Influencer Marketing News and Tips

Inside B2B Influence 14: Ann Handley of MarketingProfs on Content Marketing and Influence

Inside B2B Influence is a show that goes behind the scenes of B2B marketing and showcases conversations with insiders from the world of influencer marketing. We connect with influential practitioners at B2B brands of all kinds and sizes to answer the rising number of questions about working with influencers in a business context.

In this first episode of the second season of Inside B2B Influence, I was able to catch up with the incredibly popular, talented and beloved Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs, Ann Handley. I’ve known Ann for well over 10 years and she’s been a great friend, client and source of inspiration to me about more meaningful content marketing.

Inside B2B Influence 14: Ann Handley of MarketingProfs on Content Marketing and Influence

5 Examples of B2B Brands Rocking With Influence in 2021

Lane Ellis on Jun 9th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

How does influence help B2B brands achieve success?

Influence may be multifaceted almost to a fault, however a key essence is its role in providing smart answers to the questions your audiences have.

Reaching target audiences through digital channels was recently found to be a top-three critical challenge for B2B marketers.

A new LinkedIn* report of the most in-demand marketing skills has shown that digital marketing represented the biggest mismatch of skills in supply and demand. Influence is a vital element of successful digital marketing, and presents B2B marketers with a powerful tool to overcome this challenge, and the five brands we’ll examine here have each used influence in a variety of ways to achieve digital marketing success.

5 Examples of B2B Brands Rocking With Influence in 2021

6 B2B Content Marketing Summertime Sizzlers To Increase Audience Engagement

Joshua Nite on Jun 1st, 2021
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing

I’m going to knock on wood as I type this, but: It looks like we might have a (mostly) normal summer this year in the U.S. After the lockdowns, isolation, anxiety and fear of 2020, it finally feels like things are opening up.

This is all great for everything except getting people to read your marketing content. In 2020 we had a captive audience starved for entertainment. Now we’ll be competing with everything from music festivals to movies to walking in the park.

The way to break through and have a “hot brand summer?” First, don’t use phrases like “hot brand summer,” because you’ll just make people hate you. Second, it’s all about customer engagement. That means connecting with people on a personal level, offering something novel and fascinating, and using that contact to build a meaningful relationship.

6 B2B Content Marketing Summertime Sizzlers To Increase Audience Engagement

Top 5 Benefits of Influencer Marketing for B2B Brands

Lee Odden on May 31st, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Despite that 96% of marketers engaging influencers for marketing deem their programs successful, there are still a very large number of B2B companies evaluating where influencer engagement fits in their marketing mix.

After spending the last 8 plus years working on developing influencer marketing strategies, creating pilot projects, implementing campaigns and running ongoing influencer programs for brands that range from 3M to Dell to LinkedIn, here are some of the top benefits B2B companies of all sizes are realizing through their influencer marketing efforts.

Before I get to the list, I think it’s important to mention that benefits realized are directly connected to goals imagined. That may seem obvious but the application of influence to marketing is viewed in many different ways and therefore, the outcomes can be just as different.

Top 5 Benefits of Influencer Marketing for B2B Brands

9 Questions to Ask When Hiring a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency

Lee Odden on Apr 19th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Confidence amongst B2B marketers in the role of influence, both externally and internally, has grown substantially in the past year. Following that growth is the number of B2B influencer marketing success stories inspiring marketers to investigate collaborative content strategies that include influencers.

At the same time, the pandemic has had its effect on marketing budgets and one of the trends over the past year that has stuck is the need for greater accountability and demonstration of ROI for marketing investments. While research shows that 96% of B2B marketers that engage influencers consider their program to be successful, 60% of marketers overall do not feel they have the skills or expertise in-house to execute on influencer programs.

9 Questions to Ask When Hiring a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency

5 Things B2B Content Marketers Need to Know About Working with Influencers

Lee Odden on Apr 12th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Given the rapid increase in influencer engagement amongst B2B brands over the past year, the opportunity and impact from working with influencers has become clear, especially with influencer content marketing according to the B2BIMReport:

Results – 63% of B2B marketers agree that marketing would have better results if it included an influencer marketing program.
Always-On Wins – 12X more marketers who run alway-on influencer marketing programs are very successful vs those running periodic campaigns.
Impact on CX – 74% of B2B marketers agree that influencer marketing improves customer and prospect experience with the brand.

1. B2B Content Influencer Marketing defined:

The practice of engaging internal and industry experts with active networks to collaborate on content in a way that drives mutual value and helps achieve measurable business goals.

5 Things B2B Content Marketers Need to Know About Working with Influencers

Brandfluence – Why Growing Executive Influence is Essential for B2B Marketing

Lee Odden on Mar 29th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

If there was one thing 2020 showed us in the B2B marketing world, it was the growing importance of influence in all aspects of the customer lifecycle from awareness to advocacy. People want to connect with other people, not some faceless brand.

The good news is that smart B2B marketers are putting a face to their brands through employee advocacy programs and building the visibility and influence of their key executives. But how should B2B brands approach the task of growing their brandfluence? At TopRank Marketing we deal in the business of influence and content in the B2B marketing world every day and here are 3 key trends we’re seeing drive an increase in focus on building executive influence:

Brandfluence – Why Growing Executive Influence is Essential for B2B Marketing

Choosing The Best B2B Influencers Is Key To Success — Here’s Why

Lane Ellis on Mar 24th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Why is it important to find the right B2B influencers?

Are there right and wrong ways to approach the process of choosing the best B2B influencers?

The crucial task of selecting B2B influencers who will drive the greatest success for a brand isn’t a simple one, yet it’s one often shrouded in mystery — a question that we’ll explore utilizing a collection of do’s and don’ts.

39 percent of B2B marketers state their top challenge with influencer marketing is that the process is too manual, and only 25 percent of less successful influencer marketers use software versus half of the most successful to identify influencers, according to our State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report.

Choosing The Best B2B Influencers Is Key To Success — Here’s Why

20 Ways to Build B2B Executive Credibility and Thought Leadership

Lee Odden on Mar 22nd, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

The pandemic driven digital transformation of B2B marketing to digital first has created all new levels of competition for time, attention and trust. In this environment, the importance of building credibility is essential in order to deliver stand out customer experiences. But how?

B2B brand Thought Leadership certainly plays a role and as the trends in trust focus more on individuals over companies, the opportunity to optimize content experiences through executive thought leadership and influence are growing. The more influence B2B brand executives have, the more credibility the brand has.

But how? How can B2B marketers build awareness, credibility and influence of their key executives with content? Here are a few tried and true tactics that continue to work in today’s digital B2B environment:

20 Ways to Build B2B Executive Credibility and Thought Leadership

Break Free B2B Marketing: Nicole Brady of SAHM Reviews on the Importance of Empathy in Reaching Your Niche

Susan Misukanis on Mar 18th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

For over a decade our team at TopRank Marketing has fostered a strong community of leading influencers, developing close relationships with subject matter experts in a wide variety of industries.

When it comes to B2B influencer marketing, it’s natural to wonder just what an industry influencer actually looks like?

In our third season of Break Free B2B Marketing video interviews, we’re continuing in-depth conversations with a selection of top B2B influencers, and taking a close look at the issues that each expert is influential about in their own industry.

Each successful B2B influencer has a rare mix of the 5 Ps — proficiency, personality, publishing, promotion, and popularity — as our CEO Lee Odden has outlined in “5 Key Traits of the Best B2B Influencers.”

Break Free B2B Marketing: Nicole Brady of SAHM Reviews on the Importance of Empathy in Reaching Your Niche

B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy: 5 Questions to Ask First

Lee Odden on Mar 15th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

It’s no mystery that we’re big fans of influencer marketing where B2B brands engage with industry experts and key opinion leaders to drive conversations, consideration and conversions.

Marketing leaders at B2B companies large and small are realizing how much influence can play a role in virtually every customer communication. As 2021 picks up steam, the practice of influencer marketing presents unique opportunities to optimize digitally transformed B2B marketing.

That said, while the role of influence can be universally present in content and communications, the approach that will work for any given B2B brand is by no means cookie cutter. Influencer engagement is not simply an advertising buy or some kind of programmatic marketing tactic. It’s simultaneously dynamic and open to certain kinds of optimization and scale through process, operations and expertise.

B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy: 5 Questions to Ask First

1. B2B Content Influencer Marketing defined:

Finding Business in the Clubhouse