Online Marketing News
This week, members of the TopRank Marketing team are off to Boston to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum. It’s no mystery that this conference put on by Ann Handley and the incredibly talented MarketingProfs team is one of our favorites. In addition to our CEO Lee Odden speaking at the […]
The post A Preview & Exclusive Insights for the 2016 MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum #MPB2B appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
First of all, Happy 10th Birthday to our favorite B2B Marketing Influencer, Ann Handley and the MarketingProfs B2B Forum team! Time flies when you’re working hard, smart and with style – just like Sharon Hudson, Julie Pildner and their team have been for so many years to create a great experience for B2B Forum attendees. […]
The post 50 Top B2B Marketing Influencers appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.
First of all, Happy 10th Birthday to Ann Handley and the MarketingProfs B2B Forum team! Time flies when you’re working hard, smart and with style – just like Sharon Hudson, Julie Pildner and their team have been for so many years to create a great experience for B2B Forum attendees. There are a very small […]
The post 50 B2B Marketing Influencers Speaking at #MPB2B 2016 appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Why Infographics Should Be Part of Your SEO Strategy [Infographic]
It isn’t just readers who appreciate the value of a good infographic — search engines do, too. Infographics drive more engagement and social shares, signaling bots that content is relevant to the searcher and is a good answer for what they’re looking for. But how do you create a great infographic? Read on for 6 simple steps to make your own. HubSpot
Google Pixel marketing push is worth $3.2M in ads and much more
Google released Google Pixel, their new smartphone offering, to the market and has made quite a splash. Google has reportedly spent $3.2 million in their initial advertising push for TV ads, and experts in the field believe that’s just the metaphorical tip of the iceberg in terms of spending. Their Pixel product is rumored to be poised to connect with the iPhone, which begs the question, how will this affect marketing and design for mobile devices? TECHMalak
The Business Value of User Experience Design [Infographic]
A good user experience on mobile is key to ecommerce success – users are more likely to stay on site and convert when a site is optimized for mobile. MarketingProfs reports on a recent PointSource study: “67% of customers are more likely to purchase on mobile-friendly sites. Mobile users are 5X more likely to abandon a task if the site is not optimized for mobile.” MarketingProfs
Best Times to Post on Social Media [+ 75 Industry Breakdowns]
TrackMaven evaluated the best times to post on social media based interactions per post per 1,000 followers during each hour of the day and day of the week. They found that Thursday evenings on Facebook and Twitter are good times to post, Wednesday mornings are best for LinkedIn, Friday evenings are best for Instagram, and Pinterest posts tend to do best in the wee hours of Friday morning. TrackMaven
It Pays to Provide Customer Service via Twitter (Report)
“Customers who receive responses when they tweet businesses are willing to spend 3 percent to 20 percent more on average-priced items from those businesses in the future,” reports SocialTimes. Not only are those customers more likely to spend more, they’re more likely to advocate for a brand socially that provides customer service via Twitter. SocialTimes
Report: on average day, nearly 40 percent of searchers use only smartphones
Google recently released new “cross device” research that tells us a substantial amount of web users are searching via mobile. According to MarketingLand: “Users spend 170 minutes on their smartphones daily vs. 120 minutes on PCs and roughly 75 minutes on tablets (for those who own tablets).” MarketingLand
New IAB Standards Promise Major Ad Shakeup
“The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s new formats and standards for ad units will have a major, positive impact on user experience — helping to stem the tide of ad blocking” reports MediaPost. These standards were released on September 26th and will be available for public comment until the end of November. MediaPost
Snapchat courts Hollywood producers for new programming
Snapchat is actively recruiting hollywood producers to create shows for its Discover platform. This, following last week’s break from the title of ‘social media’ shows a change in the way media platforms are thinking about the content they create. Digiday
What were your top online marketing news stories this week?
I’ll be back next week with more digital marketing news. If you just can’t wait for more, follow @toprank on Twitter for your daily dose of industry happenings.
The post Online Marketing News: Infographics in SEO Strategy, Google Pixel & The Value of UX appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
Here’s the honest truth: You’re busy and finding the time to be not only efficient but effective is a constant struggle. Recent research from MarketingProfs has found that B2B companies plan to increase digital marketing budgets by 12 – 15% year over year. But are the funds being invested in the right place? A healthy […]
The post 100+ Digital Marketing Tools to Help You Become A More Effective Marketer appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
If you’re interested in influencer marketing, let’s do a little thought exercise:
Imagine being invited to a party full of influential people. The moment you walk through the door, you approach the first famous face you recognize and say, “Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but can you help me move this weekend?”
Imagine the stunned silence…the sideways glance…the “And you are…?” that is sure to follow. The hardest thing to imagine would be that strategy succeeding.
In real life, we take time to get to know someone before asking them for a favor. We take an interest in them as a person. We try to do something nice for them. After a good long time, we might lay a big ask on them—once we could make a compelling case for doing so.
All of this is a no-brainer in real life. It’s instinctual. Yet many marketers are asking influencers to help them load a moving van before they’ve even been introduced.
Why not apply what we instinctively know about relationship-building to influencer marketing?
You’re Invited to an Influencer Marketing Brunch…
Our friends (and clients) at Traackr are dedicated to helping marketers improve their influencer marketing—to create relationships that are meaningful, lasting and mutually beneficial. They wanted to demonstrate how IRL (in real life) social skills could translate to influencer marketing.
So, with our help, they invited influencers and brands that rock influencer marketing to get together. In person. To hang out. They met over brunch to exchange ideas, offer their expert perspectives, and contribute to the conversation in a new eBook.
The eBook is called Influencer Marketing in Real Life. It’s a series of organic discussions of influencer marketing from both sides of the equation, illustrated with some pretty spectacular pictures of the event:
That’s our CEO, Lee Odden, chilling with LinkedIn Global Content Marketing Leader Jason Miller (client) and Citrix’s Head of Global Social Media Justin Levy.
And Global Content Marketing author Pam Didner sharing intel with Toprank Marketing President Susan Misukanis. It was a pretty impressive gathering of people who have a proven influencer marketing track record. While we can’t all kick back and sip mimosas with top influencers, we can still listen in on the conversation and learn.
Here are a few insights I discovered in Influencer Marketing in Real Life:
#1: Make Sure You’re a Match
Influencers are looking for brands with a relevant message, compatible point of view, and intriguing new audience to explore. Brands are seeking influencers who are knowledgeable about the brand’s subject of interest and influential with a particular kind of audience.
Shared values and goals are important as well as appreciation for the work, whether it’s through recognition, compensation or a combination of the two.
Lee Odden, TopRank Marketing CEO
It’s worth taking the time to see if you’re a good fit before reaching out to an influencer. Just like in real life—there are super cool people out there you may admire, but if they hate camping and you go camping every weekend, it’s going to be hard to hang out together. No harm, no foul—just find someone else to share your tent.
#2: Identify Internal Influencers
Sometimes the most influential subject matter experts aren’t out in the wild. Rather, they’re right inside your company. If you are one of those experts, let it show. Keep a blog. Engage on social media. Post on LinkedIn Pulse. When you build up a body of work, bring it to the marketing department and see where there are opportunities to demonstrate your expertise.
If you’re looking for internal experts, seek out the people who are going places but haven’t got there yet. “It’s likely easier to get a meeting with a senior director than securing time with a VP,” Tim Washer says. Start the relationship early and let it bloom as they advance through the ranks.
#3: See if Your Audiences are Compatible
In addition to compatible goals and point of view, influencers and brands need to make sure their audiences are mutually compatible. Will the influencer content resonate with the brand’s audience? Will the influencer’s audience warm to the brand? It’s a delicate chemistry—and it’s vital to make sure the relationship will work for everyone before you invest in a relationship.
#4: Build & Maintain Relationships
Here’s where the “IRL” theme really comes into play. How do you build relationships in real life? You invest time in getting to know the person as well as you can. You discover shared interests. You use what you’ve learned about them to be useful, delightful, or both. Generally, you let them know you care.
All of these steps are part of forming relationships with influencers. Odds are your influencers are people (unless they’re a trench coat full of cats), which means they appreciate thoughtful comments, helpful gestures, even the occasional gift out of nowhere. As Ann Handley puts it, “Sweating the small things about influencers you want to work with signals that you care about relationships, not transactions.”
Listen in on the Conversation
The discussion in Influencer Marketing in Real Life covers each of the above points in detail, straight from the people who are either sought-after influencers, or marketers who successfully form relationships with influencers. After these first steps, the book goes deep into advanced influencer relations—how to co-create content, maintain enthusiasm, and even how to navigate compensation.
It’s a lot like sitting in the corner of a room full of brilliant influencers and marketers, soaking up the conversation. Only in eBook form. The plus side is you don’t have to put on pants. The down side is you have to supply your own cocktails.
The team at TopRank Marketing was proud to work with Traackr on this deeply groovy, seriously informative eBook. And I’m pleased to recommend it to anyone looking to get real with their influencer marketing.
Download Influencer Marketing in Real Life for much, much more.
The post [eBook] Influencer Marketing: It’s Time to Get Real appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.