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#OnaChat: B2B Social Media and Influencer Marketing in 2022

by | Feb 10, 2022 | Best Practice,

In our latest #OnaChat Twitter Chat, we asked experts about B2B social media and Influencer Marketing in 2022. The conversation focused on what has changed throughout the pandemic, trends that are on the horizon, and tactics that are already in place. If you missed it, here’s the highlights…

What has surprised you most about B2B social media marketing through the pandemic to today?

Through the pandemic there was a sudden need for brands to move (very quickly) to digital-first. Most saw this as an opportunity and opted to dive into the world of video creation and virtual events. As this transition continues, it’s important to remember that your audience may now be online, but that doesn’t mean you can use social as a platform to shout your opinions, listen to your audience, and understand what they need from you.

What are your go-to B2B social media marketing platforms today and why? Can B2B social media break out beyond just Twitter and LinkedIn?

Be where your audience are. It’s always worth researching where your audience are most active, when they’re most active, and just be there, creating content that resonates with them. It seems that in the B2B world, Twitter and LinkedIn are still the go-to platforms, but there are brands that are branching out to TikTok and Instagram, what works for them might not work for you, don’t let this stop you from experimenting! You won’t get “cancelled” for trying.

Influencer marketing is anticipated to take off dramatically in 2022. What ways are you leveraging influencers in your marketing mix? 

Influencers can fit into every corner of your marketing mix, you shouldn’t just put them in a box – and while we’re at it, why only use one influencer? You could have a team of influencers helping you. Get the experts involved in creative direction, form those long-term mutually beneficial partnerships. Influential Experts are moving from a nice-to-have to a necessity, this works internally as well as externally. Align your internal Subject Matter Experts with external influential experts.

How have expectations of the influencer changed from a brand’s perspective?

B2B Influencer Marketing has shifted away from vanity metrics. Brands care less about engagements or video views, they want to drive action with their target audience. With this shift, collaborations have started feeling more like teamwork – what is it that benefits both parties, how do their values match yours? Pick someone who you want to work with for an extended period of time.

Any favourite examples of best practices or campaigns in B2B social media marketing? 

Best practice rules: Think of influencers as an extension of your own team, don’t treat them transactionally because you won’t get long-term results. Be genuine and give influencers creative freedom. They know what they’re doing, and they want to help you get the results that you want to see. Your audience will know when influencers they follow are being genuine, and when they’re being bought.

What tactics or techniques are you using to drive social media engagement and awareness?

Create content that resonates with your audience, create content that they care about, that they want to share, and then, re-purpose it. This is so important and not done enough. One video can turn into a podcast, soundbites, mini videos, a blog series, social cards – so much! Content should not be created and then left to gather e-dust. Create less, higher quality content, and make the most of it.

What’s your perspective on the use of video and drop-in audio for social media marketing? Is long form written content making a comeback?

Video is not used enough in B2B, or if it is, it isn’t used well enough. Don’t create videos for the sake of it, a bad quality video is like a badly written article. You cannot have a visual medium where the content is boring, and the sound and visual quality is subpar. Make sure your content is compelling, whatever format it’s in – there is no such thing as content that is too long, but there is content that is too boring.

How can influencers best be leveraged for online virtual events as well as in person events?

When people get influencers involved for events, whether they’re online or offline, they tend to forget about the period before and after the event. Influencers have the ability to market your event to their audience, and to talk about it afterwards. Don’t just involve them for a keynote and have them speak and leave, leverage them for the entire event journey.

In our next #OnaChat session, we’ll be talking about the Future of Work, if you’d like to tune in, be sure to add it to your calendar!

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