Elevate B2B Marketing News: LinkedIn Tops 930M Users & Lines Blur Between B2B & B2C

More pressure on B2B marketers to prove ROI
41 percent of U.S. and U.K. B2B marketers have said that they have faced increased pressure to prove return on investment (ROI), with some 86 percent also having said that intent data turns marketing qualified leads (MQL) into sales accepted leads (SAL) — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MarTech

Microsoft barrels ahead with AI plans, opens up Bing Chat preview to everyone
Microsoft has done away with a waiting list previously in place for those wishing to use the firm’s newest ChatGPT-generative-AI-powered incarnation of Bing, bringing its flagship AI search experience to its widest audience to date, Microsoft recently announced. Ars Technica

Here’s How B2B Salespeople Define Buyer-Centrism
65 percent of B2B sales leaders have said that buyer-centric selling needs to include well-researched and carefully-prepared questions, while 58 percent said that they see industry expertise and experience as necessary when it comes to successful buyer-centric selling, according to newly-released survey data. MarketingCharts

How B2B Firms Can Win With Younger Buyers [Podcast]
64 percent of 2023’s B2B buyers were born after 1980, and members of this demographic take a different approach to buying processes than those used by other demographic groups, and Forrester recently took a look at the implications these differences have had on B2B marketing efforts. Forrester

B2B Marketers Face Increasing Pressure to Prove Their Worth
62 percent of B2B marketers have said that content marketing efforts have produced leads with the highest ROI — a metric especially important in 2023 as demonstrating ROI and budgetary constraints were seen as the top marketing challenges, according to newly-published Association of National Advertisers survey data. ANA

[bctt tweet=”“The only thing that outright proves ROI are attributable sales. Revenue. Likes, shares, and followers are interesting but meaningless if they do not drive new business.” — Darryl Praill @ohpinion8ted” username=”toprank”]

LinkedIn’s Now Up to 930 Million Members, Continues to See Strong Engagement
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn (client) had a 15 percent rise in user sessions during the most recent quarter, with member numbers of the professional social media platform having reached 930 million, with the largest member increases having taken place in India, the U.S., and Brazil, according to data from Microsoft’s most recent financial earnings statement. Social Media Today

Google AI pioneer says he quit to speak freely about technology’s ‘dangers’
Artificial intelligence (AI) trailblazer Geoffrey Hinton recently parted ways with search giant Google, and has warned of a world where truth is elusive due to the unchecked proliferation of generative AI technologies such as those used in Google’s Bard and forthcoming Magi project. Reuters

Less and Less Daylight Between B2C Marketing and B2B Marketing? [Podcast]
When it comes to the traditional chasm between the fundamentals of B2B and B2C marketing, the distance between the two has significantly closed in recent years, causing enterprise firms to overhaul marketing strategy, and the ANA recently took a look at how Prudential Financial has handled the blurring lines between B2B and B2C. ANA

How Brands and Influencers Can Make the Most of the Relationship
Influencers have benefited when they have taken a strategic approach to the brand partnerships they form — especially for those with smaller social media followings who often have more closely-knit ties to their connections, and the Harvard Business Review has examined data from a recently-released influencer brand partnership study. Harvard Business Review

Google Launches Blue Checkmarks for Verified Brands in Gmail
Search giant Google has begun rolling out an update to its popular Gmail service allowing brands that have implemented its Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) system to have blue verification check-marks within Gmail, Google recently announced. Social Media Today

5 Points About Digital Ad Spending in 2022
Search advertising was the leading digital ad format during 2022, accounting for 40.2 percent of overall revenue, while the most rapidly-growing formats were digital audio and video, with 20.9 percent year-over-year growth for audio and 19.3 percent for audio — three of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MarketingCharts

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at “Social Listening and Consumer Insights” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

Ostrich-Inspired Robot Gives Its Neck a Stretch — IEEE Spectrum

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — Marketing Leaders Reflect on 20 Years of LinkedIn — LinkedIn (client)
• Lee Odden — Must-Read Marketing Books of the Past 20 Years — LinkedIn (client)

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:

Linda Grasso @LindaGrass0
Dr Sarah-Jayne Gratton @grattongirl
Jessie Medina @jessiemedinaoff
Tamara McCleary @TamaraMcCleary
Charlene Li @charleneli

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Thanks for joining us for this edition of the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope that you’ll return again next Friday for another selection 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.

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