B2B influencer marketing belongs in demand planning, but its value needs more backing than adoption alone. In research from Ascend2 and Top Rank Marketing, trust and credibility lead the list of creator qualities, ahead of audience relevance, subject matter expertise, and domain authority. Marketers need to choose a credible partner and spell out what the engagement should deliver.
Research Favors Credibility Over Follower Counts
The Ascend2 and Top Rank Marketing research reports that 83% of B2B marketers are actively pursuing influencer programs. That establishes broad interest, rather than proof of revenue impact.
Trust and credibility top the study’s list of prized creator attributes. Next comes relevance to the intended audience, followed by subject expertise and authority within a field.
Entertainment also has a place. Among programs classified as most effective, 43% work with entertaining creators, almost twice the rate for traditional influencer types. Those findings support considering creators beyond analysts and senior executives. They don’t establish that entertainment alone improves results.
For demand teams, this makes audience fit the first screening question. A creator’s reach is useful only if the people reached belong in the buying conversation.
Turn Creator Selection Into a Campaign Brief
Patrick Zielinski runs the B2B talent representation firm The Drive Agency. When evaluating potential clients, he looks beyond audience size and engagement to ambition, openness to feedback, and fit.
His assessment concerns building creator businesses. Marketers can apply a related discipline when evaluating partnerships: examine the working relationship alongside the audience.
Use a short brief before approaching a creator:
- Name the buyers you need the content to reach.
- Set out the subject the creator has the credibility to explain.
- Agree on what will be delivered and how you’ll assess the results.
- Determine whether you need ongoing work or a single campaign.
Both parties can then discuss scope on concrete terms. It also keeps follower totals from becoming the default buying criterion.
The research reports that creators are most likely to receive performance-based compensation, at 51%. That finding makes measurement a relevant contracting discussion, without proving which payment model works best.
Megan Lieu Shows How a Creator Business Develops
Megan Lieu, a data scientist in the Washington, D.C. area, built her influencing business over five years. She started on LinkedIn, sharing career guidance and accounts of her professional experience.
Lieu later added Instagram and YouTube. She says B2B companies began approaching her largely by accident.
Her business includes a LinkedIn creator cohort, a newsletter, and brand partnerships. She identifies those partnerships as her largest income source. Daily social posts and free webinars help promote her offerings.
Lieu credits The Drive Agency with developing and negotiating valuable deals. One involved Kit, the company behind her newsletter tool. She describes filming a commercial in NYC for a new feature she genuinely liked.
The example illustrates a creator’s commercial activity, not verified demand generation results. No campaign conversion figures or pipeline outcomes are provided. Marketers can learn from the partnership’s product relevance without treating it as an effectiveness benchmark.
Continuity Needs a Business Case
The research finds that 42% of marketer clients favor ongoing programs, compared with 24% favoring individual campaigns. That preference supports discussing longer relationships, but it doesn’t establish their return.
Zielinski advises aspiring creators to publish regularly, begin on one comfortable platform, and expand through video elsewhere. His guidance emphasizes the sustained work behind an audience.
Marketers need the same discipline on their side. Choose a relevant creator, make the brief explicit, and agree on the measures before starting. Let the evidence guide whether you extend the relationship; industry adoption alone doesn’t justify the spending.
