Influencer Marketing For B2B Brands

When we think of what influencers usually sell, our minds probably jump to trendy fashion, beauty products, or hotel stays in exotic locations. And that’s not wrong! The influencers who have become the most famous in our cultural zeitgeist tend to work in those sectors.

However, influencer marketing is a much broader market, where really any brand can recruit key opinion leaders to promote their products on social media. Even B2B brands, which at first glance may not seem like top candidates for the influencer treatment, can benefit from employing this strategy.

What is B2B?

B2B stands for business-to-business, and the idea is just that: B2B transactions are between two businesses. For example, fashion labels have to buy textiles and sewing supplies from somewhere, so they’ll turn to a supplier who deals in those materials. Or, that same fashion label may hire an accounting firm to audit their finances, or a PR agency to handle their press relations. 

B2B is typically held in contrast with B2C, which stands for business-to-consumer. These types of companies sell products directly to individuals. Most of what the average person buys is from B2C companies. Your Spotify subscription, your most recent soft drink, and even more expensive items like your iPhone all came from the B2C environment.

When it comes to marketing, there are some key differences between these two areas:

• B2B requires closer and more personalized relationships with the customer, while B2C is less personal and designed more for mass communication
• B2B customers want educational, informative content that isn’t usually necessary with B2C products
• B2B decisions are made based on metrics and analysis, while B2C decisions are more driven by emotions
• B2B markets are generally more niche, while B2C markets are more broad
• B2B purchases on average take much longer than B2C ones

How can influencers help your B2B brand?

Just like with B2C influencer marketing, B2B influencer marketing relies on the idea that potential customers trust peer reviews more than they trust the marketing communications that come directly from your brand. A recent study found that 74% of B2B marketers agree that influencer marketing improves customer and prospective customer experience with the brand.

Basically, finding experts and opinion leaders in the sector you’re targeting can help get your brand out there, build awareness and trust, and maybe even lead to some sales.

How do I start my B2B influencer marketing campaign?

Regardless of industry or sector, influencer marketing campaigns must always be thoughtfully defined from the get go. You have to establish your objectives, define your target audience, and make other key decisions about how, when and where you’re going to launch your campaign. If you’d like to learn more about this stage of influencer marketing, check out our influencer marketing guide, Chapter 1.

Now, when it comes to B2B, let’s break down some of the different things you have to consider when organizing your influencer campaign.

Like always, find the right influencers

Influencer marketing isn’t as simple as collaborating with the first influencer you find. You need to make sure that they align with your brand. In other words, does the influencer help you reach your target audience and work toward your objectives? 

There’s not so much difference here between B2B and B2C; in both cases, you want to find influencers who connect you to the niche you’re trying to get your message to. For example, if your company makes editing software for film production companies, find an editor or maybe a director who can speak to your product and why it’s relevant within that niche.

Additionally, metrics matter, too. Check into any influencer’s profile before reaching out. Make sure their growth, engagement, post frequency and content is up to par with what you want.

So where can you actually find influencers? You could start:

• Among your own employees, executives or consultants
• In your followers on social media.
• With an influencer marketing platform, which works like a search engine.

Just remember: In addition to vetting what we mentioned above, check carefully for any potential conflicts of interest before choosing influencers. You never know who may have a stake in a company, or already be collaborating with a competitor, etc.

Choose your channel wisely

Instagram springs to mind when we think of influencer marketing, and with good reason: almost 90% of influencer campaigns use that channel in some way. And if you’d like to use Instagram for your B2B influencer campaign, great! As long as that’s where your target audience lives online.

Do your market research and find out where your target audience is most likely to see your content. For B2B, LinkedIn, Twitter, or even blogs, may be more useful channels, but really, every brand is different. There’s no  one-size-fits-all solution, so find out what fits best for you.

Extend your timeline

In B2B influencer marketing, you should extend your campaigns into the long-term. Focus on working with fewer quality influencers long-term, instead of lots of influencers in the short-term. This is because, as we mentioned above, the B2B sales cycle is longer. In fact, research shows that around 75% of B2B sales to new customers take around 4 months to close.

This is much longer than the amount of time it takes someone to see a cute dress on their favorite Instagram influencers, navigate to the B2C brand’s website, and buy the same product. B2C purchases are usually decided by emotional or gut reactions. For most individuals, seeing something, wanting it, and buying it is a fairly straightforward process. But with B2B, that’s not the case. 

When one business is trying to decide whether or not to buy from another business, emotions play a minimal role, if any. These decisions are powered by metrics and analysis of past results. Moreover, the decision isn’t limited to the whim of an individual. Entire teams are involved, and they’re often dealing with a chain of command, which can even further slow down the process.

B2C influencer campaigns can be as short as just a few weeks. But as it can take months for B2B brands to close sales, you need to give your influencer marketing strategy more time to take root.

Aim for educational content

B2B influencer campaigns should focus on providing information or educating potential customers about the brand’s products and services. Think about questions like:

• What problem do you solve for your customers?
• How can they use your product or service to maximum benefit?
• Where will they see results?

Content like guides, case studies, reviews, podcasts or video tutorials can help you answer these questions and show potential customers what to expect from your brand and its products.

Influencers can help you answer these questions and at the same time, put their own unique spin on what sets your brand apart. But for this to work well, it’s important that you spend a bit of time educating them on your company and its values. 

Once you share what you think is important about your brand, give the influencer a chance to contribute. They may have ideas you never thought of, so listen up. And remember, when working with influencers, you are collaborating: they best know how to communicate with their followers, so make sure you give them creative freedom when doing so.

Conclusion

B2B influencer marketing may not be the first thing we think of when we think of influencer marketing in general. But just like for B2C, influencers can help B2B brands amplify their message, connect to their niche, and find new leads on social media. Just focus on finding the right person who can tell your brand’s story in an informative and authentic way.