How to master Influencer Marketing b2B on LinkedIn

Linkedin in figures

Worldwide, LinkedIn has almost 800 million members. Of these, 40 million are decision-makers. Here is a breakdown of users by country, at the end of 2021:

• In France, LinkedIn has more than 23 million members, including an estimated 11.5 million monthly active members. This makes the Microsoft-owned social network the 6th largest social network in France;
• In Spain, the platform had 15 million users, which is equivalent to 32% of the population;
• In the United States, there are 188.4 million members as of December 2021, equivalent to 56% of the population, with an over-representation of the 25-34 age group;
• In Germany, LinkedIn has 12.9 million members, of which 7.2 million are aged 25-34.

The professional network has an average engagement rate of 2.61% for its pages in 2021. This puts it in a good position compared to competing networks as Facebook is just 0.26% and Twitter is even lower with only 0.05% average engagement rate in 2021.

Although we don’t spontaneously think of Linkedin when we talk about Influencer Marketing, the network can nevertheless push B2B decision-makers to make a purchase: 45.6% of them have discovered content that led to a purchase on LinkedIn (source: Siecledigital.fr) ! In recent years, the professional network has continued to develop into a true social network with many features that make it as attractive as its peers. Therefore, you may not want to leave it out of your next campaign.

Engaging collaboration formats on Linkedin

Linkedin offers different types of formats that will allow you to set up different and inspiring Influencer Marketing campaigns. Among the different formats offered by the social network, we can think of webinars, live events or – new – audio events! Let’s take a look at these different formats:

Webinars

With the current pandemic, more than ever, we are all looking for ways to connect with others remotely to limit the risks. Webinars are a great opportunity to spread messages, connect with communities, or even hold virtual events remotely.

In addition to the distance, webinars also allow you to reach a wider audience. You don’t have to worry about the number of participants you can accommodate in a traditional room. This is not only a strength in terms of logistics, but also a definite gain on the total cost of a marketing operation since the budget for organising a webinar will always be much lower than that of a physical event.

On Linkedin you have the opportunity to create an event page very easily from your company page or your personal profile, whether you are on a computer or from the mobile application. Your event can be: public, i.e. accessible to all LinkedIn members, or private, i.e. by invitation only from you.

And for this, Linkedin has everything planned! You can share your event directly with your relations in one click or choose to share it more widely via the direct URL link of your event that you can communicate to your ambassadors or on your various social networks.

Lives

Another option, live broadcasts are a great tool to connect with your audience, share relevant content and interact with your audience, advocate for your brand values, showcase products and call for quick action,… LinkedIn has also recently announced the launch of live audio later this month. “This month, we’re taking a big step forward and building on the success of LinkedIn Live broadcasts by launching a brand new interactive event experience that allows our members to more actively participate in the conversation,” Poses wrote in a recent post.

Audio (and video!) events

In the same spirit as ClubHouse, which attracted a large audience during the pandemic with its invitation-only audio events. Live events and live audio are two formats not to be underestimated on Linkedin, where internet users are, more than anywhere else, professionals.

With its new event platform, the Microsoft-owned social network will offer users the opportunity to participate in live conversations, join speakers “on stage” as part of the discussion, or make connections with others at an event to expand their networks after the event is over. In addition, while initially only audio functionality will be available, video functionality is expected to arrive in the coming months. Great prospects for your future Influencer Marketing campaigns!

B2B influencers who are experts in their fields

Unlike other social networks on the market today, LinkedIn is primarily a professional platform. And long before influencers emerged here, the professional network was designed to connect recruiters and job seekers. For a long time the platform was used as a recruitment tool. Today, Linkedin has become much more than that and is a real social network in its own right. But this heritage is nevertheless anchored in its DNA and it is quite naturally that the influencers present on the network diverge a little from those of other competing networks.

Linkedin KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) are real experts in their fields, they share their thoughts and develop their network around specific themes that are often less diversified than what we can find on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. Their words are also different, often of better quality, with more professional content. They mainly publish to inform, to meet a need or to find customers. Depending on your objectives, it may be appropriate to turn to Linkedin to find different influencers and thus, de facto, reach a different audience as well.

How to find Linkedin influencers?

Linkedin has its own list of influencers that contains high profile users of the platform. On this list you can find people like Melinda Gates, Gary Vaynerchuck, Elon Musk and other well-known people from the business world. Not sure if these are the type of influencers you want for your Influencer Marketing b2b campaigns.

But there are other tools to find influencers who are more likely to share your company’s values. You can use the search tool by using keywords specific to your sector or values to find a multitude of content published around these themes and find the influencer that will best suit you.

Another way to find influencers on Linkedin is to join the many private groups that exist on every possible theme. In the same way as for finding content, simply use the Linkedin search tool and filter on “groups”. Once you have joined the different groups that interest you, you only need to pay attention to those who post the most regularly and whose messages generate the most interest. These people are potential influencers that you may want to contact for your next Influencer Marketing campaigns.

Successful B2B Influencer Marketing campaigns

Influencer marketing has recently become popular with B2B players. Influencer agencies are even emerging to cover this new niche, such as the French agency “Les Années Folles“, specialised in BtoB influence marketing on Linkedin.

Influencer campaigns on the professional network can take different forms: interviews with experts, participation in a webinar or a live event, etc. But also more classic forms: content creation, product placement, service promotion,…

A few months ago, for example, the law firm Lexelians teamed up with Linkedin KOL Amélie Favre Guttet, who is followed by more than 200,000 people on Linkedin, to create a post on HR issues related to teleworking. The influencer and HR expert has a good grasp of the subject, which has allowed the firm to become a little more known thanks to this successful post.

Another example, Antoine, from the account “Antoine un Handicapé“, who regularly publishes on the subject, has joined forces with the platform Spanway, which aims to simplify the procedures for all people with disabilities. By partnering with an opinion leader on the subject, Spanway has given itself great visibility while being sure to reach people who are really concerned.