Top B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy in 2023

In the ever-evolving landscape of B2B marketing, staying ahead of the curve is crucial to achieving success. With the digital realm becoming increasingly saturated, it’s more important than ever for businesses to find innovative ways to connect with their target audience. One strategy that has gained significant traction in recent years is B2B influencer marketing. In this blog post, we’ll explore the top B2B influencer marketing strategies for 2023 and delve into essential aspects such as influencer selection, ROI measurement, best practices, relationship building, and the utilization of industry experts.

The concept of B2B influencer marketing

B2B influencer marketing is a marketing strategy where businesses collaborate with influential figures in their industry to promote their products or services to other businesses. This approach leverages the expertise and credibility of these influencers to connect with B2B decision-makers. It involves influencer selection, content creation, audience engagement, and focuses on building trust, generating leads, and measuring ROI. B2B influencer marketing is effective for reaching niche B2B audiences, establishing credibility, and positioning businesses as industry leaders.

Conceptualizing B2B influencer marketing

B2B influencer marketing dynamics involve selecting credible influencers, understanding the target audience, collaborative content creation, building trust, using multiple channels, nurturing long-term relationships, measuring results, complying with regulations, adapting to trends, and staying competitive. Success in B2B influencer marketing hinges on effectively managing these dynamic elements for impactful campaigns.

Top B2B influencer marketing strategy

1. B2B Influencer Marketing Campaigns

B2B influencer marketing campaigns have proven to be a powerful tool for reaching and engaging business professionals. These campaigns involve collaborating with industry experts and thought leaders who have a strong presence and influence within your target market.

When planning your B2B influencer marketing campaign, consider the following key factors:

1. Goal Alignment: Ensure that your campaign objectives align with both your business goals and the goals of your chosen influencers.
2. Content Strategy: Develop a robust content strategy that showcases the expertise of your influencers while delivering value to your target audience.
3. Audience Research: Thoroughly research your target audience to identify the pain points, challenges, and interests that your influencers can address.

One of the prime software organizations acing the B2B Influencer Marketing Strategy is Microsoft. Shining the spotlight on the STEM careered women in order to spur the janes of the youth was paired with the photographers of National Geographic.

Female scientists all around the world were clicked and showcased on NatGeo’s Instagram page. This collaboration between National Geographic and Microsoft reached a wide range of audience of 91 million plus!

2. Influencer Selection in B2B Marketing

Selecting the right influencers is a critical component of any successful B2B influencer marketing strategy. Here are some steps to guide your influencer selection process:

1. Relevance: Choose influencers whose expertise aligns with your industry and offerings.
2. Engagement: Evaluate an influencer’s engagement rates, as this can be a better indicator of impact than follower count alone.
3. Authenticity: Look for influencers who genuinely believe in your product or service to maintain authenticity in their endorsements.

One stellar example of influencer selection in B2B marketing that continues to resonate in 2023 is the collaboration between Neil Patel, a renowned digital marketing expert, and HubSpot, a leading inbound marketing and sales software company. Neil Patel’s expertise in digital marketing aligns seamlessly with HubSpot’s mission to empower businesses with inbound strategies. By partnering with Neil Patel, HubSpot was able to tap into his extensive knowledge and influential presence in the industry.

Neil Patel’s involvement in HubSpot’s campaigns and content not only lent credibility but also significantly expanded their reach. This collaboration showcased the power of selecting the right influencer in B2B marketing, as it led to increased engagement, brand recognition, and trust within the B2B community.

It exemplifies how a strategic partnership with the right influencer can amplify your brand’s message and drive meaningful results in the B2B landscape.

3. Measuring ROI in B2B Influencer Campaigns

Measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) of your B2B influencer marketing campaigns is essential for assessing their effectiveness. To do this:

1. Set Clear Metrics: Define specific metrics that align with your campaign goals, such as website traffic, lead generation, or conversion rates.
2. Track Conversions: Use tools like UTM parameters to track the source of conversions attributed to your influencer marketing efforts.
3. Calculate ROI: Compare the costs of your campaign to the revenue generated to calculate your ROI accurately.

Casper, the mattress company, partnered with numerous popular dog influencers, collectively reaching over 3.5 million followers, to promote a new pet product. They organized an extravagant launch event in Manhattan with a green carpet, “pupperazi” photographers, and lavish treats for dogs, all streamed by The Dodo on Facebook. This highlights the effectiveness of private influencer events, offering a more personal touch than traditional press trips. An example is Travel Mindset’s “Insta-Meet” for Visit St. George, which gathered 500+ email addresses for email marketing.

4. B2B Influencer Marketing Best Practices

To excel in B2B influencer marketing in 2023, it’s vital to follow best practices:

1. Transparency: To keep your audience’s trust, be transparent about sponsored content.
2. Long-term Relationships: Cultivate long-term relationships with influencers for ongoing campaigns and brand advocacy.
3. Diversity: Collaborate with a diverse group of influencers to reach a broader audience.

Cisco’s B2B influencer marketing program not only empowers advocates but also fosters professional connections and knowledge-sharing. Participants receive exclusive event invitations, product access, and recognition as incentives. The program ignited conversations through #CiscoChat on Twitter, featuring influencers in unplugged videos and weekly podcasts.

This strategy has enabled Cisco to consistently generate a substantial amount of promotional content, resulting in impressive statistics: over 55,000 tweets, numerous blog posts with 44,000 hits, and 8,000 social media mentions. Cisco has also effectively tapped into celebrity influencers, such as Bryan Cranston from “Breaking Bad,” who recently featured in a closing keynote to enhance their brand status through B2B influencer marketing.

5. Building Relationships with B2B Influencers

Building and nurturing relationships with B2B influencers is an ongoing process. Here’s how you can establish strong connections:

1. Engagement: Regularly engage with influencers’ content on social media to show your appreciation.
2. Provide Value: Offer influencers valuable insights, resources, or exclusive opportunities related to your industry.
3. Feedback Loop: Maintain open communication channels for feedback and improvement.

InspireBeats, a company specializing in lead generation for startups and larger enterprises, leveraged influencer marketing to boost website traffic and enhance conversion rates. Their objective was clear: create ten guest blogs, ten podcast collaborations, and ten featured blog posts with influencers every month. To achieve this, they identified niche-specific bloggers and established connections for the campaign.

By featuring influencers in their podcasts and blog posts, InspireBeats delivered authentic and valuable content to their audience. They strategically targeted podcasts with substantial reach, focusing on those with over 3,000 listeners per episode.

The outcomes of their B2B influencer marketing initiative were impressive. InspireBeats witnessed a significant increase in website leads, reinforcing their credibility within the industry. Notably, their efforts resulted in B2B leads valued at an impressive $12 million.

6. Leveraging Industry Experts in B2B Marketing

Industry experts are a goldmine of knowledge and credibility. To leverage them effectively:

1. Collaboration: Partner with experts for webinars, panel discussions, or co-authored content.
2. Knowledge Sharing: Encourage experts to share their insights on your platforms, positioning your brand as a trusted source.

TopRank collaborated with 40 diverse marketing influencers to curate a valuable library of marketing resources, offered as a complimentary download for aspiring content marketers. The brand skillfully gathered insights and knowledge from each influencer, weaving them into an array of content formats, including ebooks, blog posts, interviews, and Q&A sessions. With influencers also sharing this content across their own social channels, it became a mutually beneficial endeavor for all involved parties.

Furthermore, the enduring appeal of such content is evident as it continues to drive conversions even years after the campaign’s conclusion. Notably, TopRank still observes ongoing downloads of their ebooks, showcasing the long-lasting impact of their influencer-driven initiative.

Refrain from these influencer marketing mistakes

What’s not to love about influencer marketing, one of the best strategies for building genuine relationships with both potential and current customers, given that it typically yields a return on investment of $6.50 for every $1 invested?

And although it may be tempting to jump right in and get going, doing so may cause you to have some blind spots that may impair your results.

Instead, spend some time carefully planning and researching your course. When the sales start coming in, you’ll be happy you found the cumulations.

Here are some mistakes to refrain from when going for a influencer marketing strategy:

No research

Don’t make the mistake of solely focusing on an influencer’s follower count when choosing collaborators. Engage in thorough influencer research by assessing crucial metrics like engagement rate, audience demographics, and branded content performance. Ensure that the selected influencers truly connect with your target audience for successful campaign outcomes. If needed, communicate any changes in direction to influencers whose metrics don’t align with your goals before finalizing contracts.

Keeping sales as the metric of measure

Avoid the mistake of solely measuring influencer marketing success through sales metrics. Recognize the broader value of this strategy, including content generation, brand awareness, and SEO improvement. Define clear campaign objectives aligned with your business needs and identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor progress. Regularly track these KPIs throughout the campaign to gauge overall effectiveness.

Celebrity endorsements are not the sole type of influencer marketing

Celebrity endorsements, while a type of influencer marketing, represent only a fraction of the broader creator landscape. They are not the exclusive avenue for engaging influencers. Creators of varying follower sizes can be valuable brand partners. Here’s a breakdown of influencer types:

• Nano Influencer: 1,000-10,000 followers
• Micro Influencer: 10,000-100,000 followers
• Macro Influencer: 100,000-1M followers
• Mega/Celebrity Influencer: 1M+ followers

Early-stage brands may not have the financial means to collaborate with celebrities, and that’s okay. Mega influencers, although effective at broad brand exposure, often lack the authentic engagement that smaller creators offer, which is crucial for building brand loyalty and driving sales. Additionally, mega influencers may not entirely align with your target audience, resulting in expenses to reach less relevant followers. Smaller influencers, on the other hand, provide cost-effective rates and enable brands to reach highly specific demographics. To address this, use this insight for future campaigns, even though it can’t change existing influencer contracts.

Successful influencer marketing relies on avoiding common mistakes. Thoroughly research potential influencers using key metrics like engagement rates, audience demographics, and branded content performance. Recognize that influencer marketing extends beyond sales and consider smaller, authentically engaged creators. Emphasize objectives like content generation, brand awareness, and SEO enhancement. Apply these lessons to future campaigns, even if existing contracts can’t be changed. By doing so, you can tap into the full potential of influencer marketing, building genuine connections with your audience and ensuring long-term brand success.

Benefits of B2B influencer marketing strategy

B2B influencer marketing is a powerful strategy that can yield numerous benefits for businesses operating in the B2B sector. Here are some key benefits:

• Thought Leadership: Associating your brand with influential figures in your industry can position your company as a thought leader. This can boost your reputation and authority within your niche.
• Relationship Building: Collaborating with influencers can lead to long-term partnerships. Building strong relationships with influencers can result in ongoing endorsements and collaborations, providing consistent exposure for your brand.
• Measurable Results: B2B influencer marketing campaigns can be tracked and measured, allowing you to assess their effectiveness. You can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, conversions, and ROI to evaluate the impact of your influencer partnerships.

Parting thoughts

B2B influencer marketing remains a potent strategy in 2023, provided you adapt to the evolving landscape. By aligning your goals, selecting the right influencers, measuring ROI, following best practices, building strong relationships, and leveraging industry experts, businesses can harness the power of influencer marketing to achieve outstanding results in the B2B space.