CMOs’ Major Resource Allocations to Remain Steady Amid Budget Pressures
Marketing technology budgets have held steady from 2022 to 2023, as 75 percent of chief marketing officers say they are confronted by pressures to do more with less, while 49 percent expect to increase their influencer marketing spending — the area least likely to see budget cuts, according to newly-published CMO survey data. MarketingCharts

U.S. Ad Index Expands For First Time In 11 Months In May
60 percent of overall U.S. media spending came from the digital sector during May, 2023 — up from 56 percent a year earlier, as the overall ad spending level increased for the first time in 11 months, according to recent ad index data. MediaPost

LinkedIn Launches Live Test of Generative AI Posts
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has expanded its testing of optional generative AI technology for the creation of posts on the professional social platform, offering first-draft suggestions to certain users, LinkedIn recently announced. Social Media Today

Most Social Media Marketers Are Confident in Their Ability to Adopt AI for Marketing
49 percent of social media marketing professionals have said that they see customer behavioral segmenting and targeting as the top use for AI, with 45 percent pointing to predictive analytics and the use of dynamic pricing based on real-time data — three of the findings contained in recently-published survey data of interest to B2B marketers. MarketingCharts

Long taglines using ‘rare’ words are most memorable but least liked, study reveals
Choosing whether to focus on being remembered or being liked is a key decision when it comes to brand slogans, as brands seeking long-term recognition benefit from slogans that incorporate unusual and concrete words, according to newly-released research data. MarketingWeek

Forrester: Nearly One-Third Of Ad Agency Jobs Will Be “At Risk” From Automation By 2030
Despite almost of third of advertising agency jobs being at risk from automation by 2030, double-digit growth for market research and marketing specialists is expected by 2030, according to recent Forrester and U.S. Bureau of Labor data. MediaPost

Marketing When Budgets Are Down
When it comes to marketing effectively during challenging times, clarity, courage, and connection hold increasing importance in 2023’s era of less, and the Harvard Business Review recently took a look at measures to deliver marketing results and grow business despite economic challenges. Harvard Business Review

Google In Hot Water: Billions At Stake As YouTube Ads Found To Violate Terms Of Service
Search giant Google has come under pressure for having possibly misled businesses advertising on its YouTube and other properties through its Google Video Partners program, according to newly-published report data, as Google has in turn rejected the report findings as inaccurate. Search Engine Journal

YouTube Launches First Stage of Thumbnail A/B Testing in YouTube Studio
Google’s YouTube has begun tests that allow users of the video platform to perform comparison performance tests between several different video thumbnail images, which could lead to new opportunities for B2B brands to conduct A/B testing, YouTube recently announced. Social Media Today

How AI is impacting search advertising’s growth
Search engine advertising has begun seeing shifts due to the incorporation of generative AI technology in offerings from Google and Microsoft’s Bing, as spending for search advertising was expected to climb to $279.3 billion in 2023 — up from $251.7 billion in 2022, according to recently-published search advertising data of interest to digital marketers. DigiDay

“The turmoil unleashed by new AI tools and a changed landscape will be the best thing ever for SEO.” — Eli Schwartz @5le
Click To Tweet

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

A lighthearted look at “Innovation and TikTok” by Marketoonist Tom Fishburne — Marketoonist

Argonne Aurora A21: All’s Well That Ends Better — The Next Platform

TOPRANK MARKETING & CLIENTS IN THE NEWS:

Ty Heath / LinkedIn — B2B advertising doesn’t need to be boring: why creativity is a key driver of profitability — ClickZ
Lee Odden — Here Are 6 Reasons Social Media Is Terrible: Why You Should Still Use It — Spartan Alliance
Lane R. Ellis — The Happiest Man in Social Media & Marketing [Podcast] — Lane Ellis — Are You Happy Podcast

FRIDAY FIVE B2B MARKETING FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:

Carla Johnson @CarlaJohnson
Gini Dietrich @ginidietrich
Ardath Albee @ardath421
Joe Lazauskas @joelazauskas
Zontee Hou @ZonteeHou

Learn more about TopRank Marketing‘s mission to help elevate the B2B marketing industry.

Have you uncovered a key B2B marketing news item that 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 week’s edition of the Elevate B2B Marketing News, and we hope that you will return 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 Weekly Roundup: CMO Tech Budgets Hold Steady, Ad Index Grows, & LinkedIn’s AI Push appeared first on B2B Marketing Blog – TopRank®.