Influencer marketing within business-to-business organisations
Influencer marketing within business-to-business organisations
This study explores the dynamics of influencer marketing in the B2B sector by drawing on employee advocacy, customer reference marketing and organisational endorsement theories, explicating the strategic application of influencer marketing in the B2B context, and revealing the challenges in influencer marketing faced by B2B organisations. We conducted twenty-two in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior management marketing professionals across different sectors. Our analysis of these narratives shows that B2B marketers advocate the concept of ‘influential marketing’ by differentiating it from the concept of influencer marketing in the B2C market. B2B influential marketing connotes trustworthiness, expertise, professionalism, and exchange of know-how, all of which are rooted in long-term and industry-specific relationships and business networks. This research contributes to the theorisation of B2B influential marketing by developing an integrated framework that deciphers the process of its strategic implementation. The vital managerial contributions in our study highlight the specific considerations for influential marketing in B2B organisations.
B2B, Business-to-business marketing, Influencer marketing, Social media marketing
338 - 350
Cartwright, Severina
ebfa7fdc-7813-4a1f-8cd4-b1f3cae28c3e
Liu, Hongfei
7d65edcf-20c9-452a-83c2-8b545b12f68c
Davies, Iain A.
a666d721-b115-44cc-9279-fb2f15eafe93
October 2022
Cartwright, Severina
ebfa7fdc-7813-4a1f-8cd4-b1f3cae28c3e
Liu, Hongfei
7d65edcf-20c9-452a-83c2-8b545b12f68c
Davies, Iain A.
a666d721-b115-44cc-9279-fb2f15eafe93
Cartwright, Severina, Liu, Hongfei and Davies, Iain A.
(2022)
Influencer marketing within business-to-business organisations.
Industrial Marketing Management, 106, .
(doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.09.007).
Abstract
This study explores the dynamics of influencer marketing in the B2B sector by drawing on employee advocacy, customer reference marketing and organisational endorsement theories, explicating the strategic application of influencer marketing in the B2B context, and revealing the challenges in influencer marketing faced by B2B organisations. We conducted twenty-two in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior management marketing professionals across different sectors. Our analysis of these narratives shows that B2B marketers advocate the concept of ‘influential marketing’ by differentiating it from the concept of influencer marketing in the B2C market. B2B influential marketing connotes trustworthiness, expertise, professionalism, and exchange of know-how, all of which are rooted in long-term and industry-specific relationships and business networks. This research contributes to the theorisation of B2B influential marketing by developing an integrated framework that deciphers the process of its strategic implementation. The vital managerial contributions in our study highlight the specific considerations for influential marketing in B2B organisations.
Text
B2B eWOM paper_Influential Marketing _FINAL
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
1-s2.0-S0019850122002097-main
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 8 September 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 September 2022
Published date: October 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This work was supported by BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Grant number: SRG1920\100433
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
Keywords:
B2B, Business-to-business marketing, Influencer marketing, Social media marketing
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 471163
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/471163
ISSN: 0019-8501
PURE UUID: f3ec120a-5edd-4ae4-8b6d-9fe41de14a0b
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 28 Oct 2022 16:42
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:01
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Contributors
Author:
Severina Cartwright
Author:
Iain A. Davies
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