B2B Influencer Marketing: An Initial Trial Results in Business Leads and a Long-Term Relationship
When a longstanding client needed to bolster brand awareness in the heavy construction industry, they turned to Chirp for creative guidance to exceed their goals.
Although Leica Geosystems had earned nationwide awareness of its solutions, the company needed to distinguish itself from competitors. So, Leica partnered with Chirp to pilot a B2B influencer program targeting a specific group of decision-makers. Chirp identified gaps in conversations about technology in the heavy construction industry, uncovering an opportunity for Leica to present itself as a technology enabler. Chirp recommended the ideal partner for B2B influencer engagement, leading to a successful, ongoing partnership that has garnered hundreds of thousands of impressions and resulted in business leads.
About Leica Geosystems
Leica Geosystems is a trusted supplier of premium sensors, software and services to professionals in surveying, construction, infrastructure, mining, mapping and other industries dependent on geospatial content. The company provides the easy-to-use products and services construction professionals need to capture and share consistent, accurate geospatial data throughout a project's lifecycle.
Leica Geosystems offers the broadest portfolio of solutions on the market today. Their easy-to-use solutions mean end users spend less time learning and more time getting the job done.
Every day, thousands of construction professionals across North America turn to Leica Geosystems for surveying technologies, mobile mapping systems, underground utility detection, machine control, safety awareness systems, construction layout tools, and reality capture technologies for BIM modeling, verification, and as-built documentation.
Situation
The heavy construction space is highly specialized and focuses on ways to move dirt smarter, better, and safer. The decision-makers in this space turn to peers and online resources that help them move dirt easier.
Working with Chirp, long-term client Leica Geosystems had established nationwide awareness for its simple technology solutions to complex challenges facing the building and heavy construction industries. But in 2022, the company found itself at a crossroads. The awareness was there, but it needed to differentiate from competitors while reinforcing its unique capabilities and overall value proposition to drive preference.
Chirp borrowed best practices from the consumer space and put them to work through a B2B lens, recommending a pilot influencer program for Leica Geosystems. In the B2B space, the idea isn’t to reach tens of thousands of followers. Rather, it’s to influence a small, targeted group of decision-making customers and potential customers.
Challenge
Unlike commercial construction, which has been undergoing a digital transformation for the past decade, the public sector, specifically much-needed civil infrastructure projects, has remained in a 2D world.
Accelerating the adoption of technology solutions is key to the growth and success of the heavy construction industry. Technology is the enabler. However, not enough industry players are discussing this critical need.
Chirp initiated a conscious effort for Leica Geosystems to bring this topic to the forefront, build a firm foundation of thought leadership, and keep it there. To do that, Leica Geosystems would need a recognized industry expert to attract customers' and prospects' attention and trust, helping the company increase brand preference and boost its credibility.
Laying the Foundation
To initiate the program, Chirp conducted a competitive analysis to understand the conversation gaps on technology solutions to complex challenges facing the building and heavy construction industries, identifying the white space for Leica Geosystems in the conversation. We discovered that no one was addressing technology as an enabler for the heavy construction industry. This discovery provided the perfect path for Leica’s engagement, given the company’s newly refreshed marketing materials and messages, which talk about how Leica is enabling the industry with its technology solutions.
Enter Pushysix
Chirp employed social listening to understand who was talking about heavy construction related to public infrastructure. We identified a dozen industry voices we further vetted for their reach, credibility, quality of content, consistency in post topics, and overall approach, voice, and tone to align with Leica’s brand.
We contacted our top three identified influencers to understand their interest and capabilities in working with a company brand new to influencer marketing. We ultimately chose one influencer who resonated with the target audience and aligned with the client’s brand: Scott Colclough. A self-identified 20-year construction veteran, Scott solves marketing challenges for construction companies. Scott, known online as @Pushysix, is already well-known and established in the dirt world.
In reviewing his channels, followers and content, Chirp recommended @Pushysix as the clear partner for B2B influencer engagement.
With the right influencer identified, we needed to accelerate the program from conception to reality. To do that, we secured organizational alignment and consensus on influencer qualification, engagement, and measurement before beginning work. We also worked with the client to ensure objectives, KPIs, and the budget were clear so we could judge success properly.
We also further vetted Pushysix with a comprehensive background check and extensive discussions before finalizing engagement specifics.
“Coming from a heavy equipment user background, of course I’d heard of Leica Geosystems before our partnership. What I wasn’t prepared for was the in-depth view I received as to how truly dirt simple the technology is to use. Not enough people on the dirt world side of the industry realize the ease of use of Leica’s technology, and it’s been a great few years learning and educating small to mid-size businesses across the commercial construction industry. Our initial impact numbers were good, and they’ve only gotten better as we’ve continued the partnership. Leica and Chirp have proved to be excellent partners in that they constantly bring the Pushysix team into the conversation, they ask for our advice – and they listen to us.”
Strategy Into Action
Chirp used the competitive research data to outline a plan to position Leica Geosystems as a leader in heavy construction solutions for much-needed public infrastructure projects, which led to our program goal: To enhance brand awareness and preference for Leica Geosystems products and technology throughout North America by building a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship with @Pushysix to help the company reach its key audience(s) with quality, strategic content.
As a pilot project for Leica Geosystems, Chirp leveraged its existing B2B influencer marketing framework to ensure seamless engagement and measurement, including:
Identification: Focus on influencers who are subject matter experts in our client’s field (i.e., heavy construction); start with a comprehensive list and whittle down based on influencers’ reach, credibility, and quality of content.
Qualification: Make vetting a priority to mitigate brand and reputational risk by conducting thorough social media background checks before engaging.
Engagement: Develop clear expectations on the quantity and quality of posts, the scheduling of geo-targeted in-person site visits/industry trade show engagement to gather pertinent content, and the frequency and/or category/brand exclusivity based on budget. Document these expectations in an SOW/LOA.
Measurement: Agree upfront on what will be measured and provide influencers with specifics (e.g., tracking links, hashtags, etc.) during the engagement and documentation phases.
Once the plan was in place, we engaged Pushysix to attend a client user-group conference as a test to ensure the message resonated with the target audience and aligned with the client brand. We shared the company value proposition, message points, and let @Pushysix speak to them in his own voice, ensuring they resonated with his audience. After the conference, we quickly realized that the content, tone, voice, and relevance resonated with the target audience in unexpected ways, including generating new business leads for Leica Geosystems. In addition to generating new business leads and bringing previous users back, the ongoing work with Pushysix has resulted in increased partner marketing with industry leaders, increased awareness from end users at industry trade shows, and rapidly increasing social media engagement. Between the end of year one and year two of the partnership, likes/comments/shares/saves on multiple social media channels increased more than 150%.
Based on the success of the initial engagement, we extended the exclusive partnership for another year. We collaborated with @Pushsix and Leica Geosystems to develop the content that would best tell the Leica Geosystems story while resonating with the followers Pushysix leveraged for innovative multi-media content to include customer case studies, in-the-field video tutorials, podcasts, and more to credibly and creatively talk about how Leica Geosystems is advancing and enabling the industry with its technology.
Throughout the engagement, we’ve held and shared clear expectations about the quantity and quality of posts, frequency and category exclusivity.
“We knew we wanted to explore working with an industry influencer, but we weren’t sure how to go about it. By handing the steering of this initiative to our partners at Chirp, we’ve been able to grow our relationship with Scott and the Pushysix Media team, without having to dedicate internal resources to manage it on a day-to-day basis. Now in our 3rd year, we’re continuing to learn and build upon the messaging we’re co-developing, to ensure it is relevant and vital to professionals working in the heavy construction industry.”
RESULTS
Leica Geosystems’ influencer program has reached nearly 1 million decision makers, garnering nearly 1 million impressions and over 25,000 likes, comments, or shares across all channels. Most importantly, the influencer program has generated multiple business leads, resulting in recaptured and net new recurring revenue.
Leica Geosystems is the first to market (within its competitive set) with influencer engagement, implementing the first B2B influencer program companywide. The program reaches the target audience of small — to mid-size heavy construction decision-makers, integrates with customers and partners, and extends its reach with industry-first podcasts on heavy construction.
Delivering Results that Matter for Your Company
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