Understanding the Hard-Earned Role of Being a B2B Influencer

Tim Holdsworth
Posted by Tim Holdsworth on July 3, 2014

B2B-Top-200-Thought-Leaders When it comes to business to business (B2B) marketing, it’s typically nose-to-the-grindstone; you work hard every day to produce tangible results and you love the day-to-day challenges. There’s not a lot of hoopla, not a lot of confetti and even fewer ticker-tape parades…to paraphrase a quote H. Jackson Brown, Jr., the aim isn’t to work for recognition, but rather do work worthy of recognition.

Every now and then, however, it’s nice to be recognized for your expertise and hard work. That’s why Weidert Group is honored to be among Onalytica’s Top 200 Thought Leaders on B2B Marketing. It’s quite a flattering recognition as a growing inbound marketing agency from Wisconsin.

Ranked 51st, Weidert Group is among the top brands and influential individuals who are leading the online discussion on the subject. Other names on the list include some of our favorite accounts to follow:

@ClickZ

@MarketingProfs

@HubSpot

@socialmedia2day

@forrester

@CMIContent

@adage

So, How Was This Influencer List Developed?

Onalytica looked at three months’ worth of Twitter conversations that used #B2BMarketing to create a network of the top accounts driving the discussion on the topic. The list Onalytica built accounted for, in part, the number of followers for each account. However, they kept in mind that follower count doesn't relate directly to influence, as context is a more important factor. (Although in many cases the top influencers do tend to have more followers.)

They then used their own PageRank-based methodology to review connections between influencers to identify those at the forefront of the conversations. All accounts were given a value, expressed in a normalized PageRank score, to show the relative influence of the people involved in the conversations.

Below is the diagram of the top 100, providing a visual of the size of each account’s influence and the relationships between them. (Weidert Group is located near the center.) The full top 200 list, which includes a comprehensive network map and allows you too see all the connections, is available for download here.

 Chart-of-B2B-influencers

Being an Influencer

By definition, an influencer has the capacity to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others. While we’re certainly pleased to be counted among the top B2B marketing influencers, by offering regular and relevant content about some of the latest B2B strategies, trends and tools, our passion is helping clients become influencers in the market spaces they serve. How? By working with them to develop effective inbound marketing, which at its core is all about providing valuable information for companies’ best prospects as they search online and through effective content and calls-to-action, influencing those prospects to become leads and, ultimately, customers.  

If you'd like more background on what inbound marketing can do for you, download our Step-By-Step Guide to Inbound Marketing. It provides a solid overview of the tools, processes and approach. And if you have questions about the process, just let us know!

About Onalytica

London-based, Onalytica provides cloud-based solutions that allow their customers to optimize their content marketing, raise awareness among influencers and their networks, and scale their influencer marketing activities. They also conduct influencer analysis on key topics, such as Bring Your Own Device and The Internet of Things

Step-by-Step Guide to Inbound Marketing

Topics: Inbound Marketing

click here to take the state of industrial sales and marketing survey