Influencer Marketing is the fastest growing online acquisition tactic, here's how to make it work for your business.
Influencer marketing is the process of promoting and selling products or services through individuals capable of driving action from your target audience. Influencers share the values of a brand and their customers, bridging the gap between both entities
– Sprout Social
The Content Preferences Survey from DGR reports that 95% of respondents favour credible content from industry influencers as a top preference, a 30% increase compared year over year.
So, it is no wonder that Influencer Marketing is the fastest growing online acquisition tactic - beating organic and paid search in the last year.
Consumer brands have long understood the power of Influencer Marketing, but some my B2B clients have had the misconception that it is “just for fashion bloggers pushing handbags on Instagram” and isn’t relevant to them.
In the B2B world, Influencer Marketing should be seen as the more familiar partnership marketing but with individuals rather than organisations – an effective way to promote the authenticity and credibility of your brand.
The key for any organisation, in any market, is to find the right influencer and deliver the right content with and for them.
Who?
Your buyer personas outline who you need to influence, now spend a bit of time thinking about who they are influenced by.
A simple example from a PropTech client I have worked with recently, below:
Who are these people influenced by?
What on or offline news organisations do they follow? Who are the top journalists at these publications? What individuals have large and engaged followings in the industry? Who influences legislation in their world?
What is the right mix of loud influencers and highly relevant ones? And what is their combined reach? What existing relationships do you have with these influencers?
Successful programs incorporate top influencers that have large, relevant networks with more niche influencers with high engagement
– Lee Odden, CEO at Top Rank Marketing
When mapped to the right kind of content in the buying journey, a mix of influencer types is very powerful for B2B marketing.
What?
Now explore what topics gain the most traction. What articles are shared the most? Which are most read and commented upon?
Again, example from a PropTech client below:
When?
Do you want to work with a particular individual or group of influencers around a specific campaign?
Or do you want to implement an always-on influencer programme focused on building advocacy and co-developed content?
Again, consider your goals, how an influencer alliance could help achieve these goals, and the common-sense KPIs you can set to measure success.
How?
Start by creating content with your identified clients and influencers in mind - using the topics you have determined are most engaging.
Begin building advocacy with influencers by sharing their content and tagging them in relevant content that you post online.
When you have defined a brief, the action you want to encourage and the benefit to the influencer (payment, partnership or exposure), reach out directly and invite them to take part in events, surveys or specific collaborative campaigns.
If you need help finding the right influencers and the content topics that resonate, Pink Mingo can provide clients with a Buzz and Influencer Mapping Report.
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