How to Harness Influencer Marketing in B2B
Casual mask maker with a culinary bent. Tourer of cities and arbiter of sartorial creativity. Walking directory of social media influencers.
When you think of influencer marketing, what’s the first thing that springs to mind? Fashion creators doing a “get ready with me”, lifestyle creators talking about a product they can’t live without? Whatever it is, it’s most likely a B2C brand.
However, this isn’t the only sector that can utilise influencers for marketing. There is tremendous opportunity within the B2B market, as thought-leaders and influential people can be key to targeting business decision-makers.
Why Does Your B2B Business Need Influencers?
It’s important to remember that behind any brands (B2B or B2C), there are still humans who are open to influence – in their decisions and business investments.
While B2B influencers might take a slightly different angle on different channels, the way they can support your marketing and business remains the same.
Key ways that B2B influencers help brands include:
- Increasing brand awareness: Using profiles other than your own enables you to reach new audiences since these influencer or thought-leader profiles already have a following. You reach a wider network through them and amplify your online presence through channels other than your own.
- Building trust: If a business is investing a significant amount on your product, they will look for proof that people believe in your product or service – and who is better to support you than independent known faces or experts in the field? The more evidence you have that your product or service is used and liked, the more likely a company will trust you.
- Fostering a community: Access your niche through someone that people already look up to and trust and you’ll start being pulled into conversations. Since people are more likely to interact with content coming from a person, people will start to talk and ask questions around products – namely, your product! People want to be in-the-know and get involved with the latest or best products, so keep an eye on the conversation and find your community.
How Your B2B Business Can Get Started With Influencer Marketing
As with any piece of work, creating a plan is key to a successful campaign. Here’s how you can get started:
- Create an influencer strategy: It is important to know exactly who you are targeting, why you are doing it and what you want the output to be. Really refine your goals whether it’s to grow your social following, push new opportunities over to your sales team, or complete an action (download, contact form, newsletter, etc.).
- Find the experts: Whether it’s on LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit or TikTok, there are leaders within your niche. Take time to discover who they are and what they care about. There are influencer search tools, or agencies (like us), you can use to scout out the influencers and content creators but you can also start with a manual search. Simply search topics on platforms and see which profiles are actively posting and engaging with their communities.
- Begin the partnership: Most influencers and content creators are happy to be contacted through their social profiles but some will also have emails listed in their bios. Remember to keep the tone friendly, authentic and professional – this is their business after all.
- Nurture the relationship: Engaging with the right person for your brand will help to build credibility for your business and support the work you already do! If they enjoy working with you and truly believe in your product or service, they could turn into lifelong customers and brand ambassadors. The word-of-mouth marketing a happy brand fan could generate is invaluable.
B2B influencer marketing doesn’t have to be a minefield. With the rise of #worktok, ‘corporate day in the life’ videos and business profiles, social media users are granted a glimpse into a business’ day-to-day – as well as the products and services they use on a daily basis. Entrepreneurs regularly post about their businesses on social media, especially on LinkedIn – could your product make their work life any easier?
If you do have the capacity to build and grow your own social media profiles, which collaborating with influencers and paid content creators can help with, you have the chance to build a strong brand personality online. In B2C marketing, we’re seeing a shift in what’s seen as “suitable” for a company social media account and what’s not – leading supermarkets and large tech retailers now post and engage as if they are a real, relatable human for example. But showing personality and dropping the corporate face works for the B2B market as well.
Businesses such as ClickUp and Semrush do this really successfully and give you an insight into their office while adding personality. A strong and approachable presence in turn encourages more users and influencers to want to collaborate – growing your brand, creating an enthusiastic community, and boosting your business goals.
There’s ample opportunity in the B2B sector for influencer marketing and having someone influential endorse your business can grow an otherwise stagnant audience. It takes a little management – sourcing good partners, negotiating contracts, and managing conversations – but it’s a useful part of social media marketing strategies for companies at any stage.
Mollie is our dedicated social media and influencer manager at Tank, connecting businesses with the right influencers and creators. Talk to us to see how your brand could use influencer marketing.
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