Online Marketing Blog

Dare to Be Different: 5 Fresh Examples of Innovative B2B Content Marketing

Lane Ellis on Apr 24th, 2019 B2B Marketing

Rainbow umbrella in mass of black umbrellas image.

In a sea of the same old boring black B2B umbrellas, some marketers have unfurled their rainbow parasols and risen above the content marketing crowd. Read on to find and learn from five fresh examples of how daring to be different can lead to innovative and award-winning B2B content marketing.

Using a wide variety of savvy marketing elements including interactive digital storytelling, expert insight, micro-sites, quiz tools, personalized data, psychometric research, artificial intelligence (AI), video, online collaboration, live events, corporate social responsibility (CSR), influencer marketing and more, these campaigns show how B2B firms are successfully using tactics traditionally associated more with B2C.

Savvy B2B marketers know creating campaigns that stand out in today’s rapid-fire barrage of digital messages is more challenging than ever, yet as we’ll see from the stellar content marketing examples below, when done well the results can be outstanding.

Dare to Be Different: 5 Fresh Examples of Innovative B2B Content Marketing

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Inspiring Examples of B2B Influencer Marketing in Action

Lee Odden on Apr 22nd, 2019 B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

While Instagram influencer marketing is expected to hit $8 billion in spend by 2020, the growth trajectory of influencer marketing is not limited to consumer brands.

B2B companies are also realizing the value of collaborating with influential experts for marketing purposes and count the practice as one of the top 4 tactics planned for 2019, according to a study by Spiceworks of B2B tech marketers in North America and Europe.

Many B2B brands are considering engaging influencers for marketing but are not clear on exactly how or what the best practices are. Having worked with B2B brands that range from Dell to SAP to LinkedIn on influencer marketing programs over the past 6 years, I’ve had a chance to dig deep into exactly what makes influencer marketing work for B2B.

Inspiring Examples of B2B Influencer Marketing in Action

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Digital Marketing News: Influencers Try Escapex, Gating B2B Content, YouTube’s Quality Watch Time, & Pinterest Conversions

Lane Ellis on Apr 19th, 2019 Online Marketing News

2019 April 19 StatusBrew Chart

Google-Backed Study Finds People Willing To Trade Sensitive Data For Personalized Media
More than a quarter of U.S. and U.K. consumers are willing to share some location, purchase history, and banking information with smart voice assistants, while 46 percent are also willing to share their media usage history, according to new survey data from Google and the National Research Group (NRG). MediaPost

Using Trust as the Driving Force Behind Marketing Strategies
61 percent of millennials are concerned about global conditions and feel personally responsible for making a difference, one of several signals of increasing opportunities for greater trust and brand integrity in marketing, and Adweek takes a close look. Adweek

Digital Marketing News: Influencers Try Escapex, Gating B2B Content, YouTube’s Quality Watch Time, & Pinterest Conversions

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Everything Old Is New Again: Why & How to Refresh B2B Content

Anne Leuman on Apr 18th, 2019 B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

Content creation—it’s the linchpin of our B2B content marketing strategies. And 56% of B2B content marketers have upped their investment in content creation over the past year—more than any other spending area.

Without a steady cadence of fresh, quality content we can’t proactively adapt to our audience’s changing needs nor consistently reach, inform, engage, entertain, or inspire action within them. And for most content marketers, this effort is often grounded in creating net-new content. But freshness is the eye of the beholder; quality content creation doesn’t have to be done from scratch.

Refreshing existing content is a massive opportunity, playing an integral role within your always-on content marketing strategy. It’s not only more efficient to produce, but when done strategically, it can also boost results, improve user experience, and extend the life and relevance of the content you’ve worked so hard to produce.

Everything Old Is New Again: Why & How to Refresh B2B Content

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Why Twitter Lists Are Still a Great Tool for B2B Marketers

Lane Ellis on Apr 17th, 2019 Twitter

B2B marketers can benefit in numerous ways by taking full advantage of the power of Twitter lists. Whether it’s showing respect for and nurturing prospective clients, engaging current clients and fans, or helping to build trust in marketing, smartly putting Twitter’s many list features to use offers potentially large and oftentimes overlook advantages.

Twitter By the Tape

Why should B2B marketers care about using Twitter? Here are some recent statistics:

With over 321 million monthly active users worldwide including 66 million is the U.S., Twitter is among the top tier of social media platforms (Statista)
Twitter’s fourth-quarter 2018 revenue reached $909 million
Advertising revenue climbed to $791 million, a 23% increase for the quarter
85% of B2B marketers use Twitter to distribute content (Statusbrew)

Why Twitter Lists Are Still a Great Tool for B2B Marketers

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Trust Factors: How Best Answer Content Fuels Brand Credibility

Nick Nelson on Apr 16th, 2019 B2B Marketing

Page one. Answer box. The top result. In the minds of marketers, these prime destinations have largely been associated with SEO success.

From the days of keyword-stuffing and algorithmic alignment to more nuanced modern approaches accounting for semantic voice commands, influencer integration, and search intent, edging competitors on that SERP has been a key source of aspiration. As it should be: heightened visibility on Google makes a big difference in terms of driving traffic.

But it’s a little short-sighted to think only about that first, fleeting interaction — the search, the discovery, the click. What about the deeper impact? As customer experience becomes a central focus for brands everywhere, we should be more considerate of what happens after a user clicks through that search result, and how it affects your brand.

Trust Factors: How Best Answer Content Fuels Brand Credibility

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Digital Marketing News: B2B’s AI Questions, Marketers Struggle with Personalization, Nielsen’s Neuroscience, & Brands Try Twitch

Lane Ellis on Apr 12th, 2019 Online Marketing News

2019 April 12 Pew Chart

Corporate America can’t afford to ignore Gen Z
U.S. Gen Z members tend to spend their money with businesses that align with their values, respond positively to autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) advertising, and prefer online subscription and customization, according to new research survey data of interest to digital marketers. BNN Bloomberg

Why More and More Brands Are Getting Into the Streaming Game on Twitch
Twitch, which Amazon acquired in 2014 for $970 million, has seen increasing numbers of brands advertising on the streaming platform, and recently some have been moving from traditional ad formats to the in-game action itself, a new area of opportunity for digital marketers. Adweek

Digital Marketing News: B2B’s AI Questions, Marketers Struggle with Personalization, Nielsen’s Neuroscience, & Brands Try Twitch

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5 Essential Questions to Guide Your B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy

Ashley Zeckman on Apr 11th, 2019 Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Online Marketing

Greetings friend! If you’re here, I assume it’s for one of three reasons:

You’re interested in the concept of influencer marketing and want to identify if it’s a fit for your B2B brand.
You’re dabbling in influencer marketing and are looking for ways to formalize your strategy.
You fell down some crazy internet rabbit hole and you aren’t quite sure how you got here.

Regardless of the reason, I’m happy you’re here.

Today, we’re going to dig into five essential questions that many B2B marketers are asking themselves about influencer marketing—everything from what it actually is (very important) to how to gain leadership buy-in and show value.

So dig in, enjoy the ride and be sure to add any of your own questions in the comments!

5 Essential Questions to Guide Your B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy

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20 Podcasts To Elevate Your B2B Marketing

Lane Ellis on Apr 10th, 2019 B2B Marketing

Gaining insight, advice, and new perspectives from top B2B marketing industry leaders is an incredible way to help scale your marketing skills and efforts to new heights. And podcasts, which are exploding in availability and popularity, can be a fantastic medium for getting access to those talented and seasoned industry leaders.

From the emerging B2B marketing trends to heartfelt stories of life’s great successes and bitter failures, there is so much we can learn by listening to people who have persevered and thrived. And lucky for you, we’ve compiled 20 of the best podcasts for B2B marketers right here.

via GIPHY

20 Podcasts To Elevate Your B2B Marketing

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How to Get It Done: Project Management Tips for Content Marketing Managers

Nick Nelson on Apr 9th, 2019 B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

When I was in high school, we had a science class project in which we were grouped into teams, and tasked with building a catapult. Whichever contraption could launch a tennis ball the farthest would win the contest.

We quickly learned that the hardest part wasn’t constructing the actual catapult. It was wrangling all the team members, divvying up assignments, and keeping a collective group of energetic teenagers on track. In hindsight, maybe that was the point.

Managing Content Marketing Projects and People

Content marketing managers deal with these types of responsibilities on a daily basis. There are so many roles and functions typically involved with a time bound content initiative that we often must act as project managers, facilitating collaboration and ensuring that everyone is in a position to succeed.

How to Get It Done: Project Management Tips for Content Marketing Managers

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