How to Best Work with a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency

In the B2B world, influence isn’t determined by how you look in a bathing suit or how many exotic locales you can Instagram from. B2B influencers are subject matter experts, practitioners with a proven track record, and consultants with their finger on the pulse of a specific industry.

It’s also trickier to find and engage influencers in the B2B world. It’s not about finding someone with a high follower count and cutting them a check—B2B influencer marketing is based on building relationships with these truly influential titans of business.

In short, B2B influencer marketing is a specialized discipline that requires knowledge and experience that may be outside of your team’s area of expertise. As B2B influencer marketing gets more popular and influencers more choosy about whom they work with, it makes sense to secure some outside help.

In our 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report, over half of the enterprise-level respondents said working with an agency to source influencers was effective, versus just 27% who found success with software tools alone.

Here’s how your team can prepare to work effectively with a B2B influencer marketing agency (like, say, TopRank Marketing!).

How to Do Your Best Work with a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency

Getting ‘ready’ to work with an agency is about both mindset and process. Some of the homework here will be about realigning your ideas about influencer marketing. Some of it is gathering information and making preliminary decisions that will speed up your onboarding process.

Expand your definition of influence:

I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog that B2B influencer marketing isn’t about follower count alone. And I plan to keep saying it as long as marketing teams still run in terror from anyone with a four-digit follower count.

The most influential person to your niche audience might be someone with a small but hyper-specialized audience. For example, if you’re marketing to software developers, their thought leaders won’t have massive followings on Instagram or Facebook. Instead, they will be posting code to Github, participating in developer forums, and speaking at events like DrupalCon. 

When your agency partner delivers a list of influencers, be mentally prepared to see beyond network size, and instead look at relevance and resonance. Does this person speak to your specific audience? Does that audience take action based on what they say? Then that’s your most valuable influencer.

Identify your internal experts:

Your employees, executives, and subject matter experts can serve as valuable brand advocates and influencers themselves. These people will be essential for co-creating content with external influencers, as well as promoting the content to their own networks.

An agency will want to put these internal experts to good use throughout the content creation and amplification process, so it helps to start with a few in mind. Look for the people in your organization who:

• Are already building a relevant business following
• Are comfortable representing the brand in public
• Are creative, passionate and quotable
• Are in senior positions and willing to lend their network to the cause

Your agency can help these internal experts to refine their content and firmly establish their thought leadership credibility. 

Dial in your target audience:

Clearly defining your target audience is a fundamental step in any marketing endeavor, and it’s especially important for B2B influencer marketing. Software developers have different pain points, needs and desires than software analysts. Demand gen marketers need different messages than social media marketers. The more you can identify your specific niche, the more relevant your influencer content can be.

Don’t be afraid to get granular with your target audience. Put together a wish list of all the details in your most valuable customer profile. Your agency might help narrow down that list to the most critical components—but you need to give them something to start from.

Set a realistic budget:

Five or six years ago, most of our agency’s influencer marketing was unpaid. We made it easy for influencers to collaborate with us, we worked together on cool content, and the mutual benefit was payment enough. But as influencer marketing matures as a tactic, most influencers will expect financial compensation. In our survey, over half of respondents had made direct payments to influencers.

It’s important to start your agency partnership with an influencer budget range in mind (in addition to the agency’s fees for service). With that starting-off point, your agency can help you navigate the complexities of pricing structures, negotiate fair deals, and make sure you get the most you can for your budget. 

Compile your wish list (and dealbreaker list):

Before you go to your kickoff meeting with your agency, put together a list of influencers you admire and believe would be a good fit. But don’t stop at those names: Consider the specific attributes that make these folks attractive. 

This list will give your agency a good idea of what type of influencer you’re looking for, and they can target the people on your list while also expanding it with their own tools and expertise.

In the same vein, put together a list of attributes or individuals that you don’t want associated with your brand. For example, you might not want an influencer who has worked with a competitor in the past—so it’s important to list your competitors for your agency. Or there may be taboo topics you don’t want to associate with your brand. 

If you can arm your agency with this positive and negative information, they will be better equipped to find the perfect set of influencers for your project.

Who influences the influencers?

B2B influencer marketing has matured from a casual series of one-off collaborations into a  specialized discipline that requires strategy and experience to execute successfully. 

As the popularity of B2B influencer marketing grows, influencers have become more selective about what brands they work with, and how they would like to be compensated. So it makes sense to work with an agency that has a proven track record and an established network of sought-after influencers. 

If you can approach your first agency meeting with an open mind, a clear picture of your target audience, and a good list of dos and don’ts, you’ll be well equipped for a fruitful collaboration.

Speaking of which, if you’re looking for an agency with over a decade of experience in B2B influencer marketing, with some of the biggest brands in the world… TopRank Marketing is here to help.

Ready to elevate your B2B brand?

Schedule A Call Now

The post How to Best Work with a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Article Source: http://bathseoexpert.blogspot.com/2023/05/how-to-best-work-with-b2b-influencer_23.html

5 Tips to Make Your Content More Accessible & Inclusive

Creating content that is accessible and inclusive is crucial in the work of content marketing, not only for shaping the perception of your brand but also for being socially responsible. Your content should be relatable to everyone in the audience, irrespective of their background or abilities, so that they don’t feel excluded or uninterested in your brand . Therefore, accessibility and inclusion should not be an afterthought but a fundamental aspect of your content creation strategy. In this article, we’ll discuss some key areas to consider while crafting marketing content for your B2B brand that is both accessible and inclusive.

1) Style Guide

At the core, your content team needs to understand what is meant by accessible and inclusive content and your company’s ongoing commitment to it.

You can start with outlining how your business will ensure your content is accessible and inclusive — and what content goes against those standards.

Your style guide should include a specific section about language and images. Many phrases and terms are rooted in our vocabulary, and we don’t think about their undertones. For example, you can specify avoiding the use of gendered jobs (“fireman”) or phrases like “falls on deaf ears.”

Your style guide can also note specific ways that text can be more accessible. “CamelCase” for hashtags (capitalizing the first letter of each word) is better for screen readers. Decorative fonts in social posts are inaccessible to screen readers altogether. And, as Chelsea Castle, who heads up content at Lavender points out, you need spaces on both sides of any emojis.

Additional tips while creating content that follows your style guide include always using clear and concise language: Avoid using overly complicated jargon, technical terms or slang that might be unfamiliar to some of your readers. Keep your language simple and easy to understand.

Friendly reminder that if you aren't adding spaces on both sides of your emojis, you're not producing content that is fully accessible to all humans reading it.

— Chelsea Castle (@ChelseaCastle) February 10, 2023

2) Images

Images can often feel secondary to content teams. You finish a blog post and rush to find an appropriate hero image or add some alt text. But for the reader, images are part of the first impression.

If you’re using stock photography or creating illustrations that include people, make sure that you’re representing diversity: race/ethnicity, gender, age, and abilities. With the vast range of people in modern society, you’ll give off a vibe that your company isn’t paying attention — or doesn’t care — if your images lack diversity.

Give alt text the attention it deserves. For anyone using a screen reader, your alt text should have an impact in the way you expect an image to enhance the content. (Plus, you give context to Google for search engine rankings.)

(Image source)

Write good alt text descriptions for all of your images. And you can use them as a way to enhance your brand content! Some of the best alt text is also fun and playful, in addition to describing the image.

3) Videos

We are in the Age of Video. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels… videos have crept into our LinkedIn feeds and even current sales outreach techniques. And video content can be limiting for people in different ways, ranging from hearing-impaired to neurological disorders to ADHD.

If video is part of your content strategy, remember to make your videos accessible to viewers. That means always including closed captions and considering additional alternative formats like audio versions, audio descriptions. You should also include a transcript for people who prefer to skip the video altogether and read the content instead.

Video can be especially hard for people with sensory issues, so avoid auto-playing, loud default volumes or flashing lights.

4) Interviewees

Collaboration is an important part of content, whether you’re interviewing subject matter experts or hosting a webinar. Do your collaborators represent a diverse group of people?

With our own podcast, Elevate B2B Marketing, we are on a mission, not only to Elevate the B2B marketing industry, but also to elevate the diverse voices making an impact within the space — actively seeking out voices who promote and reflect inclusion (as well as inspire us all).

Representation matters, especially in industries dominated by men, white people, or both. If you only capture the “easy to find” experts in these fields, you’re not getting a range of perspectives. Even if you’re not conducting live interviews but quoting experts based on research, make sure you’re including marginalized people — and actively seeking them out.

Ask any of your collaborators for their correct pronouns. Don’t assume. Use the correct pronouns in anything you write or any interviews you conduct. If your collaboration includes audio — either live or recorded — ask your collaborator for correct name pronunciation.

---

“Collaboration is an important part of content, whether you’re interviewing subject matter experts or hosting a webinar. Do your collaborators represent a diverse group of people?” — Katelyn Drake @KB_Drake
Click To Tweet

---

5) Website

Many of these elements mentioned will converge on your website. And since websites often contain a lot of content, you’ll want to examine each page in both web and mobile formats.

Colors

Color — and specifically, color contrast — makes your website content more accessible to people with visual impairments or who are colorblind. They have difficulty with certain colors or color combinations, potentially making it hard for them to navigate your site.

If you use a color scheme with good contrast for a wide range of people, you’ll increase the overall user experience, regardless of visual abilities. You can run your colors through a contrast checker to see if your site needs improvement.  This applies to text, images, icons, and buttons.

Fonts

Not all fonts are created equal, and some are very difficult for visually impaired people. If the font is too small, too thin, or has a low contrast with the background, it will be difficult to read.

Sans serif fonts (like Arial) are better for people with dyslexia because the letters are less crowded. If you’re looking for a serif font, a mono-spaced font like Courier is easier to read.

Overall, choose something simple, with good spacing, and don’t use italicized fonts.

Structure

Creating content that flows in a logical order is an important part of website accessibility. Heading twos (H2s) and heading threes (H3s) help screen readers. Breaking up blocks of text with headers also helps neurodivergent readers with information processing.

You can also use bullet points to increase the readability of your posts.

Review and make changes as needed

As Rease Kirchner, senior content marketing manager at Webflow points out: “[Inclusive content] is not a badge of honor you earn with a single initiative or intention — it’s an ongoing and intentional effort.”

As you create your B2B brand content, think about diversity and representation. Overall, make sure your content reflects diversity and avoid stereotypes. Use inclusive language that doesn’t exclude certain groups of people based on gender, race or ability.

As marketers, we’re always on the alert for changes in the world around us. Technology, culture, language, work — they’re all constantly evolving. And that means being aware of additional ways to be more accessible and inclusive in the future.

If you’re looking for a creative partner to support your brand’s content needs, connect with the TopRank Marketing team.

Contact us to learn more

 

 

The post 5 Tips to Make Your Content More Accessible & Inclusive appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Article Source: http://bathseoexpert.blogspot.com/2023/05/5-tips-to-make-your-content-more_22.html

How to Best Work with a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency

In the B2B world, influence isn’t determined by how you look in a bathing suit or how many exotic locales you can Instagram from. B2B influencers are subject matter experts, practitioners with a proven track record, and consultants with their finger on the pulse of a specific industry. It’s also trickier to find and engage influencers in the B2B world. It’s not about finding someone with a high follower count and cutting them a check—B2B influencer marketing is based on building relationships with these truly influential titans of business. In short, B2B influencer marketing is a specialized discipline that requires knowledge and experience that may be outside of your team’s area of expertise. As B2B influencer marketing gets more popular and influencers more choosy about whom they work with, it makes sense to secure some outside help. In our 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report, over half of the enterprise-level respondents said working with an agency to source influencers was effective, versus just 27% who found success with software tools alone. Here’s how your team can prepare to work effectively with a B2B influencer marketing agency (like, say, TopRank Marketing!).

How to Do Your Best Work with a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency

Getting ‘ready’ to work with an agency is about both mindset and process. Some of the homework here will be about realigning your ideas about influencer marketing. Some of it is gathering information and making preliminary decisions that will speed up your onboarding process.

Expand your definition of influence:

I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog that B2B influencer marketing isn’t about follower count alone. And I plan to keep saying it as long as marketing teams still run in terror from anyone with a four-digit follower count. The most influential person to your niche audience might be someone with a small but hyper-specialized audience. For example, if you’re marketing to software developers, their thought leaders won’t have massive followings on Instagram or Facebook. Instead, they will be posting code to Github, participating in developer forums, and speaking at events like DrupalCon.  When your agency partner delivers a list of influencers, be mentally prepared to see beyond network size, and instead look at relevance and resonance. Does this person speak to your specific audience? Does that audience take action based on what they say? Then that’s your most valuable influencer.

Identify your internal experts:

Your employees, executives, and subject matter experts can serve as valuable brand advocates and influencers themselves. These people will be essential for co-creating content with external influencers, as well as promoting the content to their own networks. An agency will want to put these internal experts to good use throughout the content creation and amplification process, so it helps to start with a few in mind. Look for the people in your organization who:

• Are already building a relevant business following
• Are comfortable representing the brand in public
• Are creative, passionate and quotable
• Are in senior positions and willing to lend their network to the cause

Your agency can help these internal experts to refine their content and firmly establish their thought leadership credibility. 

Dial in your target audience:

Clearly defining your target audience is a fundamental step in any marketing endeavor, and it’s especially important for B2B influencer marketing. Software developers have different pain points, needs and desires than software analysts. Demand gen marketers need different messages than social media marketers. The more you can identify your specific niche, the more relevant your influencer content can be. Don’t be afraid to get granular with your target audience. Put together a wish list of all the details in your most valuable customer profile. Your agency might help narrow down that list to the most critical components—but you need to give them something to start from.

Set a realistic budget:

Five or six years ago, most of our agency’s influencer marketing was unpaid. We made it easy for influencers to collaborate with us, we worked together on cool content, and the mutual benefit was payment enough. But as influencer marketing matures as a tactic, most influencers will expect financial compensation. In our survey, over half of respondents had made direct payments to influencers. It’s important to start your agency partnership with an influencer budget range in mind (in addition to the agency’s fees for service). With that starting-off point, your agency can help you navigate the complexities of pricing structures, negotiate fair deals, and make sure you get the most you can for your budget. 

Compile your wish list (and dealbreaker list):

Before you go to your kickoff meeting with your agency, put together a list of influencers you admire and believe would be a good fit. But don’t stop at those names: Consider the specific attributes that make these folks attractive.  This list will give your agency a good idea of what type of influencer you’re looking for, and they can target the people on your list while also expanding it with their own tools and expertise. In the same vein, put together a list of attributes or individuals that you don’t want associated with your brand. For example, you might not want an influencer who has worked with a competitor in the past—so it’s important to list your competitors for your agency. Or there may be taboo topics you don’t want to associate with your brand.  If you can arm your agency with this positive and negative information, they will be better equipped to find the perfect set of influencers for your project.

Who influences the influencers?

B2B influencer marketing has matured from a casual series of one-off collaborations into a  specialized discipline that requires strategy and experience to execute successfully.  As the popularity of B2B influencer marketing grows, influencers have become more selective about what brands they work with, and how they would like to be compensated. So it makes sense to work with an agency that has a proven track record and an established network of sought-after influencers.  If you can approach your first agency meeting with an open mind, a clear picture of your target audience, and a good list of dos and don’ts, you’ll be well equipped for a fruitful collaboration. Speaking of which, if you’re looking for an agency with over a decade of experience in B2B influencer marketing, with some of the biggest brands in the world… TopRank Marketing is here to help.

The post How to Best Work with a B2B Influencer Marketing Agency appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Article Source: http://bathseoexpert.blogspot.com/2023/05/how-to-best-work-with-b2b-influencer.html

Elevate B2B Marketing News: More B2B Buyers Using Social, & Rising Numbers Turn To Influencers

Microsoft Unveils New Mobile-First Experiences For Bing & Edge Microsoft has brought an array of new features such as Skype integration to its mobile Bing search and Edge web browser apps, including integrated social media sharing options, new ways to draft AI-assisted text, better multiple language support, and new AI-rich SwiftKey updates, Microsoft recently announced. Search Engine Journal Survey: In-Person Meeting Attendees Are Younger, Want Personalized Experience When it comes to B2B events, the average age of an attendee was 45 during 2022, a drop from 51 seen before the pandemic, with 39 percent of B2B event attendees preferring presentations that offer innovation and new ways of thinking, while 37 percent pointed to sessions led by industry leaders and experts — three of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published event survey data. Associations Now LinkedIn Will No Longer Count Inactive or Restricted Accounts in Connection and Follower Stats Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has refined its follower count methodology, implementing a new system in which accounts that have been deactivated on the professional social platform will no longer be included in follower or connection numbers, LinkedIn (client) recently announced. Social Media Today How to View B2B Customers Through a More Nuanced Lens [ANA Interview] B2B marketers can gain a richer understanding of customers than their B2C counterparts, thanks to having access to a greater variety of data, allowing a finer-grained understanding of customer bases, and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recently explored some of the top nuanced approaches that today's B2B marketers can benefit from. ANA [bctt tweet="“Both the challenge and the opportunity about B2B is that we can actually define these three things — retention, repeat interactions, and spend — much more broadly than in a B2C setting.” — Peter Fader @faderp" username="toprank"] Executives fear accidental sharing of corporate data with ChatGPT: Report 46 percent of senior executives have said that they suspect colleagues have unintentionally brought corporate data into ChatGPT-powered AI tools, and while 35 percent noted that ChatGPT was the most-used chatbot tool among enterprise firms, it was also the most likely to be banned by organizations, with 32 percent having forbidden its use — three of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released survey data. Venture Beat IAB: U.S. Podcast Ad Spending To Reach $2.3B This Year A 25 percent increase in spending for podcast advertising during 2023 has been projected, reaching an estimated $2.78 billion by the end of the year, and rising to $3.9 billion by 2025 — pointing to the continuing strong return on investment (ROI) podcast advertising has seen, according to recently-published survey data. MediaPost 1 in 4 Adults Have Made A Purchase Based on an Influencer’s Recommendation 25 percent of U.S. adults have made a buying decision based on a social media influencer, with 42 percent of those in the 30-44 age demographic having done so, while 72 percent said that social influencers should be required to disclose paid partnerships, according to newly-released survey data of interest to digital marketers. MarketingCharts AI Rise: Most Firms Are Using It For Marketing Despite Inaccuracies 73 percent of marketing professionals have said that they use AI tools for the creation of marketing content, with 48 percent using the tools for creating website copy, 44 percent for email copy, and 42 percent for social media messaging — some of the numerous findings in recently-published AI tool survey data. MediaPost The US share of worldwide ad spending will decline this year but remain on an upward trend 39.4 percent of global media ad spending is expected to take place in the U.S. during 2023, reaching $263.89 billion, while also accounting for an even higher 43.8 percent of digital ad spending, share figures down about a percent from 2022 numbers, according to newly-released forecast data. Insider Intelligence More B2B Buyers Turn to Social Media, Mobile Apps to Research Suppliers In 2022 20 percent of B2B buyers reported having used social media to help choose suppliers, up from a scant 4 percent in 2019, while the use of mobile apps to research and evaluate suppliers increased from 4 percent to 18 percent during the same timeframe, according to recent research data. MarketingCharts ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “Upselling and Customer Experience” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Rob Smith Brings Amiga's Famous Boing Ball Off the Screen and Onto His Desk — Hackster.io TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — How To Use BuzzSumo: 15 Things You Can Do In 30 Days — BuzzSumo
• Katelyn Drake — While creating brand content, collaborate with a diverse set of voices — YouGov America

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW: Dr. Scott Cowley @scottcowley Miri Rodriguez @MiriRod Scott Monty @ScottMonty Debra Jasper @DebraJasper Larry Kim @larrykim Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry. Have you come across a top B2B marketing news item 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 this edition of the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope that you'll return again next Friday for another array 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: More B2B Buyers Using Social, & Rising Numbers Turn To Influencers appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Article Source: http://bathseoexpert.blogspot.com/2023/05/elevate-b2b-marketing-news-more-b2b.html

5 Tips to Make Your Content More Accessible & Inclusive

Creating content that is accessible and inclusive is crucial in the work of content marketing, not only for shaping the perception of your brand but also for being socially responsible. Your content should be relatable to everyone in the audience, irrespective of their background or abilities, so that they don't feel excluded or uninterested in your brand . Therefore, accessibility and inclusion should not be an afterthought but a fundamental aspect of your content creation strategy. In this article, we'll discuss some key areas to consider while crafting marketing content for your B2B brand that is both accessible and inclusive.

1) Style guide

At the core, your content team needs to understand what is meant by accessible and inclusive content and your company’s ongoing commitment to it. You can start with outlining how your business will ensure your content is accessible and inclusive — and what content goes against those standards. Your style guide should include a specific section about language and images. Many phrases and terms are rooted in our vocabulary, and we don’t think about their undertones. For example, you can specify avoiding the use of gendered jobs (“fireman”) or phrases like “falls on deaf ears.” Your style guide can also note specific ways that text can be more accessible. “CamelCase” for hashtags (capitalizing the first letter of each word) is better for screen readers. Decorative fonts in social posts are inaccessible to screen readers altogether. And, as Chelsea Castle, who heads up content at Lavender points out, you need spaces on both sides of any emojis. Additional tips while creating content that follows your style guide include always using clear and concise language: Avoid using overly complicated jargon, technical terms or slang that might be unfamiliar to some of your readers. Keep your language simple and easy to understand. https://twitter.com/ChelseaCastle/status/1624107962355548180

2) Images

Images can often feel secondary to content teams. You finish a blog post and rush to find an appropriate hero image or add some alt text. But for the reader, images are part of the first impression. If you’re using stock photography or creating illustrations that include people, make sure that you’re representing diversity: race/ethnicity, gender, age, and abilities. With the vast range of people in modern society, you’ll give off a vibe that your company isn’t paying attention — or doesn’t care — if your images lack diversity. Give alt text the attention it deserves. For anyone using a screen reader, your alt text should have an impact in the way you expect an image to enhance the content. (Plus, you give context to Google for search engine rankings.) (Image source) Write good alt text descriptions for all of your images. And you can use them as a way to enhance your brand content! Some of the best alt text is also fun and playful, in addition to describing the image.

3) Videos

We are in the Age of Video. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels… videos have crept into our LinkedIn feeds and even current sales outreach techniques. And video content can be limiting for people in different ways, ranging from hearing-impaired to neurological disorders to ADHD. If video is part of your content strategy, remember to make your videos accessible to viewers. That means always including closed captions and considering additional alternative formats like audio versions, audio descriptions. You should also include a transcript for people who prefer to skip the video altogether and read the content instead. Video can be especially hard for people with sensory issues, so avoid auto-playing, loud default volumes or flashing lights.

4) Interviewees

Collaboration is an important part of content, whether you’re interviewing subject matter experts or hosting a webinar. Do your collaborators represent a diverse group of people? With our own podcast, Elevate B2B Marketing, we are on a mission, not only to Elevate the B2B marketing industry, but also to elevate the diverse voices making an impact within the space — actively seeking out voices who promote and reflect inclusion (as well as inspire us all). Representation matters, especially in industries dominated by men, white people, or both. If you only capture the “easy to find” experts in these fields, you’re not getting a range of perspectives. Even if you’re not conducting live interviews but quoting experts based on research, make sure you’re including marginalized people — and actively seeking them out. Ask any of your collaborators for their correct pronouns. Don’t assume. Use the correct pronouns in anything you write or any interviews you conduct. If your collaboration includes audio — either live or recorded — ask your collaborator for correct name pronunciation. [bctt tweet="“Collaboration is an important part of content, whether you’re interviewing subject matter experts or hosting a webinar. Do your collaborators represent a diverse group of people?” — Katelyn Drake @KB_Drake" username="toprank"]

5) Website

Many of these elements mentioned will converge on your website. And since websites often contain a lot of content, you’ll want to examine each page in both web and mobile formats.

Colors

Color — and specifically, color contrast — makes your website content more accessible to people with visual impairments or who are colorblind. They have difficulty with certain colors or color combinations, potentially making it hard for them to navigate your site. If you use a color scheme with good contrast for a wide range of people, you’ll increase the overall user experience, regardless of visual abilities. You can run your colors through a contrast checker to see if your site needs improvement.  This applies to text, images, icons, and buttons.

Fonts

Not all fonts are created equal, and some are very difficult for visually impaired people. If the font is too small, too thin, or has a low contrast with the background, it will be difficult to read. Sans serif fonts (like Arial) are better for people with dyslexia because the letters are less crowded. If you’re looking for a serif font, a mono-spaced font like Courier is easier to read. Overall, choose something simple, with good spacing, and don’t use italicized fonts.

Structure

Creating content that flows in a logical order is an important part of website accessibility. Heading twos (H2s) and heading threes (H3s) help screen readers. Breaking up blocks of text with headers also helps neurodivergent readers with information processing. You can also use bullet points to increase the readability of your posts.

Review and make changes as needed

As Rease Kirchner, senior content marketing manager at Webflow points out: “[Inclusive content] is not a badge of honor you earn with a single initiative or intention — it's an ongoing and intentional effort.” As you create your B2B brand content, think about diversity and representation. Overall, make sure your content reflects diversity and avoid stereotypes. Use inclusive language that doesn’t exclude certain groups of people based on gender, race or ability. As marketers, we’re always on the alert for changes in the world around us. Technology, culture, language, work — they’re all constantly evolving. And that means being aware of additional ways to be more accessible and inclusive in the future. If you’re looking for a creative partner to support your brand’s content needs, connect with the TopRank Marketing team. Contact us to learn more!

The post 5 Tips to Make Your Content More Accessible & Inclusive appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Article Source: http://bathseoexpert.blogspot.com/2023/05/5-tips-to-make-your-content-more.html

Infographic: 19 Top New Frontiers For B2B Marketers in 2023

What are some of the new frontiers that B2B marketers should be focusing on in 2023? We asked some of the top B2B marketers speaking at B2B Ignite USA 2023 to share a new frontier that B2B marketers should be focusing on this year. In the following infographic, we share what they had to say, featuring 19+ key insights to help B2B marketers elevate their efforts in 2023 and beyond. Let’s jump right in with a strong array of 19+ helpful and sometimes-surprising new frontiers in B2B marketing. You can download a full-resolution PDF version of this infographic here. Ignite USA features an impressive lineup of more than 40 top B2B marketing thought leaders, including our CEO Lee Odden who will present “The New Frontier of B2B Influence: Inside Out,” during two jam-packed days of inspirational talks, interactive workshops and round-table discussions, all wrapped up in five unique content streams, plus the event’s Elevation Awards. You can learn more about the B2B Ignite USA 2023 conference on May 23 through 24 in Chicago at the event website, and be sure to also check out our additional event coverage here:

• B2B Marketing Speaker Spotlight: Paul Roetzer on AI & Uniquely Human Content for Ignite USA
• Where to Find the New Frontiers of B2B Marketing at Ignite USA
• B2B Marketing Speaker Spotlight: Melanie Deziel on Content as Evidence for Ignite USA

The post Infographic: 19 Top New Frontiers For B2B Marketers in 2023 appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

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Elevate B2B Marketing News: Google’s New AI Search & Always-On B2B Intent Data

Intent Data Drives Lower CPCs, Higher CTRs, Stronger Performance In PPC Campaigns B2B marketers have said that they can typically achieve 2.5-times greater pay-per-click (PPC) campaign efficiency when they use intent-based audience targeting, with a cost-per-click (CPC) coming in some 59.6 percent lower than not using audience intent targeting — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published report data. MediaPost The new Google Search Generative Experience: Here’s what it looks like Search giant Google has begun rolling out a limited preview of its latest generative AI-based search technology, featuring its new Search Generative Experience (SGE) which will place AI-generated search answers — including citations to the primary websites used to provide them — above traditional search engine result pages (SERPs), Google parent company Alphabet recently announced. Search Engine Land [bctt tweet="“The gap between SEO as a performance channel and SEO as a brand channel was already closing, and with all these new changes from Google, we’ll see that gap start to diminish at an even more rapid pace.” — Krista Doyle @KristaDoyle" username="toprank"] 4 Points About Marketing-Sales Alignment When it comes to improving the joint relationship between marketing and sales, 53 percent of marketing leaders have said that they plan to focus on integrating data throughout their customer journeys, while some 42 percent will optimize the touch-points along those journeys, with 35 percent planning to integrate technology between marketing and sales and service, according to newly-released survey data. MarketingCharts IBM unveils new watsonx, AI and data platform Integrating AI into business operations has become the aim of IBM’s newest incarnation of its storied Watson namesake platform, as the firm launched watsonx, which will enable companies to train and deploy AI models along with natural language code generation and more, IBM recently announced. Reuters LinkedIn Shares Key Milestones of its 20 Year History [Infographic] Microsoft-owned LinkedIn recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary, and from its initial launch in 2003 through to topping 900M members in 2023, a new infographic from LinkedIn (client) takes a look at the professional social platform’s top milestones over the years. Social Media Today Google Helpful Content System To Find Hidden Gems In Blogs & Forums In Future Update A forthcoming Google search ranking update has a primary aim of showcasing helpful online information that may have been hitherto difficult to find, with the inclusion of search results featuring more message forum comments and data from articles with unique topical expertise, Google recently announced. Search Engine Roundtable New Report Highlights the Best Times to Post to Social Platforms in 2023 When it comes to the best times to post company page content on the LinkedIn platform, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to noon came out on top in newly-published Sprout Social survey data — which also covers Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, Sprout Social recently announced. Social Media Today Generative AI Causes Consumer Search Patterns To Change, Study Shows Marketers have seen a 41 percent increase in searches coming from Microsoft’s Bing, and some 38 percent fewer coming from Google, while 75 percent said that generative artificial intelligence (GAI) will result in greater personalization, with 74 percent noting that it will allow marketers to get a better understanding of customer needs — four of numerous findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published survey data. MediaPost The State of Search 2023 [Infographic] One in five Google searches resulted in a click on the first search result during 2022, while the number of commercial keywords by search intent increased to 12.6 percent from 2021's 10.6 percent, with transactional keyword searches climbing from 19.3 percent in 2021 to 22.4 percent during 2022, according to recently-released Semrush data. Social Media Today Scott Brinker unveils 2023 martech landscape The marketing technology product landscape has seen growth of over 7,000 percent since 2011, with the number of products currently available tallying over 11,000, according to the newly-published 12th annual marketing technology landscape report. MarTech ON THE LIGHTER SIDE: A lighthearted look at “Digital Upskilling” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist Mycologist Answers Mushroom Questions From Twitter — Wired TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• TopRank Marketing / Cherwell — How to Crush Audience Engagement in 2023 — Marketing Insider Group
• 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: Michele Linn @michelelinn Carlos Hidalgo @cahidalgo Doug Kessler @dougkessler AJ Wilcox @wilcoxaj Sydni Craig-Hart @SydniCraigHart Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry. Have you come across a top B2B marketing news item 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 this edition of the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and please return again next Friday for another array 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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Article Source: http://bathseoexpert.blogspot.com/2023/05/elevate-b2b-marketing-news-googles-new.html