Millennial and Gen Z B2B buyers are many and demanding online [Report]
64 percent of business buyers are in the millennial and Gen Z demographic, with the B2B buyers in these groups more likely to express dissatisfaction relating to purchase experiences than those in older groups — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-published Forrester report data. Digital Commerce 360
The Most Impactful Trends of 2023, per Agencies
69 percent of marketing executives have said that short-form video is the 2023 trend that will have the greatest impact on clients and the marketing industry, while 43 percent pointed to influencer marketing as a trend expected to have strong impact, with 43 percent having also pinpointed the smarter delivery of personalized experiences, according to recently-released survey data. MarketingCharts
Marketing’s strategic importance continues to rise
40.9 percent of marketers see a greater strategic role for marketing in their business in 2023, up 10 percent from 2022, while 35.5 percent of B2B marketers noted that marketing is fully understood within their organization — two of numerous findings of interest to digital marketers contained in newly-released marketing survey data. Marketing Week
Microsoft Bing Tests Image Creator In Search Results
Microsoft’s Bing search engine has begun testing the addition of a feature for the creation of prompt-driven artificial intelligence (AI) generated images, harnessing the technology of DALL-E to augment it’s Prometheus-powered AI search capabilities, Microsoft recently announced. Search Engine Roundtable
LinkedIn Adds Option to Tag Chats with a ‘Starred’ Function
Microsoft’s LinkedIn has rolled out a new option offering the helpful ability to use stars to denote especially important private message conversations on the professional social media platform, adding a new way for B2B marketers to organize direct messages, LinkedIn announced recently. Social Media Today
The Rise of AI Content Generation Stirs Brand Reputation Fears
By 2025 some 30 percent of outbound marketing messaging from large firms will be synthetic digital content built using generative AI, according to Gartner forecast data, and Adweek takes a look at how brands have their work cut out when it comes to monitoring and protecting brand reputation. Adweek
AI-created images lose U.S. copyrights in test for new technology
The U.S. Copyright Office has ruled that AI image-generation tools are different than other traditional tools used by digital artists, and that the images the AI tools create should not be granted copyright protection, the latest legal decision surrounding the rapidly emerging amount of generative AI-produced online content. Reuters
Meta Announces Initial Test of ‘Meta Verified’ Paid Verification Scheme on Facebook and IG
Meta’s Facebook and Instagram have instituted a premium plan with new $12 to $15 monthly verification fees, offering more personalized account support along with increased content visibility and reach, plus a system aimed at helping to support other creators on the platform, Meta recently announced. Social Media Today
Google Slides gets a ChatGPT plug-in – and it’s like a cheat mode for presentations
A generative AI-powered plug-in known as MagicSlides has launched as a third-party add-on for Google’s popular online presentation creation tool Google Slides, allowing marketers to swiftly create slide decks with the help of AI — a feature that has yet to arrive natively to Google Slides. TechRadar
Social media engagement hits a new low, except for TikTok [Rival IQ Report]
Average Instagram social media engagement fell from 1.22 percent in 2019 to 0.47 percent in 2022, with Facebook engagement rates falling from 0.09 percent to 0.06 percent, and Twitter dropping from 0.045 percent to 0.035 percent — three of numerous statistics of interest to B2B marketers contained in comprehensive newly-published report data from Rival IQ, and Search Engine Land takes a look. Search Engine Land
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:
A lighthearted look at “AI-Generated Sameness” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist
First Generation iPhone Sells For $63,000 — The Onion
TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:
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- TopRank Marketing — Must-Have Interactive Content For B2B Companies — Matchbox Design Group
- Lee Odden — This day in search marketing history: February 20 — Search Engine Land
FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:
Justin Rondeau @Jtrondeau
Jeannie Walters @jeanniecw
Scott Monty @ScottMonty
Jen Spencer @jenspencer
Chris Moody @cnmoody
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