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 Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry. Have you found an important B2B marketing news item we haven’t yet covered? If so, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line in the comments below. 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.

The post Elevate B2B Marketing News: LinkedIn Tops 930M Users & Lines Blur Between B2B & B2C appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

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