B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®

B2B Marketing views, news and interviews.

TopRank Marketing Top Takeaways & Words of Wisdom from MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum #MPB2B

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Last week, the amazing Ann Handley and her team at MarketingProfs put on a phenomenal conference for B2B marketers from all over the country. The information, networking, events and even the swag were all top-notch.

On the first day, Ann set the stage and asked everyone in attendance to find their squad of other marketers at the event, and to take their work seriously, but not to take themselves too seriously. I’m so thankful to have gotten to know some familiar faces a little bit better, and to make some new fast friends in a short amount of time.

This great conference inspired me to share what I thought were the top takeaways and words of wisdom from the speakers for those of you that weren’t able to attend.


TopRank Marketing Top Takeaways & Words of Wisdom from MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum #MPB2B

How B2B Marketers Can Use Facebook to Drive Engagement & Generate Leads

Ashley Zeckman
Ashley Zeckman
B2B Marketing, Facebook

Andrea-Vahl

Time and time again, B2B marketers have heard, “Facebook doesn’t work for B2B”. That statement could not be further from the truth. What B2B marketers should ask themselves is; am I truly engaging my Facebook audience by sharing things they want to see and interact with?

Facebook can be an incredibly powerful tool, if used correctly. In fact SteamFeed found that 60% of all social media traffic to B2B websites comes from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. So, there is proof that Facebook for B2B marketers works, but now it’s time to figure out how to create better engagement and make more meaningful connections.

Last week at MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum, Andrea Vahl took the stage and shared some fantastic insights into how B2B brands can improve visibility, track leads and improve Facebook Ad targeting. Below are some of her best insights.


How B2B Marketers Can Use Facebook to Drive Engagement & Generate Leads

How To Tap Into the Social Media Power of Employees for Content Amplification

dave and dave

Social media has evolved significantly in the past six years. At the beginning, businesses focused solely on just having a presence on social media. Then, brands beginning honing in on social listening and figuring out the “science” of a good social media campaign.

Marketers then realized that social media was a great tool not only to engage their audience, but a prime opportunity to amplify their content and draw even more people in to consume, engage with and share that content. Recent studies have found that social networking accounts for 30% of all time spent online.


How To Tap Into the Social Media Power of Employees for Content Amplification

If you want B2B Content to be Great, Ask Your Community to Participate! #MPB2B

Lee Odden MPB2B

The bar for great B2B content marketing is being raised since brands have become publishers and no longer need to rely on traditional media sources for exposure. Unfortunately, budgets and resources don’t always match the required output.

Not many B2B marketers realistically have the budget to hire journalists to compete with industry publications. Even those that do, are still struggling to create engaging content on a consistent basis, improve content effectiveness and provide a variety of content.

The wisdom of your community is a bank rich with useful marketing content and can help scale a B2B content marketing program. In his session at MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum, TopRank CEO Lee Odden made the case for why adding participation to your content can help solve the problems above, and three examples of content co-creation in action.


If you want B2B Content to be Great, Ask Your Community to Participate! #MPB2B

13 Considerations for Creating Successful Landing Pages from Oli Gardner of Unbounce #MPB2B

oli gardner unbounce mpb2b 2015

While B2B marketing KPIs such as views, shares and impressions are important in helping to determine your digital marketing strategy, conversions will always be more important. You have to provide enough value to encourage people to click on your content, and then once they reach your destination, you have to convince them again that it is worth providing their contact information.

Landing pages can be an incredibly powerful tool for moving prospects through the sales process but they are not all created equal. Oli Gardner of Unbounce provided an incredibly amount of information on the four corners of conversion for landing pages in his presentation at MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum.


13 Considerations for Creating Successful Landing Pages from Oli Gardner of Unbounce #MPB2B

Case Study: How IBM Changed Perception & Increased Revenue by 20% YOY #MPB2B

IBM mainframe

“Why not let every client who sets foot in the door know that this agency has entered the future?” – Don Draper

If you ask most people what they think a mainframe is, most will likely get visions of black and white photos of antiquated computers housed in an IBM backroom. As the Vice President of Z Systems Marketing for IBM, it’s Deon Newman’s job to change that perception.

Believe it or not, all of us are connected to a mainframe multiple times each day. The stats might actually surprise you. For example:

  • 80% of all corporate data resides or originates on mainframes.
  • 55% of all enterprise applications need a mainframe to complete transactions.
  • 30 billion business transactions are processed on mainframes every day.

Case Study: How IBM Changed Perception & Increased Revenue by 20% YOY #MPB2B

Digital Marketing That Focuses on User Intent – Avinash Kaushik #MPB2B

Avinash-Kaushik

“It’s not the ink, it’s the think.”

This quote was the basis for Avinash Kaushik’s opening keynote at MarketingProf’s B2B Marketing Forum. For those of you that don’t know, Avinash is a Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google and best-selling author.

According to Avinash, the difference between companies that will be great and those that will die (either quickly or slowly) are the ones that understand how to obsess about the think. Thinking about how your company can connect with people and execute process and structure will make you masters of marketing. Below are some of the many highlights from his entertaining, informational and inspiring keynote.


Digital Marketing That Focuses on User Intent – Avinash Kaushik #MPB2B

Is There Really A Secret to MAKING B2B Marketing Magic? #MPB2B

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Every industry experiences evolutions. For some it’s hundreds of years before innovations are made, whereas others change in the blink of an eye. Like a well timed magic trick, one minute you see something, and the next minute it’s completely transformed.

Digital marketing is one of those industries that is always on the cusp of something new and exciting. Personally, that is one of my favorite parts of working at an agency like TopRank Marketing. Each day is an adventure with exciting new things to learn.

Many digital marketers today seem to think that they’ve nailed making marketing magic, but have they really? There are some that in my opinion are constantly making magic (Michael Brenner, Ann Handley and Lee Odden to name a few), while the vast majority are just trying to keep up.


Is There Really A Secret to MAKING B2B Marketing Magic? #MPB2B

How Does Mark Schaefer MAKE Marketing Magic? #MPB2B

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If someone asked you what your mission is as a marketer, what would you say?

My response would go something like this: To create a meaningful connection with customers that engages them with my businesses and encourages them to take the next step in working with us. I’d venture to say that many of you out there would have a similar response. However, even with all of the tools at our disposal today, this mission is much easier said than done.

In fact, 60% of marketers are still struggling to produce engaging content, but 72% have it at the top of their list to focus on in the future.


How Does Mark Schaefer MAKE Marketing Magic? #MPB2B

140 B2B Content Marketing Statistics for 2016 Strategy Planning

B2B Content Marketing Report 2016

The best content marketing strategies are informed by data and one of the most consistent B2B marketing research reports chock full of data comes from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.

Today the 6th edition of the B2B Content Marketing – 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America report was published revealing a canyon of difference between successful content marketers and those that seem to be lost in the wilderness. This report is also a reality check for content marketers that drink too much of their own kool-aid, offering a mix of slightly downward trend data right along with numerous reasons for future content marketing optimism.

What do I mean by reality check? Fewer marketers have a documented content marketing strategy than last year 32% vs 35% and less marketers see their content marketing as effective 30% vs 38%.


140 B2B Content Marketing Statistics for 2016 Strategy Planning

How Does LinkedIn’s Jason Miller MAKE Marketing Magic? #MPB2B

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Effective content creation requires more than setting goals, implementing a strategy and creating your assets. For content to really be great, your audience needs to see it. One of the most effective content promotion mechanisms is the use of social media.

MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute recently found that LinkedIn is the most effective social media platform for B2B marketers to distribute and promote content marketing assets. Instead of searching through countless websites looking for best practices, we’re taking you straight to the source.

We have partnered with MarketingProfs to bring you insights from some of the top speakers that will be presenting at MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum (October 20 – 23).


How Does LinkedIn’s Jason Miller MAKE Marketing Magic? #MPB2B

Why It’s Time for More Participation in B2B Content Marketing

participation b2b marketing

B2B brands are answering the call to become publishers with a significant increase in content hubs exemplified by pioneers like American Express OPEN and Adobe’s CMO.com and others including:

  • Intel IQ
  • Think with Google
  • Dell’s Power More
  • GE’s World in Motion
  • SAP’s Digitalist Magazine

Content Hubs

While those are all great examples, there’s an important question: Can your business really afford to hire the kind of editorial team to create this quantity of quality content at the cadence of a business publication?

Many practical marketers will say no.

The trend towards brand publishing in combination with self directed buyers guiding their way through the sales process with content creates an interesting conflict between the need for an up level on quality content production with a corresponding increase in content creation resources.


Why It’s Time for More Participation in B2B Content Marketing