7 Steps to Launching a Killer Tech B2B Influencer Marketing Campaign
“What’s in a name?” These days, everything. Although Shakespeare would have had to fast forward a couple of centuries in order to witness the peak of the influencer marketing movement as we know it today. The democratization of advertising space and production tools have given rise to a new generation of self-made experts, thought leaders, and creatives who share the spotlight with the film stars, models, and powerful political figures who, up until recently, monopolized important spaces of public opinion.
Now companies are faced with an interesting predicament: rather than a limited number of advertising resources, they’re virtually inundated by endless opportunities to leverage topical influencers to expand relevance and reach. However, for opportunistic tech companies diving into the influencer approach, the challenges are great. Identifying and managing the right influencer team, developing and executing the strategic content roadmap, tracking and demonstrating results - the approach is an investment of time and resources that can be, at this early stage in the B2B tech influencer marketing game, hard to initially justify.
Having been in this space for three years now and seeing results with large tech companies, I know the investment is worth it. Here are some stats: Influencer Marketing Hub released a report earlier this year that found that nearly 2/3 of businesses who budgeted for influencer marketing are increasing their spend. Further, companies that leveraged influencer marketing saw an 8x increase in ROI. Read more about this here.
Overwhelmed with where/how/when to start, for B2B tech marketers, dipping a toe into the influencer marketing pool can feel like getting thrown into the deep end. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering how to get started and who the best influencer to market your brand, product, or service at any given time is, then you’re certainly not alone.
But worry not, fellow marketers! Beverley Eve (my TechMode Co-Founder) and I, have developed a simple 7-step roadmap to navigate any company through even the most precarious of influencer marketing waters and ensure a big WIN for all stakeholders. From A to Z, we’ve developed the most successful methodology towards developing a KPI-slaying, Share of Voice winning content strategy, in 7 steps.
Let’s begin:
Step 1: Strategic Planning
It’s all about planning.
This phase is the most important. The influencer approach is 100% data-driven, so it’s critical to establish objectives and goals to benchmark success in real-time. At TechMode, we start with an exhaustive brand audit and conduct competitor analysis as the first step to strategic planning. Once we have a clear picture of where a brand stands, we work closely with the team to establish KPIs and work backward to identify the approach and build the strategic roadmap.
Over the last three years we’ve streamlined our processes and workflows with systems, platforms, and templates to plan and track content development and campaign progress, communicate with clients and influencer teams, streamline content creation and real-time sharing, etc. Organization, transparency, and constant communication of collective goals and progress will ensure everyone is rowing in the same direction. Which leads us to our next point.
Step 2: Team Selection
You have to make sure you have the right talent at the right time.
Determine the factors that matter most to the success of your influencer campaign (such as industry, digital platforms, content production quality, influencer reputation, audience, relevance, and expertise) and identify the candidates that fit each desired “persona” the best. Here’s where a lot of companies get bogged down because coordinating influencer participation is a job all on its own.
TechMode evaluates a client’s needs against our internal network of select tech influencers to swiftly identify and contact top candidates, ensuring that our influencer liaisons are 100% ready to collaborate with our project team from the get-go. We also work with some of the Industry's leading software platforms, such as Onalytica, to help throw a wider net and streamline the overall process.
Step 3: Team Coordination
Give your team what it needs to succeed.
This is the time to identify and set up workflows, deadlines, and expectations for the entire project team while also making sure that every single member has access to the programs, assets, training, and resources they need to do their individual and collective “best”. Effective group coordination and channel moderation are indispensable in order to keep the team and project running firmly on track.
Step 4: Content Production
In a world in which content is king, make every bit count.
So you have the talent and a communication plan in place; great! But those are just two pieces of a much larger puzzle. In fact, a lot more work goes into an attractive influencer campaign than meets the eye. Graphics, hashtags, filmed demos, trackable links, interviews, landing pages, recording devices, tweets, and music are all examples of assets that need to be crafted, coordinated, and combined well in advance to give an integrated campaign the best chances of engaging with audiences in a big way.
At TechMode we also recommend finding ways to use content across channels and create synergies across the web to expand the reach of your campaigns even further.
Step 5: Activation
Ready to launch in three, two, one...!
The content has been produced, the schedule is set, and it’s “all systems go”. But that doesn’t mean that the project team can rest on their laurels - far from it! Execution is just as important as planning and everyone needs to be on high alert to guarantee that the project plan is followed to the letter, or that emergent issues are caught in time to correct them ASAP.
Make sure you have a comprehensive check-list for every channel (be it Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Soundcloud, LinkedIn, etc.) to keep a watchful eye-in-the-sky during this critical phase in a project’s output. We tend to assemble global teams so that coverage is around-the-clock during heavy activation periods, which also ensures eyes are on the campaign 24/7.
Step 6: Reporting & Analysis
The only way to gauge a project’s success is through data-driven tracking.
Don’t wait until the end of your campaign to see if the standard KPIs and data points offered by the different media and social channels are the right ones for your company (odds are, they aren’t). Get the help of an internal or outsourced expert who can accurately configure them according to your reporting requirements and strategic goals.
That’s actually one of the main reasons why companies come to us for their B2B influencer campaign needs. At Techmode, we leverage the power of tracking systems (Onalytica, Keyhole, Brand24 are some of our favorites) and years of industry experience to develop detailed post-campaign reports for our clients that include custom metrics, comprehensive analysis, and actionable recommendations for future campaigns and implementations.
Step 7: Rinse & Repeat!
The influencer approach is not a one-and-done deal.
Momentum begets momentum. Once you establish baseline traction now is the time to turn up the dial. We take the learnings from your previous campaigns and apply them to the next one for consistently positive and incremental results. If you’ve established a great relationship with an influencer team that really speaks to your B2B clients and potential partners, then it’s up to you to keep the momentum of the first campaign going through the production of more and more engaging brand content in the days, weeks, and months to come.
Ready to get started on your B2B influencer strategy or want to enhance your current efforts with proven strategies? Email us and let’s set up a time to chat! To learn more about our process, check out this page.
Chelsea Larson-Andrews, TechMode Co-Founder