TopRank Marketing

06/01/2026

57% of B2B marketers are already using AI for content creation (Ascend2/TopRank) but...
..if every marketer has access to the same AI tools, what actually makes a brand stand out?

We asked 12 of the top social media marketing leaders from B2B brands including Adobe, HPE, Slack, UKG, RTX, Cohesity, Cision, and others to help answer an a timely question:

With AI use accelerating, what role will human creativity play in the future of B2B social media marketing?

The answer was amazingly consistent.

AI can help B2B marketers move faster. It can scale ideas, accelerate workflows, and improve efficiency.

But imagination, emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, editorial judgment, and the instinct to create something genuinely memorable still belong to humans.

As AI-generated content floods social feeds, originality is becoming one of the scarcest and most valuable assets in B2B marketing.

The brands that win won't be the ones producing the most content. They'll be the ones creating content that makes people feel something.

In this article by Lee Odden, top social media leaders from some of the world's most respected B2B brands share their perspective on where AI ends and human creativity begins. And why that distinction matters more than ever.

https://www.toprankmarketing.com/blog/b2b-creativity-ai/

05/26/2026

HUGE congratulations to Ryan Leighty on his 5th year anniversary at TopRank Marketing!

Ryan's contributions to our search marketing practice have helped numerous B2B brands elevate the performance of their organic and paid search visibility.

Ryan brings a strategic outlook to search marketing and has a unique ability to adapt and quickly develop new ways to measure all the tools and capabilities that are surfacing in the search marketing industry.

Ryan is also a team player, making sure that both his peers and clients have the information they need to make data-backed decisions when it comes to planning their content or search visibility programs.

Staying on top of what matters and what works in search whether it's Google AI overviews or AI search platforms, is more important than ever. We are grateful for the role that Ryan plays in helping our clients become the best answer wherever customers are searching.

Thank you for all that you do Ryan!

05/26/2026

B2B marketers are being told two completely different stories about AI search right now.

One side says SEO is dead. The other says nothing has really changed.

Neither is true.

What's actually happening is more important: Google is evolving search from ranked links to AI-mediated answers, recommendations, summaries, and agents - all of which were announced at Google I/O 2026.

This evolution changes how buyers discover brands and makes the search experience fully "zero click". This shift changes what "visibility" means and most importantly, it changes what content earns trust.

B2B content discovery is fragmented with buyers finding solutions through a mix of:
• Google AI Overviews
• ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot
• Social communities and creator content
• Video, podcasts, newsletters and peer validation
• Multi-channel journeys that rarely begin or end on your website

Search has changed but people who buy B2B solutions are still looking for answers. The B2B brands winning in this environment have evolved from optimizing pages to become the most credible, cited, trusted and discoverable answer wherever buyers are looking.

Our latest article, breaks it down:
• What latest search announcements at Google I/O actually mean for B2B marketers
• Why traditional SEO thinking is isn't enough
• How AI search changes the role of trust, thought leadership and content strategy
• Why "Best Answer Brands" are positioned to outperform in AI-powered discovery AND with the humans looking for answers
• What B2B marketers should focus on now

The future of B2B search is less about chasing rankings and more about building authority systems that AI engines and buyers both trust.

At TopRank Marketing, we've built a framework for navigating these changes called Best Answer Marketing. BAM uses data informed strategy about the questions buyers are asking and what content formats and channels can deliver the experiences that drive visibility, build trust and influence decision confidence - wherever buyers are looking.

Learn about the Google I/O search updates and what B2B marketers should do next: https://www.toprankmarketing.com/blog/ai-search-b2b-marketing/

05/20/2026

How Best Answer Marketing Drives Visibility & Trust for AI and Human Discovery

B2B Buyers: Harder to Reach, Harder to Convince. How Best Answer Marketing Changes That.

05/15/2026

Today we're celebrating 9 years with the multi-talented Nick Nelson, Associate Content Director at TopRank Marketing! 🎉

Beyond his skills at providing content marketing strategy optimized for search and AI for some of the biggest brands in the B2B tech world, Nick has been a steady, creative force behind some of our most-read B2B content from a zero-click SEO survival guide to thought leadership pieces on AI, content strategy, CFO alignment, and authentic B2B storytelling.

That's 9 years of showing up with a high level of craftsmanship, focus on quality and results for clients, and thoughtful team-first energy as a leader on our Content Marketing team. We're grateful for Nick and all that he does to make TopRank Marketing the Best Answer in B2B Content Marketing!

05/13/2026

AI has changed content marketing forever. More than ever, it's important to understand what it can’t change.

According to the AI-First, Buyer-Ready: the New Era of B2B Content Marketing report from 10fold, 91% of marketers are increasing content output, and nearly half are producing three to five times more content than they were in the previous year, with the majority (75%) operating on budget increases of just 1 to 10%.

More content being developed with the same resources has created an undifferentiated, noisier market.

B2B audiences in particular have little patience for content that doesn’t earn their attention quickly.

So what differentiates B2B content in the soup of AI and what kind of solutions can help B2B brands build the necessary credibility and differentiation across a long buying cycle?

That's the question our own Theresa Dorsey Meis answers in today's post featuring 8 of the most popular B2B content marketing services we're seeing demand for and impact from.

AI is not magic. And neither are humans. AI is a tool. A powerful tool but only when used expertly, guided by human imagination, taste, empathy and nuance.

As our CEO Lee Odden has said, "A tool is only as effective as the expertise of the person using it."

This post will help you understand the expertise and solutions that B2B brands should look for from AI-empowered content marketing agencies.

Each includes why the solution is relevant as well as what AI can and can’t do.

https://www.toprankmarketing.com/blog/8-content-marketing-services-that-are-in-demand-for-b2b-brands/

05/08/2026

90% of B2B marketers use social media to promote content and 84% say LinkedIn is the most effective social platform. (Content Marketing Institute)

While AI powered discovery is exploding, people to people engagement on social networks is more valuable than ever. B2B influencers, creators, employees, customers and communities are asking, answering, creating and engaging on a daily basis. These interactions across the customer lifecycle drive discovery, trust and decision confidence.

On the front line of creating the social media strategies that turn B2B companies into Best Answer Brands, driving real business impact are the marketing leaders. There's a lot to learn from these professionals and we've curated a list of 32 social media marketing pros from top B2B brands.

From Adobe to Intel to SAP this group of B2B marketing executives represents a brain trust of expertise when it comes to social media.

Be sure to check out the full list and follow these B2B social media marketing pros!

Renee D. Edwards, Rob Wolf, Elida Solis, Marc Meyer, Jackie O., Debbie Curtis-Magley - CDMP, Lisa Marcyes, Shaily Pa., Kirt Zimmer, Katelyn Brower, Virginette A., Mageida S., Michael Pranikoff (he / him), Terra Walker, Kirsten Hamstra, Emanuele Breccia, Michael Delgado, ASW, Paul Harrer, Suzanne Doughty, Karla Turntine, Katie Yun, MBA, Meghan Meeker, Sabrina Barekzai, Toni Bird, Mark Bilotta, Desirée Porcaro, Jared Carneson, Leslie Douglas, Benjamin French Cobb, Nicole-Michele Traycoff, Amanda Gebhard, and Emily Vonakis, MBA.

Full list: https://www.toprankmarketing.com/blog/32-top-social-media-marketing-influencers-to-follow/

05/06/2026

B2B brands that are not chosen in AI search might just be invisible.

Buyers now discover solutions across AI tools, peer networks, communities, and content channels long before they ever talk to a vendor. At the same time, buying groups have grown to 15-20+ stakeholders, each needing confidence not just to choose, but to defend that choice as the most "buyable" brand.

The result? Visibility on it's own isn't enough. And most B2B marketing strategies are still playing catch-up.

In this episode of the hashtag podcast, host Lee Odden sits down with Debbie Kestin Schildkraut from the Association of National Advertisers to talk about what CMOs are actually doing about this challenge and what's working.

Here are a few key takeaways:

✅ Discovery is fragmented and networked - Buyers validate decisions through peers, communities, and AI, not just brand content
✅ Consensus is the new conversion - Marketing must enable confidence across entire buying groups, not just individuals
✅ AI requires governance, not just adoption - The real challenge isn't using AI, it's operationalizing it across teams
✅ Community and influence drive trust - Peer validation often outweighs brand messaging in decision-making
✅ Experiences create differentiation - Interactive, memorable engagement is replacing passive content consumption

Solving this challenge couldn't be more important. B2B marketing is shifting from campaigns to systems of trust, influence, and continuous validation.

B2B brands that do not make their content the best answer for what buyers are looking for, are essentially invisible. And the longer teams rely on linear funnels and isolated tactics, the harder it becomes to show up at all, let alone compete.

If you're rethinking how your brand shows up in an AI-driven, multi-stakeholder buying environment, this conversation and Debbie's depth of knowledge and experience provides a practical lens on what to do next.

Watch, listen or read the interview here: https://www.toprankmarketing.com/podcast/beyond-b2b-19-debbie-kestin-schildkraut/

05/04/2026

B2B buyers now go to AI before they go anywhere else.

According to Forrester's Buyers' Journey Survey, generative AI conversational search is now the single most meaningful interaction across the entire B2B buying process - ahead of vendor websites, industry publications, and product experts.

But here's what that finding doesn't tell you: While AI leads discovery, it is authentic content that earns trust.

At this year's hashtag North America, a panel featuring voices from Forrester, LinkedIn, and SAP Concur broke down exactly what that means for B2B content strategy in 2026.

A few things that stood out from the panel featuring Karen Tran, Davang Shah, Rob Gubas (He, Him) and Phyllis Davidson:

✅ 85% of brand mentions come from third-party sources - yet most content strategies still center on owned channels
✅ 94% of buyers use LLMs during their journey. If your brand isn't in those answers at the start, your odds of making the shortlist drop significantly
✅ Marketers who co-create with industry influencers are 2.5x more likely to report their research-based content as very effective
✅ AI doesn't replace authentic inputs, it scales them. Original research and third-party validation remain the foundation. AI accelerates distribution.

The B2B brands pulling ahead are going beyond simply creating more content to building a trust infrastructure that earns visibility with buyers and AI alike.

Check out Lee Odden's full recap including insights on GEO, the primary-and-derivative content model, and what consistency really means across a 272-day buying cycle here: https://www.toprankmarketing.com/blog/ai-authentic-b2b-content/

04/17/2026

What is Best Answer Marketing and why is it the strategy B2B marketers need to succeed in 2026? Find out in this fresh interview featuring our CEO Lee Odden on the B2BMarketing Podcast: https://www.b2bmarketing.net/podcasts/best-answer-marketing-building-trust-lee-odden/