Lee Odden

How to Scale B2B Influencer Marketing: Operations, Process and Technology

Lee Odden on Feb 15th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

B2B Influencer Marketing Operations

As a relationship driven business, influencer marketing for B2B companies can be resource intensive and time consuming. To scale while maintaining quality, creating processes and using software are as essential for influencer identification as it is for managing ongoing communications and performance reporting.

In our research for the State of B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report, we found B2B marketers that document an influencer marketing strategy and engagement approach, define processes, use software and elevate their internal operational expertise are much better suited to scale a high quality and successful influencer marketing program.

This post will dig further into the findings from the State of B2B Influencer Marketing concerning influencer marketing operations on everything from top challenges to best practices and process to software.

How to Scale B2B Influencer Marketing: Operations, Process and Technology

How Successful B2B Marketers Integrate Influence in the Marketing Mix

Lee Odden on Feb 8th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing is a fast growing discipline for B2B marketers and while many brands view it as a stand alone tactic, mature marketers realize that influence can play a role across the customer lifecycle in virtually any business communication, content type or publishing channel.

There’s plenty of evidence to show that business customers do not limit their information discovery and consumption to single communication channels or content types. Neither should business marketers. That’s why savvy B2B marketers integrate influencer content across marketing disciplines from ABM to Public Relations to SEO to create the kinds of customer experiences that create credibility, reach and engagement.

How Successful B2B Marketers Integrate Influence in the Marketing Mix

How to Accelerate 2021 B2B Marketing Success with Influencer Optimized Content

Lee Odden on Feb 1st, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

According to the State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report, 96% of B2B marketers that engage influencers consider their program to be successful and 90% expect their budget for influencer marketing to increase or stay the same over the next 12 months.

Why the confidence? 77% of marketers say their prospective customers rely on advice from industry experts with 84% engaging influencers to create brand awareness and 69% counting on influencers for lead generation.

Influence plays a role across the entire B2B customer lifecycle from awareness to advocacy and with B2B marketing going decidedly digital during the pandemic and research showing few signs of reverting back to the old ways, the importance of peer, expert and influencer recommendations through social and digital media are more important than ever.

How to Accelerate 2021 B2B Marketing Success with Influencer Optimized Content

B2B Marketing News: Trust in 2021, Top Content Marketing Goals, Twitter Alternative, Cookieless Targeting

Lee Odden on Jan 22nd, 2021
Marketing Industry News

2021 Edelman Trust Barometer: Plague of mistrust follows COVID-19
After a year of unprecedented disaster and turbulence – the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis, the global outcry over systemic racism and political instability – the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals an epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust of societal institutions and leaders around the world. Edelman

What Are B2B Marketing Leaders Measuring: Five Key Takeaways from Forrester’s SiriusDecisions 2020 Metrics Study
Forrester’s study asked worldwide B2B leaders which metrics appear on their company’s top-level dashboards. Key insights include: Leadership attention is precious, High-growth companies focus more on the customer lifecycle and others. Forbes

New Study from SEMRush Shares Top Goals for Content Marketers in 2021
79% more quality leads, 74% more website traffic, 57% improve brand reputation, 47% improve customer engagement and loyalty. eMarketer

B2B Marketing News: Trust in 2021, Top Content Marketing Goals, Twitter Alternative, Cookieless Targeting

Top B2B Marketing Trends for 2021

Lee Odden on Jan 18th, 2021
B2B Marketing

Each year I’ve taken inventory of the major trends emerging within our B2B marketing agency practice and with the crazy year that was 2020, the new year requires even greater focus on what’s ahead. Some of the marketing predictions and trends I’ve shared in the past include:

Top 10 B2B Digital Marketing Trends in 2020

Personalization
Video content and live video
AI and Machine Learning
Voice engagement and Podcasts
B2B Influencer Marketing
Content Marketing
Chatbots and Conversational Selling
Customer Experience
Visual and Interactive Content
ABM

Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2019

Live, Interactive Video
Voice Search
AI/Machine Learning/Chatbots
Data/Privacy/Transparency
Influencer Marketing 2.0
Purpose Driven Brands and Gen Z

Top B2B Marketing Trends for 2021

How the Most Successful B2B Marketers Approach Influencer Marketing in 2021

Lee Odden on Jan 11th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

According to the 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report, 96% of B2B marketers that engage influencers consider their program to be successful and 90% expect their budget for influencer marketing to increase or stay the same over the next 12 months.

Influence plays a role across the entire B2B customer lifecycle from awareness to advocacy and with B2B marketing going decidedly digital during the pandemic and uncertainty of 2020, the importance of peer, expert and influencer recommendations through social and digital media are more important than ever.

How the Most Successful B2B Marketers Approach Influencer Marketing in 2021

45 B2B Influencer Marketing Statistics to Optimize Your 2021 Marketing

Lee Odden on Jan 4th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

We’ve finally turned the corner to 2021 and like many other marketers in the B2B world, I am ready to make this year better than ever. One source of inspiration I’ve found effective are the insights from industry research. That’s one of the main reasons we conducted the first research survey around B2B influencer marketing.

Having watched the growth of influence in marketing for B2B companies closely over the past 9 years, 2021 represents a significant opportunity for marketers to connect with the trusted voices in their industry to co-create content, inspire meaningful engagement and community, motivate authentic brand advocacy and boost influence of brand executives and subject matter experts as well as the brand itself.

The data for B2B influencer marketing are compelling:

45 B2B Influencer Marketing Statistics to Optimize Your 2021 Marketing

50 Influential Women in B2B Marketing Who Rocked in 2020

Lee Odden on Dec 30th, 2020
B2B Marketing

If there was a year in need of inspiration, 2020 was it. Luckily, we’re continuing our long tradition of highlighting inspirational marketers who are also influential.

Over the past 10 years we’ve honored hundreds of women in marketing doing great work, creating and sharing content, and making a difference in the industry including last year’s 50 Women CMOs Who Rock in Marketing.

In this, the 11th year of publishing the TopRank Blog List of Women Who Rock in Marketing, we’ve taking a more B2B approach. The vast majority of honorees in the 2020 edition of our list work for B2B brands or have a B2B marketing function within a B2C or B2B/B2C brand.

50 Influential Women in B2B Marketing Who Rocked in 2020

Inside Influence 13: Tim Williams from Onalytica on Optimizing B2B Influencer Experiences

Lee Odden on Dec 28th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

In this final 13th episode of Inside Influence where I talk with B2B marketing insiders about what’s working and what’s not in the world of influencer marketing, our perspective has shifted from B2B brands to the influencers themselves.

At TopRank Marketing, we conducted the first in-depth research into B2B influencer marketing which inspired this series and Onalytica recently conducted the first research study of B2B influencers to better understand influencer marketing from their perspective.

Any B2B marketer that wants a complete picture for success with B2B influencer marketing going into 2021 and beyond will benefit greatly from both reports:

The Current State & Future of B2B Influencer Marketing – Onalytica
2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report – TopRank Marketing

Inside Influence 13: Tim Williams from Onalytica on Optimizing B2B Influencer Experiences

Inside Influence 12: Paul Dobson from Citrix on The Secret Sauce of B2B Influence: Authenticity

Lee Odden on Dec 21st, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

As with most marketing, there is no silver bullet to B2B influencer marketing but there are some essential best practices and strategies that have been proven time and time again. To uncover that secret sauce of working with B2B influencers, Episode 12 of the Inside Influence Show features Paul Dobson, Senior Director, Social and Influencer Marketing at Citrix.

In addition to a few highlights from the 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing report, we discussed Paul’s experience working with influencers at Citrix as well as:

Where influencer marketing fits in the mix at Citrix
Tips on being great at influencer marketing for a B2B technology brand
Influencer Marketing vs. Influencer Relations
The impact of influencer marketing on customer experience

Inside Influence 12: Paul Dobson from Citrix on The Secret Sauce of B2B Influence: Authenticity

Inside Influence 11: Marshall Kirkpatrick from Sprinklr on Elevating B2B Content with Influencers

Lee Odden on Dec 14th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Without question the digital age we live in is marked by remarkable advancements as well as ease of information creation, distribution and proliferation. As they say, we live in an age of information overload. What can B2B marketers do to stand out? Simply create more “useful content”?

For 2021 and beyond, the bar for stand out B2B marketing is much higher than utility. Our guest, Marshall Kirkpatrick on episode 11 of the Inside Influence Show featuring B2B Marketing Insiders, has some smart insights on how influence can play a role in creating symphonic thinking and connecting the dots between the kinds of insights buyers are attracted to, that drive engagement and action.

Marshall is the founder of Twitter influencer platform Little Bird which was acquired by Sprinklr where he is now Vice President of Influencer Relations, Analyst Relations, and Competitive Intelligence.

Inside Influence 11: Marshall Kirkpatrick from Sprinklr on Elevating B2B Content with Influencers

Inside Influence 10: Ryan Bares from IBM on Influence Inside B2B Brands with Employees

Lee Odden on Dec 7th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

I have always believed that everyone is influential about something and that sentiment is certainly true within B2B companies. In the B2B marketing world, we’ve all come to understand that buyers trust individual voices more than formal marketing and advertising messages, so finding ways to optimize influence internally is becoming a key area of focus.

To drill down into the intersection of employee advocacy and influence, this 1oth episode of Inside Influence features my discussion with Ryan Bares, Global Social Programs Lead: Social Influencers & Employee Advocacy at IBM Systems.

Beyond hitting a few key findings from the The 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing report, Ryan and I covered a lot of ground including:

Increased focus on employees as influencers
Importance of senior B2B execs to grow their influence

Inside Influence 10: Ryan Bares from IBM on Influence Inside B2B Brands with Employees