The Role of Data in B2B Go-To-Market Strategies
59 percent of B2B marketing and sales leaders have said that they see missing or incomplete information as their biggest go-to-market data challenge, with 56 percent pointing to poor quality data, while 40 percent noted disconnected or siloed data sources — three of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released survey data. MarketingProfs

What should B2B marketers prioritize in 2023?
Brand purpose will see growing importance in 2023, while some 90 percent of companies in the customer-obsessed category have considered improving the employee experience as a top priority, with 72 percent of B2B buyers having said that they are more apt to purchase from socially responsible companies — some of the findings revealed in recently-published Forrester report data. SmartBrief

Cannes Lions Issues Annual Creativity Report
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recently published its annual creativity report, showcasing 76 pages of branded marketing and communications trends from this year’s event, which for the first time featured dedicated B2B marketing categories in the form of 11 Cannes Creative B2B Lions awards. MediaPost

Instagram remains the undefeated champ of influencer spend
U.S. influencer marketing spending has been forecast to hit $6 billion by 2023, an increase from this year’s $4.6 billion estimate, driven by digital marketers looking to turn towards more cost effective solutions, according to newly-released forecast data. Insider Intelligence

The Biggest Milestones in B2B Social Media History [Infographic]
From LinkedIn’s launch in 2003 and the eventual entrance of Facebook and Twitter on the scene in subsequent years to TikTok and others, a newly-released infographic takes a brief look at the history and milestones of B2B social media. MarketingProfs

This is the B2B century, and marketers will be the ones to lead it
With some 72 percent of U.S. businesses now primarily B2B, and B2B sales topping $9 trillion annually, The B2B Institute — LinkedIn’s think tank — takes a look at the next 100 years of marketing and how B2B looks to have an increasingly bright future. Marketing Week

Digital Advertising Hits $189 Billion In 2021, Global Forecasts Predict 5% Yearly Growth Through 2027
U.S. digital advertising revenue of $189 billion in 2021 was the biggest increase since 2006, including audio advertising with a leading 57.9 percent growth rate, and newly-released report data predicts that the audio ad market will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.07 percent that will continue on through 2027. MediaPost

Google Helpful Content Update Is Now Rolling Out
The latest updates to Google’s always-in-motion search engine algorithm look to emphasize content written more for people and less for SEO, as the search giant began rolling out its “helpful content update” as part of efforts to surface more high-quality original content, Google recently announced. Search Engine Roundtable

B2B buyers aren’t always happy campers when purchasing online [Report]
94 percent of B2B buyers have said that they prefer working with suppliers that have continually-evolving digital capabilities, while some 97 percent report having experienced at least one pain point during the online purchase process — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released survey data. Digital Commerce 360

B2B Digital Marketers See Content as Vehicle to CX Improvement
Some 42 percent of B2B marketers have listed investment in new content and creative assets as the top priority for improving customer experience (CX) over the next year, with 40 percent pointing to strengthening customer retention strategies, and 36 percent pinpointing better alignment of teams and tactics — three of numerous statistics of interest to digital marketers included in recently-released CX survey data. MarketingCharts

Meta Launches New B2B Advertising Audiences to Help Marketers Reach Key Decision Makers
Facebook-parent company Meta has implemented an array of new advertising campaign enhancements, including targeting segments for technology and other business decision-makers, aimed specifically at B2B users on its platform, Meta recently announced, as the firm seeks to ramp up its B2B advertiser base. Social Media Today

B2B Purchasers Are Speeding Up Their Journeys: Study
Some 55 percent of B2B executives have said that the length of their purchase timeline had increased either somewhat or significantly on average in 2022 compared to 2021, while six percent said their B2B purchasing timeline had decreased, with 38 percent reporting no change from last year — several of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released buyer behavior survey data. MediaPost

LinkedIn Continues to See ‘Record Levels’ of Engagement and Sessions Growth
Microsoft’s latest performance report revealed that its LinkedIn professional social network had topped 850 million members, with the number of user sessions expanding by 26 percent, accompanied by revenue that grew by 26 percent during the most recent quarter year-over-year, increasing by $768 million, Microsoft recently announced. Social Media Today

Google, Microsoft Report Slowest Revenue Growth In Two Years
Google-parent Alphabet saw revenue that grew by 13 percent during the second quarter of 2022, reaching $69.7 billion, the search giant’s slowest growth since the same quarter in 2020, while revenue from the search portion of the firm’s business climbed by 14 percent year-over-year, while Microsoft reported revenue up 12 percent, also its slowest growth in two years, the firms recently reported. MediaPost

The Metaverse Is No Game for B2B Marketers
72 percent of global business executives have said that they expect the metaverse to eventually effect their organization in a positive way, with some 41 percent expecting it to have a breakthrough or transformational impact in the future, according to newly-release survey data of interest to B2B marketers. Association of National Advertisers (ANA)

The B2B Trade Show Market Looks Like It’ll Need At Least Another 5 Years to Reach Pre-Pandemic Levels
Even with a robust 54.7 percent B2B trade show market growth and accompanying value expected to hit $10.2 billion in 2022, a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels isn’t set to occur until after 2026, while the business information market segment is poised to expand beyond pre-pandemic levels in 2022, reaching over $66.1 billion, according to recently-released U.S. B2B forecast data. MarketingCharts

Brands Are Investing More Social Budget On Creator Partnerships
74 percent of marketers expect to invest a quarter or more of their social media budgets on partnerships with content creators over the next three to six months, with 53 percent looking to strengthen their social community and some 41 percent using creator partnerships to promote brand values — three of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released Sprout Social study data. MediaPost

LinkedIn Business Manager is now in public beta
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has begun public testing of its previously-announced LinkedIn Business Manager, aimed at making it easier for marketers to manage advertising for multiple accounts on the professional platform, with an array of new integrated dashboard and campaign-related features, LinkedIn (client) recently announced. Search Engine Land

Why B2B marketplaces are now a mainstream digital commerce sales channel [Report]
B2B marketplace sales climbed by 131 percent in 2021, reaching $56.5 billion, making them the swiftest-growing eCommerce channel, with sales expected to reach some $130 billion in 2022, as 57 percent of B2B buyers noted that they were buying more from digital marketplaces during the pandemic, according to recently-released report data. Digital Commerce 360

The Top Challenges B2B Sales Reps Face Early in the Sales Cycle
30 percent of B2B sales professionals have said that getting prospect data to begin conversations was their top challenge, while 38 percent noted that personalizing sales presentation messages to prospects was their leading pain point — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released survey data. MarketingProfs

B2B customer journeys that begin at review sites are significantly shorter
B2B buying journeys average 192 days in length, dropping by 63 percent when a buyer’s first touch is with a review website, while the buying process is significantly longer than average when first-touch channels are social or paid media — three of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released report data. MarTech

Why personalization is more important than ever for brands [Report]
62 percent of consumers have said brands that don’t deliver personalized experiences will lose their loyalty, a figure that’s up seven percent from rates in 2021, while some 63 percent said they are fine with brand personalization efforts as long as they use voluntarily-shared first-part data, according to recently-released survey data. SmartBrief