Lee Odden

Lee Odden

Digital Marketing News: 2018 Creative Trends, Organic Facebook Dead, YouTube Tightens Up

Lee Odden     Online Marketing News

Creative Trends 2018

2018 Creative Trends – Shutterstock’s data and creative teams analyzed their customers’ billions of searches for images, footage, and music search and download data to discover the biggest year-over-year increases. What are the top trends? Fantasy, New Minimalism, Space, Natural Luxury, and Punchy Pastels among others. – Shutterstock

‘Organic reach on Facebook is dead’: Advertisers expect price hikes after Facebook’s feed purge. If any brands haven’t already shifted their Facebook strategy entirely to paid, then they may have to soon. Facebook is changing its news feed to prioritize what friends and family share, which will reduce the amount of content that users see from brands and publishers. Open up those wallets folks! Digiday


Digital Marketing News: 2018 Creative Trends, Organic Facebook Dead, YouTube Tightens Up
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Lee Odden

Our Top 10 Influencer Marketing Posts of 2017 Plus Thoughts on 2018

Lee Odden     Influencer Marketing

Top Influencer Marketing Posts

This year demonstrated an explosion of interest in influencer marketing bringing with it a sharp increase in attention as well as implementation successes and failures.

The mixed bag of advice for any shiny new object of marketing attention like working with influencers brings uncertainties, especially with rapid innovation, increased competition and self serving “influencer marketing experts” popping up on every digital corner.

As long time influencer content marketing practitioners, my team at TopRank Marketing has to anticipate the key questions marketers have around influencer marketing. Not only do we understand the questions, but we have delivered many of the answers in over 40 posts on the topic including B2B influencer marketing strategy, technology, influencer research and recruiting, influencer content collaboration, integration with SEO and social, influencer content promotion and performance measurement.


Our Top 10 Influencer Marketing Posts of 2017 Plus Thoughts on 2018
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Lee Odden

Digital Marketing News: Teens Over Facebook, Blockchain and Big Blue, MoonPie Roasts You

Lee Odden     Online Marketing News

Social Commerce

Social Commerce Takes Hold. A study by PwC reports that 78% of consumers are influenced by social media when shopping online. According to Marketing Week, the “social commerce boom” is being fueled by young mobile consumers. Thirty-three percent of 18- to 24-year-olds say they would purchase items directly on Facebook, 27% on Instagram and 20% on Twitter. For 25- to 34-year-olds, the numbers decrease a bit: 30% on Facebook. For 54- to 65-years-olds, it’s 10%. MediaPost

Top 100 Social Media Trends for 2018. From Influencer Campaigns to Social Media-Friendly Designs to social media inspired dog toys, these are 100 social media trends for next year. Or are they? IRL social media filters? TrendHunter


Digital Marketing News: Teens Over Facebook, Blockchain and Big Blue, MoonPie Roasts You
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Lee Odden

Happy 14th Birthday to @TopRank Online Marketing Blog

Lee Odden     TopRank Agency News

Happy 14th Blog Birthday TopRank Blog

Over the past 14 years this marketing blog has had numerous contributors, thousands of posts, hundreds of thousands of social shares and millions of views. To say blogging has had a positive impact on our business would be a gross understatement.

December 28 is our blog birthday and what started simply as an experimental way to share resources and develop writing skills has turned into one of our most effective recruiting, marketing and community engagement tools. That success is thanks to a team effort including Ashley Zeckman with 360 career posts, who has served as blog editor over the past 2 years, Josh Nite with 113 career posts, Caitlin Burgess with 106 career posts, Tiffani Allen with 90 career posts and our newcomers Anne Leuman, Nick Nelson and Elizabeth Williams.


Happy 14th Birthday to @TopRank Online Marketing Blog
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Lee Odden

25 Women Who Rock at Digital Marketing in 2017

Lee Odden     Digital Marketing

25 Women Who Rocked Digital Marketing 2017

2017 marks the 8th year we’ve published a list featuring “women who rock” in the digital marketing space. I started the list in 2010 with social media specifically and after 5 years handed the reins over to Ashley Zeckman for a few years when the focus has broadened to digital marketing.

In the past I would ask each years’ honorees to nominate someone for the following year and so on. Following that we started ranking the huge list of women in marketing that we had compiled over the years using Traackr’s influencer marketing software.

In 2017 I’m making another change: to ask influential men in the marketing industry to nominate women who are leading in the marketing world.  I thought this was a timely and relevant way to help male leaders in our industry shine a light on their female counterparts, peers, superiors or subordinates.


25 Women Who Rock at Digital Marketing in 2017
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Lee Odden

Our Top 10 Content Marketing Posts of 2017

Lee Odden     Content Marketing

top content marketing posts
Content makes the Marketing world go ‘round, especially with our work here at TopRank Marketing. While content has been a steady drumbeat in the marketing mix over the past 7-8 years, marketers are still hungry for best practices, examples and the latest trends.

Lucky for our readers, we have excellent content marketers contributing to our blog including Ashley Zeckman, Josh Nite, Caitlin Burgess and one of our new content team members this year who has made quite a splash: Anne Leuman.

As a body of work, this collection of our top 10 content marketing posts represents an incredibly useful resource, full of practical examples and relevant topics for CMOs to copywriters. As you put finishing touches on your 2018 content marketing planning, I hope these posts prove useful.


Our Top 10 Content Marketing Posts of 2017
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Lee Odden

Happy Holidays from the Team at TopRank Marketing

Lee Odden     Marketing & PR Industry


It’s that time of year again, where here in Minnesota the snow is falling, the temperatures are dropping and hearts are warming with thankfulness and appreciation.

2017 has been a year of change, evolution and innovation for the digital marketing industry and at TopRank Marketing, we are incredibly grateful for the attention and trust that our community and clients and have put into our mutual success.

Few people ever reach a fraction of their true potential and we are dedicated to continue supporting and growing an environment where each of our clients, agency team and community can realize their true potential as marketers. As we evolve as marketing professionals, TopRank Marketing is also focused on helping the marketing industry community find clarity, confidence and purpose in the growing complexity of modern business.


Happy Holidays from the Team at TopRank Marketing
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Lee Odden

Digital Marketing News: Top Ads 2017, Marketing Jobs 2018, Google Mobile First

Lee Odden     Marketing Industry News, Online Marketing

Top 10 Most Watched Videos of 2017

The 10 Most Watched Ads on YouTube in 2017 – This impressive collection of work includes two video ads that exceeded 100 million views. Which was your favorite? Natalie Portman for Miss Dior or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson” for Apple?  AdWeek

B2B Tech Buyers More Motivated by Reliability & Ease of Use Claims Than Price. A study by Lavidge of 400 B2B decision makers in the US reports that technology buyers prefer reliability (64) over low cost (49%) when justifying purchasing decisions. MarketingCharts

The 2018 Hiring Outlook for Marketing and Advertising Jobs. 46% of marketing and advertising executives say it is somewhat challenging to find skilled workers today; 7% say it is very challenging – MarketingProfs


Digital Marketing News: Top Ads 2017, Marketing Jobs 2018, Google Mobile First
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Lee Odden

Connecting the Dots from Data to Better Customer Experience

Lee Odden     Digital Marketing

Right Message Wrong Time
I love how Tom Fishburne aka marketoonist always does a great job of showcasing marketing truths. While the focus for marketers to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time is nothing new, it’s also safe to say that we have a lot of work to do.

External Battery Charger SERP

For example, I was recently in the position of having to look for a new external battery charger. I seem to burn through these things like candy. A search on Google gave me relevant ads right on top. I clicked on a Best Buy ad and checked out the RAZORMAX Portable Power Bank.

raxormax portable power bank

It looked interesting enough and while I noticed reviews from the Best Buy site, I’m the kind of person that likes validation from 3rd party review sites. So I went back to search and looked for reviews.


Connecting the Dots from Data to Better Customer Experience
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Lee Odden

Digital Marketing News: Google Best Answer, Twitter Threads, Most Viral on Facebook

Lee Odden     Online Marketing News

Predictive Analytics
How Predictive Analytics Can Help Your Business See the Future. Now more than ever, predictive analytics are becoming available to small businesses looking to get ahead of the competition by mining their data and generating meaningful intelligence. From mapping customer purchase trends to optimizing product campaigns, predictive analytics can be the digital marketing solution your company needs. An investment in predictive analytics may give your business the competitive advantage it needs, helping you leave yesterday’s problems behind and focus on growth to come. Entrepreneur

These Emotions Are Said to Have the Greatest Influence on Brand Loyalty. Research from Capgemini’s, which correlated emotions and stated loyalty towards brands, has revealed that the three most important emotions are: Honesty; Trust; and Integrity. People also associate the emotions of “belonging,” “security,” and “familiarity” with loyalty. MarketingCharts


Digital Marketing News: Google Best Answer, Twitter Threads, Most Viral on Facebook
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Lee Odden

Digital Marketing News: Mobile Beats Desktop, YouTube Stories, Facebook for Kids?

Lee Odden     Online Marketing News

Top Women Influencers in Tech

TopRank Marketing has partnered with Onalytica for the Women in Tech: Hot Topics and Influencers List for 2018. The list features influencers in the categories of Artificial Intelligence, FinTech, Blockchain, BigData, IoT, EdTech, MarTech, InsurTech, Virtual Reality, and Cyber Security. Onalytica Blog

Study: 80% Of Brands Plan To Boost Video Spending In 2018. Of course Facebook and Google dominate video advertising with Facebook accounting for 39%, and Google’s YouTube, 27% of digital video ad spend. The cost of producing targeted high-quality videos is prohibitive, and many marketers rely on agencies to create the ads. MediaPost

Facebook tests tool to make it easier for businesses to send message blasts on Messenger. Facebook is internally testing a tool called Messenger Broadcast that businesses would be able to use to send message blasts to people who had conversed with their accounts on Messenger. Of course that wouldn’t work of Messenger is down (see above).  MarketingLand


Digital Marketing News: Mobile Beats Desktop, YouTube Stories, Facebook for Kids?
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Lee Odden

5 Examples of Influencer Marketing in Action Across the Full Customer Journey

Lee Odden     Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing Customer Lifecycle

Much of what we hear about influencer marketing is centered around reach and engagement objectives. This is not unlike the early days of social media marketing programs where platform capabilities and user behaviors created a perfect storm for connection and interaction.

Fast forward to today and we’ve certainly learned that social media is not a silo of communication, but more of a universal truth when it comes to where people spend their time to discover, consume and interact with content.

Influence brings that same universal truth in terms of something that affects us all. From a marketing context, influence is the ability to affect action and since virtually every person with a phone is empowered to publish, everyone has some degree of influence.


5 Examples of Influencer Marketing in Action Across the Full Customer Journey
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