As one of the most successful and fastest-growing marketing strategies, it’s no surprise that influencer marketing is now used in virtually every industry. Simply, there’s a trusted voice in every niche, and influencers can make all the difference in building trust and driving revenue.
While most influencer marketing strategies are still focused on B2C sales, there’s an emerging opportunity in the B2B influencer marketing world to drive sales and build trusted vendor relationships. This means, beyond influencing individual customer purchases for typical consumer goods, B2B influencers deliver lasting value through relationships cultivated for enterprise-level purchases and investments.
Across industries like tech and enterprise solutions, the biggest names in business are sharing their insights and experiences with trusted service providers and suppliers. As a result, they’re shaping smart business decisions and future industry growth.
Wondering how B2B industries can leverage influencer marketing? Check out these creative campaign ideas for revitalizing marketing and sales strategies and building trusted vendor relationships.
B2B customers are success-driven — they’re focused on best practices and key applications of the latest tech and enterprise solutions and their ability to deliver cost-effective product and service enhancements.
And while metrics are key, cultivating lasting trust goes beyond numbers. Like any consumer, brands want to be engaged by hearing about successful B2B relationships. Who better to share these insights than B2B influencers?
You can engage B2B influencers on video and podcast interviews as keynote speakers or industry experts. They can speak to improved product design and service delivery achieved through the solutions you provided. Plus, you can repurpose quotable segments as effective blog and newsletter content, and highly shareable social content.
Similar to hosting Instagram or Facebook live sessions and YouTube streams wherein they talk about product recommendations and uses or host tutorials, B2B influencer marketing campaigns can adopt a similar format.
Your brand can collaborate with a B2B influencer for an interactive content experience. For example, an influencer can contribute to a microsite for a product launch, where they take the audience along for the experience of navigating a new product feature. Similarly, they can be keynote speakers at a user conference — and your audience will appreciate learning from an industry expert and, in the process, convert to qualified leads.
Not sure how to establish influencer collaborations? Start by getting their attention. A quick Google or LinkedIn search will show you the top executives and thought leaders in your industry.
And with more industry experts embracing their role as thought leaders by publishing blogs and trending content on platforms like LinkedIn, you can strike up a conversation simply by publishing a profile on the leading names — their roles, key projects, and notable successes they’ve achieved for their respective companies. By adding them to this list and tagging them on social shares, you can encourage interactions and follow up with invitations to collaborate.
Plus, you can turn this list into an annual event. Every year, you can publish a list of top industry experts, and as its prominence grows, more influencers will compete for a prime spot that boosts their credibility.
Take your B2B influencer marketing strategy beyond social shares and one-time product events. Deliver lasting value to your audience with an artifact designed for long-term use, such as e-books and other industry publications that feature expert insights from B2B influencers.
You can invite influencers to share their thought leadership by inviting quotes and reactions and collaborating on key pieces included in the resource. Seeing their names attached to this project lends lasting credibility.
Outside of traditional marketing and advertising events, like product launches and industry expos, many brands host contests as a way to engage various demographics and showcase best practices or new and innovative product applications.
For example, tech vendors can engage university students, budding start-up innovators, and professionals in case competitions centred on the application of a new software or enterprise solution for a particular industry.
When hosting a contest, you can invite B2B influencers to serve as judges, allowing them to witness and weigh in on endless possibilities for product applications. With an esteemed panel serving as judges, you can attract more buzz to the contest and generate qualified leads from their audience and network.
There are many other opportunities for meeting influencers outside of typical marketing and sales events. For example, swap the typical product launch or expo for a brand event, like an HQ tour or c-suite executive meet and greet, workshop, and more. Alternatively, you can also invite them to VIP dinners, executive meetings, or retreats along with prospective clients.
These events are prime spaces for social interaction and professional networking and take the pressure out of “pushing” products in front of them. Instead, you can focus on a deep dive into industry trends, innovations in product design, and exchange ideas. There isn’t any selling, but valuable relationship-building with both brand ambassadors and the clients they can help you close in the near future.
Finally, you can’t go wrong with a classic influencer marketing strategy. Invite influencers to write guest blogs or articles, where their expertise proves invaluable to business decision-makers. Similarly, you can host webinars featuring B2B influencers as hosts or speakers and leverage their reach to draw views and shares, and attendees and qualified leads.
Think influencers are just engaging audiences in consumer verticals? Think again. The B2B influencer marketing space is quickly evolving — and now influencers are here to enrich and revitalize the way you engage key decision-makers. Consultus Digital can help you unlock the power of B2B influencer marketing in partnership with industry experts in Toronto.
From finding the top influencers in your industry to sending invitations, developing a content calendar, and hosting exclusive events, our influencer marketing agency crafts a tailored strategy to build a lasting relationship with the most trusted voices in your space. Discover endless possibilities for influencer marketing campaigns that go beyond social shares and impressions, and leverage an industry leader’s lasting influence to generate qualified leads and build customer trust.
Are you looking for the top B2B influencers in Toronto? Consultus Digital is here to help. Talk to our influencer marketing experts to launch your most innovative campaign yet.
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