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The post New B2B Marketing Research, LinkedIn Sales Navigator & Ad Transparency Updates, Using AI Wisely, & US Digital Ads Top $100B appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank® . from Online Marketing Blog – TopRank® http://bit.ly/2JOo9Jc

The sweet smell of fresh cedar is wafting in the breeze around my homestead this week—along with hint of marketing inspiration. Let me explain … Best-Laid Plans To take advantage of a long holiday weekend and a string of dry-weather days, my darling husband and I embarked on a “small” home improvement project: Sanding and staining our recently built 16-by-16 deck—plus an intricate one-story staircase. She was such a beauty following her construction last fall. But as is tradition, a delightfully heinous Minnesota winter set in. When spring arrived, she looked weary and weathered. For months, we prepared to offer ourselves up to the cause once warmer weather came. And with the help of how-to YouTube videos and a lot of strategic Googling, our confidence and can-do attitudes were on the rise. When that fateful weekend arrived, we weren’t so naïve to think this project would be easy —it would take time, attention to detail, teamwork, and a bit of strategy to do it right. We did...

Creating great content requires considerable investment, in terms of time, effort, and money. Knowing this, it’s crazy how often I see marketers and brands fail to follow through by promoting their content to the fullest and maximizing its targeted exposure. It literally makes me sad. I’m tearing up as I write this. One moment… Talk amongst yourselves. via GIPHY Ahem. So the scourge of unseen quality content is one we must conquer. The path to doing so, I’m afraid, isn’t as simple as scheduling a bunch of links across the same old social feeds. This isn't to say social media isn't important, but this formulaic, reflexive approach is fast losing its luster. The latest Content Trends Report from BuzzSumo found that social shares have dropped by 50% since 2015, owing to several different factors: increased competition for eyeballs, changes to Facebook’s algorithm, shifts in discovery habits for users. All of this means fewer referrals, less engagement, and less impact for...

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Effective B2B influencer marketing is rooted in building lasting relationships. The premise is simple: When brands invest time, effort, care, and money (when it makes sense) to cultivate partnerships rather than one-time or “on-my-terms” engagements, industry influencers and experts are far more apt to do the same. Oh, and the outcomes of influencer/brand engagements (i.e. reach, engagement, thought leadership, increased share of voice, etc.) are more fruitful for all parties, too. But as we’ve also said before, building the right relationships is critical— and time consuming. The right relationships aren’t sowed solely based on social network size nor are they grown without proving mutual value. In fact, there are several must-have characteristics of influencer/brand relationships. What are they? Let’s discuss three of them and hear what a few seasoned experts have to say on the subject. #1 – The Fit Factor Topical and cultural align...

Summer is coming. For months we’ve been dreaming about barbecues, sun-filled vacations, long weekends at the lake, and the glorious start of summer office hours. It’s so close. via GIPHY But for B2B marketers, summertime often means distracted or out-of-office target audiences, prospects, and customers. We marketers may even sneak out of the office for a few days. And from dips in organic website traffic and social engagement to being short on internal resources while the sales team begs for more leads, the “summer slump” sets in. The good news is that summer opportunities do exist for entertaining, nurturing, and strengthening connections with your audiences throughout the funnel, as well as help you test and refine your approach to finish out the year strong. Here are some tips worthy of consideration. Tip #1 – Revisit and fine-tune your B2B content marketing strategy. Keeping a pulse on results and taking steps to optimize performance are par for the B2B marketer’s cou...

The post Digital Marketing News: YouTube’s Longer Ads, Facebook’s Clear History Ad Impact, Google’s SEO Factors, & Land Page Habit Study appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank® . from Online Marketing Blog – TopRank® http://bit.ly/2wfI8Yx

The post 80+ New Social Media Marketing Statistics for B2B Marketers appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank® . from Online Marketing Blog – TopRank® http://bit.ly/30NoukO

Effective B2B influencer marketing is rooted in brands developing and nurturing relationships —relationships with individuals who have the relevant topical expertise, reach, and resonance to align with the goals of the brand. Of course, those relationships are often cultivated in the digital realm via social media, email, and audio or video conferencing. And that's OK. We've all gone digital. But there’s simply no replacement for face-to-face communication—and B2B marketers may have more chances than they know to proactively facilitate interactions or take advantage of in-person opportunities as they arise. It’s time to bridge the digital divide. How? When? Where? Let’s dive in. #1 - Highlight influencers and/or their brands with live event coverage. B2B industry conferences and events are marketing gold mines . Not only do events give you an opportunity to have facetime with customers, prospects, and industry experts and influencers, but also the opportunity to creat...

What does effective marketing engagement look like? In the common model we see today, it’s something like this: Brands push out relevant messaging, hoping to compel a response or interaction that leads to a conversation (and maybe ultimately a conversion). This can be anything from a comment on a social media post to a chat window initiation. Nothing wrong with that. These back-and-forths between brands and individuals are important ingredients toward building trust and loyalty. The problem is that, as a sole method for driving engagement, the cast-and-wait approach is too dependent on explicit triggers to spark these interactions.   Devising and creating content that drives targeted engagement is hard work. It’s worthwhile, but hard, and sometimes even well conceived plans miss the mark. What if you were able to develop a self-driven engagement engine, which fostered strategic conversations built awareness among your most valuable customers and prospects? Enter: Communities....

While there are some who wish the expression "influencer" is an expired term, the role of influence on B2B buying decisions is irrefutable. According to the World Federation of Advertisers, 65% of multinational brands will increase influencer marketing spending in the next 12 months and there's good reason for increased confidence: The 2019 Content Preferences Survey from DGR reports 95% of respondents favor credible content from industry influencers as a top preference, a 30% increase compared year over  year. Earlier this year in a post about The Business of Influence for 2019, I shared 5 influencer marketing trends including: Micro AND Macro influencers Centralizing Influencer Operations Always On Influencer Engagement Focus on Quality vs. Quantity Metrics Influencer Marketing Software Investment Along with a predictions post from Ashley, these were well received. Since the time of that post, my team at TopRank Marketing has launched many more influencer co...

The post Digital Marketing News: Google Ad Auction Changes, Instagram’s Chronological Likes, & 3 New Marketing Studies appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank® . from Online Marketing Blog – TopRank® http://bit.ly/2WgXZVz

If you create and share content, curation is part of your B2B marketing strategy. From seasoning a blog post with key third-party statistics to sharing an interesting article from an industry publication or influencer across your social channels, you’re curating. But content curation has a place beyond adding an insight or two to your content. With large volumes of information available today and short attention spans, curation allows content marketers to create more convenient, valuable content experiences for their target audience, while growing thought leadership, bolstering their content calendar, and increasing production efficiency. What types of curation exist? How are B2B brands doing curation? When does it make sense to do curation? Let’s dive in. Types of Content Curation and B2B Examples The Curation Kitchen Staples: Microcontent Statistics. Quotes. Tips. Social media commentary. Third-party videos. Gifs. Memes. Curated microcontent is what gives your content its...