B2B Companies Double Down on Personalization
B2B decision-makers used an average of 10 distinct interaction channels to evaluate and research suppliers during 2022 — up from 7.5 during 2019, while those B2B firms that increased their market share by 10 percent or more during 2022 have said that they delivered multi-channel experiences that were backed by personalized marketing — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published report data. ANA
B2B CMOs See Coming Need for Technical Skills
49 percent of global B2B chief marketing officers have said that they see data analytics and marketing technology as the most important skills in the coming one to two years, with 43 percent pointing to innovative thinking, 41 percent creative strategy and execution, and 37 percent noting problem solving skills, according to recently-released B2B CMO survey results. MarketingCharts
B2B marketers say social media drives revenues
When it comes to the most effective B2B channels for driving revenue, 60 percent of U.S. B2B marketers have pointed to social media as the leading performer, with 49 percent noting content marketing, 45 percent email, and 36 percent having identified display advertising as the top channel, according to newly-available survey results. Insider Intelligence
The State of B2B Sales in 2023 [Report]
A leading 89 percent of B2B sales enablement leaders have said that developing their sales skills was either somewhat or very challenging, with 86 percent noting the challenges of selling in an uncertain economy and generating qualified sales-ready leads, and 85 percent pointing to recruiting and hiring strong sales talent — three of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released B2B sales report data. MarketingProfs
How is the Role of the B2B CMO Changing?
The biggest changes in how B2B CMOs see their roles over the past two years encompass new expectations to demonstrate the impact of marketing to the bottom line, and playing a more direct role in driving growth and revenue, with 40 percent of B2B marketing leaders pointing to greater pressure to prove return-on-investment in less time, according to newly-published survey results. MarketingCharts
Meta launches Llama 2, an open source AI model that allows commercial applications
Meta’s new open-source generative artificial intelligence (AI) model has been trained on 40 percent more data than its first incarnation, and has begun offering brands commercial usage options for the first time, the Facebook and Instagram parent firm recently announced. Ars Technica
“Meta’s new LLaMa 2 model is a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, it’s commercially licensed. That’s a big deal – version 1 was not.” — Christopher Penn @cspenn Click To Tweet
ChatGPT Analysis Sheds New Light Into People’s Behavior, Intent
A leading 64 percent of analyzed public AI prompt requests were for programming assistance, with 47 percent tapping the technology to create tables, 42 percent to create examples, and 39 percent to write articles, according to newly-published ChatGPT usage report data. MediaPost
Bing Chat Now Supports Visual Search
Microsoft’s generative AI Bing Chat offering has rolled out a new feature that allows users to upload photos and find a selection of visually-similar images, along with providing contextual and other information about the image, Microsoft recently announced. SEO Roundtable
Thought Leadership Produces High ROI, Business Leaders Say
97 percent of U.S. senior business leaders have said that thought leadership provided either a moderate or high level of ROI, while 87 percent noted that they consumed thought leadership content in order to boost problem-solving skills — two of several statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MediaPost
Facebook puts more emphasis on video again with new discovery and editing tools
Meta-owned Facebook has begun rolling out an array of new video-oriented features and updates, first to its Meta Business Suite users, including renaming its primary “watch” tab on the social media platform to “video,” while making it easier to access Reels video editing tools, unifying short and long-form video editing on the platform, Meta recently announced. TechCrunch
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:
A lighthearted look at “Crossing the Chasm” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist
Last Factual Piece Of Information Deleted From Internet — The Onion
These Ads for Blueberries Parody Familiar Marketing Tropes — MediaPost
TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
- Lane R. Ellis — This Week in Marketing: The Capabilities (and Limits) of AI — LinkedIn (client)
- Lee Odden — Is prompt engineering really worth $335,000? — Visionary Marketing
- Lee Odden — 68 SEO Experts To Follow On Threads — Search Engine Journal
FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:
Pam Didner @PamDidner
Lisa Marcyes @lisa_marcyes
Nick Nelson @NickNelsonMN
Kelly Hungerford @KDHungerford
Shruti Deshpande @shruti12d
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About the author
Lane R. Ellis has over 39 years’ experience working with and writing about the Internet. He writes for and manages all of the posts on the award-winning TopRank B2B Marketing Blog. Before joining the team here as Social Media and Content Marketing Manager, Lane spent more than a decade as Lead Editor for the prestigious conference firm Pubcon. When he’s not writing about B2B marketing trends, Lane enjoys distance running (he’s completed 11 marathons including two ultra-marathons so far), genealogical research, cross-country skate skiing, vegetarian cooking, and spending time with his wonderful wife Julie Ahasay and their cats Kukla, Twister, and Arlo in beautiful Duluth, Minnesota.