B2B buyers want purchasing to be more social and entertaining
62 percent of B2B buyers have said that they would like more entertaining online purchasing processes, with 60 percent noting that they plan to increase their use of digital purchasing channels, while over 40 percent will abort an online buying process if it takes more than three seconds — three of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. Digital Commerce 360

B2B Sellers Should Include Financial Data In Emails, Not Sound Robotic: Study
81 percent of B2B sellers said that an understanding of a client’s financial performance is important when it comes to engaging executives, while 72 percent reported greater success when such financial data was used, according to recently-released B2B seller survey data. MediaPost

B2B CMOs Make Meaningful Shifts in Priorities
30 percent of B2B chief marketing officers have said that growth was tops when it comes to what they want to deliver in their role, while 21 percent pointed to better customer experiences, with 19 percent having said greater efficiency — three findings contained in newly-published B2B CMO survey data. MarketingCharts

B2B purchasing is for the young — and digital [Report]
35 percent of B2B buyers in the millennial and Generation Z demographic are say that they prefer using enterprise purchasing apps, while 24 percent of older buyers prefer inside sales reps, while dissatisfaction with vendors was also higher among younger B2B buyers — three of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released survey data. Digital Commerce 360

Creative Services Professionals Are Most Concerned About AI
23 percent of marketing executives have said that they are interested in artificial intelligence (AI), with the top sectors interested in AI being software development, computer engineering, electronics, and creative services, while 12 percent of advertising executives said they are concerned about AI taking their jobs — three of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MediaPost

Google rolled out new site names, favicon and sponsored label on desktop search
Search giant Google has released a search update that displays an array of additional website information within desktop search, including a secondary website name element, icon images, and more, along with more prominent advertising labels in mobile search results, Google recently announced, presenting new SEO options for B2B marketers. Search Engine Land

B2B Decision-Makers Value Research and Data in Thought Leadership Content
51 percent of B2B marketers have said thought leadership content that is quick and easily-absorbed provides the greatest value, with 49 percent pointing to thought leadership that references robust research with supporting data — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released survey data. MarketingCharts

B2B marketplaces refine their expansion strategies
B2B marketplaces such as Amazon Business have shifted strategies in 2023, including greater use of machine learning (ML) applications and artificial intelligence (AI), propelling the industry to annualized sales topping $25 billion, with estimates expecting continued growth that will reach $80 billion by 2025, according to newly-published report data. Digital Commerce 360

Millennial and Gen Z B2B buyers are many and demanding online [Report]
64 percent of business buyers are in the millennial and Gen Z demographic, with the B2B buyers in these groups more likely to express dissatisfaction relating to purchase experiences than those in older groups — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published Forrester report data. Digital Commerce 360

The Most Impactful Trends of 2023, per Agencies
69 percent of marketing executives have said that short-form video is the 2023 trend that will have the greatest impact on clients and the marketing industry, while 43 percent pointed to influencer marketing as a trend expected to have strong impact, with 43 percent having also pinpointed the smarter delivery of personalized experiences, according to recently-released survey data. MarketingCharts

B2C and B2B Customers Expect Personalized Content at Different Stages of the Purchase Journey
57 percent of B2B customers have said that they expect personalized content when discovering a company’s products and services — compared with 22 percent of B2C customers, with greater overall personalization expected from B2B customers than from those in B2C at each of six buying stages, according to newly-published Adobe and Forrester survey data. MarketingCharts

38% of marketers shift strategy from customer acquisition to loyalty
Roughly a third of marketing executives have said that they are hoping for more robust budgets in 2023 than in 2022, while over half noted that inflationary concerns had impacted their business — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released survey data. Marketing Dive

The evolution of B2B marketing in 5 charts
55 percent of B2B marketing executives have said that the length of purchasing cycles has increased, while 35 percent of B2B marketers consider the top technology investment obstacle to be organizational data that isn’t normalized across systems — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-released survey data. Insider Intelligence

Google shows off more of what its ChatGPT competitor Bard can do
With the launch of its Bard artificial intelligence (AI) generative chatbot service, Google has signaled a search future in which it looks to temper the benefits of AI with an understanding of those areas where the technology may pose challenges, and the search giant shared examples of what its new Bard ChatGPT challenger is able to do, Google recently announced. CNBC

B2B marketing will be more digital, customer-focused this year [Data]
Marketers will spend $6.16 billion on influencer marketing in the U.S. alone during 2023, which would be an increase of 23.4 percent over 2022, while 54 percent of B2B marketers have said that they plan to spend more on customer marketing during 2023 — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-published B2B marketing research. Insider Intelligence

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Plus, starting at $20 per month
The OpenAI artificial intelligence (AI) research organization, fresh off its recent multi-billion-dollar expanded investment from Microsoft, has rolled out a premium $20 per month version of its popular ChatGPT service — short for chat generative pre-trained transformer, featuring priority access to the generative AI service including updated features and speedier response times, OpenAI recently announced. TechCrunch

LinkedIn Now Up to 900 Million Members, Continues to See ‘Record Levels’ of Engagement
Microsoft’s latest quarterly performance report has revealed that its LinkedIn (client) professional social network has topped the 900 million member mark and seen record levels of engagement, with the number of user sessions expanding by 18 percent, accompanied by revenue that grew by 10 percent during the most recent quarter year-over-year, and a ten-fold increase in newsletter creation on the platform, Microsoft recently announced. Social Media Today

2023 Global Digital Report [Meltwater / We Are Social]
During 2022 some $27.51 billion was spent on online influencer activities, which was a 20.4 percent increase year-over-year, while influencer advertising represented 4.1 percent of total digital advertising spending during 2022, a rise of 4.6 percent year-over-year, with 71 percent of brands having said that they expect influencers to play a bigger role in 2023, according to newly-released data from Meltwater’s Digital 2023 Global Overview Report. Meltwater

2023 Edelman Trust Barometer: Business is only institution viewed as ethical, competent
62 percent of global respondents in Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer have said that they place the most trust in businesses, topping the 59 percent achieved by second-place category non-governmental organizations (NGOs), achieving top marks for both competency and ethical factors, according to data from the newly-published survey. PRWeek

Gartner Survey: 84% Of Leaders Cite Customer Data & Analytics As ‘Very Or Extremely Important’ For Achieving Goals
84 percent of both B2B and B2C leaders have noted that they consider customer analytics and data as very or extremely important in reaching 2023 organizational goals, while 80 percent have highlighted the importance of increasing digital channel effectiveness — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released report data. Demand Gen Report

B2B Marketers Prioritizing Data and Technology to Succeed in 2023
86 percent of B2B marketers have said they will invest more in technology during 2023 that they did in 2022, with 36 percent planning major increases, while 46 percent noted that centralizing and unifying data were their top priorities for making better use of data in the coming year, according to recently-released Association of National Advertisers (ANA) survey data. ANA

Microsoft eyes $10 billion bet on ChatGPT
Microsoft has reportedly been in talks to invest $10 billion in the OpenAI research organization — the group behind the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot technology — funding that would value OpenAI at some $29 billion, and eventually see Microsoft holding a 49 percent stake in the organization. Semafor