Creative Services Professionals Are Most Concerned About AI
23 percent of marketing executives have said that they are interested in artificial intelligence (AI), with the top sectors interested in AI being software development, computer engineering, electronics, and creative services, while 12 percent of advertising executives said they are concerned about AI taking their jobs — three of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MediaPost

Google rolled out new site names, favicon and sponsored label on desktop search
Search giant Google has released a search update that displays an array of additional website information within desktop search, including a secondary website name element, icon images, and more, along with more prominent advertising labels in mobile search results, Google recently announced, presenting new SEO options for B2B marketers. Search Engine Land

B2B Influencer Marketing—The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Mike Allton on Marketing Smarts [Podcast]
B2B brands have increasingly found success using nano and micro influencers with fewer but more focused followers than traditional high-profile influencers, while patience in developing influencer relationships can reap long-term rewards, as MarketingProfs explored recently with Mike Allton of Agorapulse. MarketingProfs

[bctt tweet=““In the business world, we have found, particularly recently, that working with nano and micro influencers works so much better.” — @Mike_Allton of @Agorapulse“ username=“toprank“]

How agencies are multiplying their impact and expertise with AI-powered solutions [Google Report]
56 percent of marketers have said that they rely on agencies for analytics, intelligence, and insights — a figure forecast to rise to 73 percent over the next two years, and AI is playing an increasing role of this and other areas marketing, as Google recently explored in its latest AI guide and report. Think With Google

Influencer Marketing Cost-per-Engagement Benchmarks
Micro-influencers with fewer than sixty thousand followers, and nano-influencers with less than ten thousand followers, are the most likely brand partners in an influencer marketing landscape that is expected to top $5 billion in the U.S. alone, according to newly-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. MarketingCharts

DuckDuckGo Releases Its Own ChatGPT-Powered Search Tool, DuckAssist
Search engine company DuckDuckGo has launched a test version of its privacy-focused search engine that incorporates its own implementation of OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI technology, aimed at helping to answer specific search queries that would otherwise have no results, DuckDuckGo recently announced. Gizmodo

Microsoft Starts To Define How Advertising Works In Search And Bing Chat Queries
Microsoft has outlined some of the ways that advertising will function within its AI-enhanced Bing search engine, with forthcoming options that will allow advertisers to customize elements of the tone that Bing’s chatbot uses, among other options, Microsoft recently announced. MediaPost

How social fragmentation is creating more opportunities for advertisers
The nature of social media has shifted over the past several years — with newer platforms such as Mastodon and BeReal entering the fray while certain established platforms such as Twitter have undergone changes causing brands to re-think strategies, combining to make spending choices more complex for advertisers, and DigiDay takes a look at some of the opportunities these changes present. DigiDay

The stereotyping of women in ads is getting worse
In 2022 a scant seven percent of advertisements featured women in professional settings, with spending representing just 4.7 percent of ad spend, while spending dropped 20 percent from 2021 to 2022 when it came to ads featuring women with darker skin tones — three of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. The Drum

Data Leaders Outline Their Priorities This Year
52 percent of global data leaders have said that improved governance over their organization’s data processes was a top priority for 2023, with 46 percent having pinpointed improving data-driven culture and data literacy, while 45 percent highlighted getting a more holistic view of customers, according to recently-released survey data on interest to digital marketers. MarketingCharts

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at “influencer stalking” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

Why the Floppy Disk Just Won’t Die — Wired

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• • TopRank Marketing — Four B2B Digital Marketing Predictions For 2023 — Forbes
  • Lee Odden — Be Bold, Be Empathetic, Lean into New Ideas: Lessons Learned at B2B Marketing Exchange (B2BMX) 2023 — Integrate

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:

Gopi Kallayil @GopiKallayil
Tyrona Heath @tyrona
Sangram Vajre @sangramvajre
Kelvin Gee @kgee
Matthew T Grant @MattTGrant

Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry.

Have you come across a top B2B marketing news item for the week that we haven’t yet covered? If so, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line in the comments below.

Thank you for taking the time to join us for the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope you will return next Friday for another collection of the most up-to-date and relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

The post Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Influencer Benchmarks, Top Data Leader Priorities Report, & Microsoft’s AI Ad Insights appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

Source:: toprankblog.com

When you googled “what is search intent,” you had the informational intention to seek out an answer to your question and learn more about a topic you’ve been hearing about.

As you can see, we understood that intent and wrote this blog post to answer your question. In other words: you’ve clearly come to the right place!

Search intent isn’t a “new” concept in SEO, but it is a surprisingly overlooked concept, especially in B2B. This is a problem for a couple reasons:

First and foremost, there’s the scary reason. As SEO becomes more and more competitive and third-party cookies go the way of the dinosaur, B2B businesses really have their work cut out for them if they want to stand out. Just targeting high-volume keywords isn’t going to cut it anymore; we’ll need to reach the right audience with the right message using the right keywords.

Which brings us to a less scary, more exciting reason why it’s so great that you’re looking up search intent right now: because it’s a huge opportunity. Marketing with intent is the way for today’s marketers to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace and reach their audience more effectively than ever.

Let’s talk about why:

What is Search Intent?

Simply put, search intent is the reason why a user types a query into a search engine. Yoast breaks search intent down into four broad categories:

1. Informational: The user is looking for information, such as the answer to a question. If you found this blog by googling “what is search intent?” or even just “search intent” with the hope of learning more about this topic, then your intent was informational.
2. Navigational: The user is trying to navigate to a particular website. If you searched “TopRank” or “TopRank Marketing” with the intention of finding our website (thank you!), then your intent was navigational. Or if you ever type “Twitter” into Google rather than typing out Twitter’s URL, Google will understand you’re probably trying to navigate to Twitter and provide that website at the top of your search engine results page (SERP), rather than, say, the Wikipedia page for Twitter.
3. Transactional: When the user has transactional intent, they’re trying to buy something on the internet immediately. This often means they’ll type in the exact brand or product name of what they want to buy, or attach “for sale” or “buy online” directly into the search query.
4. Commercial: Commercial intent occurs when the user may be interested in buying a product or service, but they want to know more about it first. “Commercial” intent is primarily for buying research.

If you googled “search intent marketing agency” with the intention of finding an agency to do search intent marketing for your organization, for instance, your intent would be commercial (and we’re excited to help!).

[bctt tweet=““Marketing with intent is the way for today’s marketers to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace and reach their audience more effectively than ever.” — Nick Nelson @NickNelsonMN“ username=“toprank“]

Why search intent matters to modern SEO

For search engines, intent is the be-all, end-all. Google became as successful as it is today because at the time it was created, its algorithm was much better at accurately assessing intent than other search engines. That meant when people used Google to conduct their searches, they actually found what they were looking for. The rest, as they say, is history.

Search engines are still all about trying to read their user’s intent and provide them with the best answer to their query. And that means they’re all about rewarding anyone who helps them do that. By understanding your own audience’s intent and servicing it effectively, you can earn relevance, reputation, and respect just like Google did. In fact, Google will help you do it!

Search engines notice which links users click on in the SERPs they provide. The more users click your links from SERPs, the more search engines will raise your brand’s “authority” on a given subject.

The higher your authority, the more likely your content is to appear higher on related SERPs. The higher your content appears on related SERPs, the more likely more highly relevant and qualified users are going to click on it organically. The more relevant clicks your content achieves organically, the higher your authority continues to grow… and so on.

Perhaps most importantly, improving your understanding of your audience’s search intent won’t just improve your site’s search engine optimization (SEO), either. As you optimize your on-page content not just for keywords but for actual audience intent, the process also optimizes the real value the pages you’ll point your audience can offer to that audience.

In other words, SEO-optimizing for intent isn’t just essential for modern SEO optimization; it’s a way to unite all of your organic marketing efforts around the most important and pertinent goal for any business: serving your customers better.

Why keywords alone are not enough

Historically, search intent has been overshadowed by a somewhat myopic focus on keywords in SEO. This has led to many B2B companies targeting keywords with very high search volumes that seem relevant to their tech solutions — regardless of the intent users have when searching for that term.

Unfortunately, this tends to lead to B2B businesses pursuing keywords that are applicable to an extremely wide variety of intents. A keyword like “what is digital transformation,” for instance, is searched 3,600 times every month in the U.S. If we’re only considering search volume in our SEO strategy, that would make it very attractive. However, when thinking about intent, there are two problems with pursuing a keyword like this one:

1. It’s a very competitive keyword (88% difficulty according to SEMrush), because of how broad it is… and because of how many other companies are after it for the same reasons we would be
2. The quality of the traffic this keyword would bring in, even if we could beat the competition and land on page one, would likely be very low. This is because the intent of the keyword is very likely “informational,” meaning users aren’t necessarily looking for a tech solution, but simply want to know what the term means.

By paying attention to intent when selecting keywords, on the other hand, we would know not to pursue an informational keyword this broad and with search volume this high.

Winning organic search traffic is only becoming more and more competitive as more and more companies utilize SEO best practices on their sites and content strategies. As third-party cookies are phased out, we’re also losing one of our main ways to identify who audience members are — which will make relying on keywords alone to target them even more difficult.

Luckily, search intent is the solution to these twin challenges. By becoming more focused and strategic with SEO intent, businesses can target audiences based on what they’re trying to accomplish, not just who they are. This will help you find users who are qualifying themselves for your content via the questions they ask… instead of pursuing broad targets and hoping some of those users happen to be looking for what you’re providing.

[bctt tweet=““By becoming more focused and strategic with SEO intent, businesses can target audiences based on what they’re trying to accomplish, not just who they are.” — Nick Nelson @NickNelsonMN“ username=“toprank“]

Why search intent is particularly useful in B2B marketing

One more big reason to invest in intent-based marketing: it’s especially effective in B2B marketing.

Because the average B2B tech service or solution is relatively complex, the people looking to invest in it have a lot more knowledge about what they’re looking for and why. This means they know what to search for… and know which questions to ask about it, in search engines and otherwise.

If you can identify these questions via intent, you can design an SEO-optimized content strategy that can answer them — and nurture your customer every step of the way in the process.

How can I use intent to improve my SEO content strategy?

As a B2B search marketing agency, TopRank Marketing specializes in developing SEO content strategies guided by search intent and audience intel.

In our newest guide, “Marketing With Intent: A Guide to the Future of SEO and Qualified B2B Search Traffic,” we break our process down into data-backed steps in order to demonstrate exactly how your B2B business can create an intent-driven content marketing strategy of your own and how you will benefit from doing so.

You can download the guide for free right now. And if you need any help making your content strategy a reality, the experts at TopRank Marketing are always ready to help.

The post What is Search Intent and Why Is It Fundamental to SEO? appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

Source:: toprankblog.com

Has there ever been a time when you were trying to work with an influencer, but found it challenging to get their attention? Having your emails go unanswered and being left unread on LinkedIn is a silent form of rejection we’ve all encountered at some point in time — it’s just inevitable. But there is a method to increasing the chances the expert you have your eye on not only replies to your messages but does plenty more — and I’m not talking about simply using money as a motivator.

1 — Don’t jump directly into their DMs

After hours of searching, you finally find an influencer who’s the perfect candidate for your campaign. Is your first thought to send them a message on social media? You’re not alone. That said, it’s important to hold off for the time being and do some homework.

2 — Find out what they’re passionate about

You’ve scoured their social and know all about the kinds of content they create, and you have a good hold on their areas of expertise. But is there anything on their social feeds that tells you about them as a person? Do some digging. Identify something they’re passionate about. Maybe their technology’s role is in equity, or perhaps they leverage their platform to speak on climate change and sustainability. Knowing the influencer as an individual with unique traits and interests is just as important as knowing them as the subject matter expert they’re hired for. It will come in handy further down the line.

[bctt tweet=““Knowing the influencer as an individual with unique traits and interests is just as important as knowing them as the subject matter expert they’re hired for.” — Alex White of @TopRank“ username=“toprank“]

3 — Be thoughtful with your engagement

It’s incredibly easy to like or react to someone’s social content. Anyone can do it and it takes practically no effort. And if the influencer you have your eyes on receives a high rate of engagement, it’s likely your one-click effort to get their attention will go without notice. Do you know what else is easy? Writing a short comment. So often do I see comments such as “love this,” “great share,” and some short iteration of “nice post.” Take the time to write a thoughtful remark — something that they’ll remember when they see your name in their inbox.

4 — Send a creative, one-of-a-kind outreach message

How many salesy, copy-and-paste messages do you get a week? I average around 15 a week and I rarely read past the first sentence. It’s extremely clear that I’m part of some automated email marketing list. Now, imagine how many your average influencer gets. Stand out from the crowd by taking a creative approach to outreach. It helps to draft a message that makes it clear the message wasn’t duplicated and sent to 50 other individuals. Start with something that makes it clear that you did your research on them. Perhaps a compliment on a recent piece of content they created, or even sending congratulations for a recent achievement.

[bctt tweet=““Stand out from the crowd by taking a creative approach to outreach.” — Alex White of @TopRank“ username=“toprank“]

5 — Connect but don’t neglect

By this point, you’ve been nurturing your prospective influencer for at least two weeks. They’ve accepted your connection request, you now have a dialogue outside of their preferred social media platforms, they’ve agreed to lend their talents to your brand, and you have everything you need from them to include them in your brand’s next campaign.

Time to thank them and just say goodbye? Think again.

Once the project is complete, thank the influencer and let them know you’ll keep them in mind for future collaborations. (This is of course assuming all went well).

Continue to engage with them on your personal social media channels when possible. This is a simple way to stay on their radar and build on the relationship you worked so hard to establish in the first place. Chances are, you’ll have another opportunity for them in the future.

The 5 steps above may seem simple, but the vast majority of influencers we engage with have told us that they are much more likely to respond to correspondence from someone who follows a similar iteration of the method above. Good luck with your search!

If you are looking for a strategic partner to help elevate your current B2B influencer marketing strategy, reach out to connect with our team of experts.

The post 5 Steps to Building Authentic Relationships with Influencers appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

Source:: toprankblog.com

B2B Decision-Makers Value Research and Data in Thought Leadership Content
51 percent of B2B marketers have said thought leadership content that is quick and easily-absorbed provides the greatest value, with 49 percent pointing to thought leadership that references robust research with supporting data — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released survey data. MarketingCharts

[bctt tweet=““In tough times, B2B thought leadership is your key advantage.” — Alexandra Rynne of @LinkedIn“ username=“toprank“]

B2B marketplaces refine their expansion strategies
B2B marketplaces such as Amazon Business have shifted strategies in 2023, including greater use of machine learning (ML) applications and artificial intelligence (AI), propelling the industry to annualized sales topping $25 billion, with estimates expecting continued growth that will reach $80 billion by 2025, according to newly-published report data. Digital Commerce 360

The Top Priorities of CMOs at Enterprise B2B Firms
46 percent of enterprise B2B organization chief marketing officers have said that developing technology strategy is the top marketing technology priority that will be faced over the next 18 months, with 41 percent noting the enhancement of data capabilities, while 40 percent said expanding the existing marketing technology stack — three of numerous findings of interest to digital marketers contained in recently-published survey data. MarketingProfs

HubSpot debuts ChatSpot generative AI tool
HubSpot has introduced an alpha release version of ChatSpot — the firm’s new generative AI tool that combines a variety of HubSpot and third-party AI technology including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and image-generation tool DALL-E 2, all aimed at augmenting functionality within HubSpot’s customer relationship management (CRM) offerings, HubSpot recently announced. MarTech

Shopify sees renewed interest from B-to-B merchants
Traditionally aimed solely at B2C merchants, Shopify — with gross merchandise value (GMV) of $61 billion during the fourth quarter — has continued its expansion into the B2B sector with its B2B on Shopify and other offerings, attracting a growing number of purely B2B brands, while BigCommerce has made similar moves, as Modern Retail explores. Modern Retail

Amazon Business App Adds Purchase Reconciliation Tool for B2B Buyers
B2B buyers who use the Amazon Business mobile app can now use its three-way match option previously only available to desktop and handheld scanner users, in a move aimed at helping accounts payable and procurement teams at B2B firms, Amazon Business recently announced. PYMNTS

Google launches new Google Trends portal
Search giant Google has rolled out a revised interface for Google Trends — its trend-surfacing utility for discovering how various search terms have changed in popularity over time — now including links to relevant news articles and more frequent trend data updates, among other additions, Google recently announced. Search Engine Land

Fifty-Eight Percent Of Enterprise Marketers Plan To Use AI For SEO, Study Finds
Just 10 percent of enterprise marketers have said that they currently combine AI and search engine optimization (SEO) when it comes to creating content, while 58 percent expect to use AI as a part of their organization’s SEO efforts during 2023 — two of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released survey data. MediaPost

Microsoft aims to reduce “tedious” business tasks with new AI tools
Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 business management platform, Power Platform developer tool, and AI Builder product have all received updates that incorporate Microsoft’s specific flavor of ChatGPT generative AI technology, as the firm seeks to reinvent its productivity offerings with AI, Microsoft recently announced. Ars Technica

The Future Of Human Agency, Give Or Take 12 Years
56 percent of technology experts have said that they predict humans will no longer control key areas of decision-making by 2035, while some 44 percent noted that by 2035 smart machines and similar AI-infused systems will incorporate technology necessary for humans to control most technology-aided decision-making, according to newly-published Pew Research Center survey data of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at “Marketing Planning” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

AI Chatbot Obviously Trying To Wind Down Conversation With Boring Human — The Onion

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — Be Bold, Be Empathetic, Lean into New Ideas: Lessons Learned at B2B Marketing Exchange (B2BMX) 2023 — Integrate
• TopRank Marketing — Four B2B Digital Marketing Predictions For 2023 — Forbes

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:

Oli Gardner @oligardner
Gemma Davies @gdavies2
Charlie Riley @Charlieriley
Joe Chernov @jchernov
Masha Finkelstein @masha3003

Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry.

Have you found your own top B2B marketing news item for the week that we haven’t yet mentioned? If so, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line in the comments below.

Thanks for joining us for the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope you’ll return again next Friday for another round-up of the most up-to-date and relevant B2B and digital marketing industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page, or at @toprank on Twitter for even more timely daily news.

The post Elevate B2B Marketing News: B2B Thought Leadership Survey, Top B2B CMO Priorities, Google’s New Trends Portal, & HubSpot Adds AI appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

Source:: toprankblog.com

The post Intent-Based Strategy is the Future of SEO appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

Source:: toprankblog.com