Joshua Nite

How to Create More Authentic Influencer-Driven Content to Attract Qualified Prospects

Joshua Nite on Nov 14th, 2022
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

When you think about who is influential in your industry, you likely think about professional influencers first. These are the consultants, public speakers and authors, the ones who give keynote speeches and have huge followings on social media.

These folks are absolutely essential as part of your influencer mix. Their reach, knowledge and professionalism are incredibly valuable.

However, you need more than just these folks for authentic and useful content. To create the kind of experience that earns the attention of qualified prospects, you need to expand your definition of what an influencer is — and what influencer content should look like.

Here’s how to optimize your influencer marketing to create authentic experiences that attract your most valuable audience.

How to Create More Authentic Influencer-Driven Content to Attract Qualified Prospects

10 Creative Horror Movies to Inspire Your B2B Marketing

We’ve been saying for years that B2B marketing should be emotional, exciting, entertaining and engaging — in short, creative. Great marketing not only wins those industry awards, it gets better results.

We’ve proven as much with the work our agency puts out. But it’s nice to get some third-party vindication. LinkedIn’s B2B Institute just published a report called “Cashing in on Creativity.” They analyzed over 1500 B2B ads and found two huge takeaways:

Only 5% of ads have highly creative messaging
This top 5% can drive a 10-20x bigger market share growth

In other words, we don’t have to measure creativity in moonbeams and rainbows. We can measure in dollars and cents.

10 Creative Horror Movies to Inspire Your B2B Marketing

20 Terrifying Marketing Jokes to Celebrate Spooky Season

Joshua Nite on Oct 17th, 2022
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Online Marketing

I’ll admit it: I’m one of those fall-loving, Halloween-obsessed people who just can’t wait to feel that crispness in the air and break out the spooky decorations. It’s the one time of year where everyone briefly shares my interest in horror movies and scary stories.

So when asked to write another in my series of marketing jokes posts, I had to seize the opportunity to make it scary. Granted, my jokes usually provoke more groans and moans than a cemetery full of ghouls, but at least these are painful on purpose.

Read on and laugh… if you dare!

20 Terrifying Marketing Jokes for Halloween

Jokes about sea monsters don’t have super high search volume, but they do have a long tail.

20 Terrifying Marketing Jokes to Celebrate Spooky Season

5 Podcasting Trends Every B2B Marketer Should Know

Joshua Nite on Oct 3rd, 2022
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

We may have mentioned a time or two that podcasts are a great way for B2B marketers to release content. But since my first B2B podcasting post (way back in the before times of 2018, how naive we were), the landscape has changed significantly.

Part of the shift is due to the pandemic and the remote/hybrid work boom that followed. People who used to spend hours listening to podcasts on their commute suddenly found that the bedroom to home office commute required less entertainment.

But the other part is simply natural maturation and evolution over time. Podcasts are becoming even more plentiful, their creators more diverse, and the advertising more relevant.

Here are the major trends that B2B podcasters should be aware of for 2022 and beyond.

5 Podcasting Trends Every B2B Marketer Should Know

Beyond B2Sea: 5 Top Lessons B2B Marketers Can Learn from Pirate Movies

Joshua Nite on Sep 19th, 2022
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

Avast, ye scurvy swabs! Today be Talk Like a Pirate Day, a holiday for landlubbers and seadogs alike. Ye don’t have to send cards or give gifts — just use your best nautical lingo and don’t forget the ARRRRs!

Talk Like a Pirate Day was first celebrated in 1995, but gained popularity online in the 2010s. It’s a good opportunity to be a little silly, watch some great movies, and maybe even learn a few pointers to guide your B2B marketing.

So batten the hatches, hoist up the mizzenmast, and shiver your timbers: Here are five lessons you can learn from pirate movies.

Beyond B2Sea: 5 Top Lessons B2B Marketers Can Learn from Pirate Movies

Turn Influential Fans Into Brand Ambassadors With B2B Influencer Marketing

Joshua Nite on Aug 22nd, 2022
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

What turns an influencer into a brand ambassador?

One answer you might be hearing more often is, “A big ol’ wad of cash.”

But while it’s true that B2B influencers want to get paid (don’t we all?), there’s an enthusiasm and authenticity that money alone can’t buy. And once you have a group of true brand ambassadors on board, you’ve got something wonderful that your competition can’t duplicate.

At the heart of it, creating brand ambassadors means pulling your influencers into a purposeful community united in common interests and goals. It means making an ongoing effort to engage and delight these folks so they can engage and delight their audiences.

Turn Influential Fans Into Brand Ambassadors With B2B Influencer Marketing

How B2B Marketers Can Benefit From Working With More Diverse Influencers

Joshua Nite on Aug 1st, 2022
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

When was the last time you saw someone in a wheelchair in your day-to-day life? Someone just going about their daily routine, who also happened to be in a wheelchair?

Now, when was the last time you saw someone in a wheelchair as a main character in a movie — a movie that wasn’t entirely about being in a wheelchair?

You can apply that same thought experiment to any type of diversity: race, gender, sexuality, body size and shape are all underrepresented in the media.

If a cisgender, heterosexual white man like me can see this lack of representation, how does it look and feel to those who are in marginalized groups? What is the entertainment industry missing out on by ignoring these voices?

How B2B Marketers Can Benefit From Working With More Diverse Influencers

4 Secret Successes of B2B Influencer Marketing

Joshua Nite on Jul 19th, 2022
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Does B2B influencer marketing work?

We asked marketers that question for our new 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report. The result: 86% said their programs were either moderately or very successful.

But what’s more interesting is how the marketers we surveyed are defining success.

We tend to think of influencer marketing as a top-of-funnel tactic. While it’s definitely effective for raising awareness and building credibility, the benefits don’t stop there.

Here are four surprising benefits that B2B marketers are seeing with smart influencer marketing.

#1 — Lead Gen & Revenue

Influencer marketing can bring in prospects to your brand, even without having the influencer endorse your solution or give a sales pitch. In fact, over half of our respondents said their influencer program is directly responsible for generating new leads. What’s more, 33% said they can directly attribute revenue to their program.

4 Secret Successes of B2B Influencer Marketing

5 Ways Influencer Marketing Builds Trust for B2B Brands

Joshua Nite on Jun 20th, 2022
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Ever notice that the people who say, “trust me,” are the least trustworthy people around? Something about those two little words immediately puts people on guard. If you were really trustworthy, we think, you wouldn’t have to ask.

Right now, we have a serious trust gap in our cultural institutions. The Edelman Trust Barometer for this year shows a continued downward spiral. Nearly half of respondents view the government and the media as divisive forces in society, rather than sources of reliable information.

“Trust me,” says the senator. “Trust ME,” says the pundit. And most of us say, “no, thank you.”

This trust gap may seem like the perfect opportunity for business to step in. After all, B2B brands want to be trusted advisors to potential clients. The only problem is, even if consumers trust us more than the government or media… they still don’t trust us all that much.

5 Ways Influencer Marketing Builds Trust for B2B Brands

6 Ways Livestreaming Video Can Boost B2B Marketing Results

Joshua Nite on Jun 6th, 2022
B2B Marketing, Video

There’s at least one thing that became popular during the pandemic that I hope sticks around. No, not sourdough starters or puzzles — I’m talking about live streaming performances.

It’s funny: You can go to YouTube right now and pull up dozens of recorded contents from your favorite bands, whether they’re playing stadiums or dive bars. But there’s no substitute for watching it happen live. There’s an intimacy and immediacy that even the highest-def recording can’t match.

And livestreams aren’t just for musicians or comedians, either. B2B brands can use the format to reach and engage people in new and interesting ways. It’s no coincidence that our client LinkedIn, in its quest to become the destination for B2B marketing, now boasts robust livestreaming video capabilities.

6 Ways Livestreaming Video Can Boost B2B Marketing Results

Episodic Expansion: How to Optimize B2B Experiences by Expanding Your Podcast to Full-On Video

Joshua Nite on May 23rd, 2022
B2B Marketing

Podcasts have been having their 15 minutes of fame for nearly a decade now. For marketers, we’ve seen podcasts go from off the radar, to a wide open new channel, to an established, even crowded, medium.

It’s true that it’s harder to build a subscriber base now than it was at the beginning of the B2B podcast boom. That doesn’t mean podcasts aren’t a valuable channel, however — just that it takes strategy and time to realize their full potential.

No, the proliferation of podcasts means that you should be repurposing your podcast content for other channels. This content can help drive traffic to the podcast, raise awareness of your brand’s thought leadership, and even become superstar content in its own right.

Episodic Expansion: How to Optimize B2B Experiences by Expanding Your Podcast to Full-On Video

The Business Case for Awesome B2B Content

Joshua Nite on May 9th, 2022
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

Have you seen Everything Everywhere All at Once? It’s a must-watch for everyone, but especially B2B marketers.

The movie tells a simple story about healing generational trauma. But it does so using multiverse travel, kung fu fighting, a truckload of googly eyes, and much more.

Simply put, it’s awesome. You have to admire the bravery of both the filmmakers and the financiers, who read this script and went, “Yup, that seems reasonable.”

Marketers could use a healthy dose of that kind of courage. Awesome content doesn’t overwhelm the story you’re telling the audience — in fact, it makes your message more likely to stick.

The Business Case for Awesome B2B Content