According to the State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report, 96% of B2B marketers that engage influencers consider their program to be successful and 90% expect their budget for influencer marketing to increase or stay the same over the next 12 months.

Why the confidence? 77% of marketers say their prospective customers rely on advice from industry experts with 84% engaging influencers to create brand awareness and 69% counting on influencers for lead generation.

Influence plays a role across the entire B2B customer lifecycle from awareness to advocacy and with B2B marketing going decidedly digital during the pandemic and research showing few signs of reverting back to the old ways, the importance of peer, expert and influencer recommendations through social and digital media are more important than ever.

Without question, the pandemic has affected business customers in a variety of ways from pausing on purchasing to taking more time to do research on solutions. How B2B marketers adapt to these changes is essential for success now and into 2021.

So how are B2B brands like LinkedIn, SAP, monday.com and others finding marketing wins during a time of uncertainty? One way is through understanding which voices are most influential to their customers and then partnering with those influencers to collaborate on content used for thought leadership, brand engagement and lead generation.

“The work that we’re doing with influencers is not centered around campaigns, it’s centered around relationships.”
Garnor Morantes, Group Marketing Manager at LinkedIn
Watch Garnor’s Inside B2B Influence interview

Based on research of hundreds of B2B marketers, several best practices have emerged to optimize content with influence. The most successful B2B influencer marketing programs share certain characteristics including:

• Engaging in ongoing (Always-On) influencer marketing vs. periodic campaigns
• Rely on industry experts and analysts vs. purely social influencers
• Use blogs as content publishing platforms
• Use software to identify and qualify influencers vs. gut feel
• Create interactive content with influencers
• Have a centralized influencer marketing program
• Have a documented influencer marketing strategy

But what can B2B brands expect from building relationships of mutual value with influencers? Everything from increased social reach to improved credibility of brand content to increases in leads in sales.

“Working with the right influencers, you build credibility with the audience you are trying to reach. Influencers can help you deliver content that solves problems, educates and inspires your intended audience. The biggest benefit is the engagement, how you can work with your influencers to create meaningful engagement that leads to the right outcomes for your brand.”
Amisha Gandhi, SVP of Marketing at Tipalti
(Previously VP Influencer Marketing and Communications at SAP)
Watch Amisha’s Inside B2B Influence interview

B2B Influence in Action: Monday.com

When the pandemic swept through the world in 2020, monday.com identified an opportunity to help support teams that had gone from working in-office …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog

Author: Aaron