B2B Marketing Blog

What Recent Data Shows About The Rising Importance of Human Touch-Points in B2B Marketing

Lane Ellis on Jan 30th, 2023
B2B Marketing

Are the human touch-points we use everyday as B2B marketers taking on greater importance in the face of record levels of digital content touched only by artificial intelligence (AI)?

Facing increasing automation from ChatGPT and other AI-infused tools, B2B marketers are taking a closer look at our truly human touch-points to differentiate in the unique year that 2023 is shaping up to be.

While savvy B2B marketers are sparingly using the power of AI to do more with less, some less sophisticated strategies have turned solely to AI-generated content, making differentiation between human and AI service more important than ever.

Let’s take a look at what recently-published data from industry reports and surveys can tell us about the rising importance of human touch-points in B2B marketing.

What Recent Data Shows About The Rising Importance of Human Touch-Points in B2B Marketing

Elevate B2B Marketing News: LinkedIn Tops 900M Members, Microsoft’s Growing OpenAI Investment, & New Global Digital Trends Report

Lane Ellis on Jan 27th, 2023
Online Marketing News

LinkedIn Now Up to 900 Million Members, Continues to See ‘Record Levels’ of Engagement
Microsoft’s latest quarterly performance report has revealed that its LinkedIn (client) professional social network has topped the 900 million member mark and seen record levels of engagement, with the number of user sessions expanding by 18 percent, accompanied by revenue that grew by 10 percent during the most recent quarter year-over-year, and a ten-fold increase in newsletter creation on the platform, Microsoft recently announced. Social Media Today

2023 Global Digital Report [Meltwater / We Are Social]
During 2022 some $27.51 billion was spent on online influencer activities, which was a 20.4 percent increase year-over-year, while influencer advertising represented 4.1 percent of total digital advertising spending during 2022, a rise of 4.6 percent year-over-year, with 71 percent of brands having said that they expect influencers to play a bigger role in 2023, according to newly-released data from Meltwater’s Digital 2023 Global Overview Report. Meltwater

Elevate B2B Marketing News: LinkedIn Tops 900M Members, Microsoft’s Growing OpenAI Investment, & New Global Digital Trends Report

B2B Marketers on the Move: Spotlighting New Leadership & Talent To Kick Off 2023

Lane Ellis on Jan 25th, 2023
B2B Marketing

As B2B marketers adjust to the changes that 2023 brings, the industry continues to offer growth opportunities as well as shifts that often seen to happen so fast that they are difficult to fully appreciate.

For more than two decades now, TopRank Marketing has had the please of helping a wide variety 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 place increased focus on elevating through intelligence, relevance, and the type of humanization 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 more than a year now we have regularly made a point of taking the time to congratulate and honor B2B marketing leaders who have recently seen career advancement.

B2B Marketers on the Move: Spotlighting New Leadership & Talent To Kick Off 2023

5 Steps For Aligning B2B Brands With Customers’ Changing Needs

Harry Mackin on Jan 23rd, 2023
B2B Marketing

When you were getting started in B2B marketing or selling, did you suspect you’d be selling your product more or less the same way for years at a time, or maybe for even longer?

What a sweet dream that was. But a few years in B2B shook you awake.

The truth is, the B2B consumer doesn’t just change as quickly as the B2C consumer; they actually change considerably faster. Your B2B customer’s needs are constantly morphing and evolving just as fast as their industry develops, their competition stiffens, and new technologies enter the fore.

The B2B brand that keeps its existing customers and brings in new ones has to evolve even faster than its customers. As a B2B marketer or B2B salesperson, your job is to understand what your customer’s need just as quickly (or even faster than) they realize they need it and demonstrate that you can provide it.

5 Steps For Aligning B2B Brands With Customers’ Changing Needs

Elevate B2B Marketing News: Business Sector Tops Trust Barometer, Digital-First Changes CX, Top Brand Challenges, & Google’s AI Plans

Lane Ellis on Jan 20th, 2023
Online Marketing News

2023 Edelman Trust Barometer: Business is only institution viewed as ethical, competent
62 percent of global respondents in Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer have said that they place the most trust in businesses, topping the 59 percent achieved by second-place category non-governmental organizations (NGOs), achieving top marks for both competency and ethical factors, according to data from the newly-published survey. PRWeek

Gartner Survey: 84% Of Leaders Cite Customer Data & Analytics As ‘Very Or Extremely Important’ For Achieving Goals
84 percent of both B2B and B2C leaders have noted that they consider customer analytics and data as very or extremely important in reaching 2023 organizational goals, while 80 percent have highlighted the importance of increasing digital channel effectiveness — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released report data. Demand Gen Report

Elevate B2B Marketing News: Business Sector Tops Trust Barometer, Digital-First Changes CX, Top Brand Challenges, & Google’s AI Plans

Standing Out From AI: Why Humanizing B2B Marketing Is Key In 2023

Lane Ellis on Jan 18th, 2023
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

How can B2B marketers craft content that truly stands out from the growing volume of information that may be touched more by artificial intelligence (AI) than human hands?

Faced with increasing automation from ChatGPT and other AI-infused tools, B2B marketers are seeing human touch-points taking on greater importance, as they become a key differentiator in 2023.

When used as a tool that is only one part of a broad strategy, ChatGPT and other AI technology offer B2B marketers certain advantages — as we explored recently in “The Prompt Whisperer: ChatGPT’s Rising Reach In B2B Marketing & The AI Revolution,” however big questions and challenges arise when human elements are excluded.

Standing Out From AI: Why Humanizing B2B Marketing Is Key In 2023

The Sweet Spot for Getting to Know B2B Influencers

Debbie Friez on Jan 16th, 2023
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Blind pitching rarely works. It sometimes works, but not to the level you need for a meaningful relationship. For real success in B2B influencer marketing, a real relationship is needed.

What motivates influencers to work with a B2B brand? Ann Handley, chief content officer at MarketingProfs, said in the TopRank Marketing 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report she has to “Feel rapport with the brand and with the people behind the brand,” and “Like the people I work directly with.”

Finding that sweet spot where you can have a meaningful conversation and rapport with top thought leaders is where you will find real success in B2B influencer marketing. It’s just like knowing that that one place your kitten will let you pet, the one he likes more than anything, so you can make him purr on demand. That’s when you have found the sweet spot.

The Sweet Spot for Getting to Know B2B Influencers

Elevate B2B Marketing News: Rising B2B Tech Investment, ChatGPT Goes Pro, Top Marketing Word Study, & New Global Ad Spend Data

Lane Ellis on Jan 13th, 2023
Online Marketing News

B2B Marketers Prioritizing Data and Technology to Succeed in 2023
86 percent of B2B marketers have said they will invest more in technology during 2023 that they did in 2022, with 36 percent planning major increases, while 46 percent noted that centralizing and unifying data were their top priorities for making better use of data in the coming year, according to recently-released Association of National Advertisers (ANA) survey data. ANA

Microsoft eyes $10 billion bet on ChatGPT
Microsoft has reportedly been in talks to invest $10 billion in the OpenAI research organization — the group behind the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot technology — funding that would value OpenAI at some $29 billion, and eventually see Microsoft holding a 49 percent stake in the organization. Semafor

Elevate B2B Marketing News: Rising B2B Tech Investment, ChatGPT Goes Pro, Top Marketing Word Study, & New Global Ad Spend Data

The Prompt Whisperer: ChatGPT’s Rising Reach In B2B Marketing & The AI Revolution

Lane Ellis on Jan 11th, 2023
B2B Marketing

How is ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot technology poised to revolutionize B2B marketing in 2023, and what dangers do marketers and brands need to navigate in order to make the most of it?

For a prototype that launched a mere two months ago, ChatGPT — which is short for generative pre-trained transformer — has initiated a surprising explosion in how people are putting the technology to use.

It’s also raised new questions that touch on the very fabric of online communication.

Let’s take a look at the technology ChatGPT and various offshoot programs offer, including some of the very real benefits it offers to B2B marketers, along with an assortment of pitfalls to avoid.

The Prompt Whisperer: ChatGPT’s Rising Reach In B2B Marketing & The AI Revolution

How Influencer Marketing Can Drive a Full Funnel Content Strategy

Joshua Nite on Jan 9th, 2023
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

In case you’re new to the blog, our agency is pretty sold on B2B influencer marketing. Now, when we say influencer marketing, we’re not talking about tanned and toned Gen Z’ers sitting poolside, endorsing your SaaS solution. At least not for your first campaign.

No, influence in B2B is all about value and credibility:

Your brand lends credibility & new audience to influencers
Influencers lend credibility & new audience to your brand
Both audiences get trustworthy, valuable content

As our recent report shows, B2B marketers are steadily increasing their influencer marketing sophistication. But despite the progress, many still think of it as an exclusively upper-funnel tactic.

Just like content marketing, however, influencer marketing works better with a full-funnel approach.

How Influencer Marketing Can Drive a Full Funnel Content Strategy

Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Visual Search, ABM Use Rises, LinkedIn’s New B2B Search Features, & Google’s New Headline Limits

Lane Ellis on Jan 6th, 2023
Online Marketing News

The Top Strategies B2B Marketers Plan to Explore in 2023
42 percent of B2B marketers have indicated that they plan to explore artificial intelligence (AI) marketing and sales strategies more in 2023, with 32 percent pinpointing video marketing, and 30 percent influencer marketing — the top three new strategies B2B marketers are looking to use more this year, according to newly-publishing survey data. MarketingProfs

LinkedIn Previews New Job and B2B Product Search Options Coming in 2023
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has previewed an array of new features the professional social media platform plans to implement in 2023, including better search options and new job filtering criteria, LinkedIn (client) recently announced. Social Media Today

Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Visual Search, ABM Use Rises, LinkedIn’s New B2B Search Features, & Google’s New Headline Limits

How to Create Memorable B2B Experiences for When Your Prospect Is Ready to Buy

Nick Nelson on Jan 4th, 2023
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

The concept of jogging someone’s memory seems, on its surface, like an unscientific and inscrutable undertaking.

Memories and mental associations pop up at random. Right? The smell of a bakery reminds you of grandma’s cinnamon rolls. The color of a street sign invokes your old high school colors and jovial pep rallies. A friend’s choice of words causes you to blurt out a line from a classic comedy movie.

The thing is, these moments aren’t random. The memories are physically stored in your brain, and the scenarios and experiences that took place caused them to trigger in your consciousness.

Understanding this cause-and-effect relationship holds the key to effective B2B marketing that bridges brand with demand and leads to sustainable customer pipelines.

How to Create Memorable B2B Experiences for When Your Prospect Is Ready to Buy