Most people have been talking about influencer marketing as the strategy that would likely replace content marketing and social media marketing. If this is the first time you are hearing about Influencer marketing, then you have come to the right place. You can visit homeworkdoer.org but in this article, we are going to discuss the two major forms of IM and their benefits.
Recent research shows that influencer marketing delivers better results and ROI than other forms of digital marketing. Working with B2B and B2C influencers has become a popular way for brands to share their content in a way that is authentic, while subtly helping audiences move further along the sales funnel.
B2C influencer marketing
Business-to-consumer influencer marketing refers to the tactics employed by companies using influential people or brands on social platforms to promote their products and services to individual people.
B2C influencers are responsible to promote the company’s messages to the intended consumers directly. They facilitate engagement and eventually promoting the brand running the campaign depending on the initial targets of the company. Companies engage influencers for the following reasons;
- Build brand awareness
- Build relationships
- Generate sales
- Reduce their workload when they are otherwise engaged
- Improve SEO
When it comes to B2C influencer marketing the consumers own the conversation. The influencers have the advantage of a huge following and create strategies to deliver the intended message to the targeted audience. The other advantage that B2C influencers have is that their message is delivered directly to the consumer resulting in a shorter sales cycle. They can address and engage the consumers directly, giving the company a high-touch, timely connection with consumers at every stage.
B2B Influencer marketing
Similar to B2C marketing, B2B influencer marketing refers to techniques employed by companies to use influential people and brands to promote their products and services to other businesses. This is a mutually beneficial partnership to promote their brands. The most common influencer marketing engagements are seen used to promote B2C products but let us look at a few B2B influencer practices that are being done.
- Link sharing and Backlinks; Establishing a recurring link sharing cadence with your influencer is an effective way of earning backlinks to improve your domain authority. The purpose of incorporating outbound links to your primary domain is to enhance user experience. If you and your influencer share contents with similar subjects you can integrate relevant links from your influencers site to your domain and vice versa.
- Guest Blogging; this method also asserts your domain authority as long as you and your influencer are practicing responsible link building. You can offer to host influencer-written content in your primary domain in exchange for their promotion of that piece of content which will naturally direct traffic to you.
- Social engagement; Facilitating calculated social engagements is beneficial for gaining brand awareness and driving traffic to your website and social media platforms. Establishing relationships with influencers during events and asking them to promote your services or content across their channel is a simple and effective way to increase your organic exposure and reach new prospects.
- Utilizing a crowdsourced review platform; Word of mouth has the highest conversion rate compared to any marketing method. With this in mind, you can leverage consumer review platforms which are popular resources for getting B2B reviews. Examples of these sites are G2 Crowd, Trust radius, and IT central station.
When done right influencer marketing can be very beneficial for B2B and B2C companies to generate leads. Make sure you re-evaluate your needs carefully before setting up a marketing strategy for higher ROI. Research extensively on what strategies other brands have used and borrow ideas from them.
