From creating advocacy programs to the content co-creation we specialize in at our agency, working with B2B influencers presents a number of challenges, especially when it comes to effectively identifying, qualifying and recruiting.
In fact, according to multiple editions of our original research, one of the top challenges for B2B brands is to find the right influencers.
Everyone is influential about something,
Howver, the ability to influence varies greatly across individuals, between different audiences and even at different moments in time across the buyer journey.
Defining Influence in B2B Marketing:
To be an influencer in a B2B industry means an individual’s ability to create content that attracts visibility, earns trust and drives decision confidence amongst an audience.
Therefore, it stands to reason that identifying influencers must take into account their ability and willingness to affect action – not just achievement of high fan, friend and follower counts.
The big mistake marketing and communications professionals often make working with B2B influencers is to focus only on the shiny object individuals within a particular industry. Blinded by the prospect of fame by association, some B2B corporate PR influencer programs operate almost entirely on the notion that by proxy, involvement with certain popular influencers will create positive effects for brand marketing and PR goals.
Super or superficial? As a result, fuzzy and superficial influencer program metrics are emphasized to justify the programs vs. identifying brand goals and holding influencers accountable to reaching them like other marketing initiatives. A common example is the highlighting of social shares vs. clickthroughs and impactful actions taken as a result of the influencer’s participation.
So what B2B influencer attributes should marketers and public relations professionals focus on?
Identify and qualify. The most common approach is to find people who are topically relevant to the initiative you’re undertaking and then sort by popularity. With B2B influencer marketing programs, social network size and engagement are usually the metrics used to distinguish who has the pull, authority or influence the brand is looking for.
Our preference is to narrow down to a short list by finding correlations across multiple influencer discovery tools and then validating through manual inspection of their work, considering publishing cadence, format, content type and tone. We also look at competitor relationships, brand values alignment and where possible, performance metrics.
But here’s the thing: With the right tools, time and a hint of talent, creating the perception of being a B2B influencer is possible by just about anyone. Focusing on the signals that commonly lead to the perception of authority, individuals can work on developing their personal brand and popularity far above their expertise and ability to affect action. This is especially important for executives and the growing cohort of c-suite creators.
Perception vs. reality. Now I’m not saying that everyone who has cultivated a strong personal brand is superficially popular or influential. I’m saying that it’s easy to create the perception of influence through personal brand and companies should take that into account when creating their influencer marketing programs.
This is why I share that the difference between popularity and influence can mean feast or famine when it comes to producing impact and value to the business with a B2B influencer marketing program.
By all means, popularity, authority, credibility are all important characteristics of influencers to work with. At the same time, B2B companies that expect the participation of influencers to contribute in a meaningful way should consider the roles played by popularity and authority.
A brandividual is popular, an influencer creates popularity.
To me, a brandividual is someone who is really popular in their community. They take the time to cultivate their personal brand as if it were a product. Brandividuals are the shiny objects of the B2B infuencer marketing world. They are the famous and charismatic lights that can help your company attract the true influencers. They are the entertainment creators that can put on a show for you to infotain your audience into attention.
What do I mean by “true B2B influencers”? If influence is the ability to affect action, then being an influencer in the B2B world means the same. They are people who are credible, authoritative and to some degree popular amongst a community – yet also effective in being able to inspire action amongst that community.
Finding the right mix. So the world of B2B influencer marketing is about more than working with industry specific celebrities as a proxy to the community that loves them. Working with a mix of brand popular individuals as well as the right niche influencers that can really motivate and activate their communities is a winning combination. By now, B2B marketers should know that one size fits all doesn’t fit any performance expectations. Mapping the right influencers to the right audience experience is essential.
In other words, for awareness you might work with a brandividual because their forte is getting attention. But if you want conversions, then work with respected practitioners whose audience is accustomed to getting credible solution recommendations. Finding the right mix for your business, category, product or solution is everything.
Creating influence is where true authority lives. Beyond working with the dynamics of popularity and influence, B2B companies that are evolving their influencer marketing programs are focusing on creating influence for others as much as becoming influential themselves. Looking longer term than a campaign, it’s easy to see the value in cultivating up and coming influencers. There’s an expression along these lines that I like:
Work with an influencer and you’re friends for a day. Help someone become influential and they’re a friend for life.
That’s the essence of the long term, Always-On approach to B2B influencer marketing. Influence is a form of currency and the only way to get “influence rich” is to help others do the same.
Give to get influence. Right now there is plenty of time to create a significant competitive advantage by working with both established influencers and implementing efforts to nurture those who will become the next wave of influencers in your industry. Maybe your established influencers contribute more to thought leadership and emerging influencers are more focused on content and advocacy. The mix really depends on your situation and goals.
As you develop your B2B influencer marketing programs and start to go through the process of identification and validation, think about the mix of influencer characteristics that will help your program succeed. Qualify what influence means to your company and the program. Make it meaningful by establishing relevant business goals, expectations for participants and a means for measuring influencer contributions in a meaningful way.
And if you need help with your B2B influencer marketing strategy, finding the right influencers, managing content activations or measurement, let’s talk.
