How can you co-create innovative products with B2B influencers?

To co-create innovative products with B2B influencers, identify thought leaders aligned with your market niche and establish partnerships. Utilize their expertise to gain insights into industry needs, creating solutions that resonate with the target audience. Encourage ongoing collaboration through workshops and brainstorming sessions, and allow influencers to test and provide feedback on prototypes, thus helping to shape the final product and ensure its relevance and market acceptance. When I worked at Quimicryl, this was routine and several products were developed this way.

Have you communicated with your product team regarding this "new" product? How does it align with the existing roadmap, and does it risk becoming a shiny distraction? I've witnessed instances where insufficient communication between teams led to challenges. It's crucial to ensure alignment between marketing and product efforts to avoid potential pitfalls. Clear communication helps in understanding how the new product fits into the broader strategy and prevents unnecessary distractions or conflicts in priorities. Then follow the suggestions in the prompt.

Elevating Marketing Strategies with Influencer Collabs Once at work, we integrated influencer marketing, and the impact was game-changing. In my experience, success hinges on aligning influencers with brand values. Use analytics to find the right match. Clear communication is key—set objectives and allow creative freedom within guidelines. One helpful tip is tracking KPIs. Our collaboration led to a 30% increase in brand mentions, 20% more website traffic, and boosted product sales. These data-driven insights validated our strategy, proving the transformative power of influencer marketing when executed authentically.

Identify those with deep industry knowledge, a relevant audience, and a passion for innovation. Bring them into brainstorming sessions and ideation processes to tap into their unique perspectives and expertise. Create platforms for open communication and feedback, fostering a joint sense of ownership and creativity. Outline expectations, deliverables, and timelines to ensure alignment and effective project management. Respect their opinions and suggestions, recognizing their valuable role in shaping the product's direction.

Relevance: Choose influencers aligned with your B2B niche. Build Connections: Cultivate authentic relationships. Early Involvement: Engage influencers in product development. Workshop Collaboration: Organize sessions for idea exploration. Network Leverage: Tap into influencers' networks for perspectives. Exclusive Previews: Offer previews for valuable feedback. Open Communication: Foster transparent communication. Recognition: Acknowledge and reward influencers. Iterative Refinement: Act on feedback to refine the product. Co-Marketing: Collaborate on joint marketing efforts. Impact Metrics: Establish metrics for collaboration success. Sustained Relationships: Maintain ongoing collaborations.

In some emerging markets where all influencers may not be picked up via certain tools its important to have your feet on the ground as to who is relevant in culture. An easy tactic is to build a culture council of those who are shaping the industry across music, art etc and meet once a quarter to unpack who is driving the trends.

Do your research: Get to know the influencers you're considering working with. Read their content, watch their videos, and follow them on social media. Pay attention to the values they communicate and the tone and personality of their content. Look for alignment: Consider your brand values and mission when choosing influencers. Look for influencers who have similar values and a mission that aligns with your own. Be authentic: When you reach out to influencers, be authentic and genuine. Explain why you're interested in working with them and what you admire about their work.

Expanding your search: Go beyond the usual suspects: Don't just focus on the most popular influencers. Consider micro-influencers with smaller, more engaged audiences relevant to your niche. They can offer higher engagement rates and a more authentic connection with your target audience. Look for diverse perspectives: Seek influencers from different backgrounds and viewpoints to represent your brand inclusively and resonate with a wider range of potential customers. Explore unconventional channels: Look beyond social media platforms like Instagram or YouTube. Consider industry forums, podcasts, or blogs where relevant influencers might be active.

Finding creators that are trusted in the space that haven't licensed their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) to a large of other brands are a great place to start. Also those that are known for focusing on a specific type of product so when they do endorse and represent your product it feels like an organic fit.

Brainstorming and idea generation: Joint workshops and ideation sessions: Bring your brand team and the influencers together to generate ideas using creative exercises and collaborative discussions. Consider using techniques like mind mapping, role-playing, or rapid prototyping to spark creativity. Leverage the influencer's expertise: Encourage the influencer to share their industry knowledge, customer insights, and personal experiences to inform the product development process. Openness and flexibility: Foster a culture of open communication where all ideas are welcome, regardless of their initial feasibility. Encourage the influencer to challenge assumptions and think outside the box.

Specificity: Define the product scope: Briefly describe the existing product or new category you're aiming for, its target audience, and the expected impact. Outline collaboration stages: Mention the specific phases where influencers will be involved, like ideation, prototype testing, content creation, or launch campaigns. Set clear roles and responsibilities: Clarify how influencer expertise aligns with specific tasks, like market research, competitor analysis, or user experience testing. Define feedback channels: Establish preferred methods for receiving influencer feedback, like surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews.

Influencers are a wealth of first-hand consumer insights. Collaborating with an influencer gets one first-hand access to understanding a target market so specifically which is vital for product strategy. Using influencer performance metrics to understand what products sell through the fastest, and combining that with two way conversation flow between the creator and their audience is invaluable when understanding the grey area for product strategy. What's missing in the market? What do their customers constantly ask for, but the influencer hasn't quite found the perfect offering? This is where their insight becomes incredibly valuable for product strategy.

This is literally the most crucial point. You must CO-Create the product. Not just slap their name on the final product and expect them to promote it. By letting an influencer have input on the creation of the product strategy and development - you are getting them more invested in it and this more invested in selling it. Get them involved as early as possible and you will see a BIG difference in the results from the project.

Co-creating products with B2B influencers requires involvement beyond the innovation process alone. A successful strategy hinges on a clear, overarching vision that influencers can align with. Providing comprehensive education on the market landscape and their position within it is key. They need to grasp the larger context to contribute meaningfully. Moreover, offering a well-defined strategy and direction clarifies their role in the innovation journey. Without this clarity, tracking ROI becomes elusive, and achieving tangible outcomes becomes challenging. A focused vision, thorough market education, and a clear strategic roadmap empower influencers to contribute effectively, fostering momentum and ensuring impactful outcomes.

Content synergy and amplification: Targeted content calendar: Collaboratively develop a content calendar with the influencers, aligning their posts with your overall launch campaign strategy. Ensure the content resonates with their specific audience segments and complements your brand messaging. Creative content formats: Break free from traditional marketing! Explore diverse content formats like product reviews, unboxing videos, tutorial guides, live demonstrations, or influencer-hosted Q&A sessions to keep the audience engaged and excited. Leverage cross-promotion: Encourage influencers to promote the launch across their various channels, including social media, blogs, podcasts, or email newsletters.

Alignment with Launch Goals: Connect promotional content to launch objectives: Define the specific goals of the launch campaign (e.g., brand awareness, website traffic, early sales) and tailor influencer content accordingly. Set clear call-to-actions: Be specific about the desired actions you want influencer audiences to take (e.g., visit landing page, use discount code, join webinar). Leverage influencer strengths and audience fit: Choose the right channels and content formats based on each influencer's expertise and their audience's preferences. Incentivize influencer creativity and audience participation: Offer rewards for influencer content performance, user-generated content campaigns, or interactive a

Co-launching with B2B influencers requires coordinated efforts for consistency and momentum. Educating them on market specifics and aligning content themes ensures their contributions complement the launch plan, preventing misalignment. In regulated industries, this education becomes crucial to ensure their content and strategies align with the launch plan, fostering impactful and compliant outcomes.

Similar to the product development strategy - you need to include the influencer in the full launch strategy and not just have them be "part of it" or worse and afterthought/late addition.

Data-driven insights: Track key performance indicators (KPIs): Monitor relevant metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, and revenue generated through influencer channels. Analyze the data to understand the reach, engagement, and overall impact of your campaign. Utilize marketing tools and analytics platforms: Leverage robust marketing tools and analytics dashboards to gain deeper insights into audience demographics, content performance, and customer behavior. This data can reveal valuable trends and areas for improvement. Compare to campaign goals: Assess how your results align with your initial campaign goals and objectives. Did you achieve your desired reach, engagement, or conversion rates?

Utilize qualitative feedback: Don't solely rely on quantitative data. Conduct surveys, interviews, or focus groups with both customers and influencers to gather in-depth qualitative feedback on product features, usability, and overall experience. Analyze customer reviews and social media conversations: Monitor online engagement and sentiment about the product to gain valuable insights and identify areas for improvement. Share data and insights with influencers: Facilitate transparency and trust by sharing campaign performance data and customer feedback with your influencer partners.

Evaluating the overal performance of the launch and subsequently the product with the influencer and setting expectations ahead of time that this is part of the whole package - makes it so the influencer is able to take responsibilty in the success or failure of the launch. When people are able to hold themselves accountable - they work harder in making sure it is a success.

Work only with partners that are willing to try and adjust for low performing metrics but also work that out on the upfront in the contracts. Most creators will work with you as they also want their licensed product to do well in the category. Look at stats and iterate on content with the creator/s.

4 important points, it seems to me : - Conduct ideation workshops to brainstorm new ideas with influencers from different industries and perspectives. Their expertise provides fresh insights. - Run product testing programs to get early feedback. Influencers can identify pain points and suggest valuable features from a customer view. - Form advisory boards of top influencers to consult on strategic roadmaps and new offerings in development. - Create an influencer portal to solicit ongoing product feedback and votes on the most impactful ideas.