In a previous PR lifetime, I represented beauty and personal care brands, selling shampoos and deodorants. I learned a lot about influencer marketing from that experience. So much so that I thought I had it nailed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it came as a surprise to me when I landed my current role, leading influencer marketing for a home goods brand, and realized it would require a totally different strategy and approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It turns out there is a significant difference between marketing low-cost products customers regularly replace, and high-ticket products they\u2019re hoping will see them through several years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three years in, here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While hairspray might be an impulse buy, thrown in-basket at the pharmacy, an item like a couch is generally a carefully considered purchase over several weeks, if not months.<\/strong> It will likely take many (and I mean many<\/em>) marketing touchpoints with your customer to stay in consideration throughout their shopping journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does this impact the way you engage influencers? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, you may want to consider partnering with <\/strong>nano and micro creators<\/strong><\/a>, where you can get more content for your budget.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With a smaller creator, you can get three to six posts over several months for the same investment you might put towards one post with another larger one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This keeps you in your audience\u2019s social feeds for a longer term. Hopefully, they might be following multiple creators in your network, meaning you\u2019re consistently popping up on their radar with content from different sources they trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another benefit is that smaller creators also tend to have highly engaged audiences, who may be more tuned in to their product recommendations. (Although that\u2019s not to say there isn\u2019t a lot of value in partnering with larger creators as well! Both achieve different goals.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Product reviews are one of the most influential content types in the modern buyer journey<\/a>. Another advantage of working with smaller creators on more long-term partnerships is that they can share these up-to-date reviews over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For a product like a mattress, for example, it\u2019s one thing for a creator to post their unboxing experience and share that they had a great first night\u2019s sleep. What\u2019s even more impactful is hearing from them again three months later, with an update that they\u2019re still dozing off smoothly.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When people invest a decent chunk of change in something, they want to feel confident they\u2019ll see the return on that investment over time, so steer clear of one-off partnerships in favor of those that last at least a few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I worked in the beauty space, I wasn\u2019t all too concerned with influencer exclusivity terms. It\u2019s pretty standard for a beauty influencer to share their favorite eyeshadow from one brand one day and their new lipstick obsession from another the next. Most make-up enthusiasts shop from multiple brands anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, it\u2019s unusual for someone to replace their refrigerator more than once a decade. An influencer posting about their new fridge from one brand in January and another from a different brand in October could raise some eyebrows with their followers and damage <\/strong>trust in the endorsement<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, I suggest looking for long exclusivity terms for long-term products\u2014even up to a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High-value products can impact your overall program costs, so always account for them when setting your budget. You can also use the product as part of your <\/strong>negotiation strategy<\/strong><\/a>, offering it as partial compensation to lower influencer rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Long-term reviews matter more with high-ticket marketing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. Exclusivity is more important when partnering with influencers on high-ticket products.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Product cost affects your influencer marketing program budget.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n