Amp It Up: What B2B Marketers Need to Know about Social Influencer Amplification

Allow me one more scary story, even though Halloween is over…

Once there was a marketer who created an eBook with content from ten respected influencers in their industry. The marketer released the eBook, sent an email to notify the contributors…

And not one of them shared the content. Without amplification, the content was dead on arrival, and some say it haunts the marketer’s office to this very day…

Whew! Spooky story, right? One of the big benefits of influencer marketing should be built-in amplification of the content. 

But influencers don’t always hold up their end of the bargain. Fortunately, there are a few things that B2B content marketers can do throughout the content co-creation process to help influencers follow through on amplification. 

5 Tips for Social Influencer Amplification

Before you even choose influencers for your project, you can start strategizing for maximum amplification. Here are my top tips in chronological order.

1 — Pick Influencers Who Engage

If you’re relying on follower count to choose the right influencers, you may be missing the mark. Some B2B thought leaders have hundreds of thousands of followers, but very rarely interact with their audience. The biggest red flag: If someone only posts links to their own content, they’re not likely to promote yours, even if they contributed to it.

Instead, look past follower count to find influencers who are enthusiastically engaging with their audience. They should be sharing other people’s valuable content, replying to comments on their posts, and generally treating social media like a conversation instead of a broadcast medium.

That genuine enthusiasm for their chosen subject matter is irreplaceable. If you have to choose between a broadcaster with millions of followers and an engaging expert with thousands, pick the latter.

2 — Give Before You Get

B2C influencer marketing is usually transactional: I give you these shoes, you post some videos of yourself skateboarding in them, I cut you a check. For B2B, however, we have an opportunity to build relationships that are mutually beneficial beyond just compensation. That’s not to say you shouldn’t pay influencers, of course — just that money shouldn’t be the only reason they’re on board.

To make sure you’re going beyond the transactional, start by selflessly promoting the influencers you’re courting. Share their content with your audience. Curate quotes from them and link back to their blog. Make sure you include thoughtful commentary that demonstrates your admiration is genuine.

In short, make sure the influencer knows you’re as dedicated to their success as you are to the brand’s — that’s how you build a relationship that makes influencers want to share your co-created content.

3 — Co-Create Something Awesome

Here’s a dispatch from the Stating the Obvious Department: If you want influencers to share your content, create content worth sharing. 

What does shareworthy content look like? Among other things:

• It’s valuable to the influencer’s audience
• It’s visually stunning and creative
• It’s a topic the influencer is passionate about
• The influencer was an essential part of the creative process, not grafted on at the end

For example, our client Dell created an eBook about data management. But it’s not a dry, dull document. Beat the Data Paradox borrows from spy and heist movies for an undeniably cool, fun reading experience. The influencers involved feel proud of the end product and incentivized to share.

4 — Form a Community

Influencer marketing can be a one-and-done process, starting from scratch with every new project or asset. But forming a community of influencers that are tapped for multiple projects is much more efficient, and a much better experience for brand and influencer alike.

When you feature multiple influencers in your content, make sure to introduce them to each other. Give them a dedicated space to interact and learn from each other, whether it’s a video call, a forum, or even an email chain. Encourage them to promote and lift each other up.

When influencers feel like they’re part of a community, they’re more likely to share the co-created content. Provided, of course, that you…

5 — Make Sharing Easy & Beautiful

B2B thought leaders are busy folks. They may absolutely intend to amplify your content, but never get a chance to sit down and put a post together. You can help by providing a “social media kit” that removes as much friction as possible.

Our agency always provides pre-written social messages and images for influencers. They’re welcome to create their own, of course — but this ensures they’ll have something that’s high-quality and ready to share with minimal effort. We’ve found that influencers appreciate the gesture, and are more likely to share even if they don’t make use of our resources.

Ensure Ample Amplification

Amplification isn’t the only reason to include influencers in your content, of course. There’s added credibility, increased relevance, the chance to feature potential clients — a host of benefits. But the ability to get great content in front of more eyeballs is a substantial benefit for influencer marketing.

If your influencer contributors are enthusiastic about the topic, love the content you create together, and have resources on hand to make sharing easy, they’re far more likely to amplify.

Check out our State of B2B Influencer Marketing report for more insights and best practices.