B2B Influencer Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2020 and Beyond

It’s now December 2019! Can you believe it? This year. THIS. DECADE. has flown by.

You know what end of year time means? Time to talk trends and predictions.

I took some time this weekend to peruse some other trend sites to get the scoop. And friends, I. AM. SHOCKED.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020 Trends include: “Firms Will Merge Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, and Social Media Marketing,” “Brands Will be More Determined to Find Influencers with Similar Values to Themselves,” “Long-Term Influencer Relationships Will Become the Norm – Rather Than Contracting on a Campaign by Campaign Basis,” and “Brands Will Increase Their Use of Employees and Customers as Advocates.”

Why am I so surprised?

Because these are all basic marketing and business best practices.

I’m seriously shocked that companies haven’t been building long-term relationships with strategic partners, choosing partners that align with their brand, and making the most of their company efforts to maximize profitability and resources.

What have marketers been doing all along?

Another organization, Shane Barker, predictions include: “Nano and Micro-Influencers are Making an Impact,” “CGI (computer generated imagery) Influencers Are Here,” “Get Ready to See Employees As Influencers,” and more.

Now these are interesting. In case you haven’t heard, CGI Influencers have been popping up in B2C industries and some say it can be difficult to tell the difference between real people and the CGI influencers. (More on this below.)

Without further ado, here are my official Influencer Marketing Statistics, Trends, and Predictions for 2020 and Beyond.

Official 2020 B2B Influencer Marketing Trends

1. Influencer Marketing will become part of a larger third-party marketing effort
2. Brands will stop “Influencer Marketing Campaigns”
3. Companies will begin viewing Influencers as strategic partners
4. Organizations will begin to measure all kinds of Influencers ROI
5. B2B Influencer Marketing spend will increase
6. The FTC will soon regulate CGI Influencers
7. Brands will work with more emerging Influencers

Influencer Marketing will become part of a larger 3rd-Party Marketing program

More and more research shows that third party marketing is becoming increasingly important because consumers simply don’t trust brands, sales reps, or marketing. That’s why social proof is becoming increasingly more important. That’s also why we’ve seen the rise of Influencer Marketing, Analyst Relations, Employee Advocacy, and Customer Advocacy programs.

Up until this point, organizations have grown and treated these programs separately. However, I predict that throughout 2020, brands will start consolidating these third-party marketing programs and treating them more holistically.

Companies will begin viewing Influencers as strategic partners

Typically, Influencers are seen as “bloggers” or content creators. While that’s probably true the way most B2C organizations leverage Influencers, B2B Influencers are so much more.

In 2020, B2B brands will start realizing that Influencers are more than content creators and are actually industry experts. When organizations start to think about Influencers in this new light, they will begin to treat Influencers as more than content creators and as actual strategic partners.

Organizations manage strategic partners with great importance. They build relationships, vet, spend time with, and focus on mutual-goals. This is exactly how B2B brands should be treating Influencers.

And, once they figure it out. I believe the organizational impact will be huge.

Similarly, my predictions for B2C are similar. Brands will stop – hopefully by 2022 – hiring Influencers just because they are pretty/handsome and have lots of followers. I believe B2C brands will start being more strategic in their relationships and start working with industry experts as well. Think about it… most B2C Influencer Marketing right now is an Instagram post or video with a product placement. Wouldn’t a video from a fashion designer talking about style trends and what body types should wear certain styles be more interesting? Even I’d tune into valuable content like that…

Anyway, the point is organizations will start to look at Influencers differently and focus on working with great people, building real relationships, and finding better ways to leverage the relationships to support mutually-beneficial goals.

Brands will stop “Influencer Marketing Campaigns”

The few times I’ve come across an Influencer Marketing Agency – whether it’s been B2B or B2C – my experience has been frustrating.

Why?

Because the Influencer Agencies are so focused on pitching an Instagram Live or a Snapchat video that they can make a commission on, they don’t focus on what’s best for the company or the Influencer.

The most marketing-mature organizations understand that focusing on long-term strategies and relationships are better than one-off, one-time efforts.

Thus, organizations will stop run “Influencer Marketing Campaigns,” and instead focus on incorporating social proof and Influencers into larger integrated marketing campaigns.

This will help the organizations reach a larger audience, generate leads, and position the organization and Influencer as a figure of authority on the subject. But it will also help the Influencer feel part of the larger organization.

Orgs will begin to measure ROI

Everyone knows the importance of ROI. However, after working or speaking with a large number of organizations, it’s clear many people don’t know how to measure the value of Influencer Marketing efforts.

My predictions for 2020? This will change.

Right now, many organizations report on Influencer Marketing campaigns with – quite frankly – vanity metrics. They count impressions, views, likes, etc.

Either one of two things will happen. But, when either does, this will change. The first thing that can happen (because it’s already been announced) is that social media platforms will start to get rid of some of the vanity metrics. For example, Instagram already announced it’s getting rid of “likes.” Another thing that can happen is brands can realize that vanity metrics don’t actually provide value to their organizations. Or similarly, that social platforms are even lying about ROI. Either way, this will encourage brands to find other ways to measure the impact of ROI.

Organizations will start to measure not just the outcome of their Influencer Marketing efforts, but the impact the program has on the organization.

Beyond 2020 – possibly by 2022, I predict that organizations will be measuring the impact of Influencer efforts across the Buyer’s Journey.

B2B Influencer Marketing spend will increase

Brands have been increasing spend in Influencer Marketing for the past 10 years. And, experts predict that trend will continue until at least 2022, with estimated spend hitting $15 billion.

I think that’s spot on. And, I think that spend will especially increase among B2B brands.

B2B brands will start to realize that Influencer Marketing can support their businesses in multiple areas including brand awareness, lead generation, demand generation, market education, and even client retention and product improvement areas.

As organizations realize that Influencers can be strategic partners well beyond an Instagram post, they will start to spend more money in these areas.

The FTC will regulate CGI influencers

Scandals in the Influencer marketing world has prompted the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to crack down on Influencer Marketing. Like others, I’m predicting they will continue to do so.

Simultaneously, some of my fellow Influencer Marketing Experts predicted the rise of and increase in use of CGI or computer generated imagery Influencers.

The FTC regulations require Influencers to be actual product users, be honest about their opinions on the product, as well as transparent about a financial or relational relationship. However, computers can’t be actual product users in many cases – think food, make up, HR software, etc. Thus, can computers really have an “opinion?”

Considering, can brands use CGI Influencers while remaining FTC compliant? I think the FTC will have an opinion sometime by 2022.

Brands will work with more emerging Influencers

Influencer Marketing has gone through iterations from Coca-Cola “hiring Santa” to promote its products in the 1930s to celebrity endorsements ever since. Now, organizations are looking to smaller, niche industry experts known as micro or nano Influencers. Like other experts, I fully believe that brands will increase partnership with emerging influencers to support their business.

Why?

Because emerging Influencers often see higher engagement rates, are more focused on building relationships, and are more cost effective for brands.

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Additionally, as we gear up for 2020, I’m proud to announce my partnership with Sarah Brennan and Accelir Insights to conduct The HR Tech Buyer Behavior and Influencer Marketing Study! We’re taking a look at who buyers in the market, what HR is buying in 2020, and the impact of influencer marketing. Want your customers to participate? Or to be featured in these awesome reports? Ask me about Sponsorship opportunities today!