B2B Buyers Demand Personalization Above All Else, Study Finds
B2B buyers place the highest value on personalization, according to a newly-released report based on a survey of some 1,000 B2B leaders, which also showed that 30 percent make more than half of their purchases using digital platforms, up significantly from 15 percent in 2017. MediaPost

Influencer marketing spend grows 83%
Influencer marketing spending in the U.S. and Canada has seen 83 percent year-over-year growth, accompanied by second-quarter spending of $442 million, according to newly-released research data of interest to marketers. The Drum

How Will Twitter’s Redesign Impact Social Media Managers?
Twitter recently updated its desktop design to more closely resemble its mobile experience, a change that has affected how and what digital marketers can do on the desktop experience, and presenting both new opportunities and several challenges. Social Media Today

LinkedIn updates Campaign Manager, adds brand awareness, conversion campaign options
LinkedIn has rolled out a number of campaign conversion improvements and new brand awareness additions to its Campaign Manager. The updates are poised to enhance LinkedIn’s (client) objective-based ad platform goals. Marketing Land

Brands ‘Out Of Touch’ With American Women
61 percent see portrayal in advertising as completely out of touch, and 56 percent want brands to stand up for women, according to newly-released data from Kantar’s U.S Monitor survey of Americans’ attitudes, values and motivations. MediaPost

Survey Reports 60% of Marketers Ignore Consumer Expectations; Still Rely on Single-Channel Customer Engagement
Some 60 percent of marketers fail to take into account consumer expectations, while 95 percent see increasing expectations from customers — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers in new report data from Maropost. MarTech Advisor

Facebook brings back reach estimates for Custom Audiences
After a year-plus absence and with new security measures in place, marketers can once again use Facebook’s estimated reach data for Custom Audience campaigns, the social giant recently announced. Marketing Land

Google Maps Launches Place Topics
Google announced that its Google Maps now includes review-based data for a new Place Topics feature. The new local search information from this automated feature could potentially have the greatest impact on B2B firms. Search Engine Roundtable

Social ad spend reached almost $18bn in Q1 2019, but growth has halved in past year
Revenues from advertising on social media and messaging platforms climbed 26.2 percent year-over-year during the first quarter of 2019, but at a slower rate than last year, according to recently-released data from Warc Data. Some platforms are looking to diversify in light of social media usage times that have remained steady. Mobile Marketing Magazine

How Are Businesses Going About Retaining Their Customers?
A recent brand loyalty tactics survey highlighted the differences between B2B and B2C when it comes to customer retention. More than 300 B2B and B2C business leaders were surveyed, with 97 percent having made customer retention a top priority. Some 68 percent of B2B respondents were confident in their firms’ retention prioritization, with 29 percent noting that they could do better, and only 14 percent of B2B respondents noting that customer experience and support was a top priority. MarketingCharts

The podcast industry expected to create $1 billion in annual revenue by 2021
By 2021 podcast advertising is expected to top $1 billion in annual revenue, according to newly-released forecast data. Such a strong projection by IAB could drive even more marketers to explore podcasting options. The Verge

B2C, B2B Purchase Journeys Follow Similar Paths
A newly-released Forrester study shows that 52 percent of marketers have seen more similarities in B2B and B2C customer behavior the past two years, as B2B takes on more of the energy of B2C, just one of several findings of interest to digital marketers in the new research. CMO.com

5 key takeaways from the 2019 Edelman brand trust survey
Edelman has released its 2019 Trust Barometer report, showing that 75 percent of consumers value trust over trendiness, and a wide swatch of other digital marketing insights. AdAge

63% Marketers Struggle To Implementing AR in Advertising Reports, Unity Technologies
55.8 percent of creatives expect to consider an augmented reality (AR) campaign during the upcoming year, and 54.1 percent of those who have already used AR campaigns have been satisfied with the user engagement gained, two of the findings from a new study of AR in advertising. MarTech Advisor

Social Media Usage Statistics for 2019 Reveal Surprising Shifts
A look at the latest Edison Research and Triton Digital Social Habit study shows largely unchanged social media usage over the past four years, growth for Instagram among young Americans, a drop in Facebook’s popularity, and several other statistics of interest to digital marketers. Convince and Convert

Silence is golden: preparing for the sound-off mobile ad ecosystem
A look at optimizing video ad creative for silence, the impact of HAVOC (Human, Audible, Viewable On Completion), and measuring viewability in an age when some 85-90% of branded videos are viewed with audio muted. The Drum

Mary Meeker’s Annual Tech Report Outlines Coming Shifts in Social Media and Digital Marketing
The highly-anticipated Internet Trends report for 2019 has been released, including data of interest to digital marketers. For more than 21 years venture capitalist Mary Meeker, partner at Kleiner Perkins, has researched and put out the report, this year weighing in at 333 pages. Social Media Today

Voice Search Study: Factors Influencing Search Engine Rankings in 2019
20 percent of Android Google App searches now come from voice, and a new SEMrush study examines ranking factors including the importance of first-page placement and other facets of voice search. SEMrush

Social Media Moves Down the Funnel as Commerce Opportunity Arises
Social media is used to research products (42 percent) and discover brands (24 percent), and new eMarketer survey data takes a look at social’s power to influence purchase decisions among U.S. companies. eMarketer

LinkedIn Acquires Data Personalization Platform Drawbridge to Improve Ad Targeting
LinkedIn (client) has announced that it is acquiring data analytics firm Drawbridge, and will incorporate its advanced machine learning features to better refine the platform’s ad targeting options. Social Media Today

Behavioral Ad Targeting Not Paying Off for Publishers, Study Suggests
A new study on how behaviorally-targeted advertising affects online publishers’ revenue shows only modest gains around 4 percent over traditional tactics, and the Wall Street Journal takes a close look at the recently-released data. Wall Street Journal

Digital Ads Are Raking In More Cash Than Ever
A new Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) report shows that 2018 was the first year U.S. digital advertising earnings topped the $100 billion mark, hitting $107.5 billion, up from 2017’s $88.3 billion, led primarily by the strength of mobile and video. Users also spent 22 percent more time on social media properties in 2018 than during 2017, the report details. Adweek

eMarketer Reduces US Time Spent Estimates for Facebook and Snapchat
U.S. adults are using Instagram more than ever, at an average of 27 minutes daily and expected to increase through 2020, while Facebook and Snapchat have both seen a drop in the average number of minutes of use per day, according to new forecast data from consultancy eMarketer. eMarketer

YouTube Ads Are Getting Longer
The ads marketers run on YouTube are getting longer, with the number of 30-second ads rising from 19 percent in January 2018 to 24 percent in January 2019, bucking the notion that shorter is always better with video, one of several video trends shown in a new MediaRadar report. MediaPost

Survey Report: Landing Page Habits of Marketers
30 percent of marketers expect average landing page conversion rates of 10 percent or less, and more than half expect a rate of 20 percent or less, according to new survey data on landing pages and their lead generation performance. SmartBrief

Google shares details on how first price auctions in Google Ad Manager will work
Display and video ads sold with Google Ad Manager, Google’s ad server and publisher exchange, will get additional auction functionality aimed at removing Google’s “last look” outbidding advantage, while also bringing new minimum pricing strategies and rules, the search giant recently announced. Marketing Land

Instagram Separates New Likes on Posts, Adds Unfollower Stats for Creator Accounts
Instagram has tested showing most recent post likes first, along with adding unfollower statistics to Instagram Creator analytics data, features that could prove useful to digital marketers when eventually rolled out. Social Media Today