You probably associate influencer marketing with well-known B2C tactics. Engaging social media personalities in co-creating content and marketing products to their large follower base is a proven way to increase awareness of consumer-friendly products and services.
On the B2B side, technology plays an equally important role. A 2023 Ogilvy report concluded that 75% of B2B companies use influencer marketing and more than half of the remaining 25% plan to do so.
However, business audiences are less likely to turn to Instagram or TikTok for trusted product advice. And because B2B sales cycles are longer and more complex, campaigns that target lower-funnel information needs could have a greater impact.
B2B marketers need to have a different game plan when working with influencers. It starts with making informed decisions about who you work with and how to best align your efforts for success. Use these expert recommendations as guidance.
Choose your influencers wisely
B2B influencers come in two varieties: internal and external. B2B marketers often use a mix, but each has a role to play, says Pam Didner, B2B marketer, author and speaker.
“Internal influencers should be subject matter experts,” says Pam. “An external influencer is a thought leader in your field – someone you want to collaborate with.”
However, collaborating with thought leaders can be difficult because thought leaders must consider their own business needs. For this reason, B2B marketers must take great care in selecting and preparing influencers for their campaigns.
“With [external] If you’re a thought leader, you really want to understand their expertise, where they shine, and how your brand can use their expertise to amplify your message,” says Pam. “You have to have a very detailed conversation.”
Audience size matters – but not in the way you might think
Working with an influencer with millions of followers may not be essential for effective B2B engagement. According to Tim Davidson, a B2B content creator and founder and vice president of marketing at B2B Rizz, the size of an influencer's audience should correlate with the size of the total addressable market.
Wendy Covey, CEO and co-founder of TREW Marketing, agrees. Wendy points out that it's much more important to have the right audience – likely those who will influence or drive purchasing decisions later in the buying cycle.
Tim also points out that a huge audience could be a big red flag: “It's pretty easy to trick the algorithms with broad content, engagement pods and buying followers.”
This means you may not get the reach you expect from your chosen influencer partner(s) – a compelling reason to consider building your strategy on in-house expertise.
Support the success of your internal evangelists
On the other end of the spectrum, developing influencers internally makes it easier to scale campaign frequency and align their efforts with your brand's goals. However, companies need to inspire and support employees who are ready to be influencers.
“People care more [how being an influencer] “It has a bigger impact on their career than on the business,” says Tim. “[You have to] Show how reputation as an expert impacts them and their opportunities.”
While content creation and external roles are second nature for internal influencers, it helps to invest in training and development. That might mean hiring a ghostwriter to enhance the text in their articles and op-eds, and providing technical specialists to help in-house influencers produce professional-quality podcasts and videos. Equally important, leaders recognize that influencing is work.
“Give people time to post and create,” says Tim. “If you expect them to do it on top of everything else, they just don’t have enough time and it always gets an afterthought.”
Weigh your compensation options
It's impossible to talk about influencer selection without talking about compensation – be it financial or otherwise.
While employee influencers typically don't receive extra compensation, be prepared to incentivize their brand engagement in other ways. Discuss how the opportunity can help advance their professional or personal goals. Offer media training or work with specialists to improve the quality of their content. Tim also recommends adjusting your workload so your influencer tasks don't take a backseat.
On the other hand, if you pay external influencers, don’t expect a standard price. “It’s currently the Wild West in the B2B sector,” says Tim. “It’s all negotiable, so pay will vary from influencer to influencer.”
Remember: There's a big difference between paying an influencer and treating them as a transaction. After all, payment is a normal part of any business. However, transactional interactions are unlikely to feel organic or authentic to the audience.
“Many [B2B influencers] are motivated by the benefits of your company that will help grow their business, rather than a generic transactional relationship,” says Wendy. “These benefits may include early access to products, behind-the-scenes tours, a trade show demonstration at your booth or extended support. Ask lots of questions to uncover points of synergy, and then think outside the box about how these will support your brand, and vice versa.”
Align influencer efforts with highest priority goals
While smart staffing and payment decisions are critical, influencer success often depends on strategically aligning your efforts with your marketing goals.
One school of thought says that B2B influencer campaigns should focus on driving awareness at the top of the funnel.
For example, Wendy Covey says the B2B influencer's ultimate goal is to ensure their brand is top of mind when a prospect is ready to speak to sales, rather than pushing a transaction in the moment. “B2B influencers are thought leaders – buyers look to them for information about the history and evolution of their industry, answers to challenging problems, and insights on how to stay ahead of trends.”
Still, Tim Davidson argues that B2B influencers can do more than just increase brand awareness. “Think about influencers [as a value-add] at every stage of the funnel. What changes is the way you use the influencer.”
For example, in the middle of the funnel, Tim sees customers talking about their experiences with the brand's product as an influencer play that helps engage potential customers in higher-level conversations.
Tim also points out a viable approach to driving bottom-funnel goals: “Let’s say the person you’re working with is a subject matter expert [and they’re open to it]try to include them in sales conversations or introduce them to drive potential business.”
Activate actionable B2B channels
B2B influencer marketing is not necessarily as dependent on social media as its B2C counterpart. However, LinkedIn is a notable exception as it is the preferred social platform for building professional relationships.
To join relevant conversations on LinkedIn, Allison Champion, former senior director and head of marketing communications at e-commerce fulfillment platform Flowspace, treats influential industry voices like traditional media by inviting them to briefs and pitching story ideas. “B2B influencers are more accessible than the press because they are interested in building their networks,” says Allison.
Pam Didner has a name for this tactic – influencing the influencer – and suggests giving them early information, insider information, research and access to your thought leaders: “This will help them position themselves as an industry expert and spread the word about your brand. “ along for the ride.”
Diversify your engagement goals
While influencing the influencer often occurs via LinkedIn, the reality is that the platform does not capture the entire audience. One reason for this is the fragmentation of the media. Another factor is how B2B spaces are changing thanks to digital tools, new platforms and remote work.
Allison recently began hosting a Flowspace podcast called “Stories from the Shelf” to reach customer personas that might not show up in traditional spaces.
“We want to be a forum for conversations in the fulfillment space,” says Allison. “Our guests are the influencers, and we invite logistics and operations leaders to tell stories about how brands grow, scale and make a difference.”
Allison's experience is not unique. Wendy Covey points out that Heatcraft Refrigeration Products' marketing team told her on an episode of her podcast “Content Marketing, Engineered” that their YouTube influencer helped them fix quality issues, improve products, and close the loop between product, Close manufacturing and customers.
Let influential voices speak to your brand experience
Even if your influencer relationships don't have a direct impact on your products, they can increase the value of your content. Cultivate beneficial partnerships and position your expertise correctly, and you can both have a meaningful impact on your content goals.
A version of this article originally appeared in the May/June 2024 issue of Chief Content Officer.
For more advice, check out Chief Content Officer, a monthly publication for content leaders. Subscribe today to get it in your inbox.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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