Lee Odden's Blog: Online Marketing Blog

The new era of search is here. Artificial intelligence is unlocking new ways for people to find information and solve problems, with greater speed and confidence than ever before. AI-powered engines and platforms are fundamentally changing the nature of online search as we know it. 

It’s an exciting time. These emerging AI tools can do some really cool things. But for business leaders, it can also feel like a scary time, with your brand’s visibility and engagement at risk. 

Understanding generat...

Let me know if this sounds familiar: You’re drafting a masterful thought leadership piece and want to back up your thesis with a strong data point. After a bit of searching, you find the perfect one! But when you click through to the source, it takes you to one of those “Billionty Best Statistics For Marketers” lists.

Okay, so you find the stat again, click through, and it takes you to… an older stat round-up list.

Many (many…) frustrating clicks later, you find you’re back in 2012. Maroon 5...

In the latter half of 2023 and throughout 2024, the SEO landscape has been thrown into upheaval. Monumental updates and changes have left many small- and mid-size websites reeling, especially in niches where they once outperformed larger competitors.

The reality is, SEO results almost never happen in a vacuum. Every action you take on your site is influenced by a web of concurrent developments — algorithm updates, SERP feature shifts, and more. This makes it difficult to isolate variables and pi...

Despite their differences, business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) influencer marketing share several key similarities. 

Both audiences seek value, with a strong emphasis on trust, credibility, and social proof. They are actively engaged online and respond well to relevant, high-quality content. Effective influencer marketing strategies for both segments leverage this content to address specific needs and interests, driving engagement and fostering meaningful connections.

This ...

Content localization can be a time-consuming, research-intensive process, which is probably why it’s often overlooked — even by big brands that otherwise have highly robust and effective SEO strategies in place. But that’s also what could make it such a key differentiator for you.

When you take the time to accurately localize your content, your brand won’t just feel like another option for your audiences. Instead, you’ll feel like a brand that actually understands them and takes the time to spea...

What is B2B influencer marketing? 

I get asked this question quite often. Especially by non-marketers, who have the assumption I work with a Kardashian selling makeup. 

Let’s begin with the distinction between B2B and B2C influencer marketing. A slightly more B2C-centric definition comes from McKinsey: “Influencer marketing is a collaboration between popular social-media users and brands to promote brands’ products or services.” Although sometimes true for B2B, there are more nuances we can expl...

Whether you work at an agency or you’re managing a marketing budget in-house, you’ve probably had the classic debate before: do you focus on organic lead cultivation through SEO or try to generate as many leads as possible with aggressive tactics right now? 

I won’t pretend to be impartial: When you have the choice, favoring SEO is almost always the better investment. This isn’t an unfounded hunch, either: in our client programs here at TopRank Marketing, organic traffic consistently converts at...

If you’re searching for Nike shoes, you might go to Nike.com and browse. But what if you want to know more about Nike as a company? Say you wanted to research their sustainability commitments and practices before you buy your new kicks. In that case, you can visit nike.com/sustainability and find a whole mini-website dedicated to everything Nike and eco-friendly.

Nike’s sustainability hub is a great example of a microsite. It helps a particular audience explore a single topic, with depth and bre...

Do you want to be the Dollar Shave Club of B2B marketing on social media? In a market filled with countless razor companies, the brand found a way to stand out, building a strong online community and achieving significant growth without relying primarily on paid advertising. 

Notice how I said “without relying primarily on paid advertising.” That’s because, while paid is a practical option, it should be used primarily to complement your organic strategy. 

If you’re a savvy marketer, you’ve likel...

New York, NY USA — The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) just announced TopRank Marketing and Sprinklr won a 2024 Content Marketing Award for “Across the Socialverse 2023: B2B Social Influence.” The Content Marketing Awards, presented each year by CMI, is the largest and longest-running international content marketing awards program in the world for content creation, distribution, and innovation.

The Content Marketing Awards recognize the best content marketing projects, agencies, and marketers ...