Business to Business companies, better known as “B2B” companies, are businesses that work with other businesses, rather than with the consumer directly. As freelance and ‘gig’ work continues to gain popularity, many self-starters, freelancers, and even influencers are turning to B2B software to get themselves or their companies off the ground. It makes sense that these software companies seeing heavy use in the social media space are also successfully utilizing social media themselves to expand audiences, drive engagement, and grow their business.
Some trends seen on these B2B companies’ social media pages are increased production of creative content such as IGTV and podcasts. Some companies are turning towards their users to bring success stories to audiences. This kind of transparency has encouraged higher social media engagement and growth on Instagram especially.
Using the Tagger Platform’s affinity, growth, and engagement toggles, we found these 15 B2B software companies using influencer marketing the right way.
- Qualtrics (@qualtrics) – With over 1.2k online mentions by individuals on Instagram over the past year, Qualtrics has experienced continued growth as well. Some efforts that have boosted the “experience management” company include their high engagement rates and their regular collaborations with guest speakers such as Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Ashton Kutcher. Not only do these big names draw audiences on social media, but also the mentions from micro-influencers as small as 10k.
2. DocuSign (@docusign) – DocuSign is approaching 500 individual mentions on Instagram and specifically since the pandemic has made the physical signing of documents more difficult, more users have turned towards digital options to sign documents. This knowledge was not lost on Docusign, as many of their Instagram collaborations following lockdown promoted the safe completion of documents.
3. Miro (@mirohq) – The online whiteboard-esque software promoting collaboration has experienced a phenomenal Instagram audience growth of 12% since September 2020. The brand has successfully utilized influencer marketing despite its smaller audience and effectively boosted growth on its social media. Some effective tactics the brand has used include their regular features of Miro customers, regularly reaching audience engagement of around 4%.
4. Shopify (@shopify) – While not only promoting small businesses and other endeavors on the platform itself, Shopify also does a great deal of user promotion on their Instagram, contributing to audience growth in the process. The e-commerce platform has nearly 400 sponsored mentions alone, but its greatest successes in influencer marketing are its collaborations with Shopify users to highlight their use of the platform. The posts highlighting creators have found the highest engagement on Shopify’s Instagram and also correlate with growth spikes.
5. Monday.com (@mondaydotcom) – A cloud-based OS software for collaborating teams, Monday.com has seen growth following Instagram mentions from influencers and freelancers. Many of these users herald Monday.com as their favorite site for organization or business utilities, the kind of statements that have helped push traffic to the platform’s Instagram.
6. ChowNow (@chownow) – As the only commission-free online ordering platform, ChowNow’s massive growth is no surprise with the world’s turn towards takeout during the pandemic. ChowNow’s social media has extensively promoted small restaurants nationwide throughout the pandemic, to phenomenal Instagram engagement. 1.5k individual mentions and over 5k brand mentions from influencers, foodies, and restaurants alike have all led to higher regular engagement on the platform’s Instagram and continues to contribute to their audience growth.
7. MongoDB (@mongodb) – A database for modern application development, MongoDB has been pushing Instagram traffic through the utilization of Instagram Stories, promotion of key MongoDB features, and additional content including a MongoDB Podcast. Through highlighting these features, the platform has kept up a consistent Instagram presence. Beyond Instagram, Mongo has also promoted their software on their Youtube channel, where their highest view count has reached nearly 2 million views.
8. Upwork (@upworkinc) – The marketplace connecting businesses with freelancers, Upwork’s consistent growth is supported by both a wealth of mentions and its regular collaborations with Upwork creators on social media. Interviews and blurbs from Upwork users are regularly featured on the platform’s Instagram, these being the posts receiving the highest engagement for the brand.
9. Buffer (@buffer) – A social media management platform helping influencers and businesses schedule posts, Buffer has had especially great results with influencer marketing on social media. Boosts from over 300 individual mentions have encouraged growth over the past year in over 20k new Instagram followers.
10. Salesforce (@salesforce) – With the highest number of individual and brand mentions among this list (7.7k Brand, 22.2k Individual), Salesforce has shown an extremely effective influencer marketing strategy, coupling multiple tactics to help grow their Instagram audience by over 30k in recent months. Regular engagement and features of salesforce customers on Instagram have driven audience growth as well as high-traffic Youtube videos and Instagram story content.
11. General Assembly (@generalassembly) – Specializing in educating workers and teams for better technological skills, General Assembly has experienced growth on all of its social platforms in the past year. One of the more effective tactics the company has used has been the highlighting of General Assembly user stories, who then return the favor and bring followers back to General Assembly with their posts. This ebb and flow of influencer engagement benefits both sides, reflecting in General Assembly’s growth.
12. Mailchimp (@mailchimp) – The all-in-one marketing platform for small businesses, Mailchimp’s influencer and social media marketing tactics have proven to drive growth on their Instagram. Personal stories of Mailchimp workers and users have found the highest engagement rates, showing a more in-depth connection with audiences. Mailchimp has also expanded their content, developing a podcast and short film series with stars such as Reese Witherspoon featured on episodes.
13. BigCommerce (@bigcommerce) – Though smaller than some e-commerce sites on this list, BigCommerce has grown at a steady pace over the past year with the help of influencer marketing promoting the platform’s impressive accomplishments. Featuring collaborations with big brands such as Jeni’s Ice Cream, GreenRoads CBD, and Chapstick, BigCommerce’s Instagram mentions have steadily increased along with their follower count.
14. Slack (@slackhq) – Known as the “fastest-growing business application in history,” Slack’s Instagram growth should also be considered in this race. The collaboration platform has utilized influencer marketing to boost their mentions (now in the 9k range) and encourage engagement. As a result, the platform’s Instagram has also seen audience growth.
15. Kickstarter (@kickstarter) – With its most engaged posts featuring actual Kickstarter projects, the fundraising platform has seen the most growth through the uplifting of its’ users. Creators and inventors on Kickstarter are also likely influencers or at least have a social media presence to promote their Kickstarter. This presence ensures the high rate of mentions that Kickstarter has every month, averaging around 1.5k individual mentions. These mentions have encouraged the company’s growth on social media, seeing a growth of over 30k in the last year.
If you’d like to see how Allegiant Media‘s end-to-end Influencer Marketing platform identifies the perfect online creators for B2B campaigns, schedule a demo and we’ll show you how.
This article was originally featured on TaggerMedia.com on March 04, 2021.