How B2B Marketers Can Benefit From Working With More Diverse Influencers

Better B2B marketing with diverse influencers people image

When was the last time you saw someone in a wheelchair in your day-to-day life? Someone just going about their daily routine, who also happened to be in a wheelchair?

Now, when was the last time you saw someone in a wheelchair as a main character in a movie — a movie that wasn’t entirely about being in a wheelchair?

You can apply that same thought experiment to any type of diversity: race, gender, sexuality, body size and shape are all underrepresented in the media.

If a cisgender, heterosexual white man like me can see this lack of representation, how does it look and feel to those who are in marginalized groups? What is the entertainment industry missing out on by ignoring these voices?

Granted, B2B marketers are not in the entertainment business. We’re here to reach an audience and compel them to take an action that benefits the brand.

Which means we have even more reason to make sure our work reflects the diversity in the world around us.

[bctt tweet=”“We’re here to reach an audience and compel them to take an action that benefits the brand. Which means we have even more reason to make sure our work reflects the diversity in the world around us.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites” username=”toprank”]

Here’s why B2B marketers should be considering diversity, equity and inclusion when working with influencers.

1 — It’s table stakes

For decades, white heterosexual folks were the default for advertising and marketing. When an ad went outside of the mainstream, it was notable, even shocking to some. I remember the first TV ad that showed two men picking out furniture together and the firestorm that ensued.

Now, however, it’s the opposite. People are far more in tune with the lack of diversity in marketing and they expect brands to do better.

If your influencer campaign features 10 thought leaders in an industry, and they all happen to be middle-aged white men, that’s going to raise eyebrows. It can make your brand appear careless at best and out-of-touch at worst.

“But Josh,” an imaginary person argues with me, “We’re just picking the people with the biggest audience!”

Well, fictional antagonist, you should know that relevance and authenticity are far more important than audience size in B2B influencer marketing. In our recent survey, less than half of respondents said audience size was an essential consideration, while 87% said authority and relevance were must-haves.

87 percent say size of audience is not an essential consideration for influence