B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®

B2B Marketing views, news and interviews.

7 Keys To Successful B2B Influencer Marketing #MPB2B

Businessman looking intently at computer image.

MarketingProfs educational content director Kerry O’Shea Gorgone kicked off an insightful #MPB2B Forum 2020 session with our CEO Lee Odden exploring B2B influencer marketing, “New Research: How to be Successful With Influencer Marketing.”

Lee began by explaining that when it comes to B2B influencer marketing, to create and maintain a successful program you’ve got to do the hard work and be smart about it, and set about to demystify some of the lesser-known aspects of B2B influencer marketing by sharing what he’s learned from having been deeply involved with the practice for the past eight years.

Let’s take a look at the new B2B influencer marketing research Lee explored in his insightful MarketingProfs B2B Forum #MPB2B 2020 session.

1 — Utilize Influencers to Rise Above Pandemic Uncertainties

Kerry & Lee Odden #MPB2B


7 Keys To Successful B2B Influencer Marketing #MPB2B

LinkedIn’s Ty Heath: 3 Enduring B2B Marketing Trends #MPB2B

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Nov 5th, 2020
B2B Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

Woman at computers looking at trend data image.

While MarketingProfs B2B Forum’s Ann Handley was introducing Ty Heath, director of market engagement at The B2B Institute at LinkedIn*, for her keynote, “Evolve your Strategy: 3 Mega Marketing Trends to Outperform Your Competition,” she shared that one of the advantages of holding the event virtually for the first time was that you could be three places at once by being able to watch all sessions once the conference concludes.

2020 marked Ty’s third year speaking at #MPB2B, and her first keynoting the event, and for the occasion Ann shared her hand-drawn portrait of Ty.

Ty Heath Screenshot A


LinkedIn’s Ty Heath: 3 Enduring B2B Marketing Trends #MPB2B

Adobe’s Rani Mani: 5 Tips For Creating Your B2B Influencer Marketing Love Affair #MPB2B

Woman making heart sign with her hands image.

Rani Mani, head of global employee advocacy at Adobe* delivered an impassioned presentation filled to the brim with B2B influencer marketing insights, with a special focus on how the best influencer relationships are in essence not that different from successful personal relationships.

Rani explained how she’s come to have a love affair with influencer marketing, and shared the process she uses to help turn mere social media heavyweights into long-term and deeply-engaged Adobe advocates — a plan than can be implemented by any brand willing to put in the time, effort, and especially the passion that Rani and her team have.


Adobe’s Rani Mani: 5 Tips For Creating Your B2B Influencer Marketing Love Affair #MPB2B

10 Must-See Sessions at MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2020 #MPB2B

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Nov 4th, 2020
B2B Marketing, MarketingProfs B2B Forum

Woman With Illuminated Fingertips Image

MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2020 will be the center of the B2B marketing world this week, as many of the world’s leading B2B marketers gather virtually on November 4 – 5 to learn and exchange the industry’s latest research and insight.

This year’s first-ever virtual edition offer a vast array speakers and sessions relating to all areas of B2B marketing, and while we’ve already shared our handy list of “25 Top B2B Marketing Influencers To Follow In 2021 #MPB2B,” we also want to provide you with a list of some of the sessions that we’re most looking forward to this week during #MPB2B.

Here are 10 sessions that stand out to us as must-see presentations as we head towards 2021 and beyond.


10 Must-See Sessions at MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2020 #MPB2B

Imagine What’s Possible: Top Insights & Favorite Marketing Moments From #MPB2B 2019

If we had to describe the experience at this year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum in one word, we would probably have to go with “neighborly.”

Yes, this vibe was intentionally embedded by the event organizers, who constructed the main stage and supporting elements at MPB2B around a “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” theme. But the speakers and attendees at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center all did their parts to foster a helpful, friendly, and kind environment. 

As a result, we’ve returned home with our mental batteries recharged, full of inspiration and motivation to help our clients, partners, audience, and coworkers achieve new heights with B2B marketing strategy.


Imagine What’s Possible: Top Insights & Favorite Marketing Moments From #MPB2B 2019

How Intuit Surmounted Stagnating Lead Gen with Customer Insight

Here’s something you might already know about Intuit: The leading financial software company has been around for 35 years, buoyed by its primary software offerings, TurboTax and QuickBooks.

Here’s something you might not know (at least it was news to me): While Intuit does market to consumers, B2B customers comprise a large portion of the company’s base – its ProConnect division sells products to tax and accounting professionals, while Intuit, in general, is reliant on such pros to recommend TurboTax and QuickBooks to their own clients.

And on this B2B front, Intuit was facing a challenge: Leads had been flat for five years. Despite extremely high product awareness (I doubt anyone reading this hasn’t heard of those two main products) and strong tax firm industry retention rates around 90%, Intuit simply wasn’t bringing in new business at the desired rate.


How Intuit Surmounted Stagnating Lead Gen with Customer Insight

Tales from the B2B Influencer Marketing Trenches with Leaders from Dell & SAP #MPB2B

When was the last time you made a purchase without reading multiple reviews, asking your friends for recommendations or relying on an endorsement from someone that you know and trust? The likely response is: “I can’t even remember that far back.”

While trusting the insights of others to inform our purchasing decisions has become second-nature for both personal and business purchases, influencer marketing for B2B organizations is still fairly new. In fact, only 24% of marketers are currently partnering with influencers to expand their reach (CMI & MarketingProfs). 

Last week at MarketingProfs B2B Forum, seasoned influencer marketing leaders Konstanze Alex and Janine Wegner from Dell* and Amisha Gandhi from SAP* teamed up to share tales from the trenches of influencer marketing at their respective organizations. Below is just a sampling of the insights they shared that can help guide your approach for your brand. 


Tales from the B2B Influencer Marketing Trenches with Leaders from Dell & SAP #MPB2B

Breaking Down Barriers for Healthy B2B Marketing with Lee Odden #MPB2B

On Thursday morning at MarketingProfs B2B Forum, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden asked a room full of marketers, “Who here has tried starting a diet or exercise program before?” Pretty much every hand in the room shot up.

The percentage of those individuals who would rate their efforts as a satisfying success? Not quite so high.

Falling short of aspirations with fitness endeavors is an almost universally relatable experience. We embark on a diet plan, but we slip. We go all-in on a workout regimen, but we stop. Life gets in the way, and other priorities demand our attention. Alas, any temporary progress we make ultimately proves to be only that.

Many marketers are familiar with this pattern in their jobs: Campaigns yielding strong results, which quickly fade and leave us unfulfilled.


Breaking Down Barriers for Healthy B2B Marketing with Lee Odden #MPB2B

A Primer on Combining Account-Based Marketing and Social Selling, from LinkedIn’s Ty Heath #MPB2B

Lines are blurring. The B2B funnel is no longer tidily divided between marketing (top) and sales (bottom) because the buying process has grown more complex and less linear. 

Account-based marketing and social selling are both practices built for the new era of convergence, encouraging marketers to think more like sellers and vice versa. On Wednesday afternoon at MarketingProfs B2B Forum, Ty Heath of LinkedIn* offered her perspective on bolstering alignment by combining ABM and social selling, while calling out tools and tactics that can aid these efforts.

ABM, Meet Social Selling

At B2B Sales and Marketing Exchange a couple months ago, Sangram Vajre of Terminus kicked things off with an opening keynote in which he declared “ABM is B2B.” He argued that the principles of account-based marketing have become so ingrained in the fabric of B2B marketing that virtually everyone operating in the space is adopting an ABM framework to some degree. This was a sentiment echoed by others at the conference.


A Primer on Combining Account-Based Marketing and Social Selling, from LinkedIn’s Ty Heath #MPB2B

The Truth About Marketing Personalization, According to Arm Treasure Data’s Tom Treanor #MPB2B

Personalization is one of the most-discussed topics in marketing today, B2B or otherwise, and with all the chatter it can be a little tricky to separate fact from fiction. At MarketingProfs B2B Forum on Tuesday afternoon, Arm Treasure Data’s* Global Head of Marketing Tom Treanor took the stage to serve up some truth. 

By offering clarity around what separates the leaders from the learners on this critical frontier, his session provided a blueprint for refining and improving our efforts to get in sync with customers and prospects.

B2B Personalization Is Challenging (But Critical!)

During another session earlier in the day, Samantha Stone of The Marketing Advisory offered up some truth of her own, which resonated with Tom and I: “We need to worry less about creating scale, and more about creating relationships in our marketing.”


The Truth About Marketing Personalization, According to Arm Treasure Data’s Tom Treanor #MPB2B

A Journey Through Always-On Influencer Marketing with Ashley Zeckman #MPB2B

Ashley Zeckman Presenting at MPB2B 2019

What is that makes Alice in Wonderland so powerful and resonant? It’s a tale that’s been retold – through books, movies, TV, video games, and various other content formats – time and time again. Terms like “down the rabbit hole” and “through the looking glass” are now fixtures in our collective lexicon. Almost everyone is familiar with Lewis Carroll’s whimsical world of fantasy.

Why?

There are many reasonable answers, but for me, it comes down to the characters. From Alice to the Mad Hatter to the Cheshire Cat to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the denizens of Wonderland are deeply memorable, and – in their own ways – relatable. As humans, we connect with people on a level that transcends things or places. 


A Journey Through Always-On Influencer Marketing with Ashley Zeckman #MPB2B

12 Must-See Sessions at MarketingProfs B2B Forum #MPB2B

MarketingProfs operates on the belief that learning changes lives. And from that perspective, it might be fair to suggest next week’s B2B Forum will be a life-changing experience for those in attendance, because there is a whole lot of learning in store.

Dubbed by MarketingProfs as the “most let’s get down to business but not take ourselves too seriously while doing it marketing conference on the planet,” B2B Forum brings together many of the brightest minds in the industry around a singular focus: improving. The well-rounded agenda on tap will run the gamut of vital topics in the modern B2B marketing environment, offering opportunities to improve by learning from foremost experts and leaders in the field.

These 12 sessions, in particular, stand out to us as must-see attractions amidst a schedule brimming with brilliant business minds. 


12 Must-See Sessions at MarketingProfs B2B Forum #MPB2B