Influencer Marketing News and Tips

How To Move From A Pilot B2B Influencer Marketing Program to Always-On Success

Nick Nelson on Oct 20th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

It sure is a good thing that the internet turns off at 10:00 PM every night, and doesn’t flip back on until 8:00 in the morning. And thankfully, business buyers completely tune out after they finish work, which is always at 5 o’clock sharp in this world of reliable and universally consistent routine.

Marketers and brands would really have their hands full if these things weren’t true.

Wait, what’s that? None of them are remotely true?

Welcome to the World of Always-On

There is no off-switch. The internet is open for business 24 hours a day. Buyers and decision makers are engaging with content in unpredictable patterns, thrown further askew by the pandemic-driven disruption of workday archetypes. An increasingly lengthy and complex buyer’s journey challenges B2B marketing strategies to be more versatile, agile, and perpetually present than ever before.

How To Move From A Pilot B2B Influencer Marketing Program to Always-On Success

Inside Influence 4: Janine Wegner from Dell on Thought Leadership and Influencer Relations

Lee Odden on Oct 19th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Today marks the 4th installment of the Inside B2B Influence series: What’s working and what’s not inside the world of B2B Influencer Marketing. I want to thank everyone who has viewed the interviews, made comments and shared with their networks. This week we’re continuing our search to explore the world of B2B influencer marketing with insights from the 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report.

Episode 4 of Inside B2B Influence features guest insider, Janine Wegner, Global Thought Leadership Program and Activation Manager at Dell Technologies who our agency TopRank Marketing has the pleasure of working with on influencer content marketing programs like The Zettabyte World – Securing our Data-Rich Future.

Janine and I were able to dig into a topic that I think represents a huge opportunity for influencer integration: the intersection of thought leadership.

Inside Influence 4: Janine Wegner from Dell on Thought Leadership and Influencer Relations

Inside Influence 3: Ursula Ringham from SAP on Influencer Marketing Operations

Lee Odden on Oct 12th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Welcome to the 3rd episode of Inside B2B Influence: What’s working and what’s not inside the world of B2B Influencer Marketing. Each week we feature an interview with a B2B marketing insider on all things influence and a deeper dive into the insights found in the 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report.

In this 3rd episode of Inside Influence you are in for a treat: A discussion with the force of nature and client of TopRank Marketing that is Ursula Ringham, Head of Global Influencer Marketing at SAP.

Ursula leads the Global Influencer Marketing team at SAP in collaboration with the entire SAP product portfolio to create innovative content with trusted external voices to build brand awareness and create pipeline. She is also an accomplished storyteller, author, creator, influencer marketer, digital innovator, social media maven, champion of girls education, and self described “outdoor sports freak”.

Inside Influence 3: Ursula Ringham from SAP on Influencer Marketing Operations

Inside Influence 2: Garnor Morantes from LinkedIn on the Power of Always-On Influence

Lee Odden on Oct 5th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Welcome to the second episode of Inside B2B Influence: Interviews with B2B Influencer Marketing Insiders. Each week we feature an interview with a B2B marketing insider on all things influence and a deeper dive into the insights found in the 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report.

This week, we’re talking to Garnor Morantes, Group Marketing Manager at LinkedIn. Our team at TopRank Marketing has been fortunate to work with Garnor on an award-winning, ongoing influencer marketing program for LinkedIn over several years and his leadership has been instrumental in its success.

Our conversation touches on:

What Always-On influencer marketing is and why its valuable for B2B brands
The challenges faced by campaign-focused influencer marketing efforts
Advice for B2B marketers considering influencer marketing

Inside Influence 2: Garnor Morantes from LinkedIn on the Power of Always-On Influence

Inside Influence 1: Rani Mani from Adobe on the B2B Influencer Marketing Advantage

Lee Odden on Sep 28th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

On the heels of the release of the 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report and the announcement that several of our clients (LinkedIn and Alcatel Lucent Enterprise) have won awards for B2B influencer marketing campaigns, I am very happy to share the launch of a new video interview series: Inside B2B Influence: Interviews with B2B Influencer Marketing Insiders.

What is Inside B2B Influence?

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

Inside Influence 1: Rani Mani from Adobe on the B2B Influencer Marketing Advantage

What Does Award-Winning B2B Influencer Marketing Look Like?

Lane Ellis on Sep 23rd, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing, TopRank Agency News

In a time of increased competition and uncertainty, standing out is more important than ever.

Of course there’s plenty of B2B marketing that stands out, but what kind performs? Is it ads, content marketing, SEO, social, ABM or influence?

At TopRank Marketing we make it our business to deliver on and exceed expectations for content experiences that will inspire customers through influencer marketing. But what does award-winning B2B influencer marketing look like? How can you infuse your own campaigns with the type of powerful elements that combine to deliver stellar marketing performance?

To help answer those questions, let’s take a look at two highly-successful efforts from our clients LinkedIn and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) to find out what common elements both campaigns share to make for decidedly uncommon success.

What Does Award-Winning B2B Influencer Marketing Look Like?

How to Win at B2B Influence With The Magic of Content Co-Creation

Lee Odden on Sep 7th, 2020
Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing

Today we live in an age of information overload where the speed of content discovery and the variety of options for media consumption across connected devices presents new challenges for B2B brands and buyers alike.

The natural response for buyers is to filter their choices and focus those few sources which are most trusted, credible and meaningful. For brands that want to differentiate and even dominate in their category, becoming known as “the best answer” for their domain of expertise will have enormous impact.

The challenge of increased digital sophistication brings an opportunity: businesses can differentiate and capture market attention by growing their authority and influence.

How to Win at B2B Influence With The Magic of Content Co-Creation

B2B Marketing Subject Matter Experts & Industry Influencers: Which Should I Choose?

Joshua Nite on Sep 1st, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

What does being an influencer really mean in the B2B world?

The classic B2C influencer is someone with a big following on social media, someone who makes a living doing makeup tutorials or cosplay or skateboarding tricks. Brands who want to reach their audience can simply provide free products or sponsor a post — it’s inherently transactional.

But for B2B, the question is a little trickier. B2B influencers are very rarely celebrities with millions of followers. For example, given enough time and money, you could get Taylor Swift to endorse your hybrid cloud solution. But would her endorsement really persuade your audience?

You can’t judge influence in B2B by follower counts alone. There are multiple ways that people can be influential in the B2B space. Which type of influencer your project needs will vary depending on your goals.

B2B Marketing Subject Matter Experts & Industry Influencers: Which Should I Choose?

5 Case Studies on How to Optimize B2B Influencer Engagement on LinkedIn

Lee Odden on Aug 31st, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

With over 700 million community members in 200+ countries and territories, LinkedIn is without question the place for businesses to do business. With 91% of marketing executives using LinkedIn as a content source (SocialPilot) it’s easy to understand why 94% of B2B marketers using LinkedIn to distribute content (CMI). In fact, there’s been a 50% year over year increase in content shared on the LinkedIn platform (LinkedIn).

With many social network options, LinkedIn has proven to be an effective choice for B2B marketers. A study from HubSpot showed that traffic from LinkedIn generates the highest visitor to lead conversion rate, 277% higher than Facebook and Twitter.

5 Case Studies on How to Optimize B2B Influencer Engagement on LinkedIn

10 Wise Quotes To Inspire Your Influencer Marketing

Lane Ellis on Aug 27th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

What will successful B2B influencer marketing look like in a post-pandemic world, and what can marketers do today to be ready?

Here are 10 quotes from some of the best in the B2B influencer marketing business to inspire your marketing today and to prepare for the eventual post-pandemic landscape.

1 — Rani Mani of Adobe

For Rani Mani, head of social influencer enablement at Adobe*, reaching out to uncover the heartfelt motivations, challenges, and aspirations of B2B influencers can be a great way to start building a long-lasting marketing relationship. She shares additional insight in our recently-released 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report.

10 Wise Quotes To Inspire Your Influencer Marketing

How to Nurture B2B Influencer Relationships During the Pandemic

Joshua Nite on Aug 11th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

I’m so glad that I went to B2BMX this past February.

For one thing, we did some amazing interviews with some very smart marketers. The very idea of these interviews seems weird now — we were just sitting! Three feet apart! With no masks! At a giant marketing conference at a hotel!

The cancellation of in-person events means I’ll miss one or two conferences this year. But for folks who make a living as keynote speakers and thought leaders, it’s a massive adjustment. And that includes a sizable subset of B2B influencers — those who are primarily keynote speakers and in-person consultants.

As an agency, we’re true believers in B2B influencer marketing (see our latest report to learn why). But we have had to adjust our strategy as influencers’ needs change. Like everything else in 2020, influencer relationship-building takes a different approach than you might be used to.

How to Nurture B2B Influencer Relationships During the Pandemic

For Successful B2B Marketers The Engine of Influence is Always On #B2BIMReport

Lee Odden on Aug 5th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

As the need for B2B brands to reach and connect authentically with customers rises, B2B influencer marketers are evolving from transactional and intermittent campaigns to more relationship driven, Always-On Influencer engagement programs as our research from the 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing report found:

19% are piloting
25% run periodic campaigns
34% use an Always-On approach

Transactional campaign approaches are hard pressed to develop brand loyalty and advocacy. That’s why, with 84% of B2B marketers focused on building brand awareness with their influencer marketing efforts, that ongoing influencer engagement has become essential for creating vested relationships that inspire more qualitative activations and brand advocacy.

For Successful B2B Marketers The Engine of Influence is Always On #B2BIMReport