Getting in front of prospects is so much harder when you can’t easily meet over a coffee. Trade shows and conferences have shifted online but they don’t make it easy for people to interact. Meanwhile, business travel and face-to-face meetings are only just becoming more viable.

Now, more than ever, companies need to find innovative ways to be visible.

B2B influencers add credibility

A social influencer program can close the gap, building your brand and directly driving engagement with prospects and other industry leaders.

The term ‘influencer’ can sometimes have negative connotations in the B2C space. But in the B2B world, influencers are a very different proposition. According to research from Demand Gen Report, 95% of B2B buyers prefer credible content from industry influencers… and identify colleagues and peers as by far the most valuable content source when researching B2B purchases. Potential customers are likely to trust recommendations from people they know and from people who are experts in their fields.

Your people are a prime example of this. Your team will include experts who have deep insight and knowledge that could be made much more visible to the right target audiences.

To truly be noticed, your influencers also need to be connected to the right online conversations, where they can be seen by customers, prospects and partners. That means knowing who the most influential voices are and identifying the opportunities to engage.

Authentic voices

The power of social influencing lies in the opportunity to demonstrate an individual’s expertise and authenticity around a subject. It means that rather than acting as a corporate echo chamber, they offer strong opinions, thought leadership and insight to become a valued and trusted voice in the market.

How does it work?

At Platform, we believe that true influence is generated from both inside and outside an organisation. We take a 360-degree approach to B2B influencer relations and build our programs specifically to meet your individual business objectives. We can help you with set-up, content development, identifying regular social engagements, effective day-to-management and accurate reporting. We do this by:

• Empowering internal influencers: We make it easy for your team to share their expertise by identifying and refining topics, developing commentary and getting opinions heard in the right places. We help create compelling thought-leadership content, identify live opportunities for engagement and boost executives’ presence on social media.
• Engaging external influencers: We identify and prioritise the right kind of influencers, create appropriate opportunities for engagement and build strategic connections with your team.

Influencer relations offers a great platform for you to develop thought leadership, build the profile and visibility of your experts and drive sales. We’re running programmes for clients including ACCESS, Amino and MediaKind – collectively working with 25 executives and over 200 industry influencers. Here’s a case study on our work with ACCESS.

Please drop us an email here to learn more about how influencer relations can work for you.