Companies of all shapes and sizes are turning to influencers to earn more exposure and convert their target audiences. Even if you’re a B2B company, you can reap the benefits of influencer marketing, too.
In a world so saturated with advertisements, decision makers become skeptical of company marketing tactics and instead rely on the opinions of people they can trust: B2B influencers.
By working with well-respected industry experts that share the interests and goals of your company, you can reach a new target market and start gaining loyal buyers. Want to learn more about how influencer marketing can help generate more revenue for your business? Here’s our breakdown on the “why” and “how” working with B2B influencers.
Quick Takeaways
- Over 90% of B2B buyers avoid sales messages and prefer to consume credible content from B2B influencers
- 86% of B2B brands find success by working with B2B influencers
- 78% of B2B marketers reported that they increased their social reach by working with B2B influencers
- 77% of marketers reported that their potential buyers rely on the opinion of industry experts
B2B influencers have made it easy for companies to reach their target audience, gain loyal buyers, increase engagement, and establish credibility.
B2B Influencers: Who Are They?
B2B influencers help businesses build trust with their audience by guiding prospects through the B2B buying cycle. Industry experts, analysts, and opinion leaders who can share valuable insight become B2B influencers based on their own respected reputation.
Over 90% of B2B buyers avoid sales messages and prefer to consume credible content from B2B influencers. Since they have a reputable voice and experience, potential buyers trust the opinion of B2B influencers.
Why Are B2B Influencers Important?
According to a study from Lee Odden’s TopRank Marketing blog, 86% of B2B brands find success by working with B2B influencers.
Because of the powerful connection influencers have with their followers, they have the ability to capture loyal buying power and generate more revenue for your business.
Not only does their endorsement carry some significant weight, but B2B influencers can also reach a large portion of your audience with a single blog post or update on social media. If you want to improve your company’s content marketing strategy, B2B influencers prove to be a valuable asset.
5 Benefits of Working With B2B Influencers
The power and popularity of B2B influencer marketing has skyrocketed, likely because it offers benefits that every good marketing strategy works hard to achieve. Here’s 5 ways B2B influencers can have a positive impact on the growth of your business.
1. Reach New Audiences
Remember, B2B influencers have the power to reach a large portion of your target audience with the click of a button. Not only will your audience see your message, but they’ll also hear it.
About 78% of B2B marketers reported that they increased their social reach by working with B2B influencers, making it an investment worth your time and effort.
2. Gain Loyal Buyers
Along with reaching new audiences comes an increase in loyal buyers. Since B2B influencers have followers that trust their opinions, your business can gain access to their followers’ trust, too.
After all, 77% of B2B marketers reported that their potential buyers rely on the opinion of industry experts. When industry experts are on your side, so are qualified leads and loyal buyers.
3. Establish Thought Leadership
When you partner with B2B influencers, you invite opportunities for your brand to create collaborative messages and projects that earn the attention of your target audience.
This makes it much easier to position your company as a thought leader. When your audience views you as a trusted source of new, innovative information and ideas, it will likely generate new leads and more revenue.
Being a thought leader establishes credibility within your industry, and has a major impact on potential buyers.
4. Increase Engagement
Because of the power B2B influencers have over their followers, they can easily inspire and motivate an audience’s actions. Not only does this spark an increase in traffic, but also engagement. When more qualified prospects engage with your content, your business is likely to see a boost in sales and revenue.
5. Produce High-Quality Content
Working with B2B influencers is a great way to create more high-quality content for your business. Influencers know what their audiences like to see, and are experts at creating content that encourages engagement.
Whether they are creating LinkedIn posts, Instagram stories, or TikTok videos for your company, the quality and relevance of content will be high. And, your business can repost and reuse this content across several platforms to maximize its ROI.
How To Find B2B Influencers
To find the right B2B influencers for your company, it can be helpful to use your own curated network of industry experts. Speak with members of your community with well-established blogs or social networks to find B2B influencers interested in collaboration.
If you haven’t yet established your own credible community of thought leaders and industry experts, all hope is not lost. You can find key influencers by using social media platforms and tools like:
- BuzzSumo
- Followerwonk
After you find the right B2B influencers for your business, you can start to build meaningful relationships with them. As you do your research, learn about their interests, motivations, and goals.
How To Measure the ROI of B2B Influencer Marketing
Before hiring a B2B influencer and setting your plan into motion, it’s important to clearly define your goals. Here are examples of common objectives most companies work towards:
- Increasing brand awareness
- Reaching target audiences
- Increasing sales
- Driving traffic
- Building credibility
To measure how well your company has achieved these goals, analyze metrics like:
- Impressions
- Conversion rate
- Lifetime value
- Sales
To heighten your chances of success, it’s smart to work with influencers who share the same goals as you and your company. This way, you will both be motivated to work towards building your communities and achieving success.
Start Building Your B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy Today
Working with B2B influencers offers opportunities to reach new audiences, gain loyal buyers, and establish credibility in your industry. Using your own curated network of experts is one of the best ways to find B2B influencers that share common interests and goals with your company.
Are you ready to reap the benefits of a quality content marketing strategy? With our professional training programs and expert advice, it’s easy to start driving traffic and increasing sales. Ask about how an ISBM Membership can help you get started now, or visit ISBM today to learn more!