Using a B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy for B2B Demand Generation

B2B demand generation has been a critical focus of marketers for years. But recently, amidst various strategies to boost demand, B2B influencer marketing strategy has emerged as a uniquely powerful tool.

This article explores how B2B companies can effectively leverage B2B influencer marketing strategy to drive demand generation, examining the nuances, best practices, and actionable steps to create a successful campaign.

Should you use a B2B influencer agency? Book a free consultation here to see if this option meets your goals.

Understanding B2B influencer marketing

Unlike its B2C counterpart, B2B influencer marketing focuses on leveraging the credibility and authority of industry experts, thought leaders, and professionals with a commanding presence and respect in specific business sectors.

These influencers are pivotal in shaping opinions, trends, and purchasing decisions within their fields. In B2B marketing, the influence is less about mass appeal and more about depth of knowledge, trustworthiness, and relevance to a niche audience.

This form of marketing is crucial in the B2B space because purchasing decisions are often based on trust, expertise, and the value offered. It goes beyond product promotion to fostering meaningful connections and conversations around a brand, thus significantly generating demand and driving business growth.

The importance of influencers in demand generation

The journey from awareness to purchase is nuanced, often requiring validation from trusted sources. With their established credibility and deep industry knowledge, this is where influencers become invaluable.

They are not just voices amplifying a brand's message; they are respected authorities whose opinions shape industry trends and influence purchasing decisions. Their endorsement adds a layer of trust and authenticity to a brand’s narrative, crucial for generating genuine interest and demand among a discerning B2B audience. Moreover, influencers can aid in complex content distribution, breaking down intricate products or services into understandable, relatable terms and engaging potential customers through informed, expert-led discussions.

By strategically leveraging these influencer relationships, B2B companies can effectively nurture leads, foster meaningful connections, and drive sustained demand generation in their respective industries.

Identifying the target audience

understanding your audience is not just about demographics; it's about delving into the nuances of what drives business decision-making. This audience is typically composed of professionals who seek value, expertise, and solutions that align with their business goals and challenges. Identifying this audience correctly ensures that your influencer marketing strategy resonates with the right people, increasing its effectiveness and the likelihood of generating qualified leads.

Key Considerations in Identifying Your Target Audience:

Industry and sector: Determine the specific industries or sectors where your product or service is most relevant.
Job titles and roles: Identify the job titles and roles of the individuals most likely to influence purchasing decisions in these businesses.
Business size and type: Consider the size and type of businesses that benefit most from your offering. This could range from startups to large enterprises.
Pain points and needs: Understand the specific challenges or needs that your product or service addresses. Knowing these pain points allows for more targeted and relevant influencer content.
Decision-making process: Recognize how decisions are made in your target businesses. Who are the key decision-makers, and what factors influence their decisions?
Preferred content and channels: Identify the types of content and channels that your target audience engages with most. This insight will guide the content strategy for your influencer marketing.

Step 1: Finding the right influencers

One of the most crucial aspects of influencer marketing is selecting the appropriate influencers. In the B2B realm, the right influencer can significantly amplify your message and lend credibility to your brand.

However, this requires a strategic approach to ensure the influencer’s expertise, audience, and values align with your brand and goals. It's not just about finding someone with a large following; it's about finding someone who can authentically represent your brand and effectively communicate with your target audience.

Key steps in finding the right influencers:

Start with discovery platforms: Use discovery platforms for B2B influencers (as opposed to B2C discovery platforms) like Buzzsumo, Reletter, SparkToro, and LinkedIn.
Industry relevance: Search for well-respected influencers within your specific industry or niche. Their expertise should align with your business sector.
Audience alignment: Ensure that the influencer's audience matches your target demographic. Their followers should be potential customers for your business.
Content quality: Assess the quality of the influencer’s content. It should be professional, engaging, and relevant to your industry.
Engagement levels: Check the level of engagement that the influencer receives on their posts. A highly engaged audience is likelier to interact with and respond to your content.
Authenticity and credibility: Choose influencers known for their authenticity and credibility. Trustworthy influencers can significantly boost your brand’s credibility.
Past collaborations: Review the influencer’s history of collaborations. Successful past partnerships, especially in similar industries, can indicate a good fit for your brand.
Alignment with brand values: The influencer should share or resonate with your brand’s values and ethos. This alignment ensures a more authentic and effective partnership.

By carefully selecting influencers who meet these criteria, you can build a strong foundation for your B2B influencer marketing strategy, ensuring that it effectively supports your demand generation objectives.

‍

Step 2: Cultivating influencer relationships

Maintaining influencer relationships is fundamental to the success of your marketing strategy. Unlike short-term, transactional interactions, cultivating long-term partnerships with influencers can lead to sustained brand advocacy and deeper audience engagement.

It requires a strategic, respectful approach that goes beyond mere business transactions, focusing on building genuine rapport and collaboration.

Key Steps in Cultivating Influencer Relationships:

Initial engagement: Start by engaging with potential influencers' content. Comment on their posts, share their work, and participate in online conversations to get on their radar.
Personalized outreach: When reaching out, personalize your communication. Show that you’ve done your homework and explain why a partnership would be mutually beneficial.
Clear communication: Be clear about your goals, expectations, and what you can offer. Transparency is vital to building trust.
Respect their expertise: Recognize and respect the influencer’s expertise and insights. Allow them to contribute ideas on how best to engage with their audience.
Provide value: Offer value beyond monetary compensation. This could include exclusive access to products, industry insights, or opportunities to co-create content.
Regular check-ins: Maintain regular communication to ensure both parties are satisfied with the partnership and to discuss potential improvements or new ideas.
Feedback and flexibility: Be open to influencer feedback and adjust strategies if needed. Flexibility can lead to more effective and authentic content.
Long-term focus: Aim for long-term collaborations instead of one-off campaigns. Ongoing relationships can lead to better brand alignment and audience trust.

By prioritizing these aspects in influencer relationships, businesses can foster strong partnerships that enhance their current B2B influencer marketing efforts and pave the way for future collaborative opportunities, driving sustained demand and growth.

Step 3: Develop a co-created content strategy

Content co-creation is a powerful way to harness the expertise of influencers while ensuring that the material resonates with both your brand's and the influencer’s audience. This strategy involves working closely with influencers to produce informative, engaging content aligned with your marketing goals. The success of this approach hinges on the synergy between your brand’s message and the influencer’s unique voice and audience insights.

Key elements in developing a co-created content strategy:

Identify content themes: Identify themes relevant to your brand and the influencer’s expertise. This ensures that the content is valuable to your target audience.
Define content formats: Decide on the formats that will be most effective, whether it’s blog posts, videos, webinars, podcasts, or social media posts. Different formats can cater to various audience preferences.
Plan content distribution: Discuss and plan how the content will be distributed across your and the influencer’s channels to maximize reach and impact.
Set clear objectives: Agree on what each piece of content aims to achieve, whether it's driving leads, increasing brand awareness, or establishing thought leadership.
Maintain brand consistency: Ensure that all co-created content is consistent with your brand’s voice and message while allowing the influencer's style to shine through.
Encourage authenticity: Allow the influencer to infuse their personality and insights into the content, making it more authentic and relatable to their audience.
Feedback and iteration: Establish a process for feedback and revisions. Both parties should feel comfortable providing input to refine the content.
Measure and analyze performance: Track the performance of the co-created content against your set objectives to understand its impact and gather insights for future collaborations.

By effectively developing a co-created content strategy, you can leverage influencers' unique strengths and perspectives to produce compelling content that drives engagement and supports your B2B demand generation goals.

‍

Step 4: Amplifying content and messaging

Leveraging the influencer’s network and marketing channels can amplify your reach and attract potential customers. The promotion strategy should be tailored to resonate with your target audience, encouraging them to engage with your brand and move through the sales funnel.

Key strategies for promoting content to generate B2B leads:

Leverage influencer networks: Utilize the influencer’s social media platforms, blogs, or email newsletters to reach their engaged audience.
Multi-channel distribution: Distribute content across various channels, including your website, social media, email campaigns, and LinkedIn, to maximize exposure.
Tailored messaging for different platforms: Customize the promotion messages for different platforms to suit each channel's specific audience and format.
Use paid advertising: Consider supplementing organic reach with paid advertising on platforms where your target audience is most active.
Create shareable content: Design informative, engaging, and shareable content to encourage organic spread through the influencers and your networks.
Track and optimize performance: Monitor the performance of your content across different channels and optimize the strategy based on what works best.
Call-to-Action (CTA): Include clear CTAs in your content to guide potential leads on what action to take next, whether downloading a whitepaper, signing up for a webinar, or scheduling a demo.
Engage with audience feedback: Actively engage with comments and feedback on the content to foster a connection with the audience and gain insights into their preferences.

Step 5: Tracking and measuring impact

Where investments are scrutinized for their returns, tracking and measuring the impact of influencer campaigns is vital. This not only helps in understanding the effectiveness of your strategy but also provides insights for future campaigns.

It involves setting specific metrics to gauge performance and using analytical tools to collect and interpret data. Accurate measurement ensures that your influencer marketing efforts contribute meaningfully to your overall demand generation goals.

Key aspects of tracking and measuring impact

Define clear metrics: Establish KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that align with your campaign goals, such as lead generation, engagement rates, website traffic, and conversion rates.
Use analytical tools: Implement tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and influencer marketing platforms to track and analyze performance data.
Monitor engagement: Monitor likes, comments, shares, and overall audience engagement with the influencer’s content to gauge its resonance.
Evaluate lead quality: Assess the quality of leads generated through the campaign. Are they relevant, and do they fit your target customer profile?
Conversion tracking: Track how many leads are converting into opportunities or sales. This is critical for understanding the ROI of your influencer marketing efforts.
Audience Growth: Measure the growth in your audience or subscribers due to the influencer campaign, indicating increased brand awareness.
Content performance: Analyze which content types and messages are performing best to refine your content strategy.
Feedback and surveys: Gather feedback directly from your audience or conduct surveys to get qualitative insights into the campaign’s impact.

‍

Key takeaways for B2B influencer marketing for demand generation

1. Co-creating content with influencers can help drive engagement and support B2B demand generation goals.

2. The content strategy should be developed collaboratively, with clear objectives, brand consistency, and authenticity.

3. Amplifying content and messaging involve leveraging influencer networks, multi-channel distribution, tailored messaging, paid advertising, shareable content, and CTAs.

4. Tracking and measuring impact is crucial for understanding the strategy's effectiveness and refining future campaigns.

5. Key aspects of tracking and measuring impact include establishing clear metrics, using analytical tools, monitoring engagement, evaluating lead quality, tracking conversion, measuring audience growth, analyzing content performance, and gathering feedback.

‍