When it comes to modern B2B digital marketing, the industry has seen quite a few major changes in the last few years alone. With more competition comes more paid advertising endeavors, often with less effectiveness in certain areas. Because of this, many B2B brands are investing more into creative marketing choices that connect their brand with their customer base, which has resulted in a new wave of B2B influencer marketing. In fact, back in 2018, over 39% of marketing specialists for B2B companies noted that they planned on focusing their efforts on creating and executing an influencer marketing strategy.
It’s no secret that consumers tend to trust each other much more than brands. Luckily, this social aspect of brand awareness can be used to your advantage as a B2B company. However, creating an excellent B2B influencer strategy can be difficult for businesses that have never done so before. In this quick guide, we’ll break down a few key tips for developing a B2B-focused influencer marketing strategy, so you can tap into a market that you may have otherwise missed. Keep in mind that our tips are focused specifically on influencer marketing for B2B companies.
How to Build the Best B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy For Your Business
Creating an excellent B2B influencer marketing strategy doesn’t have to be so complex.
Understand Influencer Marketing in the Context of B2B
Influencer marketing is a type of online marketing technique that involves getting celebrities or well-known internet personalities to endorse one’s products or services. Typically, influencer marketing involves collaboration between a brand and an influencer. An influencer can be anyone and does not have to be a famous film or music star. Rather, influencers are simply influential individuals on social media networks that have a substantial following. Influencers can be TikTok stars, bloggers, artists, performers, and more.
Influencer marketing is a very common marketing method for B2C companies, but it has been relatively untapped in the world of B2B. As marketing continues to evolve, it would be a shame for B2B companies to miss out on this excellent marketing opportunity.
Think of it this way. An influencer who is a tech entrepreneur has over one million followers on Instagram. They have a lot of influence over their followers, especially when it comes to reviewing tech products. If you are a B2B software company, you could start a partnership with this influencer and have them speak to their audience about your product. Not everyone in their audience is a business owner or decision-maker for a company, but a good chunk of them might be due to their interest in tech. The relevance, influence, and power are all there. Influencer marketing can be very simple but effective.
Invest in a B2B Lead Generation Agency
A B2B lead generation agency will typically be made up of marketing professionals that will use a wide variety of marketing methods to generate quality leads, and many will incorporate influencer marketing as well. Using a third-party agency can be an excellent choice for small businesses that are struggling to pull in leads. Just as well, being in the B2B realm can present its own difficulties. A B2B lead generation agency will be able to help you with the unique struggles that come with B2B influencer marketing.
Focus on Collaboration
When it comes to influencer marketing, you don’t want to invest a lot of money into having someone retweet your brand’s Twitter account or read from a generic script that you give all of your influencers. You might as well purchase some PPC ads. For influencer marketing, the more of a unique voice your influencer has, the more of an impact they will have on your target audience.
There are a number of different ways you can showcase your influencer’s unique voice while also promoting the brand. A few options include research collaboration, guest-hosting on a podcast, penning unique and helpful guides, and creating personable and convincing video content.
Create Brand Ambassadors
Outside of talking with well-known influencers in your niche, you can also get in touch with your customer base and encourage them to become brand ambassadors. This is an excellent influencer marketing technique because word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tactics in the B2B world. The goal here is to build upon the word of mouth technique by encouraging your influencers to be an advocate, but also encouraging your satisfied customers to be mouthpieces for your brand as well. They will discuss your services with their colleagues who may need your unique offering.
Take the time to ask your customers to share their experiences by writing product reviews or responding to feedback surveys. Use incentives, such as a coupon code or free trial for a gate-kept service that you offer.
Implement Influencer Content into Your Website’s Content
Many consumers tend to trust branded content. Because of these, B2B companies should incorporate influencer content into their website content. This can take a variety of forms, from a guest blog post to a video to other types of media. If your B2B company hosts a podcast, incorporate your influencer’s experience with your product or service into the podcast itself. This is a great, but still unique, way to use influencer marketing that goes above and beyond basic social media posts. Guest posts, in particular, can be quite helpful for influencer marketing if your brand’s blog is already popular. Adding the element of a guest influencer writer that already is well-known in your niche can pack a lot of marketing power into a single blog post.
Freelance contribution especially written for Find Your Influence by John Dubay.