Sep 09, 2024

B2B Influencer Marketing: Expert Insights for Starting Out

Data-driven B2B marketers are tapping into the power of social media and digital content to elevate their strategies with a little outside help from established social media personalities. We’re talking about one of the most effective and popular digital strategies, leveraging influencer marketing. It’s essentially a digital form of a proven strategy from the world of traditional marketing, leveraging a spokesperson. In B2B influencer marketing, brands partner with popular social media personalities who promote the brand to their followers. It’s not to be confused with user-generated content (UGC), authentic digital media created by customers or the public that can be used in a variety of ways.

Social influencers can be industry leaders, amateurs or just customers. Either way, they need an audience that aligns well with your target audience. With billions of people spending hours on social media daily, including B2B purchasing decision-makers, this approach is valuable for crafting a successful omnichannel B2B marketing plan. Understanding its core strengths and limitations is vital if you want to test this strategy out in your marketing.

In this blog, we round up expert insights and best practices to help you start navigating and maximizing the potential of B2B influencer marketing.

A young male online influencer recording a video of himself with his phone.

The rise of the influencers

Let’s talk numbers for a moment. Reliable statistics on B2B companies succeeding with influencer marketing are hard to come by, partly because performance metrics tend to be considered confidential information and partly because success can be tricky to quantify in influencer marketing—but there is clear evidence that the practice is seeing rapid growth on a massive scale.

Influencer marketing has evolved into a force within the overall marketing landscape, and it got big fast. According to data analytics firm Statista, in 2023, the global influencer marketing industry reached an estimated value of over $21 billion, reflecting a substantial increase from just $1.6 billion in 2016. This upward trajectory is poised to continue, with the global influencer marketing platform market size projected to surpass $22 billion by 2025.

Top social platforms for influencer marketing

Although Instagram ranks fourth in global subscribers, it’s the undisputed leader in influencer marketing. 72% of marketers surveyed by HubSpot cited Instagram as one of the social media platforms they use with influencers. Ranked by marketing team usage and ROI, HubSpot lists YouTube, TikTok and Facebook as the other leaders in influencer marketing. LinkedIn doesn’t have the usage numbers to be among that group, but it should be on your list as the top B2B social platform.

The main advantages of B2B influencer marketing: Credibility, reach and personality

The credibility factor

Influencer marketing is typically associated with B2C marketing, but it also empowers B2Bs to capitalize on the credibility and reach of key influencers to connect with specific audiences that may be difficult to engage through other marketing channels, including traditional B2B social media marketing. Paid and unboosted company posts have their merits, but hiring a well-aligned social media influencer to be your social brand ambassador and company evangelist brings a credibility factor that takes things to the next level.

It’s like having a respected industry leader or a passionate customer vouch for your offering rather than just pushing out another corporate post, which amounts to the company making claims about itself. Company content is seen as less credible than using an influencer because we assume the company’s profit motive renders it unable to be objective, authentic or entirely honest about itself. The influencer can share their experiences with the company, the brand and its offerings in ways that are perceived as more genuine.

Experts leveraging other experts for enhanced credibility

Expertise is much more important in B2B influencer marketing than in the B2C world. When a known expert in your field talks up your solution, it carries serious weight. Here, the credibility is much higher than a customer testimonial posted on social media. Some B2B influencers have earned trust through years of building expertise and thought leadership. Others may be rising stars in their profession.

Expertise isn’t mandatory for all B2B influencers, however. An effective influencer can also simply be someone who’s seen as highly identifiable, relatable or trustworthy in the eyes of your target audience. That perception can arise from something big like celebrity status or come down to subtle details like how the influencer speaks and dresses. If your audience perceives someone with an aligned following as credible or trustworthy, that individual can be influential on social media.

A woman's hands hovering over a digital tablet with images of social media avatars mapped and connected to each other presented as an overlay.

Reaching hard-to-reach audiences with influencers

Besides capitalizing on the intrinsic human desire for trust, you’re also tapping into a highly targeted, engaged audience with B2B influencers. Instead of broadcasting to the masses, finding and choosing the right influencer lets you place your message in front of decision-makers who are already tuned into your industry’s challenges and trends. When you find an influencer whose audience overlaps well with yours, hiring them essentially adds their audience to yours for a limited number of contracted posts.

With some hard-to-reach audiences, this reach factor can be a game-changer. Picture millennial executives who are constantly glued to their phones, that magnetic pocket screen that goes wherever we go. If they’re on Instagram and TikTok half the day, you can meet them where they scroll with an influencer showing up in their feed regularly.

Adding personality, variety and volume

The kicker is that using influencers on social media humanizes and personalizes your brand. B2B content can be dry, and influencer content adds a relatable, personal touch. Any social ad can tout features and specs, but having a real user or practitioner sharing your brand’s solutions and real-world impact adds another potent dimension to your online messaging and presence.

Consider the content value. Some influencers are prolific content creators. And some can articulate complex B2B concepts in new ways that resonate with your target audience, often more effectively than internal marketing teams. Influencers can add volume or variety to your content mix, or both.

Carving out deep value with niche influencers

Reaching a specialized audience—such as IT decision-makers or healthcare professionals—can lead to more effective marketing and better outcomes, as these influencers can communicate complex benefits, features and differentiators in relatable terms. They can also be members of the audiences they market to. For example, a fintech company hires a successful investment banker to promote the company’s new SaaS offering to a target audience of investment bankers. When she gushes about how much she loves the software’s automated compliance reporting, the audience is more moved emotionally and rationally than when the company touts the same feature.

We asked Elevation’s top B2B marketer, Scott Miraglia, for his take on when to partner with an influencer to reach an audience with low accessibility and high value. “Partnering with influencers who have a niche audience offers some pretty significant advantages. Trust is the key that unlocks this gate,” he said. “Look for B2B influencers who cultivate dedicated followings, people who trust the influencer’s insights and recommendations. When we see that a strong trust level has been built up by the influencer, we know it can really translate into more impactful messaging, higher engagement rates and better marketing ROI.”

A young female social media influencer broadcasting herself with a laptop, microphone, and head set.

Types of B2B social media influencers

Influencers can be categorized based on their audience size and engagement levels:

Micro-influencers: These perception engineers typically have fewer than 100,000 followers. They often boast higher engagement rates than bigger influencers and can create more authentic connections with their audience. For example, a green energy consultant with a dedicated following on LinkedIn can effectively promote niche renewable fuel solutions. Pro tip: Start with smaller influencers who have higher engagement and lower rates. As you develop a feel for what works with your brand and what doesn’t, you can move up to hiring more expensive and popular influencers.

Macro-influencers: These influencers have between 100,000 and 1 million followers. They can reach a broader audience while still maintaining a strong level of credibility. Take for example an edtech company hiring a well-recognized higher education industry analyst who’s known for sharing insights on how emerging technologies are being adopted by colleges and universities.

Celebrity influencers: These individuals have over 1 million followers and are widely recognized figures in their fields. Famous spokespersons who get paid big bucks for every plug fall in this category too. While they can generate significant reach, their engagement is usually not as strong as that of micro-influencers. A practical example is a retired pro football coach who partners with a management consulting firm to promote leadership training programs.

An example from the business world

SAP, a global leader in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solutions, demonstrated the power of B2B influencer marketing through its annual Sapphire event campaign. The conference attracts over 20,000 attendees. Influencer marketing amplified the event by collaborating with industry experts, independent business consultants and academics.

SAP extended the event’s reach beyond in-person attendees by:

  • Having influencers participate in live-streaming sessions and panel discussions
  • Using platforms like Facebook Live for real-time engagement
  • Having influencers conduct their own interviews and share authentic insights

This B2B influencer strategy provided genuine content from a handful of trusted industry voices, achieving some impressive outcomes:

  • More than 80,000 online views through live streaming alone
  • Influencers drove 50% of all social media mentions related to the event
  • For two days during the event, SAP trended in Germany where the event was held
  • 66% increase in podcast downloads compared to the previous annual conference

The key to this B2B influencer marketing campaign’s success was strategically partnering with relevant influencers and leveraging live streaming technologies, but each campaign is unique. The bottom line is that B2B influencer marketing can drive lead generation, boost awareness and credibility, and ultimately grow your sales pipeline. If you’re not exploring this avenue, you might be missing out on a major opportunity to stand out in your crowded B2B marketplace. By understanding the types of influencers, finding people who fit your brand and leveraging their unique strengths, your business can elevate its B2B marketing strategies and drive engagement that produces revenue growth.

Business professionals holding pens, clipboards, and papers while discussing a project together.

Expert guidance in B2B influencer marketing

To get your money’s worth, you’ll have to identify the right influencers for your brand. Evaluating the reputational risk that comes with hiring any spokesperson merits expert support. If you’re interested in expert guidance on identifying influencers who align with your brand’s values and target audience, as well as getting the most out of the relationship, contact Elevation Marketing. Our experts have mastered all the methods, tools and metrics for finding, leveraging and evaluating B2B social media influencers.

We specialize in building profitable relationships with B2B influencers, and we can plan and execute strategies for engagement and collaboration. Our digital aficionados design influencer campaigns that resonate with B2B audiences, including management of content branding guidelines, messaging and maintaining authenticity. We also track, analyze and optimize campaign performance.

See what we can do for your business.

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