Directive Introduces B2B Influence Framework to Turn Trusted Voices Into Measurable Business Influence
Directive InfluenceOS gives B2B brands a structured framework for activating employees, customers, practitioners and experts across the buyer journey
IRVINE, Calif. — October 7, 2026 — Directive, a performance marketing agency built exclusively for B2B companies, today introduced Directive InfluenceOS, a proprietary framework designed to help B2B brands turn trusted voices into measurable business influence across the buyer journey. The framework reimagines influencer programs into an ongoing channel of influence tied to performance objectives.
The framework helps B2B brands identify, activate and measure the people who influence how buyers discover brands, evaluate expertise and make purchasing decisions. Unlike campaign-based influencer programs, Directive InfluenceOS treats influence as an ongoing channel, moving beyond models focused on follower counts, reach and engagement. It recognizes that B2B buying decisions are shaped by repeated relevance and credibility across a broader network of trusted voices, including employees, customers, practitioners, podcasters, industry experts and analysts.
“B2B influence has never been about finding the person with the biggest audience. It is about finding the people who already have credibility with the buyers you need to reach,” said Larissa Williams, Managing Director of Directive Communications. “InfluenceOS gives brands a way to identify those voices, build meaningful relationships with them and turn that trust into a channel that compounds over time.”
Directive InfluenceOS is built on four principles: relevance over reach, ICP alignment, influence as a channel, and performance objectives. These principles inform five programs designed to activate different sources of influence:
Employee Advocacy: Active executives, subject matter experts and employees as credible voices within their professional networks.
Customer Creators: Customer experience strategically transformed into trusted content, advocacy and peer validation.
Practitioner Partners: Ongoing relationships with niche creators and practitioners whose expertise is discoverable and relevant to a brand’s ICP and category. .
Expert Influence: Co-created engagements with recognized experts and analysts who shape category conversations and buyer perspectives.
Strategic Networks: Longer-term relationships with high-value voices and communities that can strengthen advocacy, inform strategy and shape category perception.
“Traditional influencer marketing focuses on how many people someone can reach. Directive InfluenceOS focuses on whether that person actually matters to the people who buy from you,” said Garrett Mehrguth, Founder and CEO of Directive. “That shift from reach to relevance is critical to making communications a measurable contributor to revenue, not just another source of activity and impressions.”
The framework connects influence activity to measurable business outcomes to show how trusted voices contribute to discovery, demand and pipeline. Depending on the program and business objective, Directive InfluenceOS measures ICP engagement, branded search, qualified leads, AI visibility, opportunities influenced, pipeline and revenue impact.
Directive InfluenceOS is part of the agency’s broader DiscoverabilityOS approach, connecting PR, organic social, B2B influencer partnerships and paid social to make brands more discoverable across the channels where B2B buyers research and evaluate solutions. It is available through Directive’s PR and Communications services.
About Directive:
Directive is a B2B performance marketing agency founded in 2013 to help SaaS, technology, professional services and product companies turn demand into measurable growth. Today, teams across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. bring performance marketing, communications and commerce together to connect brand building with demand generation and revenue. Underpinning this approach is Stratos, Directive’s proprietary AI platform that connects the data, execution and intelligence needed to optimize growth. Directive has served more than 420 B2B brands and influenced more than $1 billion in revenue.
