Who is the Kim Kardashian of your industry? 

Who commands influence over your audience? That voice that is able to guide, teach, and entertain? 

These are the questions you should be asking yourself as a B2B (business-to-business) marketer. B2B influencer marketing takes one of the most powerful forms of marketing – word of mouth – and amplifies it through the voices of trusted industry leaders, transforming personal endorsements into a scalable and measurable strategy that resonates.

It creates a ripple effect that extends far beyond conventional marketing tactics.

This article serves as your compass in navigating the intricate world of B2B influencer marketing. We’ll embark on a journey that demystifies this strategy, unveils its benefits, and arms you with actionable insights to integrate it seamlessly into your marketing practices. 

Let’s begin our exploration.

What is B2B influencer marketing?

B2B influencer marketing intertwines the trust and authority of industry thought leaders with the strategic goals of a brand. This synergy not only is a megaphone to a brand’s voice but also helps your brand be seen as a thought leader in the space. 

The key here is to forge true connections, because your audience can sniff out when something is inauthentic. It is also important to understand the gravity these influencers command within their communities.

In B2B, where decisions are often based on expertise and credibility, the endorsement of a respected figure can make all the difference. 

A staggering 95% of marketers using influencer strategies have seen tangible benefits, ranging from improved brand reputations to heightened awareness. Specifically, 72% of marketers saw enhanced brand reputation and 70% experienced increased brand awareness, underscoring influencer marketing efficacy in nurturing and expanding an organization’s audience.

Influencer marketing goes beyond the conventional B2C playbook of celebrity endorsements, focusing instead on the power of industry experts, thought leaders, and niche specialists. These influencers resonate deeply with professional audiences, offering insights, thought leadership, and credibility that align closely with the complex decision-making processes of B2B transactions.

Within B2B marketing, authenticity and expertise reign supreme; it’s here where the voice of an influencer echoes far and wide.

Strategies for effective B2B influencer marketing

Unlike the more transactional nature of B2C influencer marketing — with its flash-in-the-pan campaigns and quick turnaround –- B2B influencer partnerships are built on sustained relationships and shared value. 

This is where the key strategies that distinguish effective B2B influencer marketing lay. When putting together your game plan, you will want to make sure you:

Cultivate existing connections: Customers who advocate for your brand, business partners with shared goals, and even employees can become influential voices. These connections, rooted in genuine experience with your brand, can yield authentic and powerful advocacy.

Embrace the long game: The complexity and higher stakes of B2B purchasing means a longer sales cycle (sometimes more than six months). This means that to truly gauge the impact of influencer collaborations, it will also take time. That being said, this extended timeline allows for the nurturing of relationships, the development of comprehensive content strategies, and the gradual but meaningful engagement of stakeholders.

Research current influencers: When was the last time your boss told you to scroll through TikTok? Dive into the content your customers consume, the thought leaders they respect, and the conversations they are part of. This research will show the influencers who truly matter in your space, guiding your outreach efforts.

Craft influencer profiles: Creating comprehensive profiles for each potential influencer—covering their preferred platforms, engagement rates, audience demographics, and content styles—provides a blueprint for tailored, effective collaborations.

Foster collaboration: B2B influencer marketing is about co-creating value, whether through shared content, combined expertise, or joint events. This reciprocal approach ensures that both your brand and the influencer find meaningful success.

By integrating these strategies, B2B marketers can cultivate influencer relationships that not only elevate their brand but also contribute to a richer, more authentic dialogue. B2B influencer marketing campaigns can redefine a brand’s presence and influence in its sector, driving sustained growth and engagement.

How to find B2B influencers

So, where are you going to find your next Kim K? The key lies in a deep understanding of your buyers. And it all starts with the creation of detailed buyer personas.

Step #1: Craft B2B buyer personas

The cornerstone of any successful B2B influencer marketing strategy is the in-depth buyer persona. This persona is a sketch that represents your ideal customer, drawn from market research, existing customer data, and industry insights. 

It doesn’t just include demographic information, but dives deep into the motivations, challenges, and decision-making processes of your buyers. Crafting this persona requires a meticulous approach, blending data analytics with empathetic imagination to truly capture the essence of your target audience.

Step #2: Conduct market research

So you have a clear picture of your buyer persona, now, you want to venture into the market with a detective’s eye. 

The goal is to identify voices that resonate with your persona, influencers who speak the language of your industry, and ultimately, command the respect and attention of your target audience. Note though that this research extends beyond mere social media following; it goes into the content that these influencers produce, the discussions they lead, and the communities they nurture. 

Step #3: Explore your industry 

Often, potential B2B influencers are closer than you think. They might be among your current customers, enthusiastic about your products or services, or they could be business partners who share your vision and values. 

Your social media followers, employees, and even industry commentators who have shown an love for your brand are all potential influencer candidates. These individuals already have a stake in your success and may offer authentic, credible endorsements to like-minded professionals.

Step #4: Use influencers as subject matter experts

Your ideal B2B influencer is more than just a spokesperson; they are an expert in your field. They should embody the role of a subject matter expert but with the added advantage of a substantial, engaged social presence – it’s hard to think of a better combo than this, right? 

Finding the right B2B influencer is an art and science but absolutely worth the time and effort to find your ultimate brand megaphone. 

Best B2B influencer marketing platforms to use

The choice of social media platforms can significantly shape the reach and impact of your campaigns. Each platform offers unique advantages for connecting with professional audiences and sharing influential content – but remember, this will vary depending on where your audience lives. Here’s a guide to navigating the most effective platforms for B2B influencer marketing campaigns:

LinkedIn: The professional hub

LinkedIn is the obvious standout as the undisputed leader for B2B influencer marketing, with a rich ecosystem of professionals, industry leaders, and organizations. It’s tailor-made for professional networking, thought leadership, and industry-specific content. 

B2B influencers on LinkedIn often share in-depth articles, participate in industry discussions, and post updates that highlight their expertise and experiences. Leveraging LinkedIn for influencer marketing means tapping into a highly engaged professional audience ready to interact with content that advances their industry knowledge and professional development.

X (Formerly known as Twitter): The conversation starter

X is powerful for sparking conversations and staying on top of industry trends – this is where you can do a lot of research. B2B influencers on X can effectively use their reach to engage in real-time discussions, share quick insights, and contribute to trending industry topics. 

The platform’s hashtag functionality allows for greater visibility of content within specific niches, making it an excellent tool for amplifying your brand’s voice and connecting with a broader, yet targeted, audience.

Facebook: Niche communities and groups

While Facebook might seem more aligned with B2C marketing, its niche communities and professionals are a great place for a B2B influencer marketing campaign. These groups often cater to specific industries, professions, or areas of interest, providing a concentrated audience for your content. Influencers can leverage these groups to share insights, initiate discussions, and build a community around your brand. 

The key is to provide value and foster engagement within these groups, rather than direct promotion.

TikTok: The rising star in B2B

TikTok, is more known for its viral B2C content, but it’s gradually carving out a space for B2B marketing. It encourages creativity and can humanize your brand by showcasing the people behind it or offering behind-the-scenes glimpses into your industry. 

B2B influencers on TikTok can break down complex industry concepts into engaging, bite-sized videos, making it an excellent platform for reaching a younger professional demographic that values authenticity and innovation. It is also often where your audience goes to consume entertainment, catching them at a perfect time to take in your message. 

Each of these platforms offers distinct opportunities and challenges for B2B influencer marketing. The key is to understand the nature of your audience, the strengths of your chosen influencers, and the type of content that resonates on each platform. 

Benefits of B2B Influencer Marketing

B2B influencer marketing is not just a trend but a strategic pivot towards more authentic, engaging, and impactful marketing within the professional sphere. 

It goes beyond traditional marketing metrics to foster genuine connections and elevate brand perception across industries. Here are just some of the main advantages of integrating B2B influencer marketing into your strategy:

• Authenticity: In a landscape cluttered with corporate speak and impersonal communications, B2B influencers stand out by bringing a human, relatable touch to your brand’s messaging. This authenticity fosters trust and credibility, two cornerstones of successful B2B relationships.

• Built-in audience: The right influencers have already earned the trust and respect of professionals within your industry, providing a ready-made platform for your brand’s message. This not only amplifies your reach but also introduces your brand to potential clients, partners, and talents, thereby expanding your professional network and opening up new avenues for growth.

• Diverse perspectives: Each influencer brings a unique set of experiences, insights, and communication styles to the table, enriching your marketing strategy with diverse perspectives. This variety can infuse creativity into your campaigns, challenge conventional wisdom, and introduce fresh, innovative ideas to your audience. 

• Elevated thought leadership: Influencers, by virtue of their expertise and credibility, can lend weight to your brand’s insights, innovations, and solutions. This association not only enhances your brand’s visibility but also solidifies its reputation as a go-to source for valuable, authoritative content. 

By strategically leveraging these advantages, organizations can not only elevate their marketing efforts but also solidify their standing in the industry, building lasting relationships with clients, partners, and influencers alike.

Common challenges of B2B influencer marketing

While B2B influencer marketing holds immense potential for brand amplification and engagement, navigating its landscape comes with its own set of challenges. 

These hurdles require strategic foresight and careful planning to overcome, ensuring the success of your influencer marketing efforts. Here are some common challenges that organizations face in B2B influencer marketing:

• Longer time horizons: This was mentioned earlier, but in the B2B sector, the impact of influencer marketing campaigns often unfolds over an extended period. B2B businesses are characterized by longer sales cycles and multiple decision-makers. This necessitates a patient approach, with success metrics that account for the gradual build-up of brand awareness, trust, and engagement. 

• Potential influencer conflicts: B2B influencers typically maintain full-time roles within their respective industries, making influencer activities a part-time job. This dual commitment can lead to potential conflicts of interest or time constraints that affect their availability and the content they can produce. 

• Measuring concrete conversions: The B2B buyer’s journey is often a meticulous process, involving extensive research and deliberation. This can make it challenging to pinpoint the exact influence of a particular campaign on the final purchasing decision. Organizations must use sophisticated tracking and analytics tools to trace the buyer’s journey and understand the touchpoints and interactions that contribute to conversions.

By acknowledging and addressing these hurdles head-on, organizations can navigate the complexities of influencer marketing, unlocking its full potential to drive meaningful engagement and growth in the B2B space.

Elevate your B2B influencer marketing strategies with owned media

The path to securing customer attention and loyalty is not easy. The growing costs of customer acquisition, coupled with the imminent demise of third-party cookies and the ever-evolving data privacy laws, have created a complex maze for B2B marketers. 

These hurdles mean that as marketers, we need a more resilient, reliable strategy to navigate the digital marketing ecosystem. Enter the realm of owned media.

Owned media refers to any web property that you can control and is unique to your brand, such as your website, blog, and email list. 

It becomes particularly invaluable in a world where third-party data sources are becoming increasingly restricted – especially when you get rich insights from first-party data.

Combatting B2B influencer marketing challenges

With full access to first-party data from your owned channels, you gain insights into your B2B audience’s behaviors, preferences, and engagement patterns. This data allows for more precise targeting, personalized content, and ultimately, more effective influencer collaborations.

It also provides a platform for your influencer content to live on, ensuring it remains accessible and impactful regardless of external platform changes or policy shifts. This control over the content environment not only enhances the user experience but also helps the measurement of campaign effectiveness, offering clear attribution and a deeper understanding of conversion drivers. 

In short: you know a lot more about your customer. 

To navigate the intricacies of owned media and harness its full potential, partner with a platform designed to empower your brand’s digital presence. Sign up to AudiencePlus today and unlock the tools you need to build a robust owned media property, from content creation to analytics. 

With AudiencePlus, you gain not just a platform, but a partner in crafting a B2B influencer marketing strategy that is both resilient and responsive to the changing B2B marketing space. Embrace the power of owned media and steer your brand toward a future of sustained growth and engagement.

JK Sparks | About the Author

Head of Marketing, AudiencePlus

JK is allergic to the words “guru, ninja, and hack” when used to describe anything marketing related. Instead of chasing the latest “growth hack,” he’s focused on building sustainable and predictable levers that fuel long term success. By implementing this approach over the last decade, JK has helped organizations in both bootstrapped and well-funded environments scale from <$100K to more than $100M in revenue. You can follow him here.