What B2B Buyers Want From Tech Vendors Right Now
55 percent of B2B buyers say it’s appropriate for marketing efforts to continue during these challenging times, and 53 percent are presently in the market for B2B products and services, with most of those having recent new purchasing interests, according to newly-released survey data. MarketingProfs

Programmatic Ad Spend Down 9% Since Beginning of 2020, Driven by Travel and Auto
Amidst an overall fall of 9 percent in April, ad spending for the technology vertical and the education and training segment were up 70 percent and 63 percent for the year, with streaming ad spend also up by some 18 percent, according to recently-released report data. Adweek

B2B Decision-Maker Survey: COVID-19’s Impact on Marketing, Buying, and Sales
65 percent of enterprise B2B buyers now view online interactions as being more important than traditional vendor conversations, one of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-released U.S. B2B pandemic response survey data. MarketingProfs

Facebook just bought Giphy
Facebook has acquired popular animated GIF image platform Giphy in a $400 million move that will likely bring deeper integration with both Facebook-owned Instagram and its messaging features, the social media giant announced.Engadget

LinkedIn Stories Is Almost Here: Will It Reinvent the B2B Social Media Landscape?
LinkedIn (client) has tested its variation of the popular ephemeral stories format. When rolled out to the Microsoft-owned platform’s 690 million users, LinkedIn Stories would bring B2B marketers on the platform a new digital storytelling tool option. MarketingProfs

COVID-19’s Impact on B2B Software Budgets
31 percent of B2B software buyers say they’ll spend less due to the pandemic, while 30 percent said that spending won’t be affected, according to recently-released survey data. Web conferencing, collaboration, and remote desktop software were the three top segments for expanded spending, the survey also noted. MarketingProfs

90% of people buy from brands they follow on social media, study says
Nine out of 10 people purchase from the brands they follow on social platforms, and the amount they spend climbed 12 percent from 2019 figures — two of numerous findings of interest to digital marketers contained in new report data. Just 23 percent of marketers use social media data for measuring return-on-investment (ROI), the report also noted. Mobile Marketer

How COVID-19 Is Impacting Business Event Planning
70 percent of business event planners have changed previously-planned in-person events to virtual platforms due to the pandemic, and 47 percent expect that once it ends people will still be hesitant to travel, with 27 percent expecting a swift uptick in real-world events due to pent-up demand, according to newly-released survey data from the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). MarketingProfs

Google ad sales steady after coronavirus drop; Alphabet leads tech share rally
2020 first-quarter advertising sales at Google tallied $33.8 billion, with 73 percent coming from search and 12 percent from its YouTube property, and Google’s ad business accounting for some 83 percent of revenue for parent firm Alphabet, according to newly-released financial results. Reuters

How to use LinkedIn Ads’ new company targeting options to boost B2B lead generation
LinkedIn (client) recently rolled out additional targeting options for advertisers, allowing LinkedIn Ad users access to new Company Category B2B data comprised of Forbes, Fortune and platform data, along with the addition of growth rate targeting information. Search Engine Land

Report: Majority of B2B Marketers to Continue Investment in Data Quality in 2020
75 percent of B2B marketers plan to up their investment in data quality during 2020, while 90 percent said they view such investment leading to improved marketing and sales performance — two of the numerous findings of interest to digital marketers contained in recently-released Dun & Bradstreet report data. Chief Marketer

10 B2B Tech Categories Gaining Interest Because of COVID-19
Telemedicine, electronic signature, online conferencing, and mobile app development were the most swiftly-rising B2B technology software categories, according to recently-released report data, showing rises of as much as 613 percent since the global health crisis began. MarketingProfs

Magnifying the Massive Growth of B2B Marketplaces
87 percent of B2B buyers and 97 percent of millennial B2B buyers purchase through online marketplaces, according to recently-released report data, also showing that millennials have preferred review websites and web search as top pre-purchase research resources. G2

Exclusive: Mary Meeker’s coronavirus trends report
Mary Meeker, publisher of the Internet trends report since 1995, recently released a special coronavirus trends update, which found that on-demand platforms and online marketplaces have been seeing big numbers and high growth, among other items of interest to B2B marketers. Axios

How B2B Buyer Behavior Has Changed in Light of COVID-19, and What Marketers and Sellers Can Do Now
82 percent of B2B buyers said they were concerned or strongly concerned about the possibility of a pandemic-sparked recession, while 30 percent have reported spending more on videoconferencing software — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers in a recently-released survey examining B2B buyer shifts. eMarketer

How Bad Data Hurts B2B Companies [Infographic]
Just 33 percent of marketers say they can rely on their customer relationship management (CRM) software, and 88 percent said that bad data has a direct impact on their company’s bottom line — two of the findings in a new infographic look at the effect of poor data on B2B firms. MarketingProfs

SEO will be a primary focus for marketers during the downturn, says survey
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is poised to see increased budget spending during the pandemic, according to recently-released survey results, also showing that organic and paid search were the two top performing channels among multiple industries during 2019. Marketing Land

ANA: Most Brands Have Adjusted Their Creative Since COVID-19 Named A Pandemic
92 percent of marketers have made changes to their campaigns since the pandemic began, with 46 percent having reported substantial changes and 42 percent having indicated that they’ve made more moderate changes, according to newly-released survey data from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). MediaPost

Influencers see surge in engagement, want to help SMBs
While other forms of marketing have generally seen decreased effectiveness figures during the coronavirus pandemic, influencer marketing has seen surging social media engagements and impressions, with some 70 percent of influencers seeing audiences seeking guidance from them during the crisis, according to recently-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. Influence Central

Forrester: Brands must build trust as coronavirus saps consumer sentiment
Although brands have been facing decreased consumer confidence due to the coronavirus pandemic, some are also achieving new levels of trust by helping consumers regain a sense of control, a shift examined in newly-released consumer energy index survey data from Forrester. Marketing Dive

LinkedIn rolls out Conversation Ads, aimed at improving personalization in messaging
LinkedIn has begun launching its new Conversation Ads, with real-time engagement ad options that include multiple calls-to-action. Conversation Ads are rolling out to all LinkedIn (client) advertisers over the next several weeks, the firm recently announced. Marketing Land

Social Media Consumption Grows Amid Coronavirus
Social media usage has sharply increased in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain Instagram #ad campaign post likes have seen an increase of up to 76 percent during the past two weeks, as the majority of workers have shifted to temporary remote work. AList

CX in B2B Marketing: Top-of-Mind Strategy in 2020
54 percent of B2B marketers say their organizations are focusing most on customer experience and loyalty in their marketing efforts, according to newly-released report data examining global B2B customer experience priorities. MarketingProfs

Some B2B Brands Are Falling Short On Personalization: Study
Some 42 percent of B2B marketers see their marketing efforts as not being fully personalized, despite 77 percent seeing personalized marketing as delivering better customer relationships — two of several insights relevant to digital marketers contained in recently-released study data. MediaPost

YouTube to automate more video reviews in light of staffing challenges caused by coronavirus
Caronavirus concerns have led YouTube and other social media platforms to turn partially to artificial intelligence (AI) for flagging troublesome content, as temporary in-house human staff shortages have arisen. The temporary measures include possible delays in appeals processes, and increased instances of falsely-flagged content, YouTube and other social networking firms have announced this week. Marketing Land

B2B Companies See Purpose As A Path to Success
Some 82 percent of B2B executives see companies with purpose having more success than those without, with 86 percent saying that purpose is important to their business — two of the insights contained in a recently-released B2B brand purpose survey. MarketingCharts

Content Consumption and Production Trends for B2B Marketers
Creating brand awareness, educating audiences, and building credibility and trust are the three top B2B content marketing goals, according to a new report on content consumption and production trends. Blog posts, customer testimonials and reviews, and whitepapers were the most effective methods for moving prospects along the sales funnel, the report revealed. Chief Marketer