Shifting B2B Buying Behavior, Rising Hybrid B2B Sales, MarTech Landscape Report, & LinkedIn’s Record Engagement

B2B marketers adjust to shifts in buyer behavior
83 percent of B2B marketing leaders have said that brand purpose was important to new buyers, while meeting the challenges of changing buying behaviors was seen as the top priority in the next year — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released Forrester survey data. SmartBrief

The Video Content B2B Buyers Find Most Helpful
58 percent of B2B purchase decision makers pointed to learning about a product or service as the most helpful benefit of viewing video content, with 40 percent using videos to solve existing problems, and 36 percent using video to better understand a problem, according to recently-released B2B buyer video content study data. MarketingProfs

The future of B2B sales is hybrid [Report]
When it comes to hybrid selling in B2B industries, some 90 percent of enterprises have said that they plan to make the changes they implemented during the pandemic into ongoing practices, and over 90 percent viewed new hybrid sales models either as effective or more effective than methods used before the global health crisis — two of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released report data. McKinsey & Company

LinkedIn Continues to See ‘Record Levels’ of Engagement, Revenue Up 34%
Microsoft’s latest quarterly report revealed that its LinkedIn professional social network had topped 810 million members, with the number of sessions expanding by 22 percent, accompanied by revenue that grew by 34 percent year-over-year and revenue topping $3.4 billion, Microsoft recently announced. Social Media Today

Why Brand-Creator Partnerships Are Prioritizing Expertise and Diversity Over Fame
22 percent of global marketing professionals have said that they have collaborated with authoritatives — industry experts who align with brand values — over the past year, while a growing number of marketers saw brand and influencer alignment as a top consideration, according to several recent studies, and Adweek takes a look. Adweek

How Are Marketers Putting Intent Data to Use?
When is comes to using intent data, delivering targeted advertising content was tops among marketers at 52 percent, while only 21 percent said that they use intent data for account-based programs, according to newly-released survey data of interest to B2B marketers. MarketingCharts

At Least 66.5% of Links to Sites in the Last 9 Years Are Dead
66.5 percent — or nearly 27 million current links — were no longer valid in a recent study examining some 175 million website links, with an even higher 74.5 percent considered lost when all factors were considered, according to newly-released link rot report data from Ahrefs. Ahrefs

Influencer Marketing Experts Pick Their Favorite Tools To Manage Their Programs
Dedicated influencer marketing tools, social platforms, and other technology tools were among those highlighted by B2B marketers as favorites, and Content Marketing Institute takes a look at the variety of choices available. Content Marketing Institute

“LinkedIn is critical for anyone doing organic influencer marketing, especially in B2B. It’s key for every step in the process.” — Andy Crestodina @crestodina Click To Tweet

Rising podcast listenership draws advertising dollars
In the U.S. alone, advertisers are expected to see podcast spending that continues to increase at yearly double-digit rates, topping the $2 billion benchmark in 2023 and $3 billion by 2026, according to recently-released podcast ad spend forecast data . eMarketer

Marketing Technology Landscape 2022: search 9,932 solutions
The marketing technology product landscape has seen growth of over 6,500 percent since 2011, with the number of products currently available tallying some 10,000 — a 24 percent increase from 2020, and the recently-released annual Chief MarTech report examines 11 years of marketing technology product data. Chief MarTech

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at “walled gardens” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

Mars Introduces New Crab-Stuffed M&M’s — The Onion

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — Lee Odden on Getting the Most Out of Influencer Marketing [Podcast / Video] — Oktopost
• Lane R. Ellis — Video in content marketing, SaaS sales playbook, and volunteering for B2B marketers — Cronycle

Have you found your own favorite B2B marketing news for the week? If so, please don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for joining us for this week’s TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope you’ll return next Friday for another array of the most 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.