5 Steps to Starting a B2B Influencer Program, with Sarah Adam
I might be biased (I am), but B2B influencers are the next big thing.
It’s true that people want to follow people and not brands. There’s trust between creators and audiences, and when you throw B2B topics in the mix, it’s important to build that trust from the very start.
Yes, Wix, the website platform that a lot of you use.
Her time at the company (5.5 years!) has been all about partnerships, influencers, negotiation, UGC, growth, and more. So, it’s safe to say she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to building a B2B influencer network.
Here are her 5 steps to building a B2B influencer program from scratch, in her own lightly-edited words. ⤵️
1️⃣. Watch 1st. Reach 2nd.
Sarah’s Take: "The 1st thing I think... is research, research, research to spend time, enough time to really immerse yourself in this niche in the market that you are focusing on... Who are the relevant influencers? So I think it all starts with that research."
Most marketers move too fast. They go straight to outreach without understanding the space.
Don’t do that.
Start by becoming a student of the niche you’re targeting. Spend time on LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, newsletters, and Slack groups. Notice:
- Who’s shaping the conversation
- What content formats resonate
- What tone, topics, and takes get engagement
- Which names come up again and again
This isn’t about finding the biggest names. It’s about finding the most trusted ones.
Start a simple doc and track 10–20 people who are consistently driving conversation in your industry. Add notes on what they post, where they post, who engages, and what people respond to.
Takeaway:Build a shortlist of 10 to 20 people who are active in your space.
For each 1, track what platforms they use, how often they post, what kind of engagement they get, what topics they cover, and how well their audience matches yours. This working list becomes your starting point for outreach, partnerships, and strategy.
2️⃣. Find Where the Real Conversations Happen.
Sarah’s Take: "Number 2, I think, is to identify the different communities or outlets, like not just the influences themselves that you should be partnering with."
Influence doesn’t just live in individual profiles. It lives in ecosystems.
And in B2B, those ecosystems are everything.
Think beyond social feeds. Influence hides out in Slack groups, private newsletters, niche podcasts, paid communities, comment sections, DMs, and event circles. These are the watering holes where decisions get shaped long before a buyer fills out a demo form.
If you only focus on people, not places, you’ll miss the channels that actually drive trust.
Takeaway: Audit where your ICP is learning. Make a working doc that maps the newsletters they read, the LinkedIn creators they follow, the podcasts they queue up, and the private groups they join. These aren’t just channels. They’re partnership opportunities. Start there before you even think about campaign creative.
3️⃣. Reach Out Before You’re Ready.
Sarah’s Take: "Once you've done the research, you've identified who the key players are, is to actually start reaching out to them. Before you have a plan, that's okay. But just to start talking to them and understand: how do they work with brands today?"
One of Sarah’s most practical insights is that you don’t need a fully built campaign to begin outreach.
Early conversations help you learn what influencers are open to, what formats they prefer, and how they’ve worked with brands in the past.
These conversations will teach you a lot: what they charge, what formats they prefer (video, LinkedIn posts, webinars), and what feels authentic to their voice.
Some may have never worked with brands before, which gives you a chance to shape the partnership in a way that feels fresh and collaborative.
Your initial message doesn’t have to be a proposal, it can be a genuine introduction. Tell them what you like about their content, mention why their audience aligns with your ICP, ask if they’ve worked with brands before, and how they usually collaborate.
Takeaway: Reach out to 3–5 potential influencers in your niche, even if your program isn’t fully developed.
Introduce yourself, share what you like about their content, and ask if they’ve worked with brands before. Use their responses to learn about pricing, formats, and how they prefer to collaborate.
The goal is to gather insights, not pitch. Treat it as a discovery conversation.
4️⃣. Stop Treating Influencers Like Ad Agencies.
Sarah’s Take: “We give... the boundaries of what the kind of do's and don'ts and try to make it as clear as possible, as brief as possible. And to not interfere. It's very important to give creative freedom."
Most brands over-script. Sarah sees it all the time, and it's one of the biggest mistakes in B2B influencer marketing.
If the post reads like a press release, it’s not influencer marketing. It’s just a paid ad.
Sarah’s approach is clear. The brand sets the destination. The creator drives the car. You give them the goal, the message you want to land, and the non-negotiables. Then you get out of the way.
Their voice is what makes the content work. If you take that away, the audience stops listening.
Takeaway: Want good content from your partnerships? Write a good brief. A strong brief should:
- Clearly state the goal (e.g. awareness of a product launch or brand perception shift)
- Highlight the key message or feature you’d like them to focus on
- Include guardrails (what to avoid, disclaimers, compliance notes)
- Avoid scripting or dictating exact wording
It’s short, direct, and leaves creative space. That’s how you get content that feels natural, not forced.
5️⃣. Measure the Full Campaign, Not Just 1 Post
Sarah’s Take: “Over time you create your own benchmark... we calculate the cost per view... that’s how I can compare between influencers of different sizes."
Most B2B teams have no idea what influencer performance should look like. Sarah didn’t either when she started. It took real campaigns, real budgets, and real outcomes to build benchmarks that made sense.
Instead of trying to guess what a post is worth, focus on your own data. Track cost per view across your campaigns. Look at actual reach, not just follower count. And don’t overreact to one piece of content underperforming. Some will flop. Some will overdeliver. You only learn by running the full play.
Sarah also reminds us that creators talk. Lowballing or dragging them through messy negotiation doesn’t just cost you one partnership. It can tank your reputation in the entire niche.
Takeaway: At the end of a campaign, calculate total spend, total reach, and average cost per view. Use that to set your own baseline going forward. Keep a simple doc that logs every deal and performance outcome. That’s how you price smarter, negotiate better, and scale what works.
IN A MEME
🗓️ UPCOMING EVENTS
You don't need more data. You need smarter ways to use it. AI can help. Dave Schools shows us how, on Aug 6th at 12pm ET.
