepare for challenges, and ultimately improve the effectiveness of our content marketing efforts. 

2019 was a bonding year for elevating experiences, with many B2B marketers making significant investments in interactive content, influencer content collaborations, and multi-faceted campaigns. 2020 will be the year where many brands will cement experience as a strategy.

So, what does this look like in 2020? Below we dive into our top 10 trends and predictions for 2020—each of which have overt or underlying ties to experience.


Our Top B2B Content Marketing Trends & Predictions for 2020
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Lane Ellis

Digital Marketing News: Twitter Test Tweet Scheduling, Google’s Dynamic Gmail Refresh, Facebook’s Lookalike Changes, & Snapchat Grows

Lane Ellis on Nov 29th, 2019     Online Marketing News

2019 November 28 MarketingCharts Chart

Gmail app adds AMP for Email support for Android and iOS
Google has added AMP email support for iOS and Android devices using its popular Gmail app, giving brands new dynamic content options. Marketing Land

Twitter’s Testing Tweet Scheduling Built Into the Tweet Composer
Twitter has begun testing the ability to schedule tweets without the use of third-party tools. As Twitter confirms test, will third-party scheduling tools take a hit? Social Media Today

Facebook to pull location from ad set when creating new Lookalike audiences
Facebook has made several changes to how it allows advertisers to create lookalike target audiences, the firm recently announced. Advertisers should see quicker audience building and setup. Marketing Land


Digital Marketing News: Twitter Test Tweet Scheduling, Google’s Dynamic Gmail Refresh, Facebook’s Lookalike Changes, & Snapchat Grows
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Caitlin Burgess

Grateful and Glad: What the TopRank Marketing Team is Most Thankful For

Caitlin Burgess on Nov 28th, 2019     Digital Marketing, TopRank Agency News

What the TopRank Marketing Team is Most Thankful For in 2019

For centuries, American families and friends have come together on Thanksgiving Day to feast and give thanks for all of life’s beautiful gifts.

But I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again—Thanksgiving isn’t limited to one day in the TopRank Marketing realm. Every day, I see attitudes of gratitude.

To date in 2019, our team has typed the words “thank you” in Slack communications a whopping 7,737 times, and “thanks” 4,113 times.

via GIPHY

As is TopRank Marketing tradition, I’ve asked team members to share what they’re most thankful for in work and in life. Here’s what many had to say.

What the TopRank Marketing Team is Most Thankful for in 2019

Lee Odden

CEO


Grateful and Glad: What the TopRank Marketing Team is Most Thankful For
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Lane Ellis

5 Smart B2C Marketing Tactics To Boost Your B2B Brand

Lane Ellis on Nov 27th, 2019     B2B Marketing

Upward-pointing arrow formed of people.

B2B marketing is swiftly embracing techniques that were once only for B2C, and we’ve got five smart B2C tactics to add to your B2B plans for 2020 and well beyond.

Influencer marketing, engaging interactive content, awards events, chatbots, and podcasting are just some of the ways that today’s savvy B2B marketers can add a healthy dose of the B2C experience to your business marketing efforts.

#1 – Influencer Marketing

Jumping Businessman

Even though influencer marketing is still largely associated with the B2C world, you’ve likely noticed that it’s being increasingly used by smart marketers as a highly successful go-to B2B tactic.

Influencer marketing has already accounted for over $2 billion in annual marketing spending in the U.S. alone, and annual growth rates are predicted to from 41 percent all the way to 95 percent. (AdAge)


5 Smart B2C Marketing Tactics To Boost Your B2B Brand
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Nick Nelson

Break Free B2B Series: Janine Wegner on Building Brand Thought Leadership With the Help of Influencers

Nick Nelson on Nov 26th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Video Interviews

Break Free B2B Marketing Interview with Janine Wenger of Dell Technologies

Influencer marketing is in a state of flux. In the past 10 days alone, I’ve seen suggestions that paid influencers are out, and that “influencer marketing — in the traditional sense — is in the midst of an irreversible fail from grace.”

Neither of these arguments is off the mark, per se, but they both frame the concept in outdated B2C-centric terms (the authors more or less acknowledge this with their qualifiers). No one can deny that the impact of hired celebrity influencers, transparently shilling products or services, is waning. It’s not an approach that builds trust or credibility. 


Break Free B2B Series: Janine Wegner on Building Brand Thought Leadership With the Help of Influencers
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Joshua Nite

For a More Effective B2B Content Strategy, T.H.I.N.K.

Joshua Nite on Nov 25th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

What would you do with an unlimited content marketing budget?

Oh, the eBooks and infographics and blog posts you could make! Video and audio, whitepapers, research papers, guides galore… endless money means endless possibilities.

Okay. Deep breath. Snap back to reality.

James Franco Startled

We’re all working with limited resources to create a finite amount of content to fit into a crowded editorial calendar. 

So how can you make sure you’re making the most of what you have?

How can you know for sure that a proposed content project is worth your while — worth time spent researching, creating, amplifying and optimizing?

It’s simple: T.H.I.N.K.!

Let me explain. My wife is a middle school teacher (a moment of silence for her service). She has this poster on prominent display in her classroom:


For a More Effective B2B Content Strategy, T.H.I.N.K.
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