SEO strategy director at Infinity Nation James Foote reveals the best ways to work with influencers in the kitchen and bathroom industry

Influencer marketing provides a great opportunity, to not only increase brand awareness but also enhance consumer product engagement.

However, this fashionable form of marketing should not be entered into lightly. As with any campaign, it’s essential to define your objectives and ensure authenticity when working with influencers aligned to your core target markets.

Here are five ways to work with influencers in the bathroom and kitchen space.

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·         Event/In-store promotion

Both nationwide and local companies can engage with third-parties aligned to their target market to help spread word of mouth. For an in-store event, ask a relevant influencer to attend the event.

·         Product promotion

Consider providing a product to an influencer in return for a review or sponsored promotion. This only works with medium value and aspirational products (sending a tap faucet to a blogger will not engage them).

This can be a great way to acquire product photography and digital assets (video reviews) to be used as part of your user-generated content marketing.

·         Influencer Invitation-Only Events

These events can be used for larger products that are very high value and cannot be sent out.

For example, showcase one of your top-of-the-range integrated ovens by using a gourmet chef to create a  three course meal live, with attention being paid during the demonstration to the cooking appliance.

Influencers should be encouraged to post and review the product on their site with little brand investment.

·         Brand ambassadors and sponsorship

One of the higher value associations for influencer and social media marketing, this involves a more substantial investment. R

each and potential returns are far higher, as well as having a positive effect on brand credibility.

Gift a higher value product as a one-off in exchange for online/offline promotion, including acquiring digital assets around reviews or media features.

·         Focus on Micro, Not Macro-Influencers

Micro-influencers have followers around 10,000-100,000, versus macro-influencers who can have 100,000+.

As with advertising, higher reach can appear more valuable, but bear in mind macro-influencers will have large follower bases, often with low engagement.

Consider this a higher-cost, lower-return route and more difficult to measure.

Micro-influencers have a smaller following and higher engagement levels.

Their follower base trust them and therefore are more likely to follow their recommendations.

A third-party endorsement from a micro-influencer can quickly turn into sales and offer a direct response sales channel.

Pictured – James Foote