Building Success with Influencer Marketing

During Jen Candlish’s speaker session at IBS 2024, she spoke about how the world of influencer marketing has changed and expanded – moving beyond B2C marketing into B2B. She also identified the many different types of influencers and how building materials brands could use them to differentiate their strategies, strengthen their brand loyalty, build credibility and so much more. Our blog post, The influencer space has changed: Now there’s something and (someone) for everyone, has all the information you need on how influencer marketing has changed. 

5 steps to building success with influencer marketing.

Before you go diving head first into a brand-new influencer marketing strategy, there is some foundational groundwork to do. Here are 5 steps building materials brands can take to be successful with their influencer marketing program.

> Set clear goals. 

This step may seem like an obvious one, but it’s one of the biggest ones that we see get skipped when starting with influencer marketing. Working with influencers is 80% planning and 20% execution. Before jumping in too quickly, you need to clearly define your objectives and what type of influencer will help achieve them. For example, if you’re looking to increase visibility, then choosing an influencer with a large following—like a macro influencer—is your best option. Whether it’s to establish credibility, increase audience reach or create content that speaks to a particular need, setting these different goals will affect how to set up your influencer marketing strategy and who you’ll be looking to partner with. Without clear goals, you also won’t be able to measure your program’s success effectively. 

> Know your audience. 

Yes, you know your audience. You know their company, their role and their industry. But what do you know about the content they’re consuming? Which social media platforms are they spending their time on? Which types of content do they prefer to consume? How are they engaging on the platform? Are they asking questions or leaving comments? Knowing this is important, because influencers don’t tend to span across different platforms. One who may have a strong following on Instagram may not have that same strong following on LinkedIn. Understanding where your audience is interacting the most is key to selecting an influencer who is going to have the biggest impact on that channel.

> Choose authenticity. 

According to a recent study from Gartner, B2B buyers value third-party interactions 1.4 times more than those with digital suppliers. And peer reviews are one of the top forms of influencer content. In fact, 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. The reason users are trusting influencers is because they believe them. They connect with them on a deeper level. They value their opinions about their brand and product experiences, and they want to hear that first hand. So, knowing all of this, it’s crucial that the social influencer you partner with is authentic. Our latest Constructive Insights episode talks about the importance of authenticity for online experiences. 

On top of this, you want to ensure your influencers align with your brand. Do they share the same values, personality and perspectives as you? By digging a bit deeper and looking at both quantitative and qualitative factors (through social tools), you can ensure the influencer you choose matches your brand personality and passion, so that together you create a strong, genuine message.  

“They want real people and real perspectives on the things that matter to them.”
– Jen Candlish

> Make your content work harder for you.

Remember that your content doesn’t have to be one and done. By slicing and dicing your content, you can place it on different social platforms, at different times, in different formats. When considering the duration of your influencer marketing campaigns, think about having a longer-term program, one that allows for more connection, trust and recognizability. Lastly, amplify that content through your sales enablement process, paid posts or your email marketing campaigns. All of these strategies can utilize your partnership to the max and get more use and more awareness to drive success further.

> Track, measure and learn. 

Once your influencer marketing program is over, go back to see if the metrics you’ve chosen were the right ones and how your program performed against them. Engagement rates, referral codes, UTM tracking, etc. can all pinpoint unique sources of traffic and the steps users took within the buyer journey.

Let’s connect.

Need support creating a social influencer marketing program? From laying a strong foundation of brand objectives and campaign goals to identifying the right social influencer program, our team can help your building materials brand get noticed, get selected and get installed. Contact us – we’d love to chat with you.