Lane Ellis

Digital Marketing News: Instagram Tests Hiding Likes, Brand Trust Priorities Report, & Facebook’s New Brand Tools

Lane Ellis on Nov 15th, 2019     Online Marketing News

2019 November 15 MarketingCharts Chart

Instagram Will Begin Hiding Total Like Counts for US Users from Next Week
Instagram is slated to start hiding the number of likes that posts have acquired in a forthcoming test. In areas where it’s already been tested, total Instagram like counts have dropped, study data has shown. Social Media Today

Female marketer leadership at ‘all time high,’ says ANA study
The number of women holding leadership marketing jobs may be at an all-time high, according to recently-released study data from the Association of National Advertisers. Women accounted for 52 percent of senior-level marketers and 47 percent of CMOs among ANA member firms, the study showed. Campaign US


Digital Marketing News: Instagram Tests Hiding Likes, Brand Trust Priorities Report, & Facebook’s New Brand Tools
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Kelly Hogan

Break Free B2B Series: Clare Carr on Using Data to Drive Content Marketing Success

Kelly Hogan on Nov 14th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Video Interviews

TopRank Marketing Interviews Clare Carr, VP of Marketing at Chief

Intertwined from the start. For marketing executive Clare Carr, digital marketing and data have been a packaged deal since the beginning of her career. But for most marketers, while data is plentiful, leveraging that data (and diriving actionable insights to improve content strategy) is an evolving challenge. Most of us are just beginning to scratch the surface of our data’s potential.

But according to Clare, who spent more than six years at content analytics platform Parse.ly, data can do more than help us optimize performance “after the fact.” Data can help us build our brand. Data can help us become better storytellers. Data can help us grab attention.


Break Free B2B Series: Clare Carr on Using Data to Drive Content Marketing Success
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Lane Ellis

5 B2B Brands Innovating with AR & AI Marketing

Lane Ellis on Nov 13th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Visual Marketing

Successful corporate team of partners and coworkers.

Augmented reality and artificial intelligence aren’t just for B2C marketers anymore, and as we move into 2020 we’re likely to see a new decade of B2B that keeps moving farther away from “Boring-To-Boring” and towards more to B2C-like experiences. AR and AI are a key part of what consumers increasingly expect to find in those experiences.

The swiftly rising number of mixed-reality consumer app installations is expected to jump from 3 billion to 10 billion by 2024, with associated ad spending forecast to climb from $2 billion in 2019 to $11 billion, according to new Juniper Research data.

While AR and AI in consumer-facing efforts keeps expanding with a full head of steam, such as Warner Bros. first-ever embedded AR for its upcoming “Scoob!” film trailer and mobile app, many in the B2B landscape have scarcely begun to tap into the AI-infused technology available.


5 B2B Brands Innovating with AR & AI Marketing
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Kelly Hogan

Break Free B2B Series: Brody Dorland on Creating Long-Lasting Content Marketing Strategy

Kelly Hogan on Nov 12th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Video Interviews

An Interview with Brody Dorland of DivvyHQ

We’re ready to release another insightful interview as a part of our Break Free B2B series, this time with Brody Dorland, co-founder of the popular content planning platform, Divvy HQ. Brody is a self-described data geek. He believes data is a crucial component of successful content marketing.

The platform that he co-created is all about bringing data, structure, and strategy into content marketing. We feel that he’s a practitioner who is uniting that data side with the creative side within B2B content marketing. That’s why we were so excited to sit down with him for a few minutes and pick his brain.

We not only spoke about what B2B content marketers can start doing to boost the success of their content marketing initiatives, but also gain insight into where B2B content marketing is headed in the future.


Break Free B2B Series: Brody Dorland on Creating Long-Lasting Content Marketing Strategy
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Lane Ellis

Digital Marketing News: FTC’s Influencer Guide, Twitter’s New Topic Following, Facebook’s Icebreakers, AR Tops Innovation List, & TikTok’s Easier Sharing

Lane Ellis on Nov 8th, 2019     Online Marketing News

2019 November 8 MarketingCharts Chart

B2B Marketers Are Prioritizing Measurement and Analytics Technologies
83 percent of B2B marketers expect to increase their focus on data analytics in 2020, and 69 percent plan to also make measurement technologies their top investment priority next year, according to newly-released survey data from Dun & Bradstreet and Adweek. MarketingCharts

Twitter Launches New Option to Follow Specific Topics, in Addition to User Accounts
Twitter has begun rolling out the ability to follow some 300 new curated topic lists, in the form of timeline and search prompts, with a full launch slated for November 13, the social media firm recently announced. Social Media Today


Digital Marketing News: FTC’s Influencer Guide, Twitter’s New Topic Following, Facebook’s Icebreakers, AR Tops Innovation List, & TikTok’s Easier Sharing
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Kelly Hogan

Break Free B2B Series: Amisha Gandhi on Global B2B Influencer Marketing

Kelly Hogan on Nov 7th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Break Free B2B Interview with Amisha Gandhi

Amisha Gandhi is the VP of Influencer Marketing & Communications for SAP Ariba & SAP Fieldglass. She is a sought-after speaker, and in this video — fresh off of a workshop presentation at MarketingProfs B2B Forum that absolutely rocked — she shares fascinating ideas about how to make an ongoing B2B influencer content marketing program not only work but drive organizational change and success. With that said, check out the full interview below.

Below are some of our favorite insights from the chat between Amisha and our president and co-founder Susan Misukanis.

Sue: I’ll always get calls from B2B marketers who say they want to deploy the Kardashian model for their long-tale, B2B influencer program that is still in its infancy, and I feel like I need to redirect. What are your thoughts on that?


Break Free B2B Series: Amisha Gandhi on Global B2B Influencer Marketing
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Lane Ellis

Classic Marketing Insights to Celebrate the Internet’s 50th Birthday

Lane Ellis on Nov 6th, 2019     Online Marketing

High-tech image of Earth from space with connected communication lines.

The collection of technologies that make it possible for you to read this are now 50 years old, as the Internet recently celebrated its first half-century milestone, and we wanted to mark the occasion by sharing a selection of top digital marketing and tech insights from the 1960s to 2020 and beyond.

Starting with the 1960s and working our way through the 2010s, we’ll explore some of the classic technology and marketing that has become synonymous with the Internet, and we’ll also look ahead to an unknown but surely fascinating future.

Decade 1 — The 1960s

The 1960s.

On October 29, 1969 the first online message was sent, between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute, using ARPANET — which would eventually morph into the Internet we know today.


Classic Marketing Insights to Celebrate the Internet’s 50th Birthday
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Kelly Hogan

Break Free B2B Series: Amanda Todorovich on Creating Content that Pays Off

Kelly Hogan on Nov 5th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Online Marketing

Amanda Todorovich is the Senior Director of Health Content at Cleveland Clinic. That title kind of undersells what she did over there. She turned a neglected blog into a revenue stream. That’s right –  something that is generating money and is getting over 7 million visitors a month. Now Amanda is a true believer, like our agency, in the power of audience-centered content.

She is living proof that investing in this kind of content pays off. Join us in learning more from Amanda. She is one of the leading lights and is at the vanguard of next-generation content marketers, and we are thrilled to speak with her. View the entire interview below.

Below are a few of our favorite snippets from the interview.


Break Free B2B Series: Amanda Todorovich on Creating Content that Pays Off
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Nick Nelson

How B2B Marketers Can Build Their Personal Brands on Social Media

Nick Nelson on Nov 4th, 2019     B2B Marketing, Social Media

For some marketers, it’s second nature. For others, it’s uncomfortable territory. But no matter your predisposition, there’s no denying that personal brand-building is an essential skill in today’s B2B marketing environment. 

It’s also fun! Cultivating your social media brand offers an opportunity to tie your own interests, passions, and perspectives into your professional identity. 

Let’s explore why this is such an important focus for modern marketing practitioners, how to get it right, and how business leaders can encourage it.

Why Your Personal Brand on Social Media Matters as a Marketer

The list could go on endlessly, but at a high level, the rationale for personal brand-building on social media boils down to three key factors.


How B2B Marketers Can Build Their Personal Brands on Social Media
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Lane Ellis

Digital Marketing News: Google Gets Adaptive Banners, LinkedIn Engagement Climbs, Mixed Mobile Reality Grows, & Forrester’s New B2B Predictions

Lane Ellis on Nov 1st, 2019     Online Marketing News

2019 October 25 Kenshoo Chart

30% of B2B marketers own up to delivering a ‘poor’ digital experience
Legacy system and lack of funding have led 30 percent of B2B marketers to delivering poor digital customer experiences, according to newly-released survey data, with 54 percent also noting that disjointed technology has held back their efforts. The Drum

Global B2B Firms Say It’s Tough Producing Content
71 percent of B2B marketers said they face more competition than five years ago, and 51 percent of B2B decision makers also said that poor product information and content has been their leading challenge — two of several findings in recently-released study data of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost


Digital Marketing News: Google Gets Adaptive Banners, LinkedIn Engagement Climbs, Mixed Mobile Reality Grows, & Forrester’s New B2B Predictions
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Caitlin Burgess

Trick or Treat: The Spellbinding Marketing Sweets the TopRank Team Can’t Resist

Caitlin Burgess on Oct 31st, 2019     B2B Marketing, Digital Marketing

Spellbinding Marketing Sweets the TopRank Team Can’t Resist

Admit it. On Halloween night, the fierce competitor within you sprinted from home to home to claim as much sugary bounty as your pillowcase could carry. But the loyalist and purist in you was on the hunt for a specific candy treat. A treat that put all the rest to shame; a treat that always hit the sweet spot.

via GIPHY

For me, that coveted treat was: the Almond Joy. Sweetened coconut. Crunchy almonds. Smooth milk chocolate. Devilishly delicious, but ghoulishly elusive amongst a sea of KitKat- and Snickers-purchasing households. (Here’s to you, organic reach on Facebook.)

As marketers, we all have our favorites. From tactical techniques that sweeten our marketing mix to the integration of marketing elements to tantalize our audience’s taste buds, the TopRank Marketing team weighs in on both fun- and king-size marketing treats they can’t resist.


Trick or Treat: The Spellbinding Marketing Sweets the TopRank Team Can’t Resist
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