Edelman Trust Barometer special report: Brands must be agents of societal change, say consumers
63 percent of consumers say they are more attracted to brands that focus on making the world a better place, while 78 percent said they believe their influence goes beyond the consumer experience to business operations — two of several statistics of interest to digital marketers in newly-released survey data from Edelman’s Trust Barometer report. PRWeek

Most Demand Gen Marketers Hit Their KPIs in 2020
43 percent of B2B demand generation marketers say they met their original key performance indicators (KPIs) in 2020, with 35 percent topping their original targets, according to recently-released survey data. The survey also showed that 18 percent expect their demand gen budgets to significantly expand in the coming 12 months, with 49 percent expected some budget growth. MarketingCharts

Focusing on gen Z: how B2B brands can hook this new generation of customers & candidates
LinkedIn’s (client) vice-president of marketing solutions Penry Price has shared insight into how B2B brands can better connect with buyers in the Gen Z demographic, including a heightening importance for live video, audio content, and brand values. The Drum

Facebook Adds New ‘Optimize Text Per Person’ Option for Automated Ad Customization
Facebook has begun rolling out a new feature that aims to deliver ads on the social platform in the format that each user most favorably responds to, bringing marketers new options for experimenting with the per-person optimization capability, the firm recently announced. Social Media Today

Brave Search Launches, Roadmaps A Privacy Search Engine Without Bias
A new search engine striving to provide greater privacy, Brave Search, launched in beta format recently, using its own search index and expecting to eventually offer ad-supported search capability, the firm announced this week. MediaPost

Instagram now lets you create and publish posts on Mac, but iPad not supported
Desktop PC and Mac systems have gained the ability to post natively to Instagram, bypassing the long-standing former mobile-only requirement, the Facebook-owned social platform recently announced, in a move that could make it easier for marketers using traditional desktop computer systems. 9to5Mac

Social Media Marketing Update: Preferred Platforms and Content Types in 2021
Some 79 percent of marketers said that they plan to maintain or increase their use of LinkedIn over the next year, making the Microsoft-owned professional social platform fourth behind Instagram’s 87 percent, Facebook’s 84 percent, and YouTube’s 83 percent, and ahead of fifth place Twitter, recently-released social media usage trend survey data of interest to digital marketers. MarketingCharts

Wavemaker Finds Consumers Becoming Less Attached To Brands, Especially Online
The number of brands that consumers consider when purchasing is conducted solely online is some 50 percent greater than purely offline purchase paths — one of several statistics of interest to online marketers contained in newly-released survey data. MediaPost

Facebook Tests New Reels and Rooms UI, Integrated Into the Facebook Stories Panel
Facebook has begun testing options to gain a wider audience for Instagram Reels content, offering users alternate feeds showing a variety of content types including live video, Instagram Reels clips, Stories, of audio room content, observers of display changes at the social media giant have recently discovered. Social Media Today

Here’s What B2B Content Works at Each Stage of the Funnel
In-depth white papers or e-books, customer case studies, and virtual events were the top three most effective content types for customers in the bottom funnel closest to purchasing, according to newly-released B2B technology marketing survey data. On the opposite side of the funnel, blogs, infographics, and video assets were the most effective content types to buyers beginning their purchasing journey, the survey data revealed. MarketingCharts

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at the “influencer marketing and authenticity” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

3 Must-Know Consumer Behavior Predictions for Hot Tech Summer — Adweek

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

• Lee Odden — 10 Tips for Nurturing Business Relationships and Marketing a B2B Brand — Small Business Trends
• Lee Odden — 60 Best Marketing Quotes to Boost Your Business — Quoteistan

Have you found your own top B2B marketing news item from the past week of industry news? Please drop us a line in the comments below.

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