Influencer marketing is no longer just the preserve of B2C brands. A new report from WPP Media’s The Goat Agency and Kantar reveals that 82% of B2B marketers are now incorporating influencer collaborations into their marketing strategies — a stark increase from just 31% in 2020.
The India Influencer Marketing Report 2025 highlights a significant shift in the B2B marketing mindset, with 94% of respondents deeming influencer marketing a successful tactic. It suggests that B2B brands are recognising the long-term value of creator-led campaigns across the full marketing funnel — not just for awareness but also for lead generation, conversion, and retention.
Data-led decisions drive performance
Central to this shift is the increasing sophistication of data tools designed to support influencer strategy. Brand.AI (previously known as INCATech) is one such platform cited in the report. It offers B2B marketers a data-led approach to influencer selection and campaign planning.
Its “Genuity Score” helps brands measure the authenticity of a creator’s audience, while brand safety scores assess content risk. These tools ensure that marketers can select credible creators aligned with their objectives, while minimising reputational risk.
Brand.AI also tracks broader content trends, competitor activity, and platform performance to guide influencer mix and strategy — moving influencer marketing away from subjective judgment and into measurable, data-backed territory.
Once the strategy and influencer roster are defined, its partner platform Influencer.AI takes over, automating everything from outreach and contracting to deployment and payments. The full-stack solution reflects a growing demand in B2B for seamless, end-to-end influencer marketing management.
Creators now active across the funnel
Another key trend noted in the report is the evolving role of influencers within the B2B buyer journey. Historically used for top-of-funnel activity such as brand awareness, creators are now being tapped for their impact at the middle and bottom of the funnel too.
This includes lead generation, sales conversions, and customer retention via discount codes, product reviews, affiliate links, and other trackable assets. According to the report, analytics are now robust enough to support attribution modelling, allowing marketers to tie influencer activity directly to revenue outcomes.
For B2B marketers, particularly in sectors with longer sales cycles, influencers offer a new route to credibility and visibility among niche audiences. As decision-makers become more selective in the content they engage with, creator voices that combine subject matter expertise with reach are becoming vital assets in the B2B toolkit.
The takeaway for B2B brands
The findings underscore a critical inflection point for B2B marketing: creators are no longer an optional extra, but a core part of the modern go-to-market mix. As platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, and even Instagram mature as B2B engagement tools, marketers must be prepared to invest in the right influencer infrastructure — including data tools, content analytics, and integrated workflows.
With automation and analytics now closing the loop from brief to billing, the barriers to entry for B2B influencer marketing are falling fast — and the returns are becoming harder to ignore.
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