B2B Influencer Marketing: Dos and Don'ts to Succeed

B2B influencer marketing has become a popular strategy for businesses looking to reach a wider audience and build trust with potential customers. However, like any marketing tactic, there are dos and don'ts that businesses should be aware of in order to make the most of their influencer partnerships.

In today’s article, we will explain what B2B influencer marketing is and share a few tips and best practices to help you build an effective strategy.

What Is B2B Influencer Marketing?

Let’s start by explaining the difference between B2B vs B2C influencer marketing.

Most people are familiar with B2C influencer marketing. This is where a brand collaborates with an influencer to promote its products or services directly to consumers (Business to Consumer). This form of influencer marketing can help B2C businesses connect with the public and convert more online users into paying customers.

B2B influencer marketing, in turn, is where a brand collaborates with an influencer to promote its products or services directly to other businesses (Business to Business). This form of influencer marketing is used exclusively by B2B organizations.

So, how does B2B influencer marketing work, exactly?

As with B2C influencer marketing, the goal of B2B influencer marketing is to create content that is both valuable and relevant to the target audience, while also promoting the brand's products or services in an authentic and effective way. The only difference is that, instead of targeting consumers, you target other businesses. By leveraging the influence of industry experts and thought leaders, B2B influencer marketing can help you build brand awareness, establish credibility and trust with potential customers, and ultimately drive business growth for your B2B brand.

B2B Influencer Marketing: Dos

Whether you’re following a LinkedIn influencer marketing strategy or using other online platforms to reach your B2B customers, there are a number of dos and don’ts that you need to be aware of. The following tips and best practices will help you design an effective B2B influencer marketing campaign that generates the results you need for your brand.

Let’s start with the dos:

• Do your research: Before partnering with an influencer, do your research to ensure that they will be able to market your product of service to your audience. Remeber that in B2B you are marketing to businesses, and there is usually more than one decision-maker involved. As such, your influencer should be able to properly address the pain points you seek to solve with your product. .
• Do set clear goals: Establish clear goals and metrics for your influencer marketing campaign, such as increasing website traffic or driving sales, to help you measure the success of your B2B influencer marketing collaboration.
• Do establish a budget: Determine how much you are willing to spend on your influencer marketing campaign and be transparent about your budget when reaching out to potential influencers.
• Do create authentic content: Once you’ve identified a suitable influencer, work with them to create authentic, high-quality content that aligns with your brand values and resonates with your target audience.
• Do promote your content: Once your content is created, be sure to promote it on your own social media channels and website to help maximize its reach and impact.
• Do measure and optimize performance: Continuously measure the performance of your B2B influencer marketing campaign and make adjustments when needed.
• Do build relationships: Building strong, long-term relationships with B2B influencers can be a powerful way to drive sustained business growth over time.

B2B Influencer Marketing: Don’ts

While B2B influencer marketing can be an effective strategy for reaching new customers and driving business growth, there are several common mistakes that businesses need to avoid in order to ensure the success of their campaigns. 

Here are some B2B influencer marketing don'ts to keep in mind:

• Don't choose influencers solely based on follower count: It's important to choose influencers who have an engaged audience that aligns with your target market, rather than just focusing on their audience size. Prior experience with B2B campaigns is also a plus. 
• Don't ignore authenticity: Authenticity is key in all forms of influencer marketing, so make sure you work with B2B influencers who are genuinely interested in your brand and can create content that aligns with your values.
• Don't forget to disclose sponsorships: In order to comply with your country’s guidelines and maintain transparency with your audience, make sure you disclose any sponsored content or partnerships with B2B influencers.
• Don't neglect your influencer relationships: Building strong partnerships with influencers takes time and effort, so be sure to invest in building and nurturing these relationships.
• Don't forget about strategy: Before launching a B2B influencer marketing campaign, make sure you have a clear strategy in place. Your strategy should cover your campaign goals and how you will measure campaign success.
• Don't expect overnight success: Influencer marketing is a long-term strategy that requires patience and persistence to see results.
• Don't overlook the importance of metrics: Measuring the success of your campaign is essential as it helps you optimize your short and long-term performance.

We hope that these B2B influencer marketing dos and don'ts help you create an effective influencer marketing campaign for your B2B company that boosts your marketing ROI and drives meaningful results for your brand.