B2B Marketing Archives - Page 2 of 39 - Online Marketing Blog

How B2B Marketers Can Enter the Circle of Trust

Lee Odden on Mar 9th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Buyer distrust of advertising and brand communications is one of the top challenges of our time for marketers.

As TopRank Marketing’s Nick Nelson has shared, “trust is currency” and that trust is “arguably the most valuable currency in today’s B2B marketing environment.”

Studies continue to show that business peers and experts have customer attention over brands. 95% of B2B buyers say they prefer credible content from industry influencers according to a study from Demand Gen Report.

As a result, it is more important now than ever for marketers to find ways to become part of this new “circle of trust” for buyers.

But how?

How B2B Marketers Can Enter the Circle of Trust

10 SEO Books for B2B Marketers in 2020

Birdie Zepeda on Mar 5th, 2020
B2B Marketing, SEO, SEO Training

There are plenty of resources online that can break down what search engine optimization (SEO) is, how search engines work, and how to improve your website to rank better in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is the age where you can Google every question that pops into your head and receive an answer in roughly 280 characters, after all.

Call this millennial old-fashioned, but some questions are worth buying, borrowing, or downloading a book for and deep-diving into a subject. Nothing beats the ability to physically highlight, write in the margins or flyleaf, and dog ear as one learns.

In 2020, over 64% of marketers are actively invested in SEO. With organizations funding SEO improvements in hopes of inbound marketing growth, this year may be the perfect opportunity for B2B marketers to learn more about what they’re investing in and understand the secrets behind the search engines that run our info-driven world.

10 SEO Books for B2B Marketers in 2020

4 Qualities Only Great B2B Marketing Agencies Possess

Alexis Hall on Mar 3rd, 2020
B2B Marketing

Is your agency a vendor or a partner?

In response to the shifting market and evolving role of the CMO, agency-brand partnerships are shrinking in average duration, less than three years now, compared to over seven in 1984. But strategic, strong partnerships between brands and agencies have become increasingly important as 64% of CMOs expect to feel more pressure to demonstrate tangible short term results in the next 2-3 years.

This pressure also signals a big opportunity for CMOs to demonstrate the value of marketing as a strategic function with organizations. The right agency, that can support the brand in a true partnership, can be critical in helping CMOs achieve their goals and win over the rest of the C-suite.

4 Qualities Only Great B2B Marketing Agencies Possess

B2BMX 2020 Wrap Up: B2B Marketing Evolved

Lee Odden on Mar 2nd, 2020
B2B Marketing, Marketing PR Conferences

Over the past 10 years that our marketing agency has been focused on B2B marketing, there have been many changes: From the advent of marketing automation and social media to the growing popularity of interactive content, ABM and influencer marketing.

Staying on top of trends and best practices requires continuous innovation, education and cycles of marketing optimization. The reward for this continuous effort is staying one step ahead of the competition in the form of quality and performance.

Events play a big role in the ongoing effort to draw on the collective wisdom of the B2B marketing industry and last week TopRank Marketing wrapped up speaking and attending our 8th B2B Marketing Exchange conference. In case you missed the conference, here are a few highlights:

B2BMX 2020 Wrap Up: B2B Marketing Evolved

Optimizing ABM with Influencer Marketing at #B2BMX

Joshua Nite on Feb 27th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Account based marketing (ABM) is the hybrid sales/marketing/revenue discipline that is shaking up the status quo for marketers and sales pros alike. There are as many definitions of ABM as there are accounts to target, but I’m partial to this one from LinkedIn’s Megan Golden:

“ABM is a strategy that directs marketing resources to engaging a specific set of target accounts. Instead of casting a wide net with their lead-generation efforts, marketers using ABM work closely with sales to identify key prospects and then tailor customized programs and messages to the buying team within target accounts.” Megan Golden, Group Manager, Global Content & Social Media Marketing, LinkedIn*

Optimizing ABM with Influencer Marketing at #B2BMX

The B2B Marketer’s Journey To Experiential Content at #B2BMX

Joshua Nite on Feb 26th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing

What makes an experience an…

Full disclosure: I am not on the design team at TopRank Marketing.

But you know what I mean. You’ve eaten dinner at dozens, if not hundreds of restaurants in your lifetime. But there are likely one or two that stick out in your memory. What makes them memorable?

That question drove an intriguing presentation at B2B Marketing Exchange, led by four expert marketers:

Ryan Brown, Ceros
Darius Eslami, Carbon Black
Paige Gildner, Bluecore
Sharon Shapiro, Bluecore

Short answer: What makes experiences different and memorable is if they’re really good… or really bad. Anything in the middle tends to blur together in our recollection. Only the extremes stand out.

The B2B Marketer’s Journey To Experiential Content at #B2BMX

Award Winning B2B Influencer Marketing at B2BMX

Lee Odden on Feb 25th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

IT Vangards

The 2020 B2B Marketing Exchange conference kicked off today with great workshops, case studies and a green light keynote from the talented Tamsen Webster.

Tamsen Webster Keynote Speaker

After the last executive marketing leadership panel, our president Susan Misukanis and I had the good fortune to attend the B2BMX Killer Content Awards.

I am very proud to say that in the B2B Influencer Marketing category, all three finalists were TopRank Marketing clients: Dell Outlet, Alcatel Lucent Enterprise and SAP.

ALE Killer Content Awards 2020

We are happy to share that Alcatel Lucent Enterprise won the 2020 Killer Content Award for best B2B Influencer Marketing campaign!

This is the second “Finny” that Jen Holtvluwer and Alison Munn have won working with TopRank Marketing. You can read the ALE case study here, which was truly an innovative B2B influencer marketing campaign, which featured the elements outlined below.

Award Winning B2B Influencer Marketing at B2BMX

The Influence of ABM in B2B Marketing: Top B2BMX Sessions & Speaker Insights

Lee Odden on Feb 24th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

2020 marks the 8th year in a row that I’ve presented at the B2B Marketing Exchange. During that time there have been many changes: within the B2B marketing industry, the strategies and technologies driving performance and in the programming at B2B events like B2BMX.

ABM in particular has experienced a rise in the B2B marketing world and evidence of that momentum is evident in the session topics, martech vendors and attendees at this year’s B2BMX conference in Scottsdale, February 24-26.

According to research from Demand Gen Report, 50% of B2B companies have been implementing ABM programs for more than a year and that number will continue to rise. With growing popularity, increasing numbers of marketers are searching for ways to incorporate ABM into their B2B marketing mix.

The Influence of ABM in B2B Marketing: Top B2BMX Sessions & Speaker Insights

4 Questions to Drive More Productive Marketing Meetings

Anne Leuman on Feb 20th, 2020
B2B Marketing

Allow me to paint a picture.

SCENE

INTERIOR – OFFICE

The CAMERA pans to a worker, furiously typing on their computer. Headphones on. The keys CLACK with productivity until–

— A LOUD CHIME rings out.

The CAMERA zooms slowly to the computer screen. A meeting alert flashes across the monitor.

— The worker’s head hits the desk with a soft THUD.

We CUT back to the worker. Head hung in exasperation, the worker stops their typing, rises, and departs to attend their call.

END SCENE

It’s happened to all of us. Stop work. Attend meeting. Rinse and repeat.

4 Questions to Drive More Productive Marketing Meetings

24 Essential B2B Influencer Marketing Statistics

Lane Ellis on Feb 19th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

How important is influencer marketing to businesses in 2020?

Influencer marketing will see global brand spending of up to $15 billion by 2022 (Business Insider Intelligence), and B2B marketers who haven’t yet experienced its many benefits now have more research data than ever to make the case for starting an influencer marketing program.

Even if you’ve already developed an influencer marketing strategy, the wealth of new information coming out about its power to build trust and inspire action is growing, which is why we wanted to share 24 significant B2B influencer marketing statistics that combine to tell a compelling story that will alter your future campaigns.

Let’s jump right in with a look at some of the latest influencer marketing statistics.

24 Essential B2B Influencer Marketing Statistics

5 Key Traits of the Best B2B Influencers

Lee Odden on Feb 18th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Marketers are still asking, what is B2B influencer marketing? Here’s a definition I’ve been using over the past 5 years or so:

B2B influencer marketing is activating internal and external subject matter experts with engaged networks to advocate and co-create content of mutual value that drives measurable business goals.

As the groundswell around influencer marketing rises and becomes a normal part of the B2B marketing mix, the volume of information and misinformation on the topic also increases.

One of the most popular questions people also ask about B2B influencer marketing focuses on what makes a good business influencer? By now we all know that popularity alone does not make someone influential. It’s certainly important, it’s just not the only thing.

5 Key Traits of the Best B2B Influencers