B2B Influencer Ecosystem: Unveiling the power of niche thought leaders

Authored by Kamal Krishna, CEO, Mobilise.

Between online ads and influencers on social media platforms like Instagram, there is enough noise already that drowns out original content. But that’s typical of B2C marketing - jingles and loud claims are commonplace, where everyone is trying to outdo the other to get their brand heard over the cacophony.

B2B marketing is tougher, where noise holds little to no value. An organisational decision maker, or CXO is not only difficult to impress, they are oftentimes actively trying to avoid noise, if not advertising, altogether. Long purchase cycles, high value purchases and involvement of multiple stakeholders in the buying process also means that influencing decisions must rise to entirely new levels, and include very different approaches.

B2B influence, therefore, stems from two sources.

First are the internal influencers - these are leaders, team members, and end-users whose inputs and advice are crucial to big-ticket decisions. E.g. a company looking to transform digitally by changing their tech stack would require information, guidance and feedback from a broad set of internal stakeholders. Such an inclusive exercise also helps the decision maker ensure a level of certainty in decision making, as any wrong step can have a wide-ranging impact across the company, its revenues, and competitiveness.

Another influence comes from thought leaders - oftentimes external - who play a significant role in shaping perceptions, as well as decisions. This, however, isn't limited to social media influencers only.

Recently, a deep dive research into the B2B buyers’ decision factors shows that B2B buyers typically complete 80% of the homework even before calling competitive quotes or bids. The homework includes extensive research that procurement and user teams undertake via multiple 3rd-party sources, as illustrated in the chart, shaded yellow. What’s interesting to observe here is that a seller’s own website or literature (marked green) has limited effect beyond awareness and information validation.

The exercise outlines the deep impact 3rd-party sources - including thought leaders - tend to make on buying decisions, and consequently the importance of their inclusion within marketing and sales strategies. A great product or solution can gain exponentially, when thought leadership is made an indispensable chapter in the B2B marketing playbook, and amplified through strategic influencer marketing.

B2B influencers, often industry experts with dedicated audiences, hold the power to shape perceptions and perspectives, adding an invaluable layer of authority and credibility. Trust, the cornerstone of lasting relationships, becomes the currency that can seal deals and fortify client bonds.

To answer as to how brands can go about choosing B2B influencers strategically, we look at social media, where “who says it” matters as much as “what is said”. Another thing to keep in mind is that unlike B2C, B2B influencers are far and wide.

Coming to the ideal parameters to pick the right B2B influencer/ thought leader, I will illustrate a scenario where a Cloud Computing company is seeking external, thought leading influencers.

The key factors can be weighed in via what we refer to as the “PIE” score - or Performance, Influence and Engagement Rating - which considers the following parameters:

Reach - Looking beyond follower counts, PIE scrutinises the qualitative aspects of an influencer's audience and engagement. A genuine connection and meaningful interaction often outweighs sheer numbers.

Relevance - An open source expert can oftentimes create opinions around cloud computing with futuristic perspectives added in. PIE can be used to identify such connections using detailed, as well as quick content audits, besides broad-based checks to determine not only who follows the influencer, but also who the influencer follows and engages with.

Resonance - What matters more than followers is just how the influencer’s content resonates with the audience, as well as related technologies. PIE gauges this through a deep dive into the audience interactions within comments, reposts and more.

Reference - One key attribute for B2B thought leaders is how often they are referenced by media as well as users and other influencers. To figure this out, PIE dives into the person’s historical content, picking out citations across platforms.

Channels - Going beyond popular channels like X and Instagram where B2C influencers are prevalent, PIE discovers B2B thought leaders across blogs, websites, sites like Github, and a variety of online forums.

Quality - Content and its qualitative impact remains key to thought leadership. Through PIE, we are also able to determine whether the tone of the influencers aligns to the brand, any current or past issues, and many other factors that are crucial to ensure that the brand recruiting the influencer remains in safe hands.

Thought leadership isn’t a numbers game alone. Brands must seek influencers with genuine expertise to foster alignment that transcends numerical metrics. Importantly, in B2B, consistency triumphs over trends, and cultivating enduring relationships with influencers contributes to this consistency to transform niche content into a sustained thought leadership journey.