21 FAQs on B2B Influencer Marketing

This one goes out to all the skeptical B2B marketers that are sure Influencer Marketing is not for them.

1. Wait, what is B2B Influencer Marketing??

This is when a B2B brand pays an Influencer to post about them/their product on the Influencers social media channel/s. As opposed to B2C Influencer Marketing, in this case the Influencers are targeting and followed by B2B decision makers rather than direct consumers. The idea is simple - for the brand to reach B2B marketing/sales goals via effective content marketing taking advantage of the Influencer’s content creation talent and own distribution channels to deliver the desired messages to their following and other relevant potential customers on social media. The beauty of working with influencers lies in their authenticity and ability to deliver your brand message in their unique way and style. In other words, they are off-brand and that is WHY working with them is so powerful. They are Influencers for a reason. If you understand this basic concept, you will be able to do wonders with Influencers.?

2. Is Influencer Marketing suitable for all B2B brands??

Yes. Every niche has its influencers. Your brand may be part of a very small niche so your pool of influencers may be smaller however, this could be an advantage as their footprint within that niche and the engagement rates they receive could be very high. Competition could be a disadvantage in this case so perhaps consider paying more for exclusivity with certain influencers.?

3. Is Influencer Marketing effective for brand awareness and/or user acquisition/sales??

Yes, all of the above. Influencer Marketing can be used for either goals however the goal will determine many important factors of your campaign, including the influencers you choose to work with, so make sure it is clear from the get go. For example, if you are working with influencers to raise brand awareness, then you can focus more on content creativity and less on “what sells”, UTMs and CTAs. On the other hand, if you need to generate sales from the campaign, you need to be far more selective with the influencers you choose to work with, more aggressive with your messaging and continue working only with those that are really able to sell your product.?

4. What stage of the Marketing Funnel can B2B Influencer Marketing affect??

This depends on your goal and the product. It can be either. For example, if you want to work with Influencers to raise brand or product awareness then you are looking to affect the top of your funnel. However, you could choose to work with Influencers in ways that would affect the later stages of the funnel too, such as using long form Youtube content (educational / How to videos for example) targeting potential customers with higher intent.?

5. How do I find suitable influencers for my brand/product/campaign??

Influencer Discovery is an extremely important stage and is the foundation of your campaign so do not take it lightly. First, define exactly what you are looking for, what type of influencer would make most sense for your campaign? Which Platforms should they be on? Min followers? Min number of views? Engagement rates? etc. There are many tools out there that can help you with this however, you will most likely yield the best results doing this search organically, searching for relevant keywords on each platform. And, once you find a few relevant influencers, research their network and see who they are following too to find similar influencers. The discovery process will become easier with time however be very patient the 1st time around, it will take you hours!?

6. Which social media platforms work best for B2B Influencer Marketing?

This depends on the niche you are targeting for your campaign - whatever platform your users and potential users are on, you need to be on too! If you do not know where to start, invest a few hours in Influencer Discovery, starting on Google or ChatGPT for example, the results will indicate which social media platforms the Influencers are on. Being a B2B brand, Linkedin should be on that list too.?

7. How much budget do I need for an Influencer Marketing campaign??

If you’ve never done an Influencer Marketing campaign before and you’re looking to “test the waters” then it would depend on the platform you want to focus on and the type of content you are looking to do. For a 1st time testing experience, I would say $5K is a good min budget for Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter or Linkedin. If you are looking at Youtube long form videos then you will most probably need a higher budget. However, if this is not a 1st time experiment and you want to make an impact (again, depending on goals, platform, influencer tiers and more), I’d say $20k-$50k is a good starting point for working with B2B nano and/or micro influencers.?

8. How much do B2B Influencers charge??

Influencer pricing is a wild west and this is true for B2B too. There are so many variables and factors and it changes from niche to niche. For example, when looking at micro influencers only (roughly 10K-500K following), a sponsored dedicated Instagram reel or Tiktok video can cost you anywhere between $100-$3000. A sponsored tweet or Linkedin post can cost you anywhere between $300-$1500. And, a long form dedicated youtube video can be anywhere between $2K-$20K. Asking a few influencers for pricing will give you a better indication for your niche.?

9. Should I hire an Influencer Marketing agency or do it in house??

This depends on your ability to handle it in house or not. Managing Influencer Marketing campaigns is a full time job and extremely time consuming, with many steps and challenges involved. Think about it, let’s say you are working on one campaign that consists of 20 or 30 influencers - they need to be sourced, negotiated, signed, onboarded, you need to review the content, give feedback, make sure they are on schedule, monitor performance, and more. It ain’t a quick win. Therefore, If you don’t have the capacity to do it properly in house then yes, outsource. Either do it seriously or don't do it at all. There are MANY talented agencies out there. However, if you do have the capacity and if you have not yet worked with influencers before, I highly recommend keeping it in house or at least doing the 1st campaign in house. Why? Because doing it yourself is the best way to learn how it works and what works. Which is a valuable lesson before you outsource. Also, doing it in house means you own the relationship with the Influencers which, in my opinion, is one of the most important aspects of working with influencers in your niche and a good relationship is one you can go way beyond the sponsored content. In fact, I think that's where the magic happens.?

10. How much do B2B Influencer Marketing agencies charge per campaign??

From my experience only, I am seeing agencies charging 15% to 25% of the campaign budget and a min of $20K/$50K investment per campaign. Some agencies charge a flat fee which can be equivalent to those percentages depending on the budget.?

11. Is Influencer Marketing suitable for a product launch??

Yes, of course. In my opinion, working with Influencers on sponsored content is good for both a focused campaign within a specific timeframe and great for a long term, ongoing content strategy. In my experience, budget permitting, you want to combine both and keep a daily/weekly cadence going to not lose momentum.?

12. Is UGC relevant for B2B brands??

Yes. UGC (User Generated Content) is an incredible way to get good quality content fast, overtaking any production costs, content or editing resources. Working with UGC creators, you can buy videos, publish them on your brand channels and promote them too. UGC videos are usually cheaper than sponsored Influencer videos as the price is for the content only and not the distribution.?

13. Can a brand boost/promote an Influencer post/video??

This is indeed possible and super effective on almost all platforms. When a brand does this, the post is boosted from the Influencer’s channel, not the brand’s. So all new views, engagement and followers are gained by the Influencer. Of course, this can only be done if approved by the Influencer. This is not a must and depends on your campaign goal, budget etc. You could definitely see this as an organic only activity. You can also decide to only promote your most strategic posts. This ability is possible on Linkedin too which is amazing for B2B brands.?

14. Is Influencer Marketing on Linkedin worth it?

Yes, yes and yes. For B2B brands, this feels like a must to me and almost foolish to not do it considering Linkedin is the most powerful B2B social media platform today. Your customers and potential customers are all there, so you need to be there too.

15. Besides sponsored videos, are there other ways to work with B2B influencers??

Many, in fact. If you think of B2B Influencers as Thought Leaders that are also awesome content creators there are so many things you can do with them beyond the sponsored posts/videos. Invite them to speak on a webinar, give a keynote session at your annual conference, provide product feedback, provide marketing consultation, publish a report together and much more.?

16. Which B2B Influencer Marketing strategies are most successful?

Sorry, I don’t have a magic answer for this one as it really depends on your goals. If you are after brand awareness for example, then various sponsored content and content collaborations are ideal. If you are looking to close some really hot leads, then inviting an Influencer to speak at an event could well do the trick and help you close those deals.?

?17. How do you measure B2B Influencer Marketing campaigns??

Depending on the goal, you can measure success in various ways. Views and engagement if you are looking at it from a brand awareness perspective or new user registrations/sales via UTM tracking or an affiliate link if this is a sales play. Make sure to have your reporting sorted out BEFORE you go live…if you can’t measure it, it didn’t happen, right??

18. Which tools can help manage B2B Influencer Marketing workflow??

There are many tools and platforms out there to help you better manage your workflow, manage payments and content calendars etc. Once you start looking, you will quickly feel confused as there are so many and they claim to do the same however in reality they are different. Taking the tool out for a spin and understanding how the Influencer will interact with the tool should help you choose a good tool. To be honest, you can also do very well using your own project management tools like Monday.com, Notion, Google sheets etc. so this is not a must.?

19. Is B2B Influencer Marketing good for a 1 off campaign or long term strategy??

Both. One offs are nice however a long term strategy is what you really need to create impact. Influencer Marketing is not a quick win, it's more of a long term commitment if you want to do it right.?

20. Any emerging trends in B2B Influencer Marketing??

Hmmmmm….I’ve worked with hundreds of Influencers and as far as I am concerned what matters are best practices and what works for your goals rather than chasing trends. The creator economy is ever changing, trends popping up and disappearing all the time, even more so with AI tools and AI generated Influencers. I personally like to get updated here on Linkedin following industry experts as well as newsletters that specialize in Influencer Marketing.?

21. How will AI generated Influencer affect B2B Influencer Marketing??

Time will tell. I personally think AI generated influencers will add a new dimension to the industry rather than replace it entirely. I have not yet worked with an AI generated Influencer however I am open to trying, once I find one in my niche. Having said that, I love working with Influencers because of their authenticity which I think is nonexistent when it comes to AI…

Still skeptical? comment with any additional questions you'd like me to answer.