What Your Clients Must Know About B2B Marketing Influencers

BY Kathy Crosett
B2Bmarketinginfluencers

The use of B2B marketing influencers will be a growing trend in 2025. The B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report by TopRank Marketing shows the challenges businesses face with this format. With the tips listed below and your expertise, your clients will soon be acing their use of influencers.

B2B Marketing Influencers Are In Demand

Over half of surveyed businesses, 53%, say they have a dedicated and growing marketing budget for their influencers. But having a budget and experiencing a good ROI are two different things.

One of the first challenges your clients face is finding an influencer who fits with their business. 48% of surveyed businesses signaled that they face this problem.

Around half of businesses use social media searches or rely on recommendations from trusted sources to find the right influencer. But 39% turn to their agency for help.

Businesses recognize that agencies can save them time in the hunt for the right influencer. And 29% believe the agency can do a better job of contract negotiations in terms of deliverables and payment. If your agency offers this service, tout your expertise to clients.

Going Small Can Be Effective

Another effective tactic for B2B operators is the use of micro-​influencers. Working with people who have a small but devoted following is helpful. This is especially true when a niche business needs to use precision audience targeting.

A recent Digiday report revealed that the influencer market is currently “saturated.” Analysts noted that agencies are now encouraging clients to seek out micro-​influencers who have “expertise and a loyal following.”

How to Measure Influencer Campaigns

After businesses find the right influencers, other challenges remain. For example, the challenge of measurement looms large. As with many other marketing investments, it can be difficult to know just how effective B2B marketing influencers are.

Establishing Metrics

One approach is to set objectives for a campaign. Decide whether the campaign will drive brand awareness or demand generation.

Once those details are finalized, B2B operators must determine which metrics to use for measuring success. Businesses in the TopRank Marketing report revealed the following metric use:

A Note About Engagement Rates

In the Digiday report, nano-​influencers were found to have an engagement rate of 2.43%. Mega-​influencers have an engagement rate of 0.92%. As your clients consider likely engagement levels and costs, they should consider these numbers.

How to Use Influencers

B2B marketing influencers got their start on social media. Whether it was text, images or video, influencers connected with decision-​makers. As the industry matures, marketers are asking influencers to do more.  In particular, they are using content in a variety of ways. The most effective content formats appear to be:

  • Social media posts 56%
  • In-​person events 39%
  • Webinars/​interviews/​interactive content 34%
  • Video 29%
  • Livestreams 28%

With so many influencers crowding the digital space, it can be difficult to get noticed.

B2B operators report that unique content (64%) and creative campaigns (61%) from their influencers make the biggest impacts.

How AI Can Help

B2B organizations want the best possible outcome from their B2B marketing influencers. But they also need to keep their costs under control. This situation is perfect for the application of AI.

If your clients are curious about what their competition is doing with respect to AI, the TopRank survey has some answers. B2B operators are using AI as follows:

  • Content creation 57%
  • Performance tracking 54%
  • Influencer identification and selection 48%
  • Campaign optimization  47%
  • Audience segmentation 44%

B2B Audience Targeting

As you develop your expertise with B2B marketing influencers, you’ll be pitching prospects. You can learn which prospects respond to email advertising or social media by studying their personas. This information is available in B2B BuyerSCAN with a subscription to AdMall.

Photo on Pexels by George Milton.


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