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How Can B2B Companies Use Influencer Marketing for Demand Gen?

How can B2B companies leverage influencer marketing for demand gen? This query is drawing increasing interest as businesses look to effective means of attracting and retaining clients in today’s hypercompetitive environment. While influencer marketing has commonly been associated with B2C sectors, it’s gaining traction in B2B. That’s a shift that highlights not only the evolving nature of consumer behavior but also, quite frankly, the effectiveness of using a personal connection to drive leads.

The Role of Influencer Marketing in B2B

Using influencer marketing in a B2B context means enlisting influential people to help sell your products or services. These are not just any people; they are authorities in your industry—experts or, at the very least, well-respected figures. Nevertheless, these experts do not have to be household names or even all that famous. Figures who are known among your potential clients and respected by them can be powerful partners in your selling efforts.

B2B companies often face elongated sales cycles and complicated decision-making processes. Thus, trust is very much at work in these situations. Influencers can serve as trust intermediaries, providing the needed social proof and validation to speed up the sales funnel. Furthermore, 92% of consumers trust the recommendations of individuals over those of brands, which is pretty significant for B2B transactions.

How Can B2B Companies Use Influencer Marketing for Demand Gen?

To use influencer marketing effectively, B2B companies can take a number of strategic steps.

Locate the Appropriate Influencers: Zero in on people whose brand values resonate with yours and who have meaningful interactions with your target demographic. This is a glaringly obvious yet often overlooked step.
Engage Authentically: Collaboration should feel organic. Influencers should naturally use and endorse your products or services.
Employ Multiple Channels: Push your communication through different platforms—such as LinkedIn, Twitter, or sector blogs—where your target demographic is conversant.
Assess Success Using KPIs: Measure how well your campaigns perform by monitoring engagement, lead generation, and conversion rates.

A software firm worked in tandem with a prominent industry analyst to pen a revealing piece about the merits of their offering. Thus, the content served not only to put the spotlight on the software’s benefits but also to cast the company in a credible light, as a significant lead generator.

Building Long-Term Relationships with Influencers

Influencer partnerships that endure over an extended period can yield immense benefits. In the world of B2B, brands have a better chance of striking gold when they collaborate with the same influencers over a sustained period rather than just reaching out to influencers randomly for a one-off engagement. Marketers at companies like HubSpot have been amply rewarded for the influencer strategy they have pursued over a long period in both instances.

Moreover, giving influencers exclusive insights or early access to new products can yield considerable content that they can share with their audience. This tactic boosts their authority and gives your audience even more content to engage with in real-time.

Measuring the Impact of Influencer Marketing on Demand Gen

For B2B organizations, to gauge just how potent influencer marketing is, measuring its impact is a must. These are must-consider key performance indicators:

Lead Quality: Evaluate the caliber of leads produced through influencer campaigns. This can be done by contrasting measurements like conversion rates and sales cycle duration.
Rates of Engagement: Measure the number of likes, shares, comments, and click-throughs on content pushed by influencers.
Keep track of the number of times your brand appears in discussions related to influencer content.
Customer Feedback: Collect information from customers related to the impact of recommendations on their decision-making. This regards influence in terms of positive, negative, and neutral recommendations. Gather comments and suggestions regarding recommendation influence. And, if possible, try to quantify the effect these recommendations have had on the customer’s final decision.

In addition, a recent study found that 82% of marketers believe influencer marketing is effective, indicating that the strategy can significantly boost demand generation.

Conclusion

To sum up, demand generation can be influenced by influencer marketing for B2B companies. By establishing real connections with the right influencers (not just famous people), and measuring the real (not just assumed) impact of the campaign, B2B businesses can reach and engage their target audiences better. When thinking about potential strategies for using influencer marketing in the demand generation funnel, here are a few to consider. This first one is more about reaching influencers than about working with them.