B2B Influencer Marketing: Groundbreaking Tactic or Emperor’s New Clothes?

It’s widely accepted that B2B marketing trends typically follow a little way behind the tactics and techniques being used by our consumer marketing counterparts.

If we cast our minds back to the early days of the social media boom, while B2C marketers were quick to start exploring its marketing potential, the uptake by B2B marketers was relatively conservative for several years.  

It is somewhat inevitable then that influencer marketing – hugely significant in consumer PR and marketing – is gaining traction in the B2B arena, with numerous commentators eager to tell marketers that it should become an essential part of their marketing strategies.

So, is B2B influencer marketing gaining in popularity, what does it look like in practise, and should you be doing it?

The Rise of Influencer Marketing in B2B

There’s certainly plenty of research out there about how important influencer marketing is becoming to B2B marketers.

LinkedIn tells us that 94% of B2B marketers see using influencers as a successful tactic.  While analysis of the B2B Marketing Awards 2024 by the online publication B2B Marketing shows that 51.33% of entries incorporated some form of influencer marketing.

But dig a little deeper with some of this research and the picture becomes murkier.

With the B2B Marketing stats, for example, only 2.3% of influencer focused campaigns used social media influencers.

And herein possibly lies the problem. The descriptor of what is going out there is misleading.

Definition of B2B Influencer Marketing

In its simplest terms, B2B influencer marketing refers to the use of an industry expert or influential person to promote products or services to a business audience.

But the term influencer has become so ubiquitous that it immediately calls to mind a consumer influencer on TikTok or Instagram who is independent of any organisation.

This type of influencer remains rare in the world of B2B, because unless a person is working with or around a product, service or sector for many years, it is unlikely they will have the level of technical knowledge required to be credible with the target audience.

A second issue is that the more complex the sale, and the more complex the stakeholder map, the less likely it is that traditional influencer marketing will work.

Instead, in B2B terms, the ‘influencers’ being referred to are more likely to be anyone from an industry expert or academic, to an employee or business leader, and the channels they are using will not necessarily be social platforms.

Examples of B2B Influencer Marketing

Let’s take an automation company trying to sell into Network Rail for example. The stakeholder map would likely include technical experts, procurement, operations, IT, systems integrator companies, contractors to fit the kit – the list goes on and on. Finding an external influencer who can talk the language and be credible in front of them all is a tall order.

Where influencer marketing, in the consumer-sense of the phrase, can work is with simpler stakeholder maps with a restricted number of decision-makers, such as sole traders, SMEs and entrepreneurs. We’ve certainly delivered a number of highly successful B2B campaigns using this tactic, from social campaigns for Checkatrade connecting directly with target audiences in an engaging manner, to a product launch for REHAU where a credible influencer was able to build advocacy with the very people who would be installing the product.  

Our Take on INfluencer Marketing For B2B Brands

So, what is really going on in the world of B2B influencer marketing?

In our view, what we’re seeing is the rise of industry experts, often located within a company or organisation with the experience and credibility to provide real value to external stakeholders, who are themselves highly experienced and technically astute.

Both traditional channels and social platforms, particularly LinkedIn, will be used to communicate with stakeholders, and the influencer element of the marketing activity will be strategically linked to wider activity. B2B PR has long played a significant role in this area, helping individuals and brands build authority, amplify messages and connect with key audiences in a meaningful way. However, it’s clear that this is a very different persona compared to a consumer Instagram or Tiktok influencer.

In fact, some might just call it thought leadership.

The author: Tom Leatherbarrow is a director at WPR, specialising in strategies and content marketing for B2B audiences.