Having spent over 20 years in the B2B marketing space, my team and I have had opportunities to meet and work with some amazingly talented B2B marketers as they grow and advance in their careers. The industry has evolved quite a bit in that time and as B2B brands navigate the intersection of humanity and technology in today’s uncertain environment, it’s important to highlight smart B2B marketing voices that are actually making sense of it all.
That’s why I was quite happy to sit down with Steve Kearns, Global Head of Content, Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn for the latest edition of the Beyond B2B Marketing podcast. Steve has advanced in his career with a combination of intelligence, strategic leadership, high standards and the ability to inspire greatness from others. Also, Steve is the epitome of substance and style.
We covered a lot of ground including the origin story of LinkedIn’s involvement with the Cannes Creative B2B Lions, the intersection of strategy, data, and storytelling, the role of taste in B2B Marketing, thought leadership, evolved SEO and what successful brands are doing to market and advertise on the LinkedIn platform. This episode is a must-watch or listen!
Here’s a list of the show highlights:
- LinkedIn’s Role in B2B Marketing at Cannes
- Understanding LinkedIn’s Business Model
- The Intersection of Strategy, Data, and Storytelling
- The Role of Taste in B2B Marketing
- Successful Campaigns and Content Strategies on LinkedIn
- The Importance of B2B Thought Leadership
- Navigating SEO in a Changing Landscape
- Embracing Video Content in B2B
- Finding Motivation in Marketing Leadership
Listen to the full interview with Steve here:
Watch the full podcast conversation with Steve (including my sunburnt face) here:
If you’d prefer a text summary of our discussion about storytelling, AI and the importance of taste in marketing creativity, we have you covered:
In Episode 5 of the Beyond B2B Marketing podcast, Steve Kearns, Global Head of Content for Marketing Solutions at LinkedIn, talks about the evolution of B2B’s presence at the prestigious Cannes Lions festival and LinkedIn’s journey to become a dominant force that championed the creation of the Creative B2B Lions awards category. The major theme at this year’s Cannes event was AI, which sparked both optimism for its potential and anxiety about its impact on creative roles.
“If we (LinkedIn) want to be the category leader in B2B, then we need to think about how we show up in spaces like Cannes, even if the winner of the B2B Lions isn’t always going to have done it on LinkedIn.”
Steve also talked about the combination of data analysis and storytelling as the key to excelling in modern B2B marketing. He argues that marketers typically lean toward one skill or the other – the analytical, “spreadsheet style thinker” or the emotive, creative storyteller. However, true success in B2B marketing requires mastering both. He describes a flywheel for success that begins with a strategic business insight, translates it into a compelling creative campaign, and, finally, measures its success with data. Without this full-circle approach, even the most brilliant creative work or data-driven strategy will ultimately fail to deliver meaningful business outcomes.
“You can be the greatest storyteller in the world, but if you can’t figure out how the story that you tell actually translates into measurable outcomes, you’re screwed.”
Our conversation also highlights the importance of “taste” and understanding human psychology in a field that is often perceived as purely rational. Steve says (and I agree 100%) that marketing to other marketers requires a higher standard of creativity and style because the audience has a “super high bullshit meter.” He believes the most effective marketers are students of psychology and anthropology, understanding that decisions are driven by aspiration and emotion, not just logic. Successful B2B brands build an identity that customers want to align with, creating an emotional connection and brand fame that is far more powerful and durable than simply competing on features or price.
“The second you understand the irrational components of what drive decision-making and what drive human behavior, the more effective of a marketer you become, because then you can look at things not as they should be, but as they are.”
Looking ahead, Steve suggests that thought leadership for B2B brands is more critical than ever, especially because it is under threat from budget cuts and the proliferation of AI-generated content. As most of the market moves toward scaled, templatized content, he sees a massive opportunity for the “holdouts” who continue to invest in unique, human-centric, and even contrarian perspectives. This 10% of truly distinct content will become an increasingly valuable commodity. Similarly, he advises that in a fragmented search landscape where buyers use platforms like TikTok and Reddit for discovery, marketers must diversify their approach and become students of new search behaviors if they expect to remain visible and relevant.
Thanks Steve!
Be sure to connect with Steve on LinkedIn and check out the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions blog.
To find all of the episodes of the Beyond B2B Marketing podcast and to subscribe, be sure to visit your favorite podcast player below. You won’t want to miss our next conversation with a B2B marketing leader. And remember, there’s no better time than now to break free of boring B2B!
*LinkedIn is a client of TopRank Marketing
About the author
Lee Odden has been recognized as a top B2B Marketing professional by Forbes, The Economist and the Wall Street Journal. For over 20 years he’s worked with his team at TopRank Marketing to help elevate the B2B marketing industry through creative marketing programs that deliver more authentic, experiential and inclusive content for brands like LinkedIn, Dell and Adobe. Lee is the author of Optimize and has published over 1.4 million words on his agency’s B2B marketing blog. As a trusted marketing thought leader, he has given nearly 300 presentations in 20 different countries on B2B content, search and influencer marketing. When not marketing, Lee is probably running, cooking or traveling.
