B2B influencer B2B influence marketing on LinkedIn: the do’s & don’ts
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We’ve gotten used to it by now: when we open our favorite social apps, influencers are flying around our ears. One person recommends the latest iPhone, another a great Amazon hack and yet a third distributes (unsolicited) love advice in great detail. Where we used to find all these influences a bit annoying, we now know no better. And we may have even discovered a few favorite influencers from whom we indeed accept a lot. But now B2B influencer marketing is also on the rise. How do you use that to your advantage as a company?
While we are all too happy to be influenced by the opinions of others in our free time, influencers now also seem to find their way into our work environment. But are influencers welcome in our business B2B influence environment? What opportunities (and pitfalls) does this development offer for the B2B market? And what does this mean for our carefully constructed online networks? Time to delve into this new form of influencer marketing and discuss the do’s and don’ts.
From B2C to B2B influencer marketing
Although influencers were mainly attractive to the B2C market in the early years and were therefore mainly found on platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and later TikTok, there now seems to be a shift towards B2B influencer marketing. Also on the business social media platform LinkedIn, for example, more and more signs of the influence of influencers are starting to show.
Photos are suddenly tagged with the brand of an outfit. Experts are making recommendations for innovative tools. And personal profiles are used as a conduit to promote products and services.
At first glance, nothing wrong with that, you new zealand email list 1.4 M contact leads might think. The ‘LinkedInfluencers’ who are now entering the market are mainly people with already existing large numbers of followers and a clear personal brand. They still share the strong and authentic content that their network is used to from them. Now only with a link to a website, tag for a sponsor or photo with a slightly better put together outfit than before.
Moreover marketing is and remains fundamentally
a way to bring services and products to the attention of live commerce: the perfect combination for selling online a target group. The fact that this target group is business in this case, while business platforms such as LinkedIn are becoming increasingly personal ( after all, people do business with people, not with companies ), makes it increasingly difficult for brands to reach their target group in the right way. B2B influencers can then be the solution.
But what happens when LinkedInfluencers are paid by companies aleart news to promote services that don’t fit their personal brand? Or articles that are less ‘product placeable’ than an outfit or piece of jewelry? That can lead to some pretty crazy and uncharacteristic posts. And the first effects of that are already visible.
The Don’ts of B2B Influencer Marketing
What immediately stands out is that B2B influencers operate on a broad spectrum. From subtle advertising to shameless in-your-face promotion and everything in between – you come across it all.