Cannes Lions Issues Annual Creativity Report
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recently published its annual creativity report, showcasing 76 pages of branded marketing and communications trends from this year’s event, which for the first time featured dedicated B2B marketing categories in the form of 11 Cannes Creative B2B Lions awards. MediaPost

Instagram remains the undefeated champ of influencer spend
U.S. influencer marketing spending has been forecast to hit $6 billion by 2023, an increase from this year’s $4.6 billion estimate, driven by digital marketers looking to turn towards more cost effective solutions, according to newly-released forecast data. Insider Intelligence

[bctt tweet=”“There is an opportunity for B2B marketers to leverage both micro-influencers AND community with ‘community led growth’ initiatives.” — Dominique Lahaix @Dominiq” username=”toprank”]

Microsoft Platform Allows Advertisers To Run Ads On Bing, Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Microsoft has rolled out the ability for marketers to spread advertising budgets across an array of social and search channels — notably including Google Search — with the launch of its new Smart Campaigns multi-platform, Microsoft recently announced. MediaPost

Meta Adds ‘Community Chats’ on Messenger as it Searches for New Ways to Prop Up Falling Engagement
Facebook parent firm Meta has begun rolling out a new feature that is a conglomerate hybrid of Facebook Groups and Messenger, offering marketers and brands new topically-related chatting options, Meta announced recently. Social Media Today

Google-Kantar Study Defines ‘Budget Agile,’ Finds Strategy Improves Campaign Performance
31 percent of marketers that possess budget agility have said that they incorporate formal marketing planning monthly in order to align strategy and budget allocation, a process that only 18 percent of non-budget-agile marketers follow — one of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in newly-released Google report data. MediaPost

As ad budgets are slashed in the absence of cash, marketers are ‘bartering’ influencers
Some marketers are finding additional flexibility and opportunities when working with influencers during a period that has seen reduced advertising budgets for some, and DigiDay takes are look at some of the implications, opportunities, and challenges affecting influencer partnerships. DigiDay

The new HTTPS report in Search Console
Search giant Google has begun rolling out a new Search Console feature aimed at pinpointing which of a website’s pages use the HTTPS secure protocol for transfers, and which don’t — a helpful addition for marketers and brands seeking to adhere to Google’s page experience guidelines, Google recently announced. Google Search Central

Amazon Now Consumers’ Most-Preferred Ad Environment, While Instagram Is Marketers’
When it comes to the online destinations where customers are the most receptive to advertising, Amazon has garnered the top spot, having surpassed TikTok, Spotify, Google, and Snapchat, according to newly-published survey data of interest to digital marketers. MediaPost

Twitter Will Now Let You Schedule Up to 10 Spaces Broadcasts at a Time
Twitter has rolled out a new feature that will allow users to natively schedule up to 10 Twitter Spaces audio broadcasts and events, up to a month in advance — replacing a previous system that only allowed one at a time, Twitter recently announced. Social Media Today

B2B Marketers Are Employing A Variety of Lead Nurturing Campaigns
43 percent of B2B marketers have said that they use early-stage lead nurturing campaigns, with 42 percent using new customer and on-boarding campaigns, while 34 percent utilize advanced-stage tactics, according to newly-released survey data. Building campaign timing and workflow and developing targeted content for each buyer stage are top nurturing challenges, the survey also showed. MarketingCharts

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at “Competitor Myopia” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

Apple Announces New iPhones Will No Longer Be Compatible With Human Hand — The Onion

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

Lee Odden — How To Avoid Going Down Google’s Instant Answer Search Trap — Content Marketing Institute
Lee Odden / TopRank Marketing — What Does Conference Season Mean For Your Marketing? — Heidi Cohen
TopRank Marketing — Strategies to Leverage B2B Influencer Marketing — TalkCMO

Have you across your own favorite B2B marketing news item this week that we haven’t yet mentioned? If so, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line in the comments below.

Thanks for taking the time to join us for the week’s TopRank Marketing B2B marketing news, and we hope you’ll return next Friday for another selection of the most up-to-date and pertinent 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 B2B Marketing News: B2B Lead Nurturing, Rising Influencer Spending, Cannes Creativity Report appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.