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20+ Reasons B2B Brands Are Increasingly Moving To Influencer Marketing

Why are B2B brands increasingly turning to influencer marketing?

B2B influencer marketing is the business-oriented cousin to the B2C Instagram entertainment and lifestyle influencer. In B2B, some influencers go by creators, subject matter experts, industry experts, or other terms that disassociate them from the B2C influencer.

Whichever term is used, B2B influencer marketing provides an ideal way to combat disintegrating brand trust, so it’s no wonder that by the end of 2022 the B2B influencer marketing vertical is expected to reach $11.7 billion in revenue, with over 38 percent of B2B firms exploring influencer marketing for lead-generation and more, according to AdAge.

B2B influencer marketing is a many-faceted digital diamond that when done well shines brightly, however brands need to be wary of treating it like its vastly different B2C counterpart.

20+ Reasons B2B Brands Are Increasingly Moving To Influencer Marketing

B2B Marketers on the Move: Celebrating Top Marketing Talent in New Leadership Roles

As B2B marketers around the world embrace the holiday season and the push to 2023, the B2B marketing industry continues to offer growth and shifts that sometimes happen so fast that they are difficult to fully appreciate.

For more than two decades, TopRank Marketing has been honored to help a wide variety of the world’s leading B2B marketers and major global brands elevate and go beyond merely being competitive, to standing out from the crowd with creative and award-winning successes. In this spirit, for nearly a year now we have regularly made a point of taking the time to congratulate and honor business marketing leaders who have recently seen career advancement.

B2B Marketers on the Move: Celebrating Top Marketing Talent in New Leadership Roles

Elevate B2B Marketing Podcast: Creativity & Inclusivity in B2B Marketing with Ty Heath

Last month, we introduced our all new podcast, Elevate B2B Marketing, with the goal of helping to elevate the B2B industry. The show features conversations that inform, include and inspire the best of B2B marketing. Each episode features conversations between our CEO Lee Odden and B2B marketing leaders that are creating impact and making a difference in our industry.

The Elevate B2B Marketing Podcast kicked off with the queen of content herself, Ann Handley of MarketingProfs. She shared insights about the new normal of B2B marketing and emphasized the need for empathy and emotion in content marketing. Check it out here if you missed it.

Featured guest, Tyrona Heath, joins this next episode of Elevate B2B to discuss creativity & inclusivity in B2B marketing.

Elevate B2B Marketing Podcast: Creativity & Inclusivity in B2B Marketing with Ty Heath

Laser Focus: Boost B2B Marketing With Better Focus

How can B2B marketers put the old adage of focusing on what you can control to the best use, and why will 2023 be an important year to boost efficiency with better focus?

We’ve all heard the saying that it’s better to focus on those things that you can truly play a part in changing than spending time worrying about so many of the things that really are outside the scope of what we can change.

Knowing where to put our efforts to the best use and which areas to skip are skills that generally improve as we mature and grow, in both our personal and professional lives.

Let’s jump right in and take a look at how to boost B2B marketing efforts with better focus.

Laser Focus: Boost B2B Marketing With Better Focus

Growing Gratitude: What the TopRank Marketing Team is Most Thankful For

As the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving Day this week, we can all look back at another unique year of opportunities, challenges, and changes in the B2B marketing landscape.

Despite the challenges we’ve all faced, we’ve grown, adapted, and overcome, and now is an ideal time to look back on those parts of our lives for which we’re the most thankful this holiday week.

In 2022 our team here at TopRank Marketing has continued to expand, and we’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on thankfulness in both our professional and personal lives, continuing our annual traditional post sharing messages of gratitude.

Our ability to see and express gratitude even in challenging times can be especially meaningful and even replenishing.

Growing Gratitude: What the TopRank Marketing Team is Most Thankful For

LinkedIn #B2Believe and The Playbook for Promise Making in B2B Marketing with Jim Habig

b2believe selfie Tusar Barik, Jim Habig, Lee Odden

Selfie with Tusar Barik & Jim Habig of LinkedIn at #b2believe

How can marketers put promise making into practice? LinkedIn Vice President of Marketing, Jim Habig, shared the keys to the power of storytelling, the importance of creativity, and the exciting opportunity ahead for B2B marketers at LinkedIn’s inaugural B2B marketing conference, B2Believe in San Francisco last week.

Without a doubt these are interesting times and many B2B marketers are experiencing a challenging economic market. Jim challenged the 800+ marketers in attendance that we need to prove our value more than ever before.

Despite challenges of budget reductions, hiring freezes and an uncertain economic forecast, there is hope.

We B2B marketers can’t always get what we want. But if we try sometimes we will find, we can get what we need.

Sound familiar? Who knew the Rolling Stones had insight into B2B marketing tenacity?

LinkedIn #B2Believe and The Playbook for Promise Making in B2B Marketing with Jim Habig

Neurodivergency in B2B Marketing: Kryptonite or Superpower

In recent years, the term “neurodiversity” has become more and more commonplace. It is the idea that there is not just one “normal” way to think or learn, think, process information and complete work.

“Neurodiversity the idea that neurological differences, like autism and ADHD, are the result of normal natural variation in the human genome.” John Elder Robison, of the College of William and Mary

Neurodivergence refers to the wide range of neurological differences in people’s brains. This includes conditions like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, and more. While there are challenges associated with neurodivergence, and many may think of it as kryptonite, there are also many strengths for those on the spectrum causing many to believe that neurodivergence may be a superpower, especially in the world of business.

Neurodivergency in B2B Marketing: Kryptonite or Superpower

Planning, Creation & Promotion: 5 Top Tactics For Creating Inspired B2B Content

5 top tactics to create inspired B2B content group of marketers at table image

How can marketers create the kind of inspired B2B content and customer experiences that will overcome today’s challenges and surpass tomorrow’s higher expectations?

With the right planning, careful creation, and strategic promotion, there isn’t any need for a secret formula for successful B2B content, as our chief executive and co-founder Lee Odden recently shared with top B2B marketers at the 2022 Content Marketing Conference.

2023 is set to see more content than ever come into existence, as the 4.6 billion pieces of content that are produced every day in 2022 expands, through ever-increasing output from human hands as well as artificial intelligence-augmented or generated content.

With so much competition for limited attention, how can B2B marketers build content that stands out?

Planning, Creation & Promotion: 5 Top Tactics For Creating Inspired B2B Content

How to Create More Authentic Influencer-Driven Content to Attract Qualified Prospects

When you think about who is influential in your industry, you likely think about professional influencers first. These are the consultants, public speakers and authors, the ones who give keynote speeches and have huge followings on social media.

These folks are absolutely essential as part of your influencer mix. Their reach, knowledge and professionalism are incredibly valuable.

However, you need more than just these folks for authentic and useful content. To create the kind of experience that earns the attention of qualified prospects, you need to expand your definition of what an influencer is — and what influencer content should look like.

Here’s how to optimize your influencer marketing to create authentic experiences that attract your most valuable audience.

How to Create More Authentic Influencer-Driven Content to Attract Qualified Prospects

5 New Search Opportunities B2B Marketers Need To Know In 2023

What do B2B marketers need to know about search in 2023?

B2B marketing and search have always had a complex relationship, and 2023 will undoubtedly see new shifts arise in numerous areas, from how search engines deal with human versus artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content, to indexing a partially or fully-siloed metaverse, combating dwindling organic search opportunities, where to best invest paid search advertising dollars, and key SEO fine tuning challenges.

Let’s turn our attention to each of these five areas of search in B2B marketing, and take a look at the changes marketers will need to adapt to in 2023 and beyond.

5 New Search Opportunities B2B Marketers Need To Know In 2023

Why Relationship Marketing Is Essential To B2B Lead Generation

One of the oldest, and creepiest, adages about the value of content marketing is that you can’t ask someone to marry you on the first date.

Weird as it might feel, there’s a good reason this metaphor has held sway. A marriage is a serious and high-stakes commitment, and nobody wants to enter one without truly feeling like they know and trust their future partner.

In the business realm, purchase influencers and decision makers are under huge pressure to get it right. It’s not enough to understand the product, its price, or its features. Buyers want to believe in the brand and the people behind it.

Increasingly, significant business purchases need to be buoyed by a strong relationship. (The non-romantic type, to be clear.) Smart and strategic content marketing is how those relationships are built.

Why Relationship Marketing Is Essential To B2B Lead Generation

Community Influence: B2B Influencer Marketing & The Ascent of Digital Communities

Just how important have digital communities become today, and why does the rising trust we place in them harmonize so well with B2B influencer marketing?

It’s no secret that the world has become digital-first during the pandemic, but one change that may surprise many is just how important online communities have become.

People have shifted to identifying the most closely with their online communities, for the first time surpassing traditional non-digital community groups, a change borne out by recent survey data.

A simultaneous pandemic change has seen trust in brands and marketers falling significantly, with 50 percent of U.S. consumers finding it difficult to trust brands since the pandemic began, according to report data from Salesforce.

Community Influence: B2B Influencer Marketing & The Ascent of Digital Communities