B2B influencer marketing has transitioned from isolated engagements to a core component of building trust and driving influence across complex decision-making processes. With multiple stakeholders involved, influencers are now essential in shaping conversations and guiding business decisions.
Our Managing Partner, Caroline Coventry, shares advice with The Drum on how to engage B2B influencers effectively and maximise the impact of your collaborations.
Read more here.
A few weeks on from our panel event, The Media Reshuffle: Where is B2B Conversation Going? and we’re still reflecting on the valuable insights shared by our experts. During the event, we explored the shifting landscape of B2B communications, from the changing role of social media to the growing influence of B2B influencers and the increasing importance of search visibility.
We’ve compiled some of the standout advice and learnings from our panellists. Whether you’re looking to refine your digital marketing strategies, invest in influencer opportunities, add SEO to your earned strategy or just drive a more authoritative and authentic brand presence – these insights are packed with practical takeaways. Have a read below.
OLIVIA HARRY
Associate Creative Director, Nelson Bostock
“Influencers are becoming an increasingly important part of the B2B marketing mix, with 90% of every B2B sale influenced by word of mouth. However, one point raised during the panel session was the role of ‘influential’ people, alongside ‘influencers.’ Of course, the latter is determined largely by follower count, but actually B2B brands can get huge bang for their buck by identifying influential individuals to partner with. These individuals may have a smaller following, but they deliver huge impact – they drive engagement and have great untapped persuasive power amongst their audience.
These individuals are also likely already in existence within your pool of employees, making them a great untapped opportunity to reach audiences in an authentic way. But it’s key that brands don’t try to turn these individuals into something they aren’t – stick with formats, topics and a tone they know and are comfortable with. Their personality is the secret ingredient to building memorable, lasting connections with audiences.”
ROI PEREZ
Senior Digital Strategist, Human Understanding Lab
“The B2B comms landscape is shifting fast. What used to be a predictable mix of LinkedIn posts, whitepapers, and trade shows is now being disrupted. B2B brands are showing up on TikTok, using humour, storytelling, and behind-the-scenes content to spark interest.
It’s a reminder that B2B buyers are still people. They scroll, they swipe, and they’ll engage if what you’re sharing is worth their time. Entertainment, intrigue, and clear value matter more than ever. Now is a good time to take a hard look at your channel stack. Are there new spaces where your brand should show up? Are you meeting potential clients where they actually are?”
BEN WALSH
Marketing Director, UK&I, TP-Link
“Start with exploring the research. The landscape is shifting, creating more opportunities for human influence, especially through person-to-person, influential communication. This shift gives B2B brands a real chance to be more human in how they engage and connect, and that’s exciting.
It’s worth exploring what that means and the broader implications it has. Search is also a huge topic, how discovery is evolving, and what that means for brands. All of it is exciting and full of opportunities.”
REJOICE OJIAKU
SEO Manager, Nelson Bostock
“The impact of social search and AI-powered search engines on B2B is on the rise. With decision-makers increasingly turning to LinkedIn, YouTube, and even TikTok for insights, they’re making social platforms essential search engines in their own right. Content must be optimised for visibility within these ecosystems.
At the same time, AI-powered search—from Google’s Search Generative Experience to ChatGPT—is reshaping discovery, prioritising authoritative, structured, and semantically rich content. B2B marketers must now balance traditional SEO with AI-driven search, ensuring content is both keyword-optimised and machine-readable.
B2B influencers are also playing a bigger role. Once a B2C tactic, industry experts and thought leaders now drive conversations and influence decisions, performing well in both social and AI search.
In essence, the panel discussion reinforced the need for a holistic content strategy—one that integrates SEO, social-first thinking, and influencer partnerships to meet audiences across a fragmented, multi-channel discovery journey.”
BEN CULLEN
Planning Lead, Nelson Bostock
“Let’s start with what not to do. What you should not do is try to be on every channel just for the sake of it—without truly understanding the platform, its audience, and why you’re there in the first place. And then there’s AI. If you’re just using it to churn out a high volume of content to look busy, you’re not adding value—you’re actually damaging your brand.
What you should do—and this probably won’t surprise you—is take a step back. Start with a clear strategy and a strong understanding of your brand identity. Then, be intentional about which channels you use. Know what works well on each platform and where your strengths lie.
From there, focus on executing a story that resonates with your audience. And when it comes to influencers, you might not need to be active on every channel yourself, but leveraging the right voices on the right platforms could be the key to telling your story effectively.”
Do you still have questions? Our experts are ready to continue the conversation.
info@nelsonbostock.com
As nearly every household in the UK scrutinises spending in the face of rising inflation and increasing cost of borrowing, within recent history there has never been a greater need for support, advice and tools to see us through – what will be – a prolonged reality.
Overall, the cost of living is growing at its fastest rate in almost 40 years. According to the Office for National Statistics, UK inflation stood at 9.9% in August and the Bank of England expects ‘inflation to stay at or a little above 10% for a few months.’
Walnut Unlimited’s Understanding the Nation, survey of 2000+ UK adults explored the relationship between new technologies and personal finances (carried out between 30th June – 11th July 2022.)
Interestingly, the research found that 30% of UK households use technology more due to their household’s financial situation.
However, before brands consider capitalising on this, it’s essential that they stop to consider whether their actions are delivering genuine value. Because if the veneer is paper thin, people will see straight through it.
A Reach survey found that 60% of consumers are expecting brands to help them through the cost of living crisis with spending habits changing across the country in order to save money.
Some brands are, brilliantly, getting it right; driving true value for customers through their communications. So who are they?
Perhaps the most innovative campaign to help support the general public with the cost of living crisis comes from Channel 4.
In a unique collaboration, the free-to-air broadcaster placed a bespoke ad break featuring seven UK brands, all of which provide offers or services to help viewers save money. The ad break ran during Steph’s Packed Lunch and Gogglebox on Friday 7th October.
Those brands that supported Channel 4’s campaign include:
After a brief introduction from the broadcaster explaining the special ad break, each brand listed above aired its own advertisement aiming to help people and families during the current climate.
The timing of the ads is worth highlighting; designed to maximize reach among families with young children, who might be feeling the pinch more than others.
Telecommunications giant Virgin Media announced it is cutting the price of its essential broadband package in response to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
The plan is priced at £12.50 pm for 15Mbps speed and is aimed at supporting those on Universal Credit. The firm also introduced a plus plan, priced at £20 pm for 50Mbps fibre broadband. Both plans have no fixed-term contracts or activation fees.
Chief operating officer Jeff Dodds confirmed recently that Virgin Media has called upon the government to cut VAT on social tariffs, which would reduce the price to £10.93 for 15 Mbps and £17.50 for 50 Mbps respectively.
In addition to the above, the broadband provider is actively working to implement automated checks for customers to help confirm their eligibility for social tariffs with the firm to minimise time spent when reviewing applications with the view of expanding its social tariff schemes to people receiving pension credit and other benefits.
Where Virgin Media is leading, other telcos are following, with Vodafone announcing just this week that its Essentials Broadband will be reduced by 20%, to just £12 per month.
Ok, so this isn’t a tech brand but it is a sublime example of a communications campaign that is truly helping people.
Supermarket chain Iceland launched a ‘shop now pay later’ initiative to support customers struggling with food shops, in partnership with non-profit lender Fair for You.
The Iceland Food Club provides short-term microloans between £25 to £75, acting as an interest-free loan and a safer alternative to mainstream lenders. The scheme is repaid at a rate of £10 per week.
Following an initial trial in Yorkshire and North Wales, the supermarket reported that 92% of members reduced or stopped their reliance on food banks. This acts as just one part of their ‘Doing it Right, Right Now’ campaign.
The scheme is now available nationally and anyone can apply, with a preloaded card given to those who are successful, that can be used both in-store and online.
It’s easy for any brand to push out a press release or publish an advertisement acknowledging the current environment but brands must convince consumers with clear actions of goodwill. It’s so easy to be another drop in the sea of blue.
As we move further into the unknown, many people will no longer be on the lookout simply for good value or bargains, they will be seeking genuine help.
Truly understanding the need, tailoring your messaging and reshaping your strategies to give consistent support will be vital in achieving brand goodwill.
As Faric Yakob summarised succinctly for WARC: “Corporate actions speak louder than advertising when so many will be forced to choose between heat and food this winter.”
We turned the camera on our team to find out what they’re most excited about when it comes to technology and innovation.
This is clearly a passion point for us. We love to tell stories about innovation but also look for ways to innovate from within. Look out for more from us on this subject.
What does innovation mean to you? Let us know by commenting on: LinkedIn, instagram or Twitter.