Online Marketing Blog

Buyers vs. Buying Committees: Not Knowing the Difference Could Cost You

Nick Nelson on Jun 27th, 2019 B2B Marketing

Working as a marketing or sales professional in B2B presents a unique set of challenges and hurdles. One that probably doesn’t get discussed enough is the nuance of trying to reach and engage buying committees, as opposed to single customers. It’s a hugely important distinction that too many strategies fail to fully account for.

If you’re not speaking to everyone, you might be speaking to no one. And we all know where that leads.

The Expanding Buyer Committee

A buyer (singular) is a sole decision maker responsible for researching solutions, vetting vendors, and authorizing purchases. It is exceedingly rare to see this type of setup in place anymore, unless at a startup or a very small company. Given the typical weight of these decisions, several people tend to now be involved with the process, and sign-off is often required from at least one high-ranking executive.

Buyers vs. Buying Committees: Not Knowing the Difference Could Cost You

Leave a Comment

15 Reports Charting the Future of Content Marketing

Lane Ellis on Jun 26th, 2019 Content Marketing

How can you be as prepared and knowledgeable as possible for the complex and challenging future ahead for content marketing?

Here are 15 insightful reports loaded with B2B data to help you define and chart your optimal content marketing future, and provide the best-answer and trust-building solutions clients expect today.

The reports here, presented in random order, are all excellent sources of information to help you gain a clearer understanding of B2B content marketing, while keeping more than an eye open towards the future as marketers push onward to 2020.

1 — Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study

The 2019 Edelman-LinkedIn* B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study examines the theme that thought leadership digital content is in high demand, and that it remains hard to find, presenting an opportunity gap.

15 Reports Charting the Future of Content Marketing

Leave a Comment

12 Must-Have Skills for B2B Content Marketers

Joshua Nite on Jun 25th, 2019 B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

Scene from a dinner party:

“So, Josh, what do you do?”

“I’m in marketing.”

“Oh, like Mad Men? Ad campaigns and stuff?”

“No, it’s content marketing.”

“Oh, like the Wendy’s Twitter account?”

“…Sure… like that.”

I’ve had variations on the above conversation more times than I can count. I’ll usually leave it at “Wendy’s Twitter account” in the interest of changing the subject. No one has the patience for, “I write business-to-business content designed to help people do their jobs better, which also builds affinity for a client brand, with the end goal of influencing purchase decisions.”

So most people think I just write fun stuff all day, that it’s a purely creative job. But my fellow B2B marketers know better. Content marketing requires an incredibly diverse set of skills, and “innate writing ability” isn’t even the most important one.

12 Must-Have Skills for B2B Content Marketers

Leave a Comment

Digital Marketing News: B2B Video & Social Usage Studies, LinkedIn’s Brand Refresh & Photo Tagging, Growing Digital Ad Sales

Lane Ellis on Jun 21st, 2019 Online Marketing News

2019 June 21 Vidyard Chart

Social Media Usage Statistics for 2019 Reveal Surprising Shifts
A look at the latest Edison Research and Triton Digital Social Habit study shows largely unchanged social media usage over the past four years, growth for Instagram among young Americans, a drop in Facebook’s popularity, and several other statistics of interest to digital marketers. Convince and Convert

Silence is golden: preparing for the sound-off mobile ad ecosystem
A look at optimizing video ad creative for silence, the impact of HAVOC (Human, Audible, Viewable On Completion), and measuring viewability in an age when some 85-90% of branded videos are viewed with audio muted. The Drum

Digital Marketing News: B2B Video & Social Usage Studies, LinkedIn’s Brand Refresh & Photo Tagging, Growing Digital Ad Sales

Leave a Comment

Trust Fractures: How to Avoid Accidentally Eroding Your Brand’s Credibility

Nick Nelson on Jun 20th, 2019 B2B Marketing

Recently, we’ve been running a series of posts here on the TopRank Marketing Blog called “Trust Factors,” where we explore techniques that modern brands can use to build trust and credibility with digital audiences. There are numerous examples of companies building trust with best-answer content and boosting credibility with influencer marketing for this purpose.

Marketers are always seeking creative ways to forge genuine connections while standing out from the pack. New research from Edelman shows that consumers now have higher expectations than ever when it comes to brand responsibility. However, it’s worth pointing out that these efforts (even with the best of intentions) can backfire.

When steps taken to strengthen trust instead have the opposite effect, we call these “Trust Fractures.” A recent example got me thinking about the subject, and why marketers everywhere should be cognizant of its lurking danger.

Trust Fractures: How to Avoid Accidentally Eroding Your Brand’s Credibility

Leave a Comment

Key B2B Takeaways From the 2019 Internet Trends Report

Lane Ellis on Jun 19th, 2019 B2B Marketing

Colorful swirling tunnel image.

Mary Meeker, founder of venture capital firm Bond Capital and former Kleiner Perkins general partner, recently released her highly-anticipated 2019 Internet trends report, a slide deck she has produced since 1995 covering the state of global technology in the business world.

The report provides more data than ever — weighing in at 333 slides, topping last year’s count of 280 — and presents plenty for B2B marketers to think about when strategizing and planning budgets as we push towards 2020.

Let’s dig in and take a look at some of the insights relevant to B2B marketers contained in the new Meeker report.

General Challenges & Opportunities Ahead

The report paints a picture of a world where it’s more challenging than ever to find new growth in certain areas, but one that also shows very real opportunities in others, as we’ll explore.

Key B2B Takeaways From the 2019 Internet Trends Report

Leave a Comment

5 SEO Mistakes Killing Your Content Performance and a Fix for Each

Tiffani Allen on Jun 18th, 2019 SEO

Even the most seasoned content marketers make mistakes. In the world of SEO-driven content, with constant algorithm tweaks and changing search patterns, it’s nearly unavoidable. However, those same mistakes can often lead to discoveries that enable even better content performance.

The key is being able to recognize those easy-to-fix SEO mistakes and address them. As a result, your content will become an optimized, integrated network of metaphorical highways, leading searchers to best-answer content in a strategic and purposeful way.

So, what are the most common SEO mistakes, and how can they be addressed? Below, I’ve singled out the ‘usual suspects’ along with guidance on how to fix them while setting yourself up for long-term SEO success.

5 SEO Mistakes Killing Your Content Performance and a Fix for Each

Leave a Comment

Infographic: 5 Must Have Ingredients for a Great Content Marketing Strategy

Lee Odden on Jun 14th, 2019 Content Marketing

ingredients content marketing strategy

If you’re still struggling with establishing your content marketing strategy for 2019, you’re not alone. Only 12% of respondents to a recent survey by the Content Marketing Institute felt successful at their current efforts to strategically manage content. What’s particularly striking about this is that the vast majority of organizations surveyed – 91% – used content marketing to sell their products. Where’s the disconnect?

To help answer that question, I’ve collaborated with the folks at Oracle Marketing Cloud to create an infographic featuring 5 must-have ingredients for a great content marketing strategy. You can download the full infographic here.

We could talk about the talent gap or the technology gap, but I believe that content marketing success really comes down to five basic ingredients:

Goals
Operations
Insights

Infographic: 5 Must Have Ingredients for a Great Content Marketing Strategy

Leave a Comment

Digital Marketing News: Facebook’s Video Creation Kit, New Mary Meeker & Adobe Trends Reports, Google Buys Looker, & AV Studies

Lane Ellis on Jun 14th, 2019 Online Marketing News

2019 June 14 Bond Capital Chart

Mary Meeker’s Annual Tech Report Outlines Coming Shifts in Social Media and Digital Marketing
The highly-anticipated Internet Trends report for 2019 has been released, including data of interest to digital marketers. For more than 21 years venture capitalist Mary Meeker, partner at Kleiner Perkins, has researched and put out the report, this year weighing in at 333 pages. Social Media Today

Voice Search Study: Factors Influencing Search Engine Rankings in 2019
20 percent of Android Google App searches now come from voice, and a new SEMrush study examines ranking factors including the importance of first-page placement and other facets of voice search. SEMrush

Digital Marketing News: Facebook’s Video Creation Kit, New Mary Meeker & Adobe Trends Reports, Google Buys Looker, & AV Studies

Leave a Comment

B2B Demand Gen: The Next Evolution of 5 Tried-And-True Tactics

Joshua Nite on Jun 13th, 2019 B2B Marketing, Digital Marketing

B2B demand gen used to be easier than B2C. Because, let’s face it, so much B2B marketing was deadly boring. A cool concept, a little creative design, or a dash of humor were like water in the desert.

Now, though, it’s the norm for B2B marketing to be every bit as visually and emotionally compelling as B2C. Suddenly we’re selling water by a lake, not a desert. There’s no shortage of cool content. Audiences expect more, and marketers (including your competitors) are keeping up with demand. So it’s time to take B2B demand gen to the next level.

B2B Demand Gen Tactics: The Next Evolution

What follows are some logical upgrades for some of your favorite time-tested tactics. That’s not to say, of course, that you should stop doing things that are already working. But it’s worth testing these evolutions out to see what works for your target audience.

B2B Demand Gen: The Next Evolution of 5 Tried-And-True Tactics

Leave a Comment