B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®

B2B Marketing views, news and interviews.

Social First for B2B Content Marketing: What, Why and How

Joshua Nite
Joshua Nite on Aug 12th, 2021
B2B Marketing, LinkedIn, Social Media

Hairless Cat at Laptop Image

When I think about social media marketing, especially for B2B, I’m reminded of words of wisdom from one of my favorite bands:

The more you try to shave the cat
The more the thing will bite and scratch
It’s best, I think, to leave its fur
And listen to its silky purr
Some people like to make life a little tougher than it is.

— Cake, Tougher than It Is

(Seriously, give it a listen, it’s a bop).

How does this apply to B2B social media marketing? Well, marketers, we’ve been trying to shave that particular cat for a decade. 

The Problem with Most B2B Social Media Marketing

The goal of a social media site is to keep people on the platform — reading, commenting, interacting, infinitely scrolling.


Social First for B2B Content Marketing: What, Why and How

Break Free B2B Marketing: Ramon Ray of Smart Hustle Media on Small Business Success & Thinking Big

Susan Misukanis
Susan Misukanis on Aug 11th, 2021
B2B Marketing

Ramon Ray Image

How can small businesses work together with big clients and form powerful partnerships that make good things happen?

For our third season of Break Free B2B Marketing video interviews, we’re featuring conversations with leading B2B influencers, and examining the issues that each subject matter expert is influential about in their specialized industry.

2020 was a difficult year for business owners, and 2021 hasn’t quite been the return to normal many had envisioned. In 2020 profits were down, stress was up, and everyone was questioning how they were going to not only survive, but thrive, in the coming year.

These worries were more real for small business owners than anyone else. After all, when you own a small business, you’re not afforded the same protections or options that larger companies might have. You have to be smart, adaptable, and relentless in your pursuit of your goals.


Break Free B2B Marketing: Ramon Ray of Smart Hustle Media on Small Business Success & Thinking Big

Read It & Reap: 11 Top New Marketing Books To Savor On #NationalBookLoversDay

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Aug 9th, 2021
B2B Marketing

Colorful starburst pattern image for National Book Lovers Day.

Looking for inspiration and new insight to forge new B2B marketing success as we drive ahead to 2022?

Today is National Book Lovers Day, and to celebrate the occasion we’re taking a look at 11 forthcoming or recently-published books that offer an array of fascinating tactics, tips, case studies, and other insight from some of the industry’s top business marketers and subject matter experts.

Let’s turn the page and jump right in for #NationalBookLoversDay.

1 — RE:Think Innovation: How the World’s Most Prolific Innovators Come Up with Great Ideas that Deliver Extraordinary Outcomes

Carla Johnson
Leap Advisor, Demand Spring

Carla Johnson Book

Carla’s new book, “RE:Think Innovation: How the World’s Most Prolific Innovators Come Up with Great Ideas that Deliver Extraordinary Outcomes,” offers a wealth of insights that are certain to inspire B2B marketers.


Read It & Reap: 11 Top New Marketing Books To Savor On #NationalBookLoversDay

What 5 Recent Search Marketing Changes Mean For B2B Marketers

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Aug 4th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Google, Microsoft Bing, Search Marketing

Black woman marketer deep in thought image.

How can B2B marketers adapt to the latest changes in search engine marketing?

Google, Bing, and other search engines have continued to refine their services, bringing changes that B2B marketers need to be aware of.

Holding the dual roles of the world’s most popular search engine and its biggest search advertising provider, Google and its parent company Alphabet saw an especially strong 70 percent increase in advertising revenue during the second quarter of 2021, the firms recently disclosed. That equates to some $560 million is advertising revenue per day during the quarter, and a year-over-year increase of 62 percent, rebounding from the firm’s only revenue decline a year ago due to the global health crisis.


What 5 Recent Search Marketing Changes Mean For B2B Marketers

5 Olympic Lessons for Marketing Project Managers

Anne Leuman
Anne Leuman on Aug 3rd, 2021
B2B Marketing

Olympic and international flags image.

Shattered world records. Nail-biting competition. Limitless sportsmanship. The Olympic Games are a sight to behold.

via GIPHY

While we had to wait a little longer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, they’re still captivating audiences with competition that pushes the limits of athletes and of humans.

As a long-time spectator of the games, however, I’ve found that some of the most memorable Olympic moments hold real-life lessons and even happen outside of the competition floor. Already at these Olympic Games, I’ve taken note of several moments that are unforgettable in life and in work. Especially as a marketing project manager, where we often have to coach our team members, I’ve learned several lessons from the first week of competition. To learn what those lessons are and how they can impact your marketing projects, read on.


5 Olympic Lessons for Marketing Project Managers

7 Questions B2B Marketers Need to Answer About Influencer Marketing

Essential B2B Influencer Marketing Questions

Diminishing organic social reach, distrust of brand marketing and information overload makes reaching and engaging today’s B2B buyer harder than ever. On top of that, the major changes brought by the pandemic have created new challenges and opportunities for B2B companies to better attract and engage customers in meaningful ways.

Out of the pandemic and the shift to digital first go-to-market approaches for B2B companies, Influencer Marketing has emerged as one of the most effective ways to connect with customers to create better experiences. Despite substantial growth in the discipline from best practices to software, many B2B brands are still experimenting or simply don’t know how to identify, engage and activate influencers.


7 Questions B2B Marketers Need to Answer About Influencer Marketing

5 Ways the Pandemic Has Forever Changed the Voices & Visions of B2B Marketing

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Jul 28th, 2021
B2B Marketing

Black businessman in colorful suit jumping with marketing joy against yellow background image.

How has B2B marketing changed forever during the pandemic?

The voices and visions of B2B marketing have been forced to shift over the past few years, as have many of the goals and methods we strive for and use to connect with our current and potential customers.

Some of these changes are subtle while others are decidedly not, yet each brings with it both new opportunities for embracing the future of B2B marketing along with risks for those who don’t heed the call when the winds of digital change shift.

Let’s take a look at five of the most substantial changes in B2B marketing that the pandemic has driven, and explore new insights that can inform and inspire your efforts in the push towards 2022 and beyond.


5 Ways the Pandemic Has Forever Changed the Voices & Visions of B2B Marketing

Digital Diamonds: 5 Multifaceted Tactics To Boost Your B2B Marketing Clarity & Commitment This Summer

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Jul 21st, 2021
B2B Marketing

A diamond aside a laptop image.

How is successful B2B marketing like a master jeweler working with diamonds of the digital marketing variety?

Diamonds are forever, as the 1971 James Bond film and its title song made famous, and with the archival global power of the web, your B2B marketing efforts are also likely to endure — so why not strive to make them truly memorable?

Also like diamonds, B2B marketing is a multifaceted endeavor.

Let’s explore five enduring tactics that can help you achieve B2B content marketing clarity and create your own digital marketing diamonds.

1 — Achieve Content Marketing Clarity

via GIPHY

Bring diamond-like clarity to your B2B content marketing by identifying and focusing on the heart of your effort’s primary goal.


Digital Diamonds: 5 Multifaceted Tactics To Boost Your B2B Marketing Clarity & Commitment This Summer

Write from the Heart for More Memorable B2B Content Marketing

Joshua Nite
Joshua Nite on Jul 20th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

Hands holding illustrations of a human brain and heart image.

B2B marketers have been pushing for personalized content for a good long while. Now we’re also trying to humanize content — to make the case that B2B buyers are human beings who want to connect with other humans on an emotional level.

Isn’t it remarkable that we still have to make that argument? 

But I’m not here to write another 1000 words about humanizing content. I want us to take it a step further, beyond personalization, humanization, personality and empathy.

B2B content marketing needs to come from the heart.

True, genuine heart is the last frontier in content. Every brand has an Instagram with behind-the-scenes content to boost authenticity. Every brand is striving to give at least the appearance of sincerity, personality and transparency.


Write from the Heart for More Memorable B2B Content Marketing

Share Your Expertise in the 2021 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Survey

2021 B2B influencer marketing survey

The past year or more has taught B2B marketer many lessons, especially the importance of creating digital first experiences that are credible, authentic and relevant to specific buyers. As part of the digital transformation of marketing, many B2B companies have adjusted their go-to-market approach to satisfy the changing customer expectations that have evolved during the pandemic.

One of those adjustments in B2B marketing has been the increasing role of influence in delivering  credible, authentic and relevant digital experiences. Our initial B2B Influencer Marketing research from 2020 showed that going into the pandemic, confidence in working with B2B influencers was very high as were expectations of outcomes.

Despite the growing confidence in working with B2B influencers over the past year, today there are important questions to be answered as more B2B brands enter the realm of influence and grow more sophisticated with the practice.


Share Your Expertise in the 2021 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Survey

Productivity Pulsars: Blast Into Orbit With 5 Efficiency Boosters For B2B Marketers

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Jul 14th, 2021
B2B Marketing

Purple interstellar galaxy of B2B marketing efficiency boosters image.

How can B2B marketers boost content creation productivity and avoid that dreaded black hole of inefficiency?

As TopRank Marketing chief executive and co-founder Lee Odden said in 2018 in 16 Ways to Be More Efficient with Content Creation, “Without additional budget or writing resources, the most practical way to squeeze out more content creation productivity is by being more efficient,” and the same may be even more true today in 2021.

There’s no denying that better efficiency offers benefits in many areas of a B2B marketer’s work, so we wanted to share some of the galaxy’s top tactics, methods, and tips to improve your productivity through efficiency as we make the push through the rest of 2021 and plan ahead for 2022.


Productivity Pulsars: Blast Into Orbit With 5 Efficiency Boosters For B2B Marketers

From Tech to Human: Three Post Pandemic B2B Marketing Trends

Lee Odden
Lee Odden on Jul 12th, 2021
B2B Marketing

Post Pandemic B2B Marketing Trends

For many, the past few months have opened up giving us a taste of “return to normal” but what does that mean?

When most people say normal, what they often mean is comfortable. In the business world pre-pandemic comfortable is a dangerous place to be.

Any company that did not adjust, adapt or pivot over the past year and a half probably isn’t in business or doing as much business as they should. There have been many changes during the pandemic from digital transformation across all aspects of business to evolving expectations of customers. Companies and their marketers must be in tune with all of these changes in order to survive and thrive in a post-pandemic business environment.


From Tech to Human: Three Post Pandemic B2B Marketing Trends