TopRank Marketing assembled 14 industry leaders to share their predictions for Influencer Marketing in 2021.

What will B2B influencer marketing look like in 2021, and where will it take B2B marketers and brands when a post-pandemic world eventually arrives?

To help answer these questions we’ve gathered top B2B influencer marketing insights from both industry experts and our own team, and present our look at their predictions for 2021.

Moving into 2021, we can all congratulate each other for making it this far. When it comes to B2B influence, we’ve witnessed the steady shift from authority, relevance, and value toward popularity, impressions, promotion. Influence though means just that…influence. It’s the ability to reach others with similar interests and aspirations and help them learn, change, grow, or connect with one another with purpose.

Influence represents a new genre for B2B marketing, one that’s representative of helping the ultimate customer and partnering with them to facilitate insights and success. That’s the future of marketing and influence. COVID-19 only expedited the demand for true engagement with influencers and businesses. Salesforce research, for example, surfaced the growing importance of trust among connected customers. Ninety percent of business customers and consumers reported that how a company acted during a crisis revealed its trustworthiness. And 31% already trust a company less because of its response to 2020’s crises.

Remember, influence is really about community. If it’s about popularity, that’s fine. But that is really more aligned with traditional marketing efforts and metrics. There’s a chance to build something more meaningful together. Community is much more than belonging to something; it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter.

Other influencers include:

Ann Boyd
Vice President of Communications, Rubrik

Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

Ryan Bares
Global Social Programs Lead: Social Influencers & Employee Advocacy, IBM Systems

Anton Shulke
Head of Influencer Marketing (SEO), SEMRush

Tim Williams
CEO, Onalytica

Nic Michael
Influencer Marketing Strategist, TopRank Marketing

Rachel Douglas
Senior Manager of Marketing and Brand, Prophix

Tom Treanor
CMO, Treasure Data

Debbie Friez
Influencer Marketing Strategist, TopRank Marketing

Paul Dobson
Senior Director of Social and Influencer Marketing, Citrix

Michaela Underdahl
Senior Community Manager, Nimble

Judy Tian
Marketing Manager, LinkedIn

Lee Odden
CEO, TopRank Marketing