Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®

The Hidden Value of Influencers in B2B Content Marketing

B2B influencer marketing

In the 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends report from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, the top challenges that B2B content marketers face include: lack of time, not being able to produce enough content, not being able to create the kind of content that engages, lack of budget, and lack of content variety.

Sound familiar?

Stats like “Buyers are two-thirds to 90% through the sales funnel before they contact sales” (Forrester) and “72% of B2B buyers use social media to research solutions to purchase.” (DGR 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey) have a lot of B2B marketers focusing on content and social media programs that require far more resources and time to deliver leads than most business managers have patience for.


The Hidden Value of Influencers in B2B Content Marketing

25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know According to LinkedIn

25 Social Media Marketing Experts

25 Social Media Marketing Experts Recommended by LinkedIn

In the recently published eBook, The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to Linkedin, eight digital marketing smarties were tapped for insights and practical advice on how to get the most out of LinkedIn from optimizing your profile to expanding your network.

My team at TopRank did some great work with this eBook, identifying, engaging and interviewing subject matter experts. I think it turned out well. It’s a timely topic for sure.

If you’re anywhere near the B2B marketing world, social selling or recruiting, getting to know LinkedIn is essential. Heck, mastering LinkedIn is essential.

Why? Check out these stats:

  • With over 259 million members in over 200 countries and territories, 1 out of every 3 professionals on the planet Earth is on LinkedIn.

25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know According to LinkedIn

B2B Social Media Marketing Trends & Tips for 2014

B2B social media marketingAre you a B2B Marketer that’s not fully on board with being social with your marketing? Have you started and you’re looking for a little inspiration?

Here’s a short presentation I’ll be giving this week in Moscow (in addition to a 3 1/2 hour social media marketing workshop).

While there are flavorings towards a Russian audience, (Yandex, Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki) there’s also plenty of good advice for any B2B company that hasn’t fully embraced opportunities on the social web.

In particular, I think newer B2B marketers will appreciate the Social Media Marketing Maturity Model that outlines various stages that companies will experience as they gain more experience and confidence with social media.


B2B Social Media Marketing Trends & Tips for 2014

How IBM Turned B2B Social into a Lead Gen Machine & How You Can Too

B2B Lead Generation

IBM is famous—there’s no doubt about that. They’ve been known for everything from innovative products to impressive profits. But at SES Chicago, they’re known for their ability to generate leads from social—something B2B companies don’t necessarily always do well.

90% of brands say they measure social engagement, but only 15% of CMOs say they can quantify social ROI. Clearly, there’s some sort of disconnect that needs to be addressed. Michelle Killebrew and John Lee bridged the gap in their presentation with an IBM case study on how B2B companies can leverage social media for lead gen.

What IBM Did

Killebrew shared a case study that serves as a powerful example of how IBM used social to take their website and social to the next level:


How IBM Turned B2B Social into a Lead Gen Machine & How You Can Too

2013 SES Chicago – Wind, Shoulders, and Search

#seschi @bslarsonmn @elizalynnsteely @toprankWind. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Chicago. Well, that and food because let’s face it—Chicago has some pretty incredible food. But to be completely honest, big shoulders never would’ve popped into my head when thinking of the city. Yes you read that right—apparently Chicago is also known as “the City of Big Shoulders”.

The city also happens to be known as “The City that Works”. Suffice it to say, SES Chicago will fit right in. Full of search and social marketers filling their heads (and potentially big shoulders) with information about paid, earned and owned search, the conference has several promising speakers that I can’t wait to learn from.


2013 SES Chicago – Wind, Shoulders, and Search

8 Questions About B2B Content Marketing You Really Need the Answers To

B2B Content MarketingIf you work in the B2B marketing world, content is one of the most important tools you have to create awareness, nurture and convert prospects to customers. For proof, look no further than the recent CMI & MarketingProfs industry survey for 2014 that reports 93% of B2B marketers use content marketing.

Part of gaining confidence in the right direction for your B2B content marketing efforts means asking and answering the right questions. Not just for your potential customers, but internal questions to open doors of consideration for your content marketing strategy.

Here are 5 essential questions many marketers are facing now and my answers to consider. I invite you to think of your own answers and share them in the comments.


8 Questions About B2B Content Marketing You Really Need the Answers To

Marketing Automation Essentials for Small Businesses

#mpb2b Marketing Automation Panel

Do you know which companies are visiting your site right now? Are you able to automate your marketing messages to reach different audiences based on their behavior on your site? How about scoring leads to ensure your sales team knows who should make it to the top of their calling list?

If you find yourself answering no to some or all of these questions, you’re not alone. The scenarios above can be a reality for marketers, but this reality often requires an investment in marketing automation. While large corporations were predominantly the earlier adopters of this technology several years ago, small businesses are learning that the technology synchs with their business needs as well. And marketing automation providers are taking notice, offering solutions now geared to SMBs as well.


Marketing Automation Essentials for Small Businesses

8 Things You Need to Know About Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing Panel at #mpb2b

What is influencer marketing, how do you measure it and where it does fit into a marketing strategy? These questions, along with many more, were put on the table in this afternoon’s session at the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum. Led by Amanda Maksymiw of Lattice Engines, the panel under her control is the savvy tandem of Sam Fiorella & Kevin Cain.

Makysmiw starts the session by instating one of the cruelest rules a moderator can impose on a panel (and most enjoyable for the audience): all questions must be answered as posed. No hybrid answers and no middle of the road positions. Actual answers with a definitive stamp.

Thanks to Maksymiw’s rule, the session proves to be a fun, lively discussion that helped demystify the ever growing practice of influencer marketing.


8 Things You Need to Know About Influencer Marketing

How to Build a B2B Community in Facebook

Mike Lewis at MPB2B

Yes, B2B marketers lean towards LinkedIn as the social network of choice…and for good reason. But that doesn’t mean that a very real opportunity doesn’t exist to create a community in the world’s largest social network – Facebook.

Consider this, according to Hubspot’s “Intro to Facebook for Business”, 41% of B2B companies have acquired a customer through Facebook.

Mike Lewis,VP of Digital Strategy TATA Consultancy Services, kick starts the panel discussion with a challenge to marketers to consider the opportunities they may be missing in Facebook. With his challenge heard, Lewis shares his methodical approach to determining how to best create & nurture a B2B community in Facebook by launching into his ‘3 Initial Keys to Standing out on Facebook’.

1) Pay Attention

Before you ‘listen’ for your opportunities, begin with an understanding of:


How to Build a B2B Community in Facebook

2013 MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum Preview – And a ‘Cheers’ Plug

Cheers to B2B Marketing Forum

Let me start by saying that any trip to Boston has high expectations. Just a few months ago I, along with our Executive Director of Operations Jolina Pettice, traveled to Boston to meet with one of our favorite clients.

During our stay we dined at the ‘Cheers’ bar and later ‘ran into’ NBC’s Lester Holt (ran into = sat in the same hotel lobby). In regards to the latter, one of us may have gone a little fan crazy. I won’t say who, but their name rhymes with ‘Molina’.

Suffice it to say that while attending MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum in Boston I fully expect to run into more celebrities while carving out time to revisit America’s favorite bar to perform my best ‘Naarm!’ call (to this day I don’t change the channel when it comes on).


2013 MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum Preview – And a ‘Cheers’ Plug

How Does B2B Marketing Work on Google Plus? 4 Top B2B Tech Company Examples

B2B Technology Google PlusWhile sports teams, news outlets, car companies, universities, non-profits and the entertainment industry dominate the top 200 business pages on Google+, a growing number of B2B technology companies have embraced Google+ as well.

As with any top consumer brand, consistent engagement is crucial to success. B2B technology brands are developing relationships with prospects just like on any other social platform.  In the world of optimizing customer experience across the B2B sales cycle, Google+ for businesses offers B2B marketers  an opportunity to connect with buyers in a meaningful way and provide relevant information.

Thought leaders and subject matter experts increasingly serve as trusted sources to help business buyers determine the best solution to solve a business need. Knowledge and expertise combined with social media have trumped the peer influencers of the traditional buyer, giving rise to the “B2B Social Buyer”. [Source: ITSMA pdf]


How Does B2B Marketing Work on Google Plus? 4 Top B2B Tech Company Examples

Why SEO is Relevant When It Comes to B2B Thought Leadership

b2b thought leadershipI’ll start this post off with my point: Dismissing search is ignoring demand from buyers & the media.

A digital marketing exec I follow on Twitter shared a CMI article that posted this weekend: “Why SEO May Be Irrelevant When It Comes to B2B Thought Leadership”. As a long time realist about the role of search in online marketing, I wasn’t sure if this was simply linkbait or a well reasoned, data-informed argument.

It’s a cliche to respond to “SEO is dead” articles because those writers are almost always uninformed or have an agenda unrelated to optimization. However, this post was on CMI, a highly respected site.

The article does offer some great tips on building thought leadership including advice on academic and professional journal publishing, publishing on client-facing media outlets and public speaking opportunities.


Why SEO is Relevant When It Comes to B2B Thought Leadership