B2B Marketing Blog

Break Free B2B Marketing: Tamara McCleary of Thulium on Visions of the Future and Doing No Harm

Susan Misukanis on Apr 22nd, 2021
B2B Marketing

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

Our third season of Break Free B2B Marketing video interviews feature conversations with top B2B influencers, looking closely at the issues that each expert is influential about in their industry.

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

Sometimes you meet a person who ticks all the boxes: they’re smart, they’re funny, they’re connected, they’re brave, and they’re an expert — in not just one thing, but many. You can learn a lot from people like this: tips, tricks, advice, best practices, and more. The one thing they can teach you about more clearly than anyone else, however, is what’s going to happen next.

Break Free B2B Marketing: Tamara McCleary of Thulium on Visions of the Future and Doing No Harm

Hophead Marketing: What B2B Marketers Can Learn From The Craft Beer Industry

Lane Ellis on Apr 21st, 2021
B2B Marketing

What can the wildly successful craft beer industry teach B2B marketers?

From storytelling and keeping content fresh to making corporate campaigns delightfully crushable, there’s plenty the B2B marketing world can learn from taking a look at the craft beer industry and its emphasis on customer delight, engagement, and more.

While the pandemic has slowed the growth of the craft beer industry with the largest disruption to the industry since the days of Prohibition — leading to an 8 percent decline in sales among small and independent craft brewers — its trajectory over the past decade has been undeniably admirable.

The global health crisis has forced the craft beer industry to change, including an expansion of direct-to-consumer sales in the face of closed taprooms, yet there’s still much that B2B marketers can learn from the long-term ascendancy of the craft beer world.

Hophead Marketing: What B2B Marketers Can Learn From The Craft Beer Industry

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

B2B Marketing News: B2B Email Study, Marketing Leadership Gaps, Digital Ad Spend Surges, & High-Quality Creative Drives Brand Trust

Lane Ellis on Apr 16th, 2021
Online Marketing News

The Buzz On B2B: Email Is Tops For Both Acquisition And Retention
Half of B2B marketers have seen email click-through rates (CTRs) remain steady during the first quarter of 2021, while 28 percent saw higher CTR than during 2020, according to recently-released survey data, which also showed that by early 2022 some 40 percent of marketers expect to restore their marketing spending to regular levels, with 25 percent doing so in early 2021. MediaPost

Vast Majority of Consumers Associate High-Quality Creative with Brand Trust
85 percent of U.S. adult consumers in a recent survey said that well-designed ads help build brand trust, while 64 percent said that brands with poor creative design were less trsutworthy, according to the Celta survey. MarketingCharts

B2B Marketing News: B2B Email Study, Marketing Leadership Gaps, Digital Ad Spend Surges, & High-Quality Creative Drives Brand Trust

Brave New World: The Model for B2B Marketing Success, Post-Pandemic

Nick Nelson on Apr 15th, 2021
B2B Marketing

“The new normal.”

I believe that’s what we would call the opposite of a compelling lede. Nobody wants to hear that phrase anymore, I know it. While that may be the case, it’s an unavoidable truth that our world does, and will, look different in many ways following a globally disruptive pandemic.

Savvy business and marketing leaders are already planning proactively for what lies ahead. They’re assessing what’s changed in the past year, analyzing trends and indicators, and optimizing their strategies to thrive within an altered economic and social environment.

We’re here to help. Read on for research and recommendations that will help you equip your B2B organization for maximum success going forward.

Brave New World: The Model for B2B Marketing Success, Post-Pandemic

Hybrid & Remote Work Trends That Will Alter The Future Of B2B Marketing

Lane Ellis on Apr 14th, 2021
B2B Marketing

How is the shift to remote and hybrid work affecting B2B marketers?

Which trends will endure in the post-pandemic marketing landscape?

The dramatic shift to hybrid and remote work that has been brought about by the pandemic is set to forever alter the way B2B marketers and the organizations they work for and with do business.

Let’s take a look at some of these changes, and the trends that are likely to permanently affect B2B marketers, and I’ll offer my own perspective coming from a long-term background in remote work.

Hybrid & Remote Work Trends That Will Alter The Future Of B2B Marketing

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

B2B Marketing News: B2B Site Visitor Study, Trust In Tech Falls, Ad Spending Rebounds, & Pinterest’s First B2B Ad Campaign

Lane Ellis on Apr 9th, 2021
Online Marketing News

B2B Myopia: Brands And Visitors Disagree On What Works On Websites
59 percent of B2B marketing customers say they like reviews and testimonials on websites, compared with just 37 percent of B2B marketers, while 44 percent of marketers viewed compelling brand messaging as important when it comes to creating a powerful website experience, compared to only 24 percent of website visitors — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in recently-released survey data. MediaPost

Pinterest Kicks Off ‘Be Their Next’ B-to-B Campaign
Pinterest has launched its first global B2B campaign aimed at advertisers is the U.S. and five other countries, seeking to bolster B2B brand involvement on the visual-oriented social media platform, and shared survey data showing that Pinterest users are 25 percent more likely to tell others about new products, the firm recently announced. Adweek

B2B Marketing News: B2B Site Visitor Study, Trust In Tech Falls, Ad Spending Rebounds, & Pinterest’s First B2B Ad Campaign

5 Striking Insights On Successful B2B Marketing Engagement

Lane Ellis on Apr 5th, 2021
B2B Marketing

How important is engagement in B2B marketing?

To say that engagement plays a crucial role in creating successful B2B marketing content is an understatement, as it’s how we connect with customers, and a key element in the process of building trust and the desire to continue interaction with a brand.

Engagement is also a fundamental building block of content marketing, offering many innate benefits well worth the effort it often takes B2B marketers to properly achieve.

To get that process started, let’s take a look at five striking insights on successful B2B marketing engagement, from some of the top marketers in the industry today.

1 — Brian Solis

“Meaningful customer engagement starts with discovery,” Brian Solis, global innovation evangelist at Salesforce, observed in our groundbreaking 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report.

5 Striking Insights On Successful B2B Marketing Engagement

B2B Marketing News: B2B Tech Content Marketing Priorities, Spotify Podcast Audience Tops Apple, & LinkedIn’s New Video Cover Stories

Lane Ellis on Apr 2nd, 2021
Online Marketing News

More B2B Tech Content Marketers Successfully Building Trust, Loyalty
86 percent of B2B technology marketers have said that they rate their content marketing efforts as being successful, while 88 percent attributed that success to providing content that offers value — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers in recently-released report data. MarketingCharts

B2B Buyers Prefer Email Over Other Channels, Especially Older Generations, Study Finds
Email is the leading overall communication channel among B2B decision makers, preferred by 54 percent of millennials and 60 percent of members of older generations, while 51 percent of millennials said they see digital purchasing channels as fostering more personalized solutions, according to newly-released survey data. MediaPost

B2B Marketing News: B2B Tech Content Marketing Priorities, Spotify Podcast Audience Tops Apple, & LinkedIn’s New Video Cover Stories

Always Have A Backup: Why B2B Marketers Must Be Prepared

Lane Ellis on Mar 31st, 2021
B2B Marketing

Are you ready for World Backup Day?

For World Backup Day we want to explore the importance of backing up not only your business’ data, but why B2B marketers should always have a backup plan B — and preferably also a plan C and D — at the ready.

“Don’t be an April Fool. Be prepared. Back up your files on March 31st,” the World Backup Day website admonishes for the annual day celebrating the importance of backups, which falls just ahead of April Fool’s Day.

Always Have A Backup: Why B2B Marketers Must Be Prepared