Can anyone be a b2b influencer?

This post will break down who can do it, who should do it, how and why. 

We are all living in the age of influence — and working in it too! Social selling and employee advocacy through channels like LinkedIn and Twitter has been prevalent and growing across b2b industries over the past five or so years. Many professionals have built a strong online presence and large following simply talking about what they know. As these spaces have matured, b2b marketers have taken notice. 

According to Hubspot’s 2022 Trends Report, Influencer Marketing is the #1 new marketing investment for brands and now ranks higher as a channel than SEO. The time is now for b2b brands to take advantage. That said, as a partner working in the ‘business of influence’ and in the ‘business-to-business’ part of the business of influence (…what?) – we can say that one of our biggest challenges is finding the right thought leaders and content creators. So with a market that is far from saturated, how do you get started? 

Build your personal brand.

Your personal brand is the unique combination of skills, knowledge, experiences, and personality traits that make up your unique professional identity. It is the way in which people perceive you and the value you bring to the table. Building a strong personal brand can help you establish credibility and put you on the map for becoming a b2b influencer. In practice this means updating your existing social profiles (some tips here!) and perhaps creating some new ones. For business professionals, this might mean you create a website, Youtube Channel, podcast, Substack newsletter or get started on Medium. Take time in developing your personal brand. You may have decades of experience in the workplace but this must be adapted for the digital world. You must have passion, authenticity and opinions. If your ‘WHY’ is simply to ‘become an influencer’ than we’d suggest you reconsider. 

Content, content, content.

Once you’ve established who you are, you need to produce high quality content that demonstrates your expertise, aligns to your values and entertains your target audience. This could include social posts or long form content such as blogs, videos, or podcasts. It may take some experimentation and testing to see what resonates with your audience and what you enjoy creating. For example, blogging may be effective but too time consuming. Podcasting perhaps too costly. Remember, consistency is key with content creation. Don’t worry too much about when to post and exactly how much, particularly in b2b industries where brands value quality much more than quantity. DO work to understand what you want to achieve with your content and plan content in advance by creating a calendar. DON’T get so tied down with metrics that it deters from the creative process or takes away from the personal brand you’ve worked so hard to establish. (Read: PLS no click bait!) 

Grow your community.

When it’s time to really focus on growth, make sure you are networking with your online audience regularly for feedback and inspiration. Building relationships with your viewers and readers (and having the engagement stats to back it up) is imperative to securing brand partnerships down the line. At this stage it’s also time to set some goals. You may want to boost content output, Follower counts, Engagements, Views, Downloads or Subscribers. Make sure to leverage the data and analytics features of all the social platforms you’re active on for growth hacking opportunities. You can also partner with industry peers, publishers or your own customers to share each other’s content and reach a wider audience. 

Commercialise your offering.

When the time is right you can begin partnering with brands. These can be either paid promotions or value exchange-based. For example, if you post and review analytics tools, a SaaS company may approach you to record a demo of their product in exchange for discounted access. Regardless of how you are compensated, making your online offering a commercial offering is important so your clients and partners clearly understand: 

• Your specialist areas and USP’s, what your audience looks to you for
• Your POV and how that is delivered to online communities. How can you creatively and accurately convey the brand’s key messages?
• Content vehicles you utilise. Socials platforms, audio and video channels, blogs, newsletter
• Charging model. How you package your content up, how that can be bought and how much is good to have in place at the outset of any activity
• Facts and Figures. How does your audience demographic break out, how much engagement does your content receive? Can you build out any case studies?

Taking the mindset of a traditional news outlet or publisher, allbeit at micro level, will help to shape conversations with partners for planning purposes. Having a ‘media pack’ at the ready will only aid your cause and add a professional edge to your offering. 

Before you get started, remember:

• You don’t have to be Gary Vee. The world is probably okay with only having one of him anyway! If you’re not already familiar with the term ‘micro influencer,’ in marketing it refers to an individual who has a small but highly engaged following. In the consumer space that might be around 1,000 to 100,000 people, and in b2b that number sits more around 1-20k. What we’re really saying is, an enormous following and big personality is not a prerequisite to being a valued thought leader.
• You may have to have a chat to your employer, but partnerships can be done consciously and appropriately. Common sense says if you work for Google you probably won’t be partnering with Meta any time soon, but there are definitely ways to act as an influential adviser, analyst or commentator without conflicts of interest 
• Choose whichever social platforms resonate with you. They all have their place. (But remember video is especially effective right now!)
• Don’t quit your day job… yet. Not everyone can and should even try to be a b2b influencer. Content creation, especially in b2b industries, can be very time consuming. For example it can take 4-6 hours to produce one short form video. A newsletter may take literally years to catch on! What makes you amazing in your career may have nothing to do with how you share it online. Don’t forget that!

Since covid hit, the business world has changed forever. People with remote or hybrid work environments are satisfying the need for connection through social media. Savvy professionals who tap into this network are simply adapting what they used to do through word of mouth pre-covid to the the future of work in 2023. Not to mention they now can get compensated for it!

If you’re looking for more guidance at any stage in your influencer journey, contact us to geek out further (we’ve got plenty more stats, facts and tips we haven’t shared here!!)