By Nick Nelson

You’ve probably heard about B2B influencer marketing. The strategy has exploded in adoption, with a 2023 Ogilvy study finding that 75% of B2B businesses are leveraging influencers in their campaigns. 

Even if you have a general idea of how and why B2B influencer marketing works, you still might wonder how it plays out in practice. How do brands and influencers collaborate to bring these campaigns to life?

Good news: we have plenty of insight on this subject! Our agency has partnered with brands to create countless B2B influencer marketing campaigns and strategies, so we’ve helped put many of these techniques into action. Not only that, but our original industry research helps shed a broader light on the B2B influencer marketing tactics being used most today.

Top B2B influencer marketing tactics

B2B marketers are using a variety of different channels and mediums to reach audiences with their influencer campaigns. TopRank’s 2023 B2B Influencer Marketing Report found that social media, industry presentations and video top the list.

Note that laying the strategic groundwork for your program – influencer identification, relationship-building, goal-setting, measurement, etc. – is essential before these collaborative campaign tactics can be effective. Learn more about the evergreen fundamentals in our guide.

Social media influencer content

It comes as no surprise that social media is the most popular channel for deploying B2B influencer marketing tactics. Driving organic reach and engagement on these competitive platforms is a perpetual challenge for brands. Sprout Social found that half of all marketers consider elevated engagement rates on social platforms as the most valuable opportunity through influencer marketing.

Here are some examples of tactics you can use to activate influencers as part of your social media strategy:

• Featuring expert insight: Create text-based or multimedia content for the feed that highlights perspectives from industry experts in your influencer mix. Their inclusion increases the credibility and impact of your thought leadership.
• Influencer tagging and mentions: Frequently tagging and @-mentioning the influencers you partner with helps your brand gain visibility and recognition in their social media networks.
• Influencer takeovers: Have an influencer assume control of your brand’s social media account for an hour, or an afternoon, or a whole day. Make sure you’re aligned on values before handing over the reins, of course.
• Influencer promotion of products, features, or assets: When influencers speak knowledgeably about your company’s offerings, or help showcase them, it can help audiences see the value in unique ways. An “unboxing” campaign for social media would exemplify this.
• Employee advocacy: Don’t underestimate the influence your own employees and internal experts can have on your …read more

  Source:: Top Rank Blog

        

  

  Author: Aaron