All You Need To Know About B2B Influencer Marketing In 2023

The ultimate goal for B2B marketers is generating leads and sales. 

B2B influencer marketing has the potential to generate $11.7 billion in revenue by the end of 2022, with more than 38% of B2B companies currently exploring influencer marketing as a new lead-generation avenue.

B2B brands usually have a diverse set of customers across various industries. So finding B2B influencers who have substantial influence across such a diverse group can be quite difficult.

That’s why B2B influencer marketing requires much more time and effort to be accomplished. However, if done right, it can be immensely valuable for your business.

In this article, you’ll learn how to find the best B2B influencers, B2B influencer marketing examples, and how it works.

But first, let’s see what B2B influencer marketing actually means!

What Is B2B Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is a strategy employed by businesses to connect with influential individuals and groups in their target market and foster word-of-mouth marketing. 

The goal of influencer marketing is to create a credible connection between the influencers and the company, resulting in increased brand awareness, more loyal customers, and more positive reviews. By understanding the different types of influencers, as well as the best ways to engage them, businesses can create successful campaigns.
B2B influencers are those who have a following among businesses within their industry. They are thought to be more credible than general influencers, as their audience is typically more interested in the specific topic they are discussing.

Why should you consider influencer marketing for your B2B business?

B2B influencer marketing is used by many brands to reach clients and form relationships. Influencer marketing can allow companies to enlist the help of individuals who have a knack for that particular niche.

This can help businesses to reach new customers, build credibility, and increase brand awareness. 

There are a number of reasons why you should consider B2B influencer marketing: 

• You don’t have to start from the ground up when building trust in your potential customers with an influencer. 

The influencer has already done that work for you, and therefore their supporters have begun feeling that they have already encountered your brand because of a mutual person, that person is a trusted influencer.

• Influencers have a large audience that they can reach easily.

• They enable you to connect with the niche clientele you couldn’t previously access.

• They enable visitors to make good purchases without having to sound pushy, as they have a good rapport with the audience.

• They humanize your brand by creating easily digestible, engaging, and proprietary content that centers your product.

How does influencer marketing work for B2B?

There are always some opportunities around you that can help you in the growth of your B2B business. Take advantage of the factors below to succeed in your B2B influencer marketing campaigns.

1. Power of Employee Advocacy

A marketing-driven program that is run by the marketing department of a company works in isolation and it’s incapable of creating a significant effect on brand identity. 

By contrast, an employee advocacy program that is associated with an advertising-based program will allow the real nature of brand promotion through its employees since they are central to the quality and popularity of a brand in the marketplace.

 2. Continuous influencer experiment

Many of the world’s most profitable companies have legacy influencer marketing programs used to properly supervise journalists and external analysts in PR activities. The easiest way to orient a B2B influencer marketing system is to integrate the techniques into other business needs.

3. Data-driven Content Creation

Algorithms can supply data-driven created content to niche audiences for optimum success. Influencer marketing platforms can use data-driven content types to select the ideal anguish and customize ads to these audiences.

An influencer marketing platform that incorporates data-driven pricing models offers companies greater control over their influencer budget spending.

How to partner effectively with B2B influencers

Now that you’ve made it so far, you know how B2B influencer marketing works, and you are ready to start!

Follow these steps before you start implementing your campaign.

1. Define your goals

Setting measurable goals and KPIs allows you to efficiently track your B2B influencer marketing’s success and determine the effectiveness of your campaigns.

84% of B2B marketers take advantage of a particular deal of brand awareness when they choose the right B2B influencers to partner with. This is followed by 69% observing the main advantage of this partnership was generating a lead.

2. Find influencers who fit your brand

Utilizing social media, online communities, and business news, you can mine to find B2B experts who appeal to your investors and those who are interested in your services. 

Check out popular B2B influencers that your customers are already following through newsletters, podcasts, and social media, and collaborate with them.

If the manual process feels time-consuming, try influencer marketplaces. Ainfluencer is a DIY marketplace that connects brands and influencers 100% Free with no hidden fees. You can find influencers based on your niche and sort them by the number of followers, engagement rate, quality score, etc.

For those companies and brands who do not have the time and energy to do it on their own, they can leave the process to Ainfluencer and take advantage of the Ainfluencer solution.

3. Develop B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy

Once you considered partnering with one or more B2B influencers, the subsequent step is to figure out how influencer content fits into your overall marketing strategy and how you can use other channels to reinforce influencer content, such as by cross-publishing on social media platforms.

4. Track results

In order to be successful with B2B influencer marketing, it’s important to track the results. This can be done in a number of ways, but the most important thing is to make sure you’re getting the most out of your investment. 

Tracking engagement rates and click-through rates (CTRs) is a key consideration. However, other metrics such as likes, shares, and comments can also be important to gauge. 

By understanding how different actions affect these performance indicators, brands can make more informed decisions about their track B2B influencer marketing campaigns.

5 best examples of B2B influencer marketing campaigns

By partnering with B2B influencers, businesses can create campaigns that are relevant to the target audience. Influencers should be chosen carefully, as not all of them will mesh well with a company’s brand image. 

Check out the list below to get some good ideas for your B2B influencer marketing campaigns.

1. Microsoft

One of the greatest B2B examples of all time is when Microsoft partnered with NatGeo for the “#MakeWhatsNext” campaign which was launched on international women’s day. 

This B2B influencer marketing campaign’s goal was to motivate women in technology, science, engineering, and math to make a change in the world. 

Some of the top adventure photography influencers took part in this campaign, sharing stories on women’s historical contributions to science.

2. Cisco

Cisco Champions is another successful B2B example run by Cisco for their B2B influencer marketing campaign. 

They invited top IT experts to share their industry knowledge on podcasts, radio, and video. These champs enjoy early access products and having the ability to provide insights and opinions on social media. 

3. Klaviyo

Another B2B brand example is Klaviyo, an email marketing platform that partnered with influencers for their “Less Stalking, More Talking” campaign. They worked with B2B influencers, like Eli Weiss, who have high authority in the eCommerce industry. 

4. SAP

One of the best B2B company examples is SAP which organizes an annual tech convention known as Sapphire that regularly draws more than 20,000 attendees. SAP has launched campaigns targeting around 11 influencers who helped to create creative videos about the conference. The content was disseminated on Facebook to more than 80,000 individuals who didn’t have the chance to attend the event. 

5. American Express

Another B2B brands example is American Express, which created a campaign for its platinum card. The company targeted influential business elites, businessmen, executives, affluent individuals, and the like as its target market.

These influencers posted how much they liked the benefits offered by the card. The exclusive photos displaying the events they attended were a great tactic to draw in the interest of a number of other potential users.

It was a huge investment as the organization worked with more than a hundred influencers, including micro influencers, macro influencers, and celebrities.

Conclusion

B2B influencer marketing will continue to grow in popularity and importance in 2023. Businesses that want to stay ahead of the curve should start investing in this type of marketing now. By doing so, they will be able to reap the benefits of this growing trend.

If you are looking for the most relevant influencers in your niche, give Ainfluencer a try!

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