Influencer marketing seems to be getting increasingly popular in the world of digital marketing. The year 2017 was when it started to gain momentum in the online marketing world. It is a concept which has been discovered to be mostly made use of by B2C (business to consumer) brands. As a matter of fact, there are lots of B2B (business to business) brands that are still not making use of it. Although it may seem like influencer marketing would work better for B2C brands, there is no doubt that it has lots of opportunities for B2B brands. The only thing is knowing how to find them.
Influencer Marketing Benefits
Prior to starting some influencer marketing for B2B, it is important that you understand the benefits once you invest in a strategy such as this.
Authenticity
Influencers have a way of making your marketing unique. These people and businesses have spent time acquiring knowledge and notoriety which your business can benefit from in various ways. The bottom line here is that influencer posts and contents have got a very high level of credibility which can benefit your brand.
Authority
Given the fact that influencers have spent lots of years perfecting their work, they have been able to build a reputation for themselves and people see them to be sources that are knowledgeable and authoritative. They have followers that are looking up to them most especially for advice and insights. This makes your brand to become an authority through partnering with them.
Non Selling Content
Lots of businesses are searching for ways through which more and more contents can be created for their brands. You have to understand that quality is always better than quantity. That is to say, better and quality content is very much preferable to providing lots of contents with less value.
Content that is produced by your company may be useful. However, there is still one ultimate aim which is to sell something. One of the major benefits of influencer marketing is that the content being generated isn’t going to sound like you’re selling something.
Wider Audience
Influencers will bring your business a wider audience. Whenever content is generated by them, it simply implies that they are trying to create awareness about what you have to offer to a new group of people. They have been known to come with in – built audiences. It is all about giving your brand a wider reach making more people aware of your existence.
Typical Examples of B2B Influencer Marketing
The user base for B2B influencer in LinkedIn is very huge. This is gotten from its marketing guide. It is a guide which helps marketers discover the best way of exploring LinkedIn. This guide is actually very compelling given the fact that it makes a very strong case for such a platform. However, what seems more fascinating is that it included B2B influencers. In every chapter, you are given the chance to interact with an influencer. Most of the time, these are authors and CEOs that have proven to be authorities in the field of digital marketing.
Influencers have been included inside the guide for 2 major reasons. The first of them is enhancing of the content’s authority and trustworthiness. Secondly, it is aimed at reaching out to a wider group of people. The guide is likely to be promoted by the influencers that have been included in it. Their audiences will likely engage in it.
American Express
American Express has proven to be a platform where small businesses thrive. There was a time it wanted to add more aesthetic value to its storefront decals in other to encourage them to be made use of by store owners. This led to the introduction of a campaign known as Love My Store. This company worked alongside Grace Bonney to get about 6 storefront decals designed. Video series were also created with the aid of Emily Henderson who was an HGTV personality. It was majorly aimed at helping small business owners understand how the storefronts can be used to improve their businesses and get more customers.
Emily Henderson and Grace Bonney partnership proved to be perfect given that people where more comfortable taking tips from them. Also, they are proven authorities in the field of interior design.
Salesforce
A perfect way for developing influencers as well as brand advocates is having to lean on an influential CEO’s expertise and reputation. Salesforce was founded by Marc Benioff. He has also proven to be a powerhouse when it comes to tech space. As a proof that he is a leader and authority, his twitter account has got about 700,000 followers. He is always active on a various social media platforms trying to promote the cause of his company. Such an activity will not only attract followers but also other influencers.
CEOs usually represent their companies in public in various ways. There are risks associated with this though. For instance, the mistake made by Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber has only affected the reputation of the company in a negative way. On the other hand, once a CEO has got a message that is positive, such can reach out to a wider audience.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a content marketing authority. Not only does it have regularly updated blogs as these contents are well – researched and developed. It has even increased its activity by trying to work alongside micro – influencers that have got sales and digital marketing backgrounds. The influencers will then be contributing various contents to its blog. One of the ways that HubSpot does benefit from this is that the contents aren’t only new but from fresh and neutral voice. It also benefits from the knowledge of experts in various fields given the fact that it brings together different experts from various fields.
Although it does look like B2C brands are the ones exploring the opportunities offered by influencer marketing at the moment, there is always room for B2B brands. Through influencer marketing, B2B brands will be able to create content that is fresh and reach more people. You can learn from brands such as LinkedIn, AmEx, Salesforce, and HubSpot by starting to consider how the concept of influencer marketing will be integrated into your digital marketing activities.
UNIFY marketing & technology solutions can help you develop an effective B2B Influencer Marketing strategy! Let’s have coffee and discuss how we can help! Schedule some time with us TODAY! 419.740.1010 | info@UNIFYmts.com
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