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Influencer marketing has been a buzzword with the expansion of social media. From fashion to food, users with strong and engaged followings are generating attention and revenue opportunities for businesses. While B2C communities are jumping at the opportunity, many B2B brands feel as if influencer marketing isn't a viable option for their business—but they are mistaken.
Did you know Mark Twain was one of America’s first marketing influencers? He was featured on two different brands of cigars in the nineteenth century.
Jump ahead a few decades, we see Kellogg’s partnering with Michael Jordan throughout the nineties, and even more recently we see big pop stars like P!nk and Katy Perry partnering with Covergirl.
Influencer marketing has been around for a long time, and while the concept of partnering with high profile individuals is still very appealing to bigger brands, opportunities on "micro" scales have become increasingly popular among smaller businesses.
"It's not about what we say we are, it's about what you say we are."
Brands that embrace the power of influencers’ endorsements to reach their target consumers have been predominantly in the business-to-consumer (B2C) space. However, business-to-business (B2B) brands have an equal opportunity to create a successful influencer marketing campaign.
When most people think about what an influencer marketing campaign includes, they tend to think of only tactics working for B2C brands, but product reviews, endorsements, sponsored social posts and affiliate approaches are multidimensional and can work for any business model. Remember: at the core of every business lies a team of people.
Choosing the right service or product provider for a business's entity can be a stressful process and may require many touch points for a business to make a confident decision. Often times, businesses rely on other teams and competitors within their industry for guidance on the best products or services to affiliate their brand with. This is a form of influencer marketing; brands and individuals within their entities have an influence on other teams decision.
In fact, according to a study by Twitter & Annalect, 49% of people say they rely on recommendations from influencers when making purchase decisions—both for personal use and professional. Even at the Modern Driven Media HQ, we constantly look for outside endorsements and third-party reviews before committing to a new software. It's second nature to inquire about others' experiences before committing to it yourself. So the question then becomes, how do you tap into the influence of those within the business space?
Just like B2C brands, individuals are apt to associate with brands that others they like and trust are linked to. Think of the people in your life that you admire—I bet not all of them are celebrities.
As B2B marketers, it is essential to think about the individuals or entities that are thought leaders in your respective industry. The initial question for influencer marketing remains the same across the B2B and B2C industries: "How does my business get in front of our target audience with individuals and entities they trust in an authentic way at each influential stage of the buyer's journey?"
Creating content aimed at helping your customers is incredibly important. In fact, content marketing is known to increase conversion rates up to six times higher than other marketing efforts. Its sole purpose is to provide your audience with useful and valuable information. And while influencers who are genuine supporters of your brand will likely find your sales content valuable, brands must be able to build a deeper connection with their influencers.
Do your research! What do influencers in your market care about? This content should evoke a sense of pride and community within your ideal audience. If you’re not creating content that influencers can align themselves with, it will be difficult to get them to spread the word or gain the attention of other like-minded individuals.
Points of influence in B2B companies are not often a straight line, which is why being present, active, and responsive on social media is that much more important. The first thing they teach you in kindergarten is that to make friends, you must share things that you care about.
Marketing is similar—when you release great content into the wild, you’re giving away valuable information to not only your customers, but to influencers in your industry, and sometimes, even competitors. And that’s okay—so long as you’re promoting a culture of sharing.
Within the B2B realm, it is not uncommon for others in your industry to share your content. This opens a world of possibilities for content collaboration. When sharing content for the potential of building these influencer relationships, be sure to choose the platform that other industry leaders are frequenting the most.
Utilize your internal team to be active in engaging with these individuals, as well. It's important not only to have others share your content, but in turn, re-share influencer posts that are relevant to your product or service. Engage with users' posts that inspire you in order to be at the top of their mind when the time comes to considering collaboration opportunities.
One of the most successful ways to gain the attention of influencers in the B2B space is to include them in your content! Collaborating with others allows new ideas to flow and adds a new perspective to topics you may have previously discussed.
Think about the ways influencers in your industry are already communicating with your target audience. Get creative with how you can incorporate their insight into new conversations hosted by your brand. Build off the foundation they’ve already set in place to create a new engaging dialogue.
Not only will your brand help to push their content, but it will lead to a genuine conversation and a potential start to a relationship. In retrospect, the hard part is taken care of, now you just have to offer them something that will really “wow!” them.
Influencer outreach in the B2B space is all about building relationships early, often, and authentically. By providing valuable information to your target audience and creating a culture of sharing and collaboration, your brand has the opportunity to build genuine relationships. After all, the success of the influencer campaign relies solely on their influence over their following. If it's not sincere, they will lose their own credibility.
Influencer marketing can be a key component of your social media marketing strategy. If you would like to kick start influencer marketing into your strategy, connect with our team.
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