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Here we share how B2B influencer marketing can help you reach your audience in a new and authentic way. We often associate influencer marketing with B2C consumer brands and lifestyle products, but influencer marketing holds potential for so many other organisations.
Like any other marketing strategy, influencer marketing can help B2B brands reach a wider audience in a targeted, meaningful way. In fact, influencer marketing is shown to deliver 11x higher ROI than traditional digital marketing and 86% of brands that have tried influencer marketing believe it to be effective.
Still, there are some differences between influencer marketing for B2B and for B2C. For one, the profile of the influencers themselves differs significantly. While becoming a lifestyle vlogger doesn’t require any credentials or prior work experience, 77% of B2B influencers are recognised industry experts. Likewise, there are often differences in the platforms they leverage and the types of content they post.
If you’re considering influencer marketing for your own B2B brand, you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the world of B2B influencer marketing, discuss what it is and share how it differs from B2C. We’ll also look at its benefits and explain how to implement a successful influencer marketing strategy for your own brand.
Influencer marketing shares similarities with word-of-mouth marketing. Brands collaborate with an influencer to promote their products or services to the influencer’s audience. This partnership is usually mutually beneficial because brands can reach a wide audience and build trust with a few targeted messages, and influencers can earn an income while engaging their followers.
Influencer marketing can come in many shapes and forms, from a single image of the influencer using a product to a series of blog posts or videos detailing their experience with a service. The central goal is to leverage the influencer’s authenticity to showcase the product and drive sales.
While influencer marketing principles remain consistent across B2B and B2C, there are key distinctions between the two:
Longer sales timelines: B2B transactions typically involve more complex decision-making processes, often requiring approval from multiple stakeholders. Consequently, B2B influencer marketing campaigns may take longer to yield results compared to B2C campaigns.
Engagement over follower count: With B2B influencer marketing, the emphasis is on the influencer’s expertise and audience engagement rather than the sheer number of followers. Microinfluencers with smaller but highly engaged followings can be more effective than mega-influencers with large but less engaged audiences.
Proactive search for influencers: With B2B, brands often need to actively seek out relevant influencers, as opposed to influencers approaching them. This is easiest if you utilise an influencer marketing platform like Vamp.
Provided you engage with the right influencers and develop a sound strategy, influencer marketing can bring many benefits to your business. Here are a few:
Partnering with influential figures in your industry can boost your brand’s visibility and reputation. When influencers endorse your products or services, their followers are more likely to trust and engage with your brand. You leverage the existing trust influencers have with their audience, so it’s easier and quicker to build rapport and create a familiarity with your brand than with traditional advertising.
B2B influencers often have a dedicated following within a specific industry or niche. So, if you choose the right influencers, you can target your marketing to your ideal audience. Likewise, if you serve customers across sectors, you can engage different influencers for each target audience.
If your goal is to increase lead generation and drive sales, influencer marketing is perfect. You can provide your influencers with affiliate links or time-limited discount code to share with their audience to encourage faster and more effective conversions.
Influencers are trusted voices within their niche, making their recommendations and endorsements highly valuable. Partnering with influencers can lend authenticity to your brand and help build trust with your target audience.
Most marketers who’ve given influencer marketing a swirl swear by it. And there’s a good reason for that. B2B influencer marketing is an underused market, i.e. not that many businesses are making use of it yet. This means that it offers B2B brands a unique chance to reach their customers in novel and unexpected ways. In fact, 72% of marketers say that the customers they get from influencer marketing are of a higher quality than those from other channels. With the right approach and the right creators, B2B influencer marketing can yield impressive results.
Implementing a successful B2B influencer marketing strategy involves several key steps:
Start by identifying individuals within your industry who have a substantial following and influence. Here, consider what platform your target audience usually hangs out on and search for influencers that use it. For instance, while Instagram is the main platform of choice for B2C influencer marketing, B2B influencers may be more active on LinkedIn.
If you’re identified the right influencers, they’re probably busy people. And if they have a large following, they’re probably approached about partnerships every single day. Make sure you start your relationship on the right footing. First and foremost, engage with their content in a genuine and authentic way. If they’re the right influencer for your brand, then you probably have a lot to say about the content they’re posting. When you reach out, make sure you’re respectful and you approach them with a mutually beneficial offer.
Finding and partnering with the right influencers yourself can be a lengthy process, so you may prefer to use a trusted platform like Vamp to do the hard work for you.
Once you’ve built a rapport, make sure that you provide influencers with specific guidelines on what you’re looking to achieve while allowing room for creativity. Be clear about what you’d like them to promote and the type of content you expect to see. If you’re keen on a specific type of video they’ve done in the past, reference that as a guideline.
Measuring the effectiveness of your B2B influencer marketing campaign is essential for optimising future efforts. Key metrics to consider include:
To calculate ROI, subtract the total campaign cost from the generated revenue to get your net profit. Divide your net profit by the campaign costs. Finally, multiple that number by 100 to get your ROI. For instance, say an influencer cost you $1,000 but collaborating with them brought you $10,000 in revenue. Your ROI would be:
This is, of course, an over-simplified example, but you get the gist. You can then use industry standards to benchmark if your ROI percentage is good or below the industry standard.
B2B influencer marketing can thrive on various digital platforms, depending on your target audience and industry. Some of the most effective channels include:
LinkedIn is a natural fit for B2B influencer marketing due to its professional and business-orientated user base. Partnering with industry experts on this platform can lead to substantial reach and engagement.
Industry discussions and trends often unfold on X. Collaborating with influential voices in your niche can help your brand gain recognition and credibility.
Many B2B influencers have blogs or contribute guest posts to industry publications. Collaborating with them for guest posts or featured articles can be an effective way to reach your target audience.
Influencers often host webinars or podcasts related to their expertise. Participating in such events or having influencers as guest speakers can elevate your brand’s authority in the industry.
A well-crafted B2B influencer marketing strategy is crucial for success. Consider the following steps when building your strategy:
Clearly outline your campaign objectives, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or boosting sales. Having specific goals will guide your entire strategy.
Select influencers whose expertise aligns with your industry and target audience. Prioritise engagement and authenticity over follower count.
Provide influencers with clear guidelines and expectations for their involvement in the campaign. This includes content requirements, posting schedules, and key messaging.
Work with influencers to create content that resonates with your audience and conveys your brand’s message effectively.
Continuously monitor the performance of your influencer marketing campaign and track key metrics. Adjust your strategy based on data and insights to optimise results.
Read our full guide on creating an influencer marketing strategy.
Measuring the impact of your B2B influencer marketing efforts is essential for assessing the campaign’s effectiveness. Key metrics to consider include:
Track likes, comments, shares, and other forms of engagement on influencer posts. High engagement indicates a strong connection with the audience. Vamp comes with a creator sampling tool where brands can see at a glance all the engagement rates of their target influencers.
Measure the CTR to determine how many people click on the links or calls to action (CTAs) provided in the influencer’s content.
Analyse how many leads or sales resulted from the influencer campaign. Conversion rate helps assess the campaign’s impact on revenue.
Monitor the increase in brand mentions, social media followers, and website traffic during the campaign to gauge brand awareness.
Calculate the ROI by comparing campaign expenditures to revenue generated. (See above for how to do this.)
Influencer marketing may be fun and effective, but it isn’t easy. From finding and engaging the right influencers to planning and executing a strong strategy, influencer marketing can keep the most productive marketer super busy.
That’s why we created Vamp, an influencer marketing platform that allows companies to source and brief influencers easily and efficiently. Creators can create and upload content directly to the platform, streamlining the approval process and saving time. As official partners of TikTok, Meta (Instagram and Facebook), and YouTube, we provide live data from creators’ profiles, simplifying reporting and analysis.
Are you ready to leverage B2B influencer marketing and grow your sales pipeline (and your bank account)? Get in touch with our friendly team at Vamp and we’ll help you get started in no time.Download our strategy guide
