Alexis Hall

How Collaborating with Influencers Can Help You Save the Day and Change the World of Marketing

Alexis Hall on Nov 19th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

Influencer marketing is a phrase on the tip of most marketer’s tongues, but many are still struggling to figure out exactly what it means in the context of their B2B business and how to implement.

At last week’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum in San Francisco, TopRank Marketing’s Ashley Zeckman took the stage to help set the influencer marketing story straight and provide insights into what it REALLY takes to develop a successful B2B influencer marketing program.

Why the Sudden Need for Influencer Marketing?

Trust in marketers has fallen. In fact, a recent study by HubSpot found that only 3% of people trust marketers (just over lobbyists and politicians). And B2B marketers specifically are facing the worst of it. MarketingProfs and CMI’s most recent report found that only 51% of B2B marketers state that their marketing is moderately successful and 61% of them still don’t have a document content strategy.


How Collaborating with Influencers Can Help You Save the Day and Change the World of Marketing
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Ashley Zeckman

How Dell, SAP and Dun & Bradstreet Collaborate with Influencers to Scale Successful B2B Content #MPB2B

Ashley Zeckman on Nov 16th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

This week at MarketingProfs B2B forum, some of my favorite influencer marketers took the stage for a lively discussion on how they’ve been able to scale content creation by collaborating with influencers.

The panel was led by TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden and included the following rockstar marketers:

Dr. Konstanze Alex – Head of Corporate Influencer Relations, Dell

Amisha Gandhi – Vice President, Influencer Marketing, SAP Ariba

Luciana Moran – Senior Vice President, Content & Creative, Dun & Bradstreet

If you’re interested in influencer marketing, then you’re in for a real treat. In this post, I’ll outline some of the best insights for B2B influencer success. But first, let’s look at WHY influencer marketing is a must-have for B2B marketers.


How Dell, SAP and Dun & Bradstreet Collaborate with Influencers to Scale Successful B2B Content #MPB2B
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Lane Ellis

Digital Marketing News: LinkedIn Gets Events & Objective-Based Ad Features, Growing Nanoinfluencers, & MarTech Trends

Lane Ellis on Nov 16th, 2018     Online Marketing News

2018 November 16 News Buffer Chart Image

We Analyzed 15,000 Instagram Stories from 200 of the World’s Top Brands (New Stories Research)
A new study from social media management platform Buffer takes a close look into Instagram Stories and how 200 leading global brands are utilizing the popular feature. Buffer

LinkedIn Introduces Public Beta of Objective-Based Advertising in Campaign Manager
LinkedIn has unveiled objective-based advertising for its Campaign Manager, with a slew of features and easier campaign creation functionality. LinkedIn (client)

Are You Ready for the Nanoinfluencers?
The New York Times takes a close look at the increasingly wide scope of nanoinfluencers in the social media and marketing landscape. The New York Times

The Top Factors That Slow B2B Purchases
Data from a recent B2B survey revealed that lack of information was the leading factor slowing down purchases, one of several insights relevant to digital marketers. MarketingProfs


Digital Marketing News: LinkedIn Gets Events & Objective-Based Ad Features, Growing Nanoinfluencers, & MarTech Trends
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Alexis Hall

Webinars That Wow: 5 Tips for Create Engaging Webinars #MPB2B

Alexis Hall on Nov 15th, 2018     Marketing PR Conferences, MarketingProfs B2B Forum, Online Marketing

Creating Engaging Webinar Experiences

Think about it. Do you enjoy being marketed to?

As marketers, we love our jobs; we love marketing. But like anyone else, it’s safe to say that we don’t enjoy receiving cold pitch emails, or downloading gated white papers, or spotting that “Request a Demo” ad for the 10th time.

As Mark Bornstein, Vice President of Content Marketing at ON24, said during his Keys to Engagement Driven Webinars session at MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum 2018, we’ve a reached a tipping point.

While the channels have changed, marketers are still very much relying on passive tactics that simply don’t engage. Modern audiences want to learn, but they also want to be inspired. And our professional expectations are very much evolving alongside our personal lives. With the Netflix model, we can choose to consume the content we want, when we want to.


Webinars That Wow: 5 Tips for Create Engaging Webinars #MPB2B
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Alexis Hall

How High Impact Marketers Approach Marketing Strategy #MPB2B

Alexis Hall on Nov 15th, 2018     B2B Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

Planning for 2019 is well underway and most marketers are asking themselves if their plan will really impact results. Many marketers start with goal revenue numbers. And from there, work backwards to corresponding goals for leads, channels, tactics and audience targets. Unfortunately, the words that no marketer wants to hear ring clear from leadership: do more with less budget.

So how can you do more with less? How can you ensure success in the ever-changing landscape of the B2B consumer?

Samantha Stone, the Founder of the Marketing Advisory Network, suggests that marketers flip the usual model for 2019 planning. If you start with marketing strategy,  you can stop doing “more” and instead focus on a few tactics your team executes incredibly well, that can have a significant impact on the organization.


How High Impact Marketers Approach Marketing Strategy #MPB2B
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Ashley Zeckman

How B2B Marketers Can Drive Growth in the Age of Assistance #MPB2B

Ashley Zeckman on Nov 14th, 2018     B2B Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

One of the key themes for this year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum is the importance of ongoing learning. And part of learning is growing. And part of growing means stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Gopi Kallayil, the Chief Evangelist for Brand Marketing at Google opened his morning keynote by encouraging the audience to do things that make you uncomfortable. And to prove his point, he involved the ENTIRE audience. How?

He started by asking the audience to raise their hand if they were either a fan of or expert Bollywood dancers themselves. Then, he asked all those people to join him on stage. Here’s proof that it worked:


How B2B Marketers Can Drive Growth in the Age of Assistance #MPB2B
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Lane Ellis

50 B2B Marketing Influencers and Experts to Follow Into 2019

Lane Ellis on Nov 14th, 2018     B2B Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

B2B Marketing Influencers 2018

MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2018 is here, as some of the world’s savviest B2B marketing leaders and innovators come together in San Francisco for a much-anticipated conference.

To help business marketers find helpful voices to learn from, we’ve sorted through the nearly 100 excellent speakers and are thrilled to publish our annual list of B2B marketing influencers speaking at MarketingProfs B2B Forum.

List Methodology: First, we pulled the list of all speakers from the MarketingProfs website. Then we added those speakers to the Traackr influencer marketing platform to crawl each speakers’ respective social profiles and start tracking their content and the impact of that content amongst their networks. Using Traackr’s algorithm for ranking, we then sorted the speakers according to their respective social influence: reach, relevance, resonance, and audience metrics.


50 B2B Marketing Influencers and Experts to Follow Into 2019
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Ashley Zeckman

7 Must-See #MPB2B Sessions Plus Exclusive Insights From Top B2B Marketing Speakers

Ashley Zeckman on Nov 13th, 2018     Influencer Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum, Online Marketing

The air is crisp and the leaves have fallen which means it’s time for one of my favorite Fall events: MarketingProfs B2B Forum.

Each year, B2B marketers from around the globe gather for this epic event. And this year, the forum is moving to San Francisco (we’ll miss you Boston) for the very first time.

At the conference, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden will be guiding an expert panel of B2B influencer marketers who will dig into what it REALLY takes to create and scale a successful program. Shortly after, I will be taking the stage to share how you can identify influencers and tap into their superpowers with my Stranger Things themed presentation. We’d love to see you at both sessions if you can make it!


7 Must-See #MPB2B Sessions Plus Exclusive Insights From Top B2B Marketing Speakers
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Lee Odden

B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Whitney Magnuson, IBM

Lee Odden on Nov 12th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Whitney Magnuson IBM

Our journey into the world of B2B influencer marketing continues this week with an interview featuring Whitney Magnuson, Global head of social and influencers at IBM Systems.

Overall, IBM has a long history working with influencers ranging from the Midsize Insider blogging program to the IBM Futurists. For her part at IBM Systems, Whitney has overseen the creation of a first-of-its-kind external influencer outreach program that has since become the model for IBM company-wide among many other accomplishments.

In this interview, Whitney talks about the differences between B2C and B2B influencer marketing, how influencer marketing is positioned within her company, a favorite influencer marketing campaign and tips on tools and measurement.

What brought you to the world of Influencer Marketing?


B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Whitney Magnuson, IBM
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Lane Ellis

Digital Marketing News: Google’s Demographic Targets, People Analytics, Pinterest’s Carousel Ads, & the Psychology of Social Sharing

Lane Ellis on Nov 9th, 2018     Online Marketing News

2018 November 9 News CallMiner Image

The Importance of Listening to Customers [Infographic]
How customer interactions affect your bottom line, why they leave, and the important of listening are all examined in a new infographic from CallMiner. HubSpot

With B2B Marketing, It’s Back to the Basics
Going back to the basics can pay off in the B2B marketing world, and the benefit of segmentation is the focus of a new customer-relationship-management-centric take on this sector of digital marketing. destinationCRM

Better People Analytics
The analytics of people has become increasingly important, with over 70 percent of firms now saying people analytics is a high priority, and the Harvard Business Review takes a close look at the trend. Harvard Business Review


Digital Marketing News: Google’s Demographic Targets, People Analytics, Pinterest’s Carousel Ads, & the Psychology of Social Sharing
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Anne Leuman

How Data Insights Can Lead Your B2B Content Marketing Strategy

Anne Leuman on Nov 8th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

Let Data Insights Lead Your Content Marketing Strategy

There’s little doubt among seasoned B2B content marketers that strategy is the key to success. In fact, according to the 2019 B2B Content Marketing Report produced by Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs, the most successful content marketers (65%) are far more likely to have a documented strategy than their less successful peers (14%).

The kicker? That same report revealed that just 27% of B2B marketers say their content marketing efforts are very or extremely successful in achieving their organization’s desired results. The next largest chunk, 51%, say their content marketing is only “moderately effective.”

What’s causing the disconnect? The report points to content marketing maturity: The more sophisticated your content marketing efforts become, the more success you’re likely to have.


How Data Insights Can Lead Your B2B Content Marketing Strategy
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Lane Ellis

Don’t Blink: 3 Often-Overlooked Practices for Highly-Effective Content Creation

Lane Ellis on Nov 7th, 2018     Content Marketing

Green hedge row maze with hut.

Welcome to the fourth installment in our multi-part “Collective Wisdom” series of content marketing strategy articles.

In this episode, we’ll take a look at the value of specific strategy practices that are sometimes overlooked or underutilized when it comes to creating strong content, featuring insight and examples from some of the world’s best digital marketers.

We kicked off our series with the planning process in “How to Boost Your Content Marketing Efforts By Planning Ahead,” went forward with content creation in “The Art Of Crafting More Powerful Content: 5 Top Tactics from the Experts,” and then dug even deeper into messaging with “5 Powerful Messaging Tactics For 2019 And Beyond From Marketing Experts.”


Don’t Blink: 3 Often-Overlooked Practices for Highly-Effective Content Creation
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