B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®

The evolution of B2B marketing in 5 charts
55 percent of B2B marketing executives have said that the length of purchasing cycles has increased, while 35 percent of B2B marketers consider the top technology investment obstacle to be organizational data that isn’t normalized across systems — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-released survey data. Insider Intelligence

Google shows off more of what its ChatGPT competitor Bard can do
With the launch of its Bard artificial intelligence (AI) generative chatbot service, Google has signaled a search future in which it looks to temper the benefits of AI with an understanding of those areas where the technology may pose challenges, and the search giant shared examples of what its new Bard ChatGPT challenger is able to do, Google recently announced. CNBC

B2B marketing will be more digital, customer-focused this year [Data]
Marketers will spend $6.16 billion on influencer marketing in the U.S. alone during 2023, which would be an increase of 23.4 percent over 2022, while 54 percent of B2B marketers have said that they plan to spend more on customer marketing during 2023 — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-published B2B marketing research. Insider Intelligence

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Plus, starting at $20 per month
The OpenAI artificial intelligence (AI) research organization, fresh off its recent multi-billion-dollar expanded investment from Microsoft, has rolled out a premium $20 per month version of its popular ChatGPT service — short for chat generative pre-trained transformer, featuring priority access to the generative AI service including updated features and speedier response times, OpenAI recently announced. TechCrunch

LinkedIn Now Up to 900 Million Members, Continues to See ‘Record Levels’ of Engagement
Microsoft’s latest quarterly performance report has revealed that its LinkedIn (client) professional social network has topped the 900 million member mark and seen record levels of engagement, with the number of user sessions expanding by 18 percent, accompanied by revenue that grew by 10 percent during the most recent quarter year-over-year, and a ten-fold increase in newsletter creation on the platform, Microsoft recently announced. Social Media Today

2023 Global Digital Report [Meltwater / We Are Social]
During 2022 some $27.51 billion was spent on online influencer activities, which was a 20.4 percent increase year-over-year, while influencer advertising represented 4.1 percent of total digital advertising spending during 2022, a rise of 4.6 percent year-over-year, with 71 percent of brands having said that they expect influencers to play a bigger role in 2023, according to newly-released data from Meltwater’s Digital 2023 Global Overview Report. Meltwater

2023 Edelman Trust Barometer: Business is only institution viewed as ethical, competent
62 percent of global respondents in Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer have said that they place the most trust in businesses, topping the 59 percent achieved by second-place category non-governmental organizations (NGOs), achieving top marks for both competency and ethical factors, according to data from the newly-published survey. PRWeek

Gartner Survey: 84% Of Leaders Cite Customer Data & Analytics As ‘Very Or Extremely Important’ For Achieving Goals
84 percent of both B2B and B2C leaders have noted that they consider customer analytics and data as very or extremely important in reaching 2023 organizational goals, while 80 percent have highlighted the importance of increasing digital channel effectiveness — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released report data. Demand Gen Report