Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®

Social Media Marketing: 7 Opportunities for B2B Brands to Rock Pinterest

7-b2b-brands-pinterest

While other visual social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat are getting most of the press these days, Pinterest is still a growing platform that offers B2B brands and marketers an opportunity to grow and connect with their audience, drive brand awareness and website traffic, and enhance their overall social media marketing strategy.

But despite its potential, Pinterest hasn’t exactly been embraced by B2B. In fact, just 14% of B2B marketers say they use Pinterest to distribute their content, according to Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs’ B2B Content Marketing 2017: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America report.

One big reason for this may be that B2B companies struggle to find a way to fit in on a visual platform like Pinterest. Oftentimes, a B2B company’s products and services don’t always have a recognizable physical presence or give off an exciting vibe—which B2C brands typically have going for them.


Social Media Marketing: 7 Opportunities for B2B Brands to Rock Pinterest

5 Actionable Insights from the 2017 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends Report

2017-b2b-content-marketing-report

If you’re a B2B content marketer, you likely remember where you were when the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs released last year’s B2B Content Marketing report. The same way different generations will always remember hearing about Elvis, Kurt Cobain, or Prince, that dark day is seared into our industry’s memory.

Last year’s report showed a decrease in documented content marketing strategy—even though a documented strategy was proven to be a vital part of success. It showed that fewer content marketers rated their efforts as effective than the previous year.

At Content Marketing World, Joe Pulizzi somberly declared content marketing had reached the “trough of disillusionment,” out of which we would have to climb.

Secluded in her tiny writing house, Ann Handley paused for a moment to wipe tears from her trademark glasses.


5 Actionable Insights from the 2017 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends Report

Winfluencer Marketing: How B2B Companies are Winning Hearts & Minds with Influencer Content

Lee-Odden-Uberflip-experience

“Influencer Marketing is the practice of developing relationships with connected internal and industry experts to co-create content of mutual value to achieve measurable business goals.” – TopRank Marketing

Influencer marketing has gained an enormous amount of popularity over the past few years but marketers still have lots of questions. How does influencer marketing work? Is influencer marketing right for my brand? How do I find influencers?

In addition to coming up with a new meaning for B2B (Beards & Bacon) and providing one lucky tweeter a box of bacon covered donuts, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden answered these questions (and more) as he took the stage at the Uberflip Experience in Toronto.


Winfluencer Marketing: How B2B Companies are Winning Hearts & Minds with Influencer Content

Supply & Demand: Making the Case for Less Content #UFX2016

Hana-Abaza-Uberflip-Experience

The problem with most marketing teams isn’t a lack of ideas. It’s a lack of clarity and focus.” – Hana Abaza

The meaning of the expression “less is more” is one that many content marketers are still struggling with. In an effort to capture the attention of busy and distracted consumers, they’re creating more content than ever.

But more isn’t always better.

Uberflip’s amazingly talented and entertaining VP of Marketing, Hana Abaza opened up day two of the Uberflip Experience conference to have a frank conversation about content marketing supply and demand.

Marketers Are Focusing on the Wrong Things

Content Impact

Here’s the harsh (and somewhat funny) reality for marketers:

  • 90% of marketers think they’re productive, but they also work on weekends. (Workfront & Harris Poll)

Supply & Demand: Making the Case for Less Content #UFX2016

When ABM & Content Collide: How to Build an Account-Based Content Strategy #UFX2016

Dayna-Rothman-Everstring

Over the past few years, B2B marketers have been abuzz with the concept of Account-Based Marketing (ABM). It’s like some sort of futuristic concept was finally here and would be the solution that we all needed.

But just like any other marketing tactic, it takes time to figure out how to approach it successfully. In order to win with ABM, marketers need to understand how to effectively incorporate content into the mix.

To help us understand how to do that, Everstring’s Dayna Rothman gave a great, info packed presentation at Uberflip Experience that covered the basics as well as more in-depth strategies for tackling an account-based content strategy effectively.

What is ABM & Why Should You Care?

ABM is the strategic approach marketers use to support a defined universe of strategic and named accounts. – SiriusDecisions


When ABM & Content Collide: How to Build an Account-Based Content Strategy #UFX2016

Uncovering The Problem with Personalization in B2B Marketing #UFX2016

Pat-Spenner-Uberflip-Experience

B2B marketers around the globe are all experiencing the same pain. That consistent pain is how to reach, engage, qualify and convert audiences into paying customers.

We’ve all become acutely aware that more content isn’t always better. But now, we’re faced with an even harsher reality about B2B marketing which is that we somehow have to find a way to not only reach the right decision makers, but also figure out how to get them all on the same page.

Pat Spenner of CEB provided some amazing insights at the Uberflip Experience conference into the current state of B2B marketing, as well as ways to approach our marketing in a more data driven way.


Uncovering The Problem with Personalization in B2B Marketing #UFX2016

[eBook] How to Build Your B2B Marketing Empire From the Ground Up

b2bmktgempire

Is your B2B marketing a skyscraper or a sandcastle?

It’s no fun to spend a day on the beach creating your dream house, only to have the tide wipe it out.

But if you were planning on moving in with your spouse and kids…well, that would be a problem.

It takes planning and strategy to build something that will stand the test of time. Right now, too many B2B marketers are building their empire–and betting the future of their business–on nothing but sand and water.

If your organization is building without a foundation, you’re not alone. We’ve all seen the stats: Nearly two thirds of B2B marketers have no documented content marketing strategy. So it’s not surprising only 30% say their efforts are effective. It’s time to develop a new blueprint for success.


[eBook] How to Build Your B2B Marketing Empire From the Ground Up

5 Magical Tactics for Repurposing B2B Marketing Content

Repurpose B2B Content Marketing
Did you know, that on a daily basis, 16 to 20% of search queries on Google have never been seen before? With over 100 billion monthly queries, there are an incredible number of ways that people express their interests, wants and needs.

At the same time, a study from CMI and MarketingProfs reports that 50% of marketers say producing content consistently is a top challenge.

With the diversity of expressions buyers search for and the demands of producing a variety of engaging content on a consistent basis, one has to wonder why so many B2B marketers insist on publishing content once and with a singular theme.

To get more value from content investments while providing a greater variety of information to prospective customers, many B2B marketers are repurposing.


5 Magical Tactics for Repurposing B2B Marketing Content

How B2B Marketers Can Rise Above Roadblocks with Influencer Marketing

Roadblocks-Influencer-Marketing

As the old joke goes, there are two seasons in my home state of Minnesota: Winter and Road Construction. Right now, we are smack in the middle of the latter.

I’m a guy who doesn’t like pony-sized potholes on my streets. So I try to make peace with the endless lane changes, reroutes, and slow-downs. But sometimes it seems like they go out of their way to mess up our routines, doesn’t it?

If you’re a B2B marketer, you may feel similar desperation looking at your marketing channels. It seems like every route between you and your audience is getting blocked or traffic jammed. Organic social visibility is way down: Each Facebook post you make will reach between 2-6% of your followers. A quarter of those who might be interested in your display ads are using ad blockers. Your content can only engage readers if they can find it, and there’s a lot of commodity content clogging the roads.


How B2B Marketers Can Rise Above Roadblocks with Influencer Marketing

Snapchat for B2B: Examples of Brands in Action, Best Practices & Tips

Snapchat-for-B2B

From its beginnings as a disappearing photo app to adding interactive—often hilarious—filter options and storytelling capabilities, Snapchat has come a long way in it’s nearly 5 years of existence. In fact, the social media platform has seen tremendous user growth, boasting 150 million daily active users, which is more than Twitter, according to Bloomberg.

While Snapchat is a major hit among pre-teens and teenagers, usage of the platform is growing among adults—especially Millennials. According to a BI Intelligence report, 45% of adult Snapchat users are 18-24, with another 26% between 25-34 in age. And recently there’s been a big uptick in users over the age of 35.


Snapchat for B2B: Examples of Brands in Action, Best Practices & Tips

38 B2B Content Marketing Case Studies for 2016

B2B Content MarketingThere was a popular article on TechCrunch recently claiming marketers in the inbound and content marketing space have no idea what they are doing and don’t know marketing. For some, that might be true.

When you’re not viewing the world through the lens of a cynic, it’s amazing what you see. Marketers at companies all over the world are planning, implementing and optimizing customer and content centric marketing programs that are achieving results.

For example, each year at the Content 2 Conversion conference, the Killer Content Awards recognize B2B marketers implementing effective content marketing campaigns. And each year, we highlight many of those examples here.


38 B2B Content Marketing Case Studies for 2016

Lee Odden Educates B2B Marketers on SEO for Content Marketing

TopRank Marketing Editor
TopRank Marketing Editor
B2B Marketing, Online Marketing, SEO

As content marketing professionals, most of us would consider SEO a highly technical domain. Best leave that to the real nerds, right? Wrong. Google, Bing and all the other search engines have significantly altered their algorithms in the past few years. And these changes continue to favor the highest quality content, often rewarding smart content marketers with first position rankings.

With a bit of SEO sweet sauce, your content marketing sandwich will taste much better to search engines, and users too. Below, I will explore 4 major themes from TopRank Marketing CEO, Lee Odden’s recent Content2Conversion talk on SEO for Content Marketers, including:

  • The State of SEO in 2016
  • Understanding Self-Directed Buyer Behavior
  • How to, “Be The Best Answer”
  • How to Create Smarter Integrated SEO Content for The Web

Lee Odden Educates B2B Marketers on SEO for Content Marketing

Contact Us

10405 6th Ave N, Suite 250
Minneapolis, MN 55441

877-872-6628

Services

Follow Us

Newsletter