The Latest B2B Marketing Stats, and How You Should Behave on LinkedIn in “Ask Us Anything” S3, E01
Our summer break was a bit longer than the one in F1, but it was as dynamic and exciting as the last few races. Apart from all the travel adventures, it turns out that we have a strong Ed Sheeran fan base in our team, so for most of us, the highlight of the season was his concert.
While we were having fun outside the office, a lot was happening on LinkedIn! The first episode of “Ask Us Anything About LinkedIn” for the season discussed all the latest news on the professional network, so in case you missed our livestream last Friday, keep reading to catch up on all the updates!
The Customer’s Journey – Data or Psychology?
We started with some bold statistics! Emo shared some interesting insights from HubSpot’s report on B2B Marketing Strategy Stats. The three key highlights he mentioned are:
- 74% of the interviewed B2B marketers say they can turn data into meaningful insights, while the others aren’t quite sure about that.
- 73% of B2B marketers say they understand their customer’s journey, while the other 27% either can’t or are still on the fence.
- 44% of marketers most commonly try to generate leads with landing pages, and 39% say that videos on landing pages positively impact conversion rates.
These insights led to a meaningful discussion among Alex, Tedy, and Didi, with Alex hinting that we are currently working on a software to help us more precisely attribute LinkedIn campaign results. We’re still brainstorming a name, but since it will be LinkedIn software by BookMark, and following the latest music industry news (no, we’re not talking about the Oasis reunion), “LinkedIn Mark” sounds pretty good. Tell us what you think in the comments!
As for the customer’s journey, according to Tedy, it’s all about psychology and understanding the audience. If you don’t understand the customer journey, you can’t help a company improve its customer experience or get more customers. Marketing is part psychology, part data science. Understanding the customer’s journey is essential, and it varies across industries.
Last but not least, Didi shared her opinion on landing pages and whether there’s really a need for them. Regarding the video format, she considers it a powerful engagement tool that is becoming more popular and is definitely worth using. Experimenting with different formats and testing is key to finding what works for your audience.
Speaking of social media, it’s important to mention that Dilyana will speak at the Omni-Social Media Conference in Varna on October 5th, so make sure you secure your place at the event.
The Importance of Creativity in B2B Marketing
Our live session continued with more insights into B2B Marketing, this time with Didi discussing the 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report by LinkedIn and Ipsos. LinkedIn has highlighted the importance of creative tactics for B2B ads, and it shows that the most effective visuals include humor and animals – no surprise there, right?
According to Tedy, there’s always a battle between creativity and what companies think their customers want to see. Ads need to be dynamic and leave a lasting impression. That’s why LinkedIn introduced a new metric called “average dwell time”, which shows how long users engage with ads, Alex shared. What we can conclude from that is that the first three seconds of a video are crucial for its success.
How to Behave on LinkedIn?
In terms of the message you want to share with your audience and the tone of voice, the discussion shifted to what is appropriate and what is not to share on your personal LinkedIn profile. The occasion that sparked this conversation was a recent case of a woman being fired for liking a post about toxic work culture. It raised the question of how much freedom employees have to express their opinions on LinkedIn. According to Alex, politics and personal beliefs have a place on LinkedIn, but they need to be balanced with a professional context.
The discussion then moved to the “Open to Work” badge, and whether it is a way to attract new opportunities or simply a call of desperation. Emo shared an interesting point of view, saying that we should first ask if this badge means someone is looking for a full-time job or is simply open to new connections and opportunities.
The conversation ended with the question: who decides what is appropriate and what is not on LinkedIn? As much as it is a matter of emotional intelligence and company culture, it’s also important to avoid writing in anger or high emotion. What we post stays on the internet for a long time, Teddy says. In conclusion, it’s all a mix of company guidelines and personal responsibility. Ultimately, the content we engage with shapes the platform.
To watch the full first episode of “Ask Us Anything About LinkedIn” for the season, check out our YouTube channel or listen to it on Spotify. And save the date – October 4th – for our next live session, and this time, it will be an unusual one!