Are we all potential opinion leaders in B2B? Bruno Fridlansky answers in the affirmative. According to him, this holds true not only for digital media but also in real life. Bruno emphasises the aspects that will resonate with those of us who have worked as clients or consultants. The rest of us can benefit from his experience through these tips.
B2B marketing: are we all potential opinion leaders?
Bruno is a leading social selling expert in B2B and especially on LinkedIn and is the author of a number of books on the subject. I have interviewed him on this topic of opinion leadership, of which he is a seasoned expert.
Bruno defines for us who is an opinion leader: “You are an opinion leader from the moment you can speak and there is an audience to listen to you, read you and”, here’s the crucial thing, “enter into a conversation with you”.
This audience may not agree with you, but the conversations you have with them will allow you to convey your vision and showcase expertise.
The notion of expertise is essential for B2B opinion leaders, and when it comes to conversations, he rightly explains that one must talk in terms of the “community” and not the audience.
Here is his full interview captured unmasked and unfiltered during one of his visits to the Visionary Marketing premises  in Paris.

Influence versus opinion leadership
Influence is a word which is somewhat overused today in all sorts of ways, whether it’ s B2C or B2B. In a certain way, it could be described as a purchase of human space.
The thought leader is not there to sell directly, but to share ideas, pass on projects, and get employees and partners to buy them
B2B opinion leaders bring together a complete ecosystem. They facilitate the discussion and sharing of ideas.

Thought leadership allows for sharing of information and engaging in a conversation. It has a bidirectional dimension that influence rarely does, because influence is when someone tries to impact others, without themselves being impacted by them. In other words, a good influencer is someone who also knows how to be influenced.
A good influencer is someone who also knows how to be influenced
Opinion leadership, for whom?
To properly implement opinion leadership in organisations, senior management must show the way, and show that employees are trusted and allowed to take on the role of B2B opinion leaders on behalf of their company.
Management must now accept that their employees can speak for the organisation ation. Employees are the best ambassadors for a brand. But for this to happen, they should have a certain amount of freedom to speak and more importantly the confidence and conviction of management backing them up.
Opinion leadership and expertise
Everyone is already an opinion leader, whether you have one, two or three people listening to or reading you, or thousands
Each B2B opinion leader tends to speak to a specific audience. “If I am a CRM expert and I engage in conversations, I will take on the role of opinion leader for people who are interested in this subject,” explains Bruno.
In order to earn street cred, it is fundamental to adopt good practices, good reflexes, multiply the points of contact with the audience, and above all, be a role model.
B2B thought leaders must be exemplary to be credible
If I engage with people on a certain topic, I have to substantiate the credibility on my publishing spaces, personal spaces, social networks, and blogs, and demonstrate that I know what I am talking about.
What does it take to be an opinion leader?