The role of Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie “Gatsby” fits him like a glove.

He knew how to play this rich man living in the middle of New York in the 1920s to perfection.

It seems that Francis Scott Fitzgerald wrote Gatsby with him in mind...

What if we replaced the name of the actor with that of an influencer and the name of the movie with that of your company?

Yes, even in an influencer marketing strategy, there are profiles that will work better for a project than others and accounts that will better match that of the brand.

How do you make the Great Gatsby become your perfect LinkedIn BtoB influencer?

Where to look for it?

How to find it?

If you're asking yourself all of these questions, you've come to the right place!

In this article, we will give you all the methods and advice to find your ideal BtoB ambassador.

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Where can you find LinkedIn BtoB influencers?

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We've been telling you this since the beginning of this blog, but you might as well continue so that everyone understands.

A BtoB influencer is a professional who likes to speak out on his social networks to talk about his specialty.

It can be business, HR, copywriting, social media or entrepreneurship.

This content is broadcast on one or more platforms to keep your profession informed of the latest trends and news.

According to a study by CMIT with Faber Content, the opinion leader has invested 3 social networks mainly:

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- Twitter for 87.6% of them,

- LinkedIn for 77% of them,

- Instagram for 29.7% of them.

These tools offer them the opportunity to express themselves differently.

Whether on Twitter, on LinkedIn or even on Instagram, the BtoB influencer can write a post, share a video, make a live or even talk in stories.

These features are used by thousands of French people every day on each of these platforms.

On LinkedIn, there are 21 million users...

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So how do you find the ambassador for your campaign?

Today we are going to focus on LinkedIn.

There are several tools to allow you to find the thought leader who will be able to highlight your expertise and attract new customers.

5 tools to find BtoB influencers on LinkedIn

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There are 5 ways for you to find a BtoB influencer for your LinkedIn campaign.

Whether they are a business manager, journalist, freelancer or HR, each professional profile can be found on the platform.

Here's how to find them.

LinkedIn Voices and the top influencer

The first way is LinkedIn Voices.

This ranking has existed for 6 years and is carried out by the application teams.

It highlights the most influential influencers and profiles evolving on the social network.

The list of those selected is released at the end of each year.

In 2021, several talents from the Les Années Folles label were included in the HR Top Voices.

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To make this ranking, LinkedIn takes into account various indicators, such as the engagement rate, the frequency of publication and the number of new subscribers.

In addition to this list, LinkedIn highlights “influencer” profiles throughout the year.

The social network explains about This page what is the case.

“LinkedIn Influencers are selected by invitation only and are a global collective of over 500 of the world's leading thinkers, leaders, and innovators.

As leaders in their industries and regions, they offer in-depth analysis of current topics such as the future of higher education, Amazon's corporate culture, the fall in oil prices, and the mistakes of policymakers.”

Some sixty personalities are among them in France, but most of the time they are politicians or managers of large companies.

In the BtoB influencer marketing sector, it can be complicated to collaborate with them, because they are not “neutral”.

They preach for their parish and are not necessarily inclined to talk about projects they don't know about.

It is easy to identify them since on their profiles, a blue badge is attached and sometimes, the mention “influencer” appears.

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Expert content

To find LinkedIn BtoB influencers, you don't just have to worry about the platform.

It is also interesting to go to sites specialized in your topic and see who is writing.

Generally, these niche media offer experts in the profession the opportunity to speak through forums.

This content is easily detectable from the moment of signature or the first line of the text, since it says “forum” or “guest post”.

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When leaving social networks, you may come across profiles of experts who are not necessarily seen everywhere and who have real expertise on a specific subject.

It is wise for you, especially during a BtoB influencer marketing campaign, to turn to these rare pearls to talk to your customers.

The events

Yes, well... right now events are not necessarily the best way to find speakers for your business.

But there are online appointments, such as special days or webinars.

During these moments of sharing, experts on a theme are invited to express their vision, the latest trends or highlight their own analysis.

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It is a good way for you to discover new profiles who are inclined to speak out about their profession.

What's more, if they are invited to these events, it's because they are already recognized for their expertise.

Their subscribers on social networks will therefore read their posts carefully to find out about the latest news in a sector.

Discussion groups

Whether on Facebook or on LinkedIn, discussion groups on various topics are regularly created.

They can be people who like to travel, but also entrepreneurs, social media managers or scientists.

The idea is to be able to ask a question in order to find an answer easily.

Some also launch debates to animate the group.

Do not hesitate to look at who is in a group related to your specialty.

Your next ambassador may be the one who enjoys speaking up the most or who gives the best advice.

Again, this shows that he is being listened to.

The hashtags

Finally, to finish, we share with you a method that has existed for years: the search by hashtag.

Even on LinkedIn, these keywords are valuable and are added regularly, or even all the time, by the platform's influencers under their posts.

This technique allows them to be discovered by new professionals in their field.

So take a few minutes, think about the very specific keywords in your niche and start looking for the ambassador you need!

How to search for BtoB influencers on LinkedIn

But we haven't told you everything yet.

On LinkedIn, the search engine is very effective.

It allows searches to be carried out by incorporating several data to find the rare pearl.

It is thus possible to fill in:

- key words,

- the type of profiles sought: one person, one page, one group

- the degree of relationship,

- the place to do the research: in a city, a country...

- the current company,

- the previous company,

- schools where the person graduated,

- the language,

- the sector of activity,

- what the person is receptive to: volunteering, board of directors...,

- the category of services: advice, marketing, digital...,

- the name, first name...

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We're not lying to you, it's really possible to do a search on LinkedIn with all of these indicators.

In a help page, the social network explains that this feature “allows you to search for people, jobs, businesses, posts, and more.”

“For content-related searches on LinkedIn, you'll see LinkedIn Learning videos in search results.

If you want to see more videos related to your search, click “See All” to the right of the learning video on your search results page, and you will be redirected to LinkedIn Learning,” the team says.

This tool will allow you to discover new profiles only if you know what you are looking for.

If you just type in a very general keyword like “marketing,” you're going to discover a lot of people, but you won't really know who to turn to.

To make this work easier for you, do not hesitate to take into account the few steps before looking for the influencer that we have listed you in this article.

Analysis of a BtoB influencer's account on LinkedIn

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Once you've found your thought leader for your influencer marketing campaign, don't contact them right away.

Take the time to consume its contents by following them for several days.

This technique will allow you to see if his posts are all liked and commented on, to know who his community really is and to take into account the number of people who subscribe to his profile on a daily basis.

Once you have subscribed to their LinkedIn profile, start by looking at the content posted previously. Thanks to the history of the social network, you have access to lots of data:

- all the activity of the account: what he liked, commented and shared,

- all of his posts,

- all of its articles,

- all of its documents.

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Watch for several months what this BtoB influencer posted.

You will quickly find out if its popularity is constant or if it is more irregular.

If the latter is the case, your communication may not have the impact you imagine.

If, on the contrary, his publications find their audience every time, well!

But before you cheer up, take a look at the comments.

Are the same people always commenting?

Do they basically react to the post?

Do they share their point of view and questions on various topics?

By worrying about this part, you will see directly whether the BtoB influencer community is committed, but especially if they trust them.

If people regularly ask him specific questions about his topic, we can deduce that he is considered a real expert to whom users turn for answers.

They trust him.

By analyzing these comments, you will also have some indications about the type of people who follow him.

Are these people who work in the same sector of activity as him?

Are they quite young or do they already have some experience?

By learning about its community, you will know, if you communicate via this BtoB influencer, you will know what type of profiles will be affected by your campaign.

Finally, by learning at length about the quality of the content posted by this opinion leader, you will learn more about him.

You will see directly if he shares the same values as you, if he has the same vision as you and if he is going in the same direction as your business.

If he checks all the boxes, he will be a good ambassador for your company.

On the other hand, if he does not seem to be sending the same messages, it is because he is not the right person.

Keep doing your research to find the right thought leader!

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Beware of fake influencers

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Taking an interest in the content shared by a thought leader is essential if you want to launch a BtoB influencer marketing campaign.

The objective for this type of project is to surround you with good profiles so that your business gains visibility.

So there is no point in surrounding yourself with someone who does not really have an influence.

Or who has fun entering a pod, a group of users who comment and like their posts with each other.

These profiles boost their engagement rate to attract the attention of as many businesses as possible.

But don't be fooled by following our advice!

It is for this reason that agencies like The Roaring Twenties were created to seriously support advertisers in their influence projects.

Other companies decide to work with only one profile for many years.

According to Cision, 41% of companies only collaborate with one opinion leader rather than several to avoid ending up with a fake influencer.

As with a good movie, casting takes time and needs to be done seriously.

You will find your ambassador without rushing by looking for them with the right keywords.

What are you waiting for to find the LinkedIn thought leader who will know how to highlight you?

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