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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Joshua Nite

5 Content Marketing Shortcuts That Cost You in the Long Run

Joshua Nite on Nov 6th, 2018     B2B Marketing, B2C Marketing, Content Marketing

Content Marketing Shortcuts to Avoid

You know what they call a shortcut that actually saves time?

The route.

That was the wisdom my dad gave me the first time we went hiking together. Sometimes when you look at the map, it looks like there’s a better path. But the route is the route for a reason. Chasing a shortcut feels like making progress — but it might not get you to the trail’s end.

Marketers dig shortcuts. Or, as we call them, “hacks.” It makes sense: We’re usually overworked, understaffed, and expected to work wonders. A content marketing hack promises to cut a straight line through a tedious process, increasing efficiency and boosting results.


5 Content Marketing Shortcuts That Cost You in the Long Run
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Lee Odden

B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Rani Mani, Adobe

Lee Odden on Nov 5th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Rani Mani Adobe

For this week’s installment of B2B influencer marketing interviews, we get to meet Rani Mani, Head of Social Influencer Enablement at Adobe. Besides her accomplishments working with cross functional teams and developing strategies for cultivating and nurturing community engagement so that Adobe can be a community driven business, she has an amazing and inspiring personal story.

In this interview, Rani shares how working with B2B influencers can drive marketing results, how influencer engagement is organized at Adobe, tips on recruiting and engaging influencers, and some her favorite B2B influencers to work with.

What brought you to the world of Influencer Marketing?

I am passionate about community building and shining a light on the people doing amazing things in the world with our products and services. Influencer Relations is a perfect fit for that passion.


B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Rani Mani, Adobe
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Joshua Nite

20 More Dumb Jokes for Smart Marketers

Joshua Nite on Oct 30th, 2018     B2B Marketing

Dumb Marketing Jokes

A great pun is like a great digital marketing campaign: If you do it right, it will stick with people until they’re compelled to share it — even the simplest ones require a level of sophistication to make and to appreciate.

Every marketer I know is incredibly smart — whether it’s my team at TopRank Marketing, the influencers and thought leaders we work with, or the folks I’ve met at marketing conventions. Marketers are sharp, detail-oriented, intellectually rigorous, and susceptible to flattery.

So, if you’re a smart digital or content marketer, take a break from your challenging, rewarding work and enjoy these jokes. And remember: If your colleagues don’t laugh, they’re just not as sophisticated as you.


20 More Dumb Jokes for Smart Marketers
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Lee Odden

B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Martin Jones, Cox Communications

Lee Odden on Oct 29th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Martin Jones

I’ve known Martin Jones casually through marketing conferences for several years. Martin occupies that unique position of being someone who manages influencer marketing programs for his brand and is also an influencer himself.

In fact, it is through an influencer engagement for IBM that both Martin and I were involved with that I had a chance to get to know him in earnest. His climb at Cox Communications is a classic American success story and at the same time, Martin is incredibly humble and one of the nicest people in the industry.

In this interview, Martin shares his journey into working with influencers, tips on identifying, recruiting and managing relationships with influencers as well as insights on measurement and his thoughts towards the future.


B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Martin Jones, Cox Communications
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Lee Odden

From Basic to Advanced, the B2B Influencer Marketing Software You Need to Succeed

Lee Odden on Oct 24th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

B2B influencer marketing software

A hot topic for every marketer today is working with influencers. But how do you find the right influencers? How do you manage those relationships and how do you scale programs?

Basically, what tools do you need when it comes to B2B influencer marketing?

Here is a collection of social media and influencer marketing tools you might find useful whether you’re a B2B or a B2C marketer. But definitely if you work in B2B.

Outside of the promotional tools you might use for the content marketing that goes along with most influencer marketing programs, there are three general areas of opportunity to scale with technology when it comes to working with influencers.

1- Identification, qualification and recruiting


From Basic to Advanced, the B2B Influencer Marketing Software You Need to Succeed
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Lee Odden

Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Angela Lipscomb, SAS

Lee Odden on Oct 22nd, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Angela Lipscomb

One of the great things about social media is connecting with other professionals and Angela Lipscomb and I have been connected on multiple networks for several years. I appreciate her relationship focus towards PR and influencer relations because so much of what is being done in the name of influencer marketing is transactional.  As I like to say, it’s the meaningful not the mechanical connections you make that contribute to success.

As the Influencer Relations Manager for SAS (business analytics software and services), Angela developed their first influencer program back when her role was in corporate communications. Her work there and on to media relations were ideal prep for her current influencer relations role to identify, engage and manage influencer relationships.


Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Angela Lipscomb, SAS
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Joshua Nite

2019 B2B Content Marketing Trends: The 10 Biggest Opportunities for Marketers

Joshua Nite on Oct 10th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

B2B content marketing research

For content marketers, each year’s publication of the B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends Report should be truly exciting. Even more than the latest iPhone announcement. In fact, especially more than the latest iPhone announcement.

Don’t get me wrong: I love a slightly bigger screen, creepy new camera features and a higher price tag as much as the next guy. But the annual report from Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs can actually make marketers better at our jobs.

The 2019 edition has officially been released, and there are plenty of thought-provoking stats in just the first couple of pages; high-level attributes of top performers and clear opportunities for improvement.


2019 B2B Content Marketing Trends: The 10 Biggest Opportunities for Marketers
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Lee Odden

Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Amisha Gandhi, SAP Ariba

Lee Odden on Oct 8th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Amish Gandhi Influencer Marketing Interview

One of the pioneers in the enterprise B2B influencer marketing space that I’ve been most fortunate to collaborate with most is Amisha Gandhi, (AmishaGandhi) Vice President of Influencer Marketing at SAP Ariba.

Whether it was the SAP Leonardo launch microsite with interactive content and 30+ influencers sharing their expertise reaching 21 million views or campaigns like this one with Arianna Huffington plus internal and external influencers for SAP SuccessFactors, there’s a lot of success in the momentum Amisha has created in the B2B influencer marketing world.

As the creator of SAP’s Global Influencer Program, Amisha has numerous B2B influencer marketing case studies being used in articles and presentations all over the industry. Now her focus is specifically with the Ariba global program that also includes working with analysts, communities and brand partners.


Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Amisha Gandhi, SAP Ariba
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Lee Odden

Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Luciana Moran, Dun & Bradstreet

Lee Odden on Oct 1st, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing Interview with Luciana Moran

The world of B2B influencer marketing continues to grow and we continue to tap the top marketing executives in charge of leading the industry for their insights and experience.

In this installment of our Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview series, I talk with Luciana Moran (@lucymoran) Senior Vice President, Digital, Content & Creative at Dun & Bradstreet. Our mutual connections have only the best things to say about Lucy and in this generous interview you’ll learn why.

You’ll learn about how influencer marketing is organized within the company, tips on handling compliance, campaign structure and favorite influencer marketing platforms.

What brought you to the world of Influencer Marketing?


Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Luciana Moran, Dun & Bradstreet
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Lee Odden

Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Dr Konstanze Alex, Dell

Lee Odden on Sep 24th, 2018     B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing Interview With Konstanze Alex

Within the world of B2B influencer marketing, there are a handful of brand experts who have been charting a course within large enterprise organizations for the rest of us to follow. One of those pathfinders is Dr. Konstanze Alex (@konstanze), Head of Corporate Influencer Relations at Dell.

My first experience with Konnie was several years ago when TopRank Marketing was working with Dell to develop relationships with IT influencers as part of an online publication initiative. Since then, we’ve worked with Dell to help develop an influencer marketing playbook, support influencer engagement at events and through content, but her relationship focus on working with influencers has stuck with me through it all.


Enterprise B2B Influencer Marketing Interview: Dr Konstanze Alex, Dell
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Joshua Nite

What Does ‘Quality’ Really Mean in Content Marketing?

Joshua Nite on Jul 16th, 2018     B2B Marketing, B2C Marketing, Content Marketing

Quality in Content Marketing

Have you heard the good news about quality content? It’s the latest innovation that’s sweeping the nation. It’s going to revolutionize your content marketing efforts. If your current strategy is to crank out crappy content, then quality content is going to blow your KPIs away!

Okay, sarcasm aside: Every content marketer knows their content needs to be good to be effective. We call it “quality,” or “value,” or “usefulness.” But all of these traits can vary widely depending on your audience. For example, conventional wisdom might say that 500-word blog posts don’t connect with readers. But that word count may be just the right length for the people you want to reach.

So, when we get into the specifics, quality is relative and highly subjective. But it’s possible to define quality content marketing in a more universal way:


What Does ‘Quality’ Really Mean in Content Marketing?
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