Influencer Outreach Strategy: A 9-Step Guide for B2B Marketers

Influencer marketing has become nearly essential in B2B.

In fact, 94% of B2B marketers say influencer marketing is a successful strategy, and 81% of organizations now have dedicated influencer marketing budgets (over half are even increasing them). This surge in investment reflects the strategy's effectiveness – the influencer marketing industry’s value is projected to hit $24 billion by 2024. 

Why the enthusiasm? Because it works: buyers trust voices they respect. 63% of consumers trust what influencers say about your products more than what your company says. The right influencer can lend credibility, amplify your message, and ultimately drive high-quality leads and sales for B2B brands.

But success isn’t guaranteed. B2B influencer outreach requires a strategic, authentic approach distinct from the celebrity-focused campaigns of B2C. In B2B, effective influencers are often niche thought leaders or industry experts rather than flashy social media stars. Collaborations tend to focus on education and trust-building – for example, webinars are the top content format in B2B influencer programs (used by 81% of brands) instead of just product plugs. 

In this guide, we’ll walk through 9 actionable steps to build and execute a successful influencer outreach strategy tailored for B2B marketing in 2025. Follow these steps to discover relevant influencers, foster authentic partnerships, and turn those relationships into real business results.

Step 1: Define clear campaign goals and KPIs

Every great influencer outreach strategy starts with knowing what you want to achieve.

Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, generate leads, boost engagement, or drive sales? Be specific. For instance, is your goal to reach a new segment of IT decision-makers on LinkedIn, to have influencers generate qualified demo requests for your B2B software, or to co-create content that positions your brand as a thought leader in your industry? Defining the primary objective will guide all your outreach efforts and metrics.

Take the time to establish concrete Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tied to your goal. If brand awareness is the aim, your KPIs might include social impressions, share of voice, or content views. For lead generation or sales, you might track referral traffic, conversion rate, or revenue influenced. Make sure these KPIs are measurable and realistic given the scope of your campaign. It also helps to get stakeholder buy-in on what success looks like upfront.

Grounding your strategy in clear goals keeps everyone aligned and helps you measure ROI later. It’s worth noting that B2B influencer campaigns often balance short-term and long-term goals. 

In one study, sales (35.6%) emerged as the leading goal for influencer campaigns, followed by brand awareness (24.4%). In other words, many programs seek immediate business outcomes and broader brand lift. Decide which balance makes sense for your organization. For example, you might use influencers to drive webinar sign-ups (a short-term lead generation goal) while also increasing awareness in a new vertical (a longer-term goal). By pinning down your objectives and how you’ll gauge success, you set the foundation for a focused outreach strategy that serves your business needs.

Step 2: Understand your target audience and channels

With goals in hand, the next step is clarifying who you want to reach and where those people engage. In B2B marketing, your target audience might be specific roles or industries – for example, CFOs in fintech, manufacturing CIOs, or digital marketing directors at SaaS companies. Create a clear profile of your ideal audience: their job titles, pain points, and what information they seek. This will inform the kind of influencers who can credibly speak to them. For instance, if you’re targeting software developers, tech bloggers, or a respected GitHub or YouTube coding personality might have sway. If you’re targeting healthcare executives, you may look at industry analysts or prominent voices on healthcare management forums.

Equally important is identifying the platforms and content formats your audience pays attention to. Unlike B2C campaigns that might center on Instagram or TikTok, B2B influencer strategies often gravitate to platforms like LinkedIn, X, YouTube, or industry-specific blogs and podcasts. In fact, LinkedIn has seen a notable rise (+2.2%) in use for influencer marketing, signaling growing interest in B2B influencer campaigns on that platform. If your prospects spend time on LinkedIn groups or regularly read certain trade publications, those are the arenas where your influencer outreach should concentrate. Similarly, think about the format: busy professionals may prefer an insightful blog, white paper, or webinar over an ephemeral Instagram Story. Align your outreach plan with where your audience already is.

As you map this out, gather data if possible. Your own social listening or web analytics can reveal which channels drive B2B traffic for your brand. Also consider the buyer’s journey: early-stage prospects might discover thought leadership content via search or social media, whereas later-stage buyers might respond well to case studies or webinars featuring an industry expert. By understanding your audience’s habits, you can choose the optimal channels – be it a LinkedIn Live session, a guest article on a niche site, or a YouTube product demo – and the right influencers on those channels to effectively carry your message.

Step 3: Discover and shortlist the right influencers

Now it’s time to find the influencers who can move the needle for your goals. In B2B, bigger isn’t always better – relevance and credibility are key. Start by searching within your industry niche for individuals who produce content your target audience trusts. These could be independent subject matter experts, prominent bloggers, analysts, savvy customers, or micro-influencers in your sector. Look for people who regularly speak on topics related to your product or industry and have an engaged following of the audience you want to reach. Engagement and authority matter more than follower count here. In fact, B2B decision-makers tend to trust industry experts and thought leaders over generic celebrities, so prioritize influencers who demonstrate deep expertise and credibility.

There are several ways to discover potential partners:

• Organic search – Monitor industry hashtags, LinkedIn posts, or forums for frequent contributors. See who’s being quoted in trade publications or speaking at conferences.
• Customer and employee insights – Ask your sales teams or customers whose blogs or podcasts they follow for professional insights. Sometimes your own employees or brand evangelists could be micro-influencers to leverage (think technical engineers with a YouTube following, for example).
• Social listening tools – Use social media monitoring to find people frequently discussing relevant keywords or your brand. Who’s leading conversations that matter to your space?
• Influencer databases/platforms – To save time, consider using an influencer marketing platform like Brandwatch Influence. Such a platform lets you filter creators by industry, audience demographics, engagement rate, etc. For example, Brandwatch Influence’s discovery tool tracks 50M+ global creators, making it easy to pinpoint niche B2B influencers that fit your criteria. You can quickly pull up a shortlist of influencers who match your target region, topic, and audience size, all in one place.

As you build your shortlist, remember that quality beats quantity. Research shows that working with smaller, highly focused influencers can be extremely effective. Nearly half of marketers report successful partnerships with micro-influencers. It makes sense – an influencer with 5,000 very relevant followers can drive more meaningful engagement than one with 500,000 random followers. In fact, data shows nano-influencers (under 5k followers) boast an average 2.5% engagement rate, significantly higher than mega-influencers with over a million followers (around 0.9% engagement).

The takeaway: zero in on influencers who align closely with your niche and have a track record of engaging the exact people you want to reach. These trusted voices, even if “smaller” by social metrics, often punch above their weight in B2B influence.

Step 4: Research and vet your prospective influencers

With a shortlist of potential influencers in hand, do your homework before reaching out. An influencer might look great at first glance, but you need to vet them thoroughly to ensure they’re the right fit for your brand and campaign.

Start by reviewing their content in depth. Are they truly knowledgeable about the topics important to your audience? Scroll through their blog posts, LinkedIn articles, videos, or posts. Look for consistency in quality and a tone that aligns with your brand values. For B2B, you’re ideally looking for someone who offers insight and thought leadership, not just flashy self-promotion.

Examine their audience and engagement as well. Who are their followers – do they match your target demographic (for example, professionals in relevant industries or roles)?

Check the quality of engagement on the influencer’s posts: Are people asking thoughtful questions, commenting, and showing trust? A smaller community with lively, relevant discussion is better than a huge following with minimal genuine interaction. Watch out for any red flags like fake followers or spammy engagement; an unusually low engagement-to-follower ratio or generic bot-like comments can indicate an inflated follower count. (Fortunately, influencer fraud is on the decline – only 37% of accounts showed signs of fraud in 2022, down from 50% in 2021 – but it’s still something to check.) Tools like Brandwatch Influence can assist here too, by providing data on an influencer’s audience demographics and engagement metrics all in one dashboard.

It’s also wise to background-check the influencer’s history and reputation. Have they posted any controversial opinions that conflict with your brand’s stance? Have they promoted competitors or many other products recently (which might dilute their credibility)? Ensure there’s no conflict of interest and that their personal brand and professionalism will enhance, not hurt, your brand’s image. If possible, test the waters by engaging subtly: follow them from your brand or personal account, leave a thoughtful comment on their content, or see if anyone in your network has worked with them before. This can provide insight into how responsive and easy to work with they might be. Ultimately, you want to approach only those influencers who check out on relevance, authenticity, and reputation – the ones you feel confident will represent your brand well and resonate with your audience.

Step 5: Craft a personalized outreach and value proposition

Now comes the moment of truth: reaching out to your chosen influencers. This step can make or break your influencer outreach strategy because a cold, generic pitch will likely be ignored (or outright rejected). Influencers – especially valuable B2B experts – receive countless collaboration requests, so you need to cut through the noise with a personal touch.

Choose the right way to reach out

First, decide on the best communication channel. Often, a well-written email is the most professional and reliable way to get their attention (many influencers list contact information in their bio or website). Direct messages on LinkedIn, X, or Instagram can work as a casual introduction, but emails are easier to track and often preferred for business inquiries, and as one guide notes, influencers get dozens of DMs daily but check their email for serious inquiries. You might even do both: send a brief DM mentioning you emailed them about an opportunity. In any case, ensure your message stands out.

Personalize each outreach message

Address the influencer by name and show that you know who they are and what they do. Reference a specific piece of their content that you genuinely liked or found relevant. For example: “Hi [Name], I loved your recent LinkedIn post on supply chain trends – your point about AI optimization really resonated with our team at [Your Company].” This demonstrates you’ve done your homework and aren’t sending a mass form letter. Complimenting their work (sincerely) and highlighting why you think they’re a great fit sets a positive tone from the start.

Highlight the benefits of working together

Clearly articulate the value proposition for the collaboration. Influencers will be asking, “What’s in it for me?” So outline what you have in mind and how it benefits them as well as your brand. Be clear about the opportunity: for example, invite them to be a guest on an upcoming webinar, review a new B2B product, co-author an ebook, or become a brand ambassador. Explain why this collaboration makes sense – perhaps their insights will reach a broader audience through your distribution, or they’ll get early access to exclusive industry research, or of course, monetary compensation if applicable. (If you plan to offer payment or other rewards like a free product, mention it upfront in a general way – “we have a budget to compensate our partners” – but you don’t necessarily need to negotiate exact fees in the first email.) The key is to communicate that the partnership is mutually beneficial: the influencer isn’t just doing you a favor; it’s a two-way street where both parties gain value.

A few additional outreach best practices to boost your success rate:

• Keep it concise and clear. Introduce yourself and your company in a sentence or two. Get right to the point about the collaboration idea. A lengthy email will lose attention – remember, they’re busy. Aim for a few short paragraphs at most or even bullet points.
• Suggest next steps or ask an engaging question. End your message with a call-to-action that encourages a reply. For example, “Would you be interested in a quick call next week to discuss this idea further?” or “Is this something that aligns with your interests?”. Make it easy for them to respond with a yes/no or request for more information.
• Write an attention-grabbing subject line. If you’re emailing, the subject line is critical. Put the core of your pitch or a personalized element right in there. It could be as straightforward as “Collaboration opportunity with [Your Company]” or something like “Hi [Name], let’s partner on a cybersecurity webinar.” Avoid anything spammy; be direct and interesting. Remember, about one-third of recipients open an email based on the subject line alone, so this is your first impression.

Overall, your outreach should feel like one professional reaching out to another – friendly, respectful, and genuine. Show that you value their expertise. Even if you’re offering payment, position the collaboration as a partnership rather than a transaction. This tone helps start the relationship on the right foot. Once you’ve crafted your personalized message, double-check everything (including spelling the influencer’s name correctly!) and send it off. Then, be patient and prepared to follow up politely if you don’t hear back in a week or so. Diligent, thoughtful outreach is often rewarded with positive responses and the start of a great influencer relationship.

Step 6: Collaborate on content and set guidelines (but allow creative freedom)

Congratulations – an influencer (or a few) agreed to work with you. Now the focus shifts to executing a great collaboration. This involves aligning on the content or activities the influencer will contribute to, providing any necessary guidance, and ensuring both sides’ expectations are clear. The best influencer partnerships are a two-way collaboration: you want to integrate the influencer’s authentic voice and ideas while also conveying your brand’s key messages and meeting your campaign goals.

Start by planning the content or campaign details together. What exactly will the influencer do? Common B2B influencer collaboration formats include:

• Webinars or live events: The influencer could be a guest speaker or panelist sharing their expertise (a popular tactic – webinars are the #1 B2B influencer content type, used by 81% of programs).
• Thought leadership content: Co-authoring a white paper, research report, or long-form blog post; or contributing a quote/expert commentary to your content.
• Social media takeovers or series: Having the influencer create a series of LinkedIn posts, X threads, or short videos on a topic, possibly in conjunction with a product announcement or campaign.
• Testimonials and case studies: If the influencer has used your product/service, they might provide a testimonial or be featured in a case study or interview about their experience.
• Product reviews or demos: An industry expert trying your B2B product and sharing an honest review or how-to demo with their audience (common in tech/software marketing).
• Podcast or video appearances: Featuring the influencer in your podcast, YouTube channel, or as a guest in a webinar recording that you can promote on demand.

Decide on the format(s) that best suit your goals and the influencer’s strengths, and outline a content plan. This should include timelines (for example, webinar date or content due dates), any key messages or talking points you need to be included, and the deliverables expected from each party. It’s helpful to draft a simple brief or agreement covering these details so everyone is on the same page. For example, if you’re co-writing a blog post, who will draft and who will revise it? If it’s a live event, when is rehearsal and who will moderate? Clarify logistics early.

While you do need to provide guidelines, be careful not to stifle the influencer’s creativity. Influencers are effective because of their authentic voice and style, and their audience trusts them to speak honestly. Overly restrictive scripts or heavy-handed branding requirements can backfire, making the content feel forced (and potentially turning off both the influencer and their followers).

Give them creative freedom to approach the topic in their own way. Share your objectives and any must-hit points, but welcome their input on how to best engage their audience. For instance, instead of dictating exact phrasing, you might provide a few bullet points of key product benefits and let them weave those into a story or example that feels natural. This balance ensures the content is on-message and genuine.

Don’t forget the compliance side: in B2B, this often means making sure any advice or claims meet legal/ethical standards, and if it’s a paid engagement, that the influencer discloses the partnership per guidelines (such as adding “#ad” or a note if required by FTC or industry rules). Provide the influencer with any disclosure language or brand guidelines they should be aware of (for example, tone of voice, whether they can use your logo, etc).

Throughout the content creation process, maintain open communication. Check in to see if the influencer has what they need – data, product access, answers to questions – and offer support. Creating content together can also be a learning opportunity; you might find the influencer’s perspective gives you new ideas, so be receptive to their expertise. By the time content is ready to go live, both your team and the influencer should feel confident that it provides real value to the audience (educational, insightful, or useful content, not just a sales pitch) and aligns with your strategic goals. This collaborative, respectful approach will shine through in the final output, making it more engaging and credible.

Step 7: Launch, promote, and amplify the content

When the content or campaign is ready, it’s time to go live and ensure it gets maximum visibility. Don’t just hit publish or let the influencer post and call it a day. A successful B2B influencer outreach strategy treats the influencer content as a centerpiece to be amplified across channels for full impact.

Cross-promotion is key

Coordinate closely with the influencer on the launch timing. For example, if a guest blog post is going live on their site, decide when you’ll both start sharing it on social media. If it’s a webinar date, align your promotions. Sync up so that when the influencer shares content with their network, your brand is also ready to boost the signal. This might involve providing them with suggested copy, tracking links, or hashtags (while still encouraging them to put things in their own words). Cross-promotion is key – leverage both the influencer’s audience and your brand’s audience.

Maximize reach with owned media

Use your owned channels to spotlight the collaboration. Announce the partnership or content on your company’s LinkedIn, X, Facebook, etc, and link to the influencer’s contribution. Tag the influencer when appropriate to encourage engagement so that they can easily reshare. If the influencer created a piece of content on their own platform (like a video or article), you might feature excerpts or a teaser on your blog with a link to the full piece. Consider a dedicated email blast to your customers/prospects inviting them to the webinar or highlighting the influencer’s insights (“We partnered with [Influencer] to get expert takeaways on [topic] – check it out”).

Amplify via paid channels

If budget permits, you can also amplify your collaboration via paid channels. In B2B, this could mean running LinkedIn Sponsored Content featuring the influencer’s article or using social ads to promote the collaborative webinar to a broader targeted audience. Another technique is whitelisting or dark posting, where you run ads through the influencer’s account (with their permission) to reach people in their follower demographic – this can combine the influencer’s credibility with your ad targeting. Paid amplification ensures that the great content you made doesn’t just rely on organic reach.

Keep the momentum going

Throughout the campaign, keep an eye on engagement and be ready to engage back. Respond to comments or questions on posts – both on your brand’s channels and the influencer’s posts – to foster conversation. If the influencer’s content sparks discussion in forums or communities, join in (or have a knowledgeable team member do so) to provide additional value. The influencer outreach doesn’t end at hitting publish; it extends into how you support and leverage the content in the wild. By actively promoting and participating, you’ll extend the reach of the campaign and deepen the impact on those who encounter it.

Work together for better results

Remain agile and communicative. If something isn’t getting the traction you expected, brainstorm with the influencer on a quick adjustment. Maybe a secondary social post, or a short follow-up video to address common questions, could help. Treat it like any marketing campaign – monitor, optimize, and encourage the influencer to do the same. They likely know their audience well and might have ideas to boost engagement (for example, hosting a brief live Q&A in the comments). When a brand and influencer work hand-in-hand to push the campaign, the results can far exceed what either could do alone.

Step 8: Track performance and measure ROI

As your influencer campaign unfolds, make sure you’re measuring the results closely. This is where those goals and KPIs you set in Step 1 come full circle. Establish a system to capture all the relevant metrics from the campaign, using both your own analytics and data the influencer can share. Key performance indicators will vary depending on your objectives, but here are some common ones to track in B2B influencer outreach:

• Content reach and engagement: How many views, clicks, likes, comments, and shares did the influencer content generate? For a webinar, track registrations, and live attendance. For a blog/podcast, look at pageviews or listens and social engagement.
• Audience growth or traffic: Did you see an uptick in followers on LinkedIn or X thanks to the campaign? Are more people visiting your website or landing page via the influencer’s posts (use UTM tracking links or unique promo codes to attribute this traffic)?
• Lead generation metrics: If your goal was leads, track form fills, ebook downloads, demo requests, or whatever conversion action you targeted. Attribute those that came from the influencer campaign specifically – for example, using a dedicated landing page or asking “How did you hear about us?” on forms with the influencer as an option.
• Pipeline and sales impact: For longer-term B2B sales cycles, look at whether the leads or companies engaged by the influencer content progressed in your sales funnel. Did meetings get set with sales? Were any deals closely influenced by the campaign? This can be harder to measure, but even anecdotal feedback from sales like “Prospect X mentioned the webinar with Influencer Y” is valuable.
• Brand sentiment and share of voice: Monitor if your brand is getting mentioned more in conjunction with the campaign or if sentiment on social media improved. Sometimes an influencer partnership can boost how your brand is perceived – for example, being associated with a respected industry figure lends you authority.

Using an analytics or influencer management platform can greatly simplify this monitoring. For instance, Brandwatch Influence includes campaign management and real-time reporting features that let you track deliverables and performance metrics all in one place. You can see how each influencer post is performing, aggregate results across influencers, and even generate reports to share with your team. Having a centralized dashboard makes it easier to calculate the overall ROI of the campaign.

And ROI is what the C-suite will want to know. Fortunately, many B2B influencer programs show strong returns. One analysis found that on average, influencer marketing programs in B2B yielded about $5.20 in earned media value for every $1 spent. That’s a 520% ROI – impressive by any marketing standard. Your mileage may vary, but by tracking the hard numbers you’ll be able to demonstrate the value (or lessons learned) from your outreach strategy. Perhaps you can report that the campaign generated 200 marketing-qualified leads, or that it drove a 20% increase in engagement on your usually sleepy LinkedIn page – whatever the case, tie it back to the goals you set.

Importantly, use this data to glean insights. Which influencer’s content performed best, and why? Maybe webinars vastly outperformed blog posts, or LinkedIn brought more clicks than X. Did the audience respond more to one messaging angle over another? Analyze the results to understand what resonated. This will inform your future influencer outreach efforts (more on that next). In summary, don’t skip the measurement step – it validates your strategy and uncovers how to optimize going forward. In the data-driven world of B2B marketing, proving impact is key to securing ongoing support and budget for influencer initiatives.

Step 9: Refine the strategy and nurture long-term relationships

Reflect and refine after each campaign

Influencer outreach isn’t a one-and-done tactic – the most successful B2B programs are ongoing and evolving. After you’ve completed a campaign and gathered the results, take time to reflect and refine your strategy. What worked well, and what would you do differently next time? Gather feedback from all stakeholders: your team, the salesforce, and importantly the influencer themselves. If the influencer partnership went well, they may have ideas for improving future collaborations or expanding the relationship.

Consider long-term partnerships

One big consideration is whether to turn effective short-term engagements into long-term partnerships. B2B marketing is increasingly shifting toward always-on influencer programs rather than one-off campaigns. And for good reason: brands that invest in long-term influencer relationships tend to see higher ROI and stronger customer trust. When an influencer authentically supports your brand over time, their audience’s trust in your brand deepens with each interaction. Consider establishing certain influencers as ongoing brand ambassadors or advisors. Maybe they join a quarterly webinar series, or you sponsor a segment in their podcast for a season, or they become a regular contributor to your blog. Such continuity can yield compounding benefits.

Formalize ongoing collaboration

If you do proceed with a long-term approach, formalize it in a way that works for both sides. Perhaps you sign an annual contract with an influencer for a set number of activities, or you form an advocate community of multiple micro-influencers who you engage throughout the year. 

To maintain engagement, ensure you continue to provide value to the influencers – long-term deals might include a retainer fee, extra perks like speaking opportunities or event access, and deeper integration with your brand (early product roadmaps, insider briefings, etc, that make them feel like part of the team). These relationships, when genuinely nurtured, turn influencers into true brand advocates. They’ll be more likely to go above and beyond because they’re invested in your success and enjoy working with you.

Keep evolving your influencer strategy

Even as you deepen some partnerships, keep an eye on the landscape for new influencer opportunities. Industries and platforms evolve; a rising expert may emerge in your field, or an existing partner might pivot focus. Continuously refine your list of potential influencers to work with. You might scale up by adding more influencers in the next campaign or experimenting with new content formats (for example, if you haven’t tried short-form video or an X Spaces chat (formerly Twitter Spaces), perhaps that’s next). Revisit Steps 1-8 with a fresh perspective each cycle, using what you learned to sharpen your outreach, targeting, and execution.

Share wins to build internal support

Finally, internally document and share the outcomes and case studies from your influencer outreach initiatives. Nothing builds organizational support like a success story: for example, “Our collaboration with Industry Expert X brought in 500 new leads and influenced $200K in pipeline.” When leadership sees those wins, they’re more likely to dedicate budget for future influencer campaigns. This creates a positive feedback loop – more investment allows for more ambitious outreach strategies. Indeed, surveys show that 53% of B2B marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets year over year. By continuously improving your strategy and demonstrating value, you can ensure that influencer outreach remains a growing, integral part of your B2B marketing mix.

Next steps

A well-executed B2B influencer outreach strategy can transform how your brand connects with its audience. By following these steps – from setting clear goals and finding the right experts to building authentic relationships and measuring impact – you can tap into the power of trusted voices in your industry to boost brand awareness, generate quality leads, and strengthen your reputation. Remember that success in this arena hinges on genuine value exchange and long-term thinking. When you find influencers whose vision aligns with yours, treat them as strategic partners, not just marketing channels.

Ready to elevate your influencer marketing program? Brandwatch Influence can help you manage it all – from discovering ideal B2B influencers to tracking campaign performance – in one unified platform. As an end-to-end influencer marketing solution, it enables you to build lasting, data-driven influencer relationships that grow your business. If you’re keen to see the impact influencer outreach can have on your brand, request a personalized demo to explore Brandwatch Influence in action. Empower your marketing team with the tools and insights to supercharge your B2B influencer outreach strategy, and start turning those industry connections into real-world results for your company.