B2B marketing and sales can be challenging due to competitors, the economy, and supplier management processes, to name just a few contributing factors. The ability to influence key decision-makers can often determine whether a company thrives or struggles. For businesses looking to establish credibility, enter new markets, or build meaningful, long-term relationships with high-value accounts, gaining support from your peers and other trusted members in your networks can be a game-changing strategy. People often forget to include these relationships when leveraging a center of influence (COI) strategy. In this article, we’ll broaden the concept and show how it can be leveraged for success.

Expand Centers of Influence to See Profitable Results

In the context of B2B strategy, a COI typically refers to an individual, community, or organization that can sway the decision-making of others, especially within a specific industry or niche. These influencers are trusted for their expertise, experience, and insights, making their recommendations highly credible to potential buyers. Unlike traditional influencers in the consumer world, where popularity drives influence, B2B COIs carry weight because of their authority and established relationships.

Traditionally, COIs are thought of as industry experts, including analysts or strategic partners, who are widely respected for their knowledge and thought leadership so they have sway with decision-makers. Using this definition allows us to expand the concept to include communities and networks. What makes these different is they are comprised of peers who have relationships with or the ability to access your target customers and vice versa. In this way, peer networks expand COIs to communities of influence.

Platforms like LinkedIn, professional associations like the National Speakers Association or the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM), and networks like LeadHERship Global are examples of communities of influence. Members in these communities can provide access to decision-makers, opportunities for thought leadership, and visibility among peers.

4 Ways Communities of Influence Will Enhance Your B2B Strategy

The right networks of trusted experts and community influencers can play a critical role in B2B strategy by offering access to new markets, lending credibility, and accelerating the decision-making process. This claim seems intuitive but there’s plenty of data to back it up.

1. Building Trust and Credibility: A Forrester study found 43% of B2B buyers admit that over 70% of the time they make what Forrester refers to as defensive purchase decisions, that is they select the safest choice over all other options. That perceived safety is based on trust—one of the most significant factors in B2B decision-making, especially for high-stakes purchases. A PwC study reported 93% of business executives agree that the ability to build and maintain trust improves the bottom line. And an Edelman 2023 study found trust is among the top three important buying considerations, noted by 88% of respondents, slightly trailing good value for money (91%) and best quality (89%).
2. Targeting High-Value Accounts: Relationships with third-party experts and other well-regarded members in your community can accelerate access to decision-makers. A well-regarded influencer can serve as a trusted intermediary to connect companies with those decision-makers directly. This claim is reinforced in Forrester’s State of Global Business Buyer Trust, which found over 90% of B2B buyers rely on peer recommendations. Additionally, the 6^th Sense Study reaffirmed most B2B companies have a short list by the time they’re two-thirds of the way through their buying journey, rarely changing their preferences once interactions begin.
3. Entering New Markets or Launching New Solutions: To grow, many of our customers depend on launching new solutions or entering new markets. The influence within your networks can help provide the social proof needed to gain traction. Buyers may be hesitant to adopt a new product without validation from a trusted source. Trusted members in a network who can advocate for a solution or company can significantly shorten the market entry timeline.
4. Accelerating Long Sales Cycles: In industries with complex products and lengthy sales cycles, e.g., enterprise software or capital equipment, trusted experts and influencers can help accelerate the sales process by offering endorsements, introductions, or direct recommendations.

When It’s Appropriate to Energize Your Communities of Influence

While using members of your communities can be a powerful strategy, they are not always the right choice for every situation. Here’s how to decide when to use someone in your network over other marketing and sales tactics:

• Brand Awareness Campaigns vs. Communities of Influence Strategy: If the goal is to build massive brand awareness across a broad market, tactics like digital advertising, PR campaigns, and content marketing may be more appropriate. Leveraging a third party is most effective in situations where you need targeted trust-building with specific individuals or groups, especially in industries where credibility and relationships are key to closing deals. For example, running LinkedIn ads might be effective to create broad visibility but a well-placed recommendation from one of your connections can build the personal trust needed to engage or convert a high-value prospect.
• Inbound Marketing vs. Communities of Influence Strategy: Inbound marketing, with tactics like SEO, blogging, and lead nurturing, is ideal for attracting potential buyers who are already searching for solutions. An influencer/expert strategy works better when a company needs to tap into new networks or gain traction in an unfamiliar market. Inbound strategies typically take time to build, while your connections can provide immediate access to the right people.
• Cold Outreach vs. Communities of Influence Strategy: Cold emails or calls can be effective in some cases, especially for high-volume, low-value sales. However, for high-stakes, high-value transactions where relationship-building and trust are essential, members of the right network can provide a warm introduction that can significantly improve conversion rates. Cold outreach can often feel impersonal but connections who have established rapport can provide a smoother, more credible entry point.
• Trade Shows or Events vs. Communities of Influence Strategy: In-person events like trade shows are excellent for networking and generating new contacts but a Communities of Influence strategy can help in follow-up and long-term relationship-building. For example, while a trade show may help introduce your company to a broad audience, engaging a network member after the event can reinforce credibility and help push those contacts further into the pipeline.

The key takeaway is that communities of influence are most valuable when trust, credibility, and relationship-building are critical to the customer buying process. They should be used when direct access to decision-makers is necessary.

Are You in the Right Communities and Networks?

The right communities and networks are those whose members can serve as influencers, subject matter experts, and thought leaders for your company or product. Keep in mind these members will have the same expectation of access, thought leadership, and expertise for you and your company. Benefiting from communities of influence requires actively participating in these groups, providing valuable insights, and building relationships. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to identify and select the right communities and networks:

• Identify Key Influencers in Your Industry: Identify communities and networks with individuals or organizations that hold sway within your target market. These could be thought leaders, keynote speakers, or even prominent members of professional communities or associations dedicated to your industry.
• Assess Their Credibility and Reach: Ensure the communities you join have members who are respected by the decision-makers you want to target. Gauge their thought leadership, online following, and level of engagement received. An expert frequently quoted in trade publications or invited to speak at major industry events is a good example of the type of member you seek.
• Evaluate the Alignment with Your Brand: The communities of influence you choose should align with your company’s values, product offerings, and overall brand positioning. Engaging with communities of influence whose philosophy or approach is contradictory to your brand could harm your credibility rather than help it.

How to Use Communities of Influence in Your Marketing and Sales Tactics

Once you’ve identified the best communities and networks, think beyond introductions. Consider exploring some of these tactics:

1. Co-create Content: Collaborate with members on thought leadership content—whether it’s co-authoring blog posts, white papers, or case studies. The association with a trusted voice enhances your authority and positions your company as an industry leader.
2. Joint Webinars and Speaking Engagements: Participate in joint webinars, podcasts, panels, or other types of speaking engagements with members of the communities to showcase each other’s expertise, tap into your target audience, and build rapport with potential customers.
3. Peer-to-Peer Referrals: A personal recommendation from a well-regarded community member to a prospect can significantly increase the likelihood of a conversation. This is particularly effective in industries where decision-makers rely heavily on the advice of peers.
4. Leverage Each Other’s Connections: Choose communities that are in and of themselves a deep, well-established network, which can lead to new partnerships, sales, or even media exposure.

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How to Measure Success of Communities of Influence Strategy

A well-implemented peer network and communities of influence strategy can improve your lead generation and sales conversion. How do you know the strategy is working? Start with these three questions:

• Are you seeing a higher and faster conversion rate for introductions from the communities and networks?
• Are you seeing an increase in the number of brand mentions and positive sentiment for your company and its offers?
• Are new partner opportunities surfacing?

If the answers to these questions are no, it may be a sign you need to revisit the networks and communities you’ve joined or how you’re deploying the strategy.

Ready to Harness the Proven Power of Peer Networks and Influencers?

Communities of influence take centers of influence to a whole new level, offering a powerful way to build trust, access high-value accounts, and shorten long sales cycles in the B2B space. The right communities and networks provide you with access to credible industry and subject matter experts, trusted partners, and colleagues who can help you create meaningful connections with decision-makers in target customers. Whether you’re entering a new market, launching a new product, or simply looking to build stronger relationships with people in your target market, a well-executed communities of influence strategy can be the key to success.

Contact us today to explore how we can help you create a community of influence strategy that drives growth, enhances credibility, and boosts sales for your organization.