7 Reasons Why Influencer Marketing is the Future of B2B Marketing
Influencer marketing is not just a buzzword or a trend. It is a powerful strategy that can help B2B marketers achieve their goals and reach new audiences. Here are seven reasons why influencer marketing is the future of B2B marketing.
Key Takeaways
Influencer marketing is a powerful strategy for B2B marketing
Influencer marketing can help B2B brands achieve various goals and benefits
Influencer marketing involves collaborating with influential people who have a loyal following in their niche
Influencer marketing requires finding the right influencers, creating valuable content, distributing and promoting it, measuring the results, and optimizing the strategy
Influencer marketing follows some best practices and tips to ensure success
1. Influencer marketing builds trust and credibility.
B2B buyers are more likely to trust recommendations from experts and peers than from brands or ads. Influencer marketing leverages the authority and reputation of influencers who have a loyal and engaged following in their niche. By collaborating with influencers, B2B brands can enhance their credibility and gain access to a relevant and receptive audience.
2. Influencer marketing boosts brand awareness and reputation.
Influencer marketing can help B2B brands increase their visibility and recognition in their industry. By creating valuable and engaging content with influencers, B2B brands can showcase their expertise, solutions, and values to potential customers. Influencer marketing can also help B2B brands improve their reputation and image by associating themselves with respected and influential voices in their field.
3. Influencer marketing generates leads and sales.
Influencer marketing can drive tangible results for B2B brands, such as leads, conversions, and sales. According to a 2022 report, 86% of B2B marketers are successful with influencer marketing. Influencer marketing can help B2B brands reach decision-makers who are actively looking for solutions to their problems. By providing useful and relevant information, influencers can influence the buyer’s journey and persuade them to take action.
4. Influencer marketing enhances content marketing.
Content marketing is a key component of B2B marketing, as it helps educate, inform, and nurture prospects. However, creating high-quality and engaging content can be challenging and time-consuming. Influencer marketing can complement and amplify content marketing efforts by providing fresh perspectives, insights, and stories from influencers. Influencers can also help distribute and promote content to their networks, increasing its reach and impact.
5. Influencer marketing fosters long-term relationships.
Influencer marketing is not a one-off campaign or a transactional exchange. It is a long-term strategy that requires building authentic and mutually beneficial relationships with influencers. By treating influencers as partners and collaborators, B2B brands can establish trust, loyalty, and advocacy among influencers and their audiences. Influencer marketing can also help B2B brands create a community of loyal customers and fans who support and recommend their brand.
6. Influencer marketing adapts to changing customer preferences.
The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and so are customer preferences and behaviors. Influencer marketing can help B2B brands adapt to these changes and stay ahead of the curve. Influencers are often early adopters of new technologies, platforms, and trends, and they know how to communicate effectively with their audiences. By working with influencers, B2B brands can tap into their creativity, innovation, and influence to reach new markets and segments.
7. Influencer marketing delivers high ROI.
Influencer marketing is not only effective but also cost-efficient. According to a 2023 report, influencer marketing can deliver up to 11 times higher ROI than traditional forms of digital marketing. Influencer marketing can help B2B brands save money on advertising costs, as influencers can provide organic and earned media exposure for their brand. Influencer marketing can also help B2B brands measure their performance and optimize their strategy using various metrics and tools.
Tips
- Influencer marketing can help you reach new audiences, build trust, and generate leads
- Influencer marketing requires research, planning, execution, and evaluation
- Influencer marketing works best when it is authentic, relevant, and engaging
Influencer Marketing for B2B: A Growing Trend
Influencer marketing is not just for B2C brands anymore. According to various statistics, influencer marketing is becoming a popular and effective strategy for B2B businesses as well. In this report, we will explore some of the reasons why influencer marketing is rising in the B2B space and how it can benefit your business.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that leverages the power and reach of influential individuals or organizations within a specific industry or niche. These influencers have large and loyal followings on social media platforms, blogs, podcasts, or other channels, and their opinions and recommendations can influence the purchase decisions of their followers.
Influencer marketing can help businesses achieve various goals, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, driving sales, building trust and credibility, and establishing thought leadership. By partnering with relevant and respected influencers in their industry, businesses can tap into their audience and deliver valuable content that educates, entertains, or inspires them.
How Influencer Marketing Works for B2B
While influencer marketing is often associated with B2C brands that sell products or services directly to consumers, it can also work well for B2B brands that sell to other businesses. In fact, some studies suggest that influencer marketing may be even more effective for B2B than for B2C.
One reason for this is that B2B buyers tend to have longer and more complex purchase journeys than B2C buyers. They often need more information, research, and validation before making a purchase decision. They also tend to rely on peer recommendations and expert opinions more than on advertising or promotional messages.
This is where influencer marketing can come in handy. By collaborating with influencers who are experts in their field and have a strong reputation among their peers, B2B brands can provide their potential customers with valuable content that addresses their pain points, challenges, and needs. They can also leverage the trust and credibility of the influencers to enhance their own brand image and authority.
Another reason why influencer marketing works for B2B is that it can help B2B brands reach new and niche audiences that may be difficult to access through other channels. Influencers often have loyal and engaged followers who are interested in their niche topics and are eager to learn from them. By partnering with influencers who have a relevant and aligned audience, B2B brands can increase their exposure and visibility among potential customers who may not be aware of them otherwise.
Some Examples of Successful B2B Influencer Marketing Campaigns
To illustrate how influencer marketing can work for B2B brands, here are some examples of successful B2B influencer marketing campaigns:
- IBM partnered with TED speakers to create a series of videos called “The New Builders” that showcased how entrepreneurs are using IBM’s cloud technology to solve real-world problems. The videos featured influencers such as Guy Kawasaki, Tan Le, and Adam Braun, who shared their stories and insights on topics such as innovation, diversity, and social impact. The campaign reached over 25 million views on YouTube and generated over 120 million impressions on social media.
- SAP collaborated with influencers such as Brian Solis, Tamara McCleary, and Michael Brenner to create a podcast series called “Tech Unknown” that explored how technology is transforming various industries. The podcast episodes featured interviews with SAP experts and customers who shared their experiences and best practices on topics such as customer experience, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. The podcast attracted over 100,000 downloads and increased SAP’s brand awareness and thought leadership in the tech space.
- Adobe teamed up with influencers such as Ann Handley, Jay Baer, and Mark Schaefer to create a content hub called “CMO.com” that provided insights and resources for marketers. The content hub featured articles, videos, podcasts, infographics, and ebooks from the influencers on topics such as digital transformation, customer experience, content marketing, and social media. The content hub generated over 1 million monthly visitors and increased Adobe’s brand recognition and reputation among marketers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is influencer marketing?
A: Influencer marketing is a strategy that involves collaborating with influential people who have a large and engaged following in a specific niche or industry.
Q: How does influencer marketing work for B2B brands?
A: Influencer marketing works for B2B brands by helping them reach decision-makers who are looking for solutions to their problems, providing valuable information, building trust and credibility, increasing brand awareness and reputation, generating leads and sales, enhancing content marketing, fostering long-term relationships, adapting to changing customer preferences, and delivering high ROI.
Q: How to find the right influencers for your B2B brand?
A: To find the right influencers for your B2B brand, you need to define your goals, target audience, budget, and expectations. You also need to research and identify influencers who are relevant, authoritative, engaging, and aligned with your brand values and message. You can use various tools and platforms to help you find and connect with influencers.
Q: How to measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign?
A: To measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign, you need to set clear and realistic objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs). You also need to track and analyze various metrics, such as reach, impressions, engagement, clicks, conversions, sales, ROI, and sentiment. You can use various tools and platforms to help you measure and optimize your influencer marketing campaign.
Q: What are some best practices for influencer marketing?
A: Some best practices for influencer marketing are:
- Choose influencers who are relevant, credible, and engaging for your target audience
- Collaborate with influencers who share your brand values and vision
- Treat influencers as partners and respect their creative freedom and authenticity
- Provide value and incentives to influencers and their audiences
- Create high-quality and engaging content that showcases your brand message and solutions
- Distribute and promote your content across multiple channels and platforms
- Communicate and interact with influencers and their audiences regularly
- Monitor and measure your influencer marketing performance and results
- Optimize and improve your influencer marketing strategy based on feedback and data
References:
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/1001a-influencer-guide-508_1.pdf
https://influencermarketinghub.com/b2b-influencer-marketing/
https://influencermarketinghub.com/b2b-influencer-marketing-examples/
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/86-of-b2b-brands-find-success-with-influencer-marketing/460207/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2023/03/15/b2b-influencer-marketing-the-benefits-plus-5-tips-for-success/
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