Tame the Power of Micro Influencers for Your B2B Marketing Strategy

Micro Influencers, B2B Marketing Strategy

What is a smarter way to create better market engagement than technology? Smarter people, of course!

It is no secret that learning from peers or experts trumps (pun intended for eyeballs) any kind of communication, however innovative. In the realm of investment decisions, influencer insights can be a leading light for any buyer. While the B2C industry is very clear that influencer communications for a product can help to get many more customers into your corner, the B2B sector is also slowly learning to follow suit. The B2C sector has seen at least 60% higher engagement rate with influencer marketing strategies, and it is time B2B also followed suit. Here are some ways to build a B2B marketing influencer community for your product, with insights on how to get it right.

While technology is a much bigger charmer, for some critical decisions, the biggest spenders still rely on good old-fashioned common sense, spoken with responsible authority in real-world marketing campaigns. Most buys see through ads, many see through artificially intelligent apps that pretend to deliver the human touch. The smartest ones are those who have the ability to learn from other people’s expertise and take lessons from their experiences.

The critical choice is, however, identifying the most suitable influencers and creating the right community for your market. The strategy needs to be cost-optimized and not be swayed by celebrity influencer options. Influencers are experts, whose decisions for purchase can be analyzed for insights. Celebrities sell on their large volume of blind love, which is not about wise spending but more about the heat of the moment. Therefore, it is never wise to confuse celebrities with influencers. Celebrities, also come at a cost, often a huge cost. Though influencers also cost money, it is much lesser than a celebrated name.

So how does a marketer identify micro influencers in the B2B segment?  Users that influence other people’s buying decisions have some easily identifiable attributes. They choose platforms that are most relevant to their field, log in regularly, or administer the system, and define perceptions of the experience. They generate trust in their inputs about products and their usage. They maintain transparency, share comments on customer support, and define the ease of use, value, and qualities of the product. For others, these attributes would become clear with use over time, but to make a buying decision, these inputs can create a huge impact.

However, the biggest difference between influencer marketing in B2C and B2B is that B2B needs a collective and multi-layered approach. For an enterprise, buying is never a unilateral, singular decision- there is the need to sell multiple solutions to multiple markets, and the influencer needs to be planned with that knowledge.

The starting points could be information on influencers’ patterns of discussion. They can be identified by their activities in the industry communications network, the value their opinion and inputs bring and their proven level of engagement and conviction. These points need to be studied well and the answers derived from them needs to be aligned with the brand vision of the product being marketed.

A good starting point would be an intelligent search campaign. Identifying influencers could be an online exercise as well, so it is good to choose a communicator, expert user with a robust social media presence. Often, local blogger meets can also prove helpful. Careful scrutiny then the valuation of content derived this way will become the next bog information revolution. Direct discussion meets, lectures and live demonstration of benefits is the way forward to marketers.