Directive, a B2B performance marketing agency founded in 2013, has introduced “Directive InfluenceOS,” a framework designed to help B2B brands systematize relationships with employees, customers, practitioners, podcasters, and industry analysts, and tie that activity to measurable business outcomes.

The framework is built on four principles: relevance over reach, ideal customer profile (ICP) alignment, treating influence as an ongoing channel rather than a campaign, and performance objectives. 

Those principles inform five programs: 

• “Employee Advocacy,” which activates executives and subject matter experts within their professional networks; 
• “Customer Creators,” which turns customer experience into advocacy content; 
• “Practitioner Partners,” ongoing relationships with niche creators relevant to a brand’s category; 
• “Expert Influence,” co-created work with analysts who shape category conversations; 
• “Strategic Networks,” longer-term relationships with high-value voices and communities.

“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.”

Garrett Mehrguth, founder and CEO of Directive, framed the shift as a measurement problem as much as a strategic one. “Traditional Influencer Marketing focuses on how many people someone can reach,” he said. “‘Directive InfluenceOS’ focuses on whether that person actually matters to the people who buy from you. That shift from reach to relevance is critical to making communications a measurable contributor to revenue, not just another source of activity and impressions.”

Directive says the framework can track ICP engagement, branded search, qualified leads, AI visibility, opportunities influenced, pipeline and revenue impact, depending on the program and business objective. InfluenceOS sits inside the agency’s broader “DiscoverabilityOS” approach, which connects PR, organic social, B2B influencer partnerships and paid social, and is available through Directive’s PR and Communications services.

Directive, which has teams in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, reports serving more than 420 B2B brands and influencing more than $1 billion in revenue. The agency’s AI platform, Stratos, underpins its execution and measurement work.

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