B2B Marketing: Are There B2B Influencers?

In today’s fast-paced digital world, consumers and corporate decision-makers are more savvy, demanding, and discerning than ever. In other words, what does this mean? To put it simply, it means that people are no longer susceptible to plastic digital advertising and one-size-fits-all marketing strategies.

The top ten most expensive brands reached over 14.3 billion users through their YouTube campaigns alone. Therefore, it is not surprising that 92% of people trust recommendations from individuals (even if they do not know them personally) over recommendations from brands or businesses. It is no wonder that influencer marketing is so popular – and effective – since so many people trust the opinions of their peers.

What Is B2B Influencer Marketing

Firstly, let’s take a moment to consider what influencer marketing is and what it means in the context of B2B. A field of marketing known as influencer marketing consists of using key leaders in order to convey a brand’s message to a wider audience. If you wish to promote your product or service to a large group instead of directly to them, you may be able to hire or even pay market influencers to promote it for you.

In the B2B world, this notion is no different, as people are more likely to act based on the recommendations of their peers.

In most influencer marketing campaigns, social media and content marketing are utilized actively. Why is that? Since content is everything in today’s world, you will need to create content to engage with the influencers you are trying to reach.

Influencer marketing is a highly effective strategy in the B2C market. It was recently reported that a healthy return on investment was $6.50 for every dollar invested – not bad at all. Consumers tend to rely on two main factors when dealing with B2C companies: empathy and detail. Now, in the B2B world, buyers often make decisions based on their experiences with industry influencers in their personal lives – and they are looking for that same level of convenience and connection in their professional lives as well.

Those in charge of B2B influencer marketing campaigns must adopt a similar approach to B2C marketers in order to achieve success, but it is also important to find innovative ways to target those with deep industry knowledge; individuals able to influence corporate buyers and seamlessly participate in key business-to-business discussions.

B2B Marketing Benefits of Using Influencers

Now that we’ve discussed influencer marketing and how it applies to B2B, let’s take a closer look. Let’s now consider the benefits of using influencers as part of your B2B marketing strategy. The following services are offered by influencers:

• The ability to provide your target audience with answers to their pain points through the application of authentic professional credibility.
• Leadership in original thought. It is the kind that can draw attention to your existing content and, as a consequence, help make your brand more visible and desirable.
• You need a unique point of view that resonates with your target B2B audience.
• Provide you with access to invaluable networks and contacts that you would not otherwise have access to.

B2B Measurement Challenges

Although B2B firms may be under more pressure to show success in marketing campaigns, companies seeking concrete evidence of campaign success face numerous challenges. There are several reasons for this, some of which can be attributed to the nature of B2B business relationships. Some of these issues, however, are inherent in influencer marketing as a whole.

The products offered by B2B companies are often complex and large. In general, B2B companies produce niche products for which there are few potential customers. Due to this, many B2B companies sell to a limited number of clients, but the contracts are often of high value.

It can be difficult to market in this situation. Marketing campaigns for B2C companies must be far more focused than those for B2B companies.

Identifying Influencers for Your Campaign

It does not matter how you intend to set up your B2B influencer marketing campaign, if you do not find the right influencers, you will not reach the right business audience.

You will have the greatest chance of success by understanding the B2B buyers you are looking to target. You should create a B2B buyer persona – an in-depth profile of your target buyer.

When you have completed a comprehensive profile, research the businesses in your area that best match the services you offer and examine which websites they visit, which trade organizations they belong to, who they interact with on LinkedIn, and who they follow on social media.

Increasing Sales

Increased sales are the holy grail of business success measurement, whether it is B2B or B2C. As a result, there is a lack of a clear correlation between specific influencer messages and increased sales.

As B2B buyers tend to take their time to make a purchasing decision, and as many purchasing decisions are made by a team, there is usually a lag between influencer marketing activities and new sales.

It will be evident that an influencer marketing campaign is successful if it leads to an increase in sales… the question is, when? As long as the decision-making process and lead time are sufficiently long, a campaign today may result in increased sales in six months. You may not realize you were operating a successful influencer marketing campaign until many months after abandoning it because you thought it was unsuccessful.

Keep SEO in Mind

Considering that most B2B buyers conduct half of their research online, organic search cannot be ignored. It is also important to consider your influencers in this regard. Social media posts may have a minimal SEO impact, but blogs with proper search engine optimization can reach the top of the search engine results. Linking is an important component of Google’s search engine. Your content is more likely to perform well if your influencers can generate high-quality links back to it.

You may be able to gain an SEO advantage by producing high-quality content that is produced by influencers. In addition, this may be difficult to quantify tangibly, although there are a number of tools that can show where your best links are coming from and how much ‘link juice’ they are providing.

Conclusion

In the world of B2B marketing, influencer marketing is one of the most powerful tools available. The service allows you to interact with other businesses on a personal level using those who are making real waves in your industry.

Today, people do not want to be sold plastic promises, but they want real insights from real people. This is what B2B influencer marketing is all about. You will enjoy amazing success if you put your focus on influencer marketing and forge relationships with the right people.