The term B2B has been around for some time. Many brands may reject B2B influencer marketing as just another gimmick, but you should give them a second thought.
For the B2B company, there is great potential in working with the right B2B influencer. With social media being a crucial tool for marketing, influencers have deep roots in audiences that are loyal and engaged. Partnering with a B2B influencer who is rooted within your brand’s industry can help create brand awareness within an audience that is eager for your product. The key is finding the right influencer and developing a strategy for your B2B brand.
Narrow Down & Engage
Social media is inundated with influencers. The first step you’ll want to take is to pinpoint those who are active in your industry. Consider those who have followers that converge with your target audience. Most importantly, look for those whose message can support your brand’s tone and identity. Once you’ve narrowed down your search, you need to start building a rapport with them. Connect with them through social media by sharing their content with your audience. In this way, you are introducing them to your followers. Showing them you are a thought leader in a shared industry will help pave the way to a concrete partnership when you are ready to approach them.
Transparency & Clear Goals
At the outset of partnering with your chosen B2B influencer, you must be transparent about all aspects of the relationship between them and your brand. Make your brand’s needs and expectations clear from day one. Setting standards from the beginning will help ensure that the partnership is beneficial and successful for both your brand and the influencer. One of those standards is setting clear goals. Working with a B2B influencer is no different from any other marketing campaign so as a brand you must know what it is you desire to achieve. Without a clear goal in mind, it will be difficult to gauge whether your efforts have paid off. Be clear about whether you want to build brand awareness, generate more leads, or build on monthly subscriptions. These metrics should focus less on likes and shares and more on website traffic and conversions. With clear goals, you can create measurement processes to see what regular progress your brand is making on goals.
Create & Promote
Most marketers are familiar with Bill Gates’s famous essay “Content is King.” That was way back in 1996 and in 2023 content is still relevant but with one caveat – it needs to be great. Today brands are competing for attention among thousands of other brands so great content is essential. B2B influencers are content creators. The success of your partnership with them depends on crafting content that is valuable to your targeted audience. Depending on the social media platform this can be a blog, a post, or a video. Regardless of the form, the content must be relevant to your audience. Great content will do nothing for your brand if it’s not promoted. It’s vital you as a brand cross cross-promote the influencer’s posts or videos on your social media to help reach a wider audience and boost website traffic.
While all of these steps will steer the B2B influencer and your brand toward success, it’s vital to keep in mind that this is not a one-and-done deal. In order for your marketing efforts to succeed, a long-term strategy must be in place. The focus of a long-term strategy should be on driving consistent growth in order for your brand to be profitable and for the relationship between the B2B influencer and brand to be mutually beneficial.
