How to Craft Your Influencer Marketing Strategy by Product Category

For both brands primarily in ecommerce and those primarily in brick and mortar, influencer marketing is becoming a more prevalent aspect of social marketing strategy. Influencer marketing allows companies the opportunity to reach a large audience with their inbound strategy and utilizes relationships to market their products.

When you think of an influencer, you may think of someone who is young and primarily promotes beauty and/or lifestyle content. While individuals in this group do make up the largest portion of influencers, there are influencers for almost every product category and demographic you can think of. As a marketer, capitalizing on the social power of influencers is extremely valuable and should be a part of your inbound strategy.

Examples of Social Media Influencers by Category

Here at Kaspien, we’ve worked with hundreds of influencers who target various niches and brand categories. While every influencer campaign should follow certain guidelines that are the same across the board, there are a few specificities unique to each category.

Below, we’ve highlighted just a few examples of influencers who have paired well with the given brand’s value proposition and target audience. Within these sections, we also provided tips on what to look for when hiring for each of these categories!

Baby Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

When hiring influencers for campaigns in the Baby category, we recommend that you target influencers who frequently share about their kids and their life as a parent. Mom influencers are particularly prevalent and effective, though dad influencers can also be effective in marketing particular products. Their posts should also have quality engagement levels, as this is a key indicator that their followers are interested in this type of content.

Influencer Example for the Baby Category

We worked with Nova Ferrum influencer @amirahcastillo on a collaboration for the brand’s new multivitamin supplement for kids. We chose Amirah because she creates content for mothers, posts frequently about her children, and consistently has engagement rates between 3%-4%. Amirah’s audience would likely align with our target market, thus making her a good candidate for our campaign.

Amirah’s work for Nova Ferrum fit the aesthetic we were going for and highlighted the product well. She shot the Multivitamin in a natural setting, showing the packaging and its use while still capturing emotion: a smiling mother gently coaxing her child into taking a vitamin. The photo effectively promotes the product in a way that the audience can imagine themselves in.

Toys & Games Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

As you look for social media influencers to promote products within the Toys & Games category, we recommend you start by analyzing the buyer persona for your product.

Who exactly is likely to purchase your product? Is it a mom who is looking to keep her young children busy, or is it a millennial looking to entertain people at a party?

These two personas are extremely different and require different influencers to effectively target them. Whatever your product is and whomever it targets, it’s important to hire an influencer who matches your target audience and will authentically represent your product.

Influencer Example for the Toys & Games Category

AquaVue Voyager influencer @destinymoniz worked with us on one of the company’s first campaigns. AquaVue sells pool toys for kids and adults, so it was important that their marketing showcased both audiences. Destiny was a positive addition to the campaign as she lives in a warm climate that allows year-round use of the water toy, mainly posts about her three young children, and shares posts that have engagement rates of up to 8%.

Destiny’s post for AquaVue was ideal as she included numerous assets within the post, each effectively highlighting the product. The photos featured her kids enjoying the product in her home pool and focused on the product’s functionality and durability. Showing the product in use is a great way for influencers to highlight the product’s features and benefits through “show don’t tell.”

Grocery Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

As you look to hire food influencers, we recommend choosing those who create quality content for the type of food/grocery product you are marketing. Food can be extremely specific to certain cultures or geographic areas, so keep this in mind when looking for influencers.

So, for example, if your product is more tailored to a western diet, then western influencers are whom you should be searching for. The same goes for other cultures as well; if your product is a Hispanic staple, you should be looking for a Hispanic influencer. Not only will this allow you to be authentic and appropriate in your marketing strategy, but it will also help you target the right consumers.

Influencer Example for the Grocery Category

Subi Superfood influencer @tiara_wasner produced content that was high-quality, sharable on the partner’s feed, and helped create brand awareness. Tiara’s page is all about healthy food and fitness, which is the exact audience Subi’s Superfood powder targets. These attributes made her a natural fit for this influencer campaign, which proved to be a mutually beneficial partnership.

Tiara’s work with Subi was effective in highlighting both the packaging and the product’s multiple uses. The photos she provided showed creative uses for the product, such as blending the superfood powder into her water and making pancakes. This creativity allowed Tiara’s audience to imagine the different ways to use the product, sparking interest that may not have been possible if she took a more traditional route.

For products within the grocery category, creativity is key, as many individuals are looking for ways to challenge themselves in the kitchen. By providing new and exciting recipes, influencers can inspire their followers to do the same.

Pet Supplies Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

When hiring social media influencers who promote pet content, we recommend you either target influencer accounts designed to look like they are ran by the dog themselves or accounts who only feature photos of the dog. Doing so will ensure that the followers of the account are truly interested in content and products for dogs, rather than following the influencer’s account for other non-pet related reasons. This same mentality applies to other types of pets as well.

Influencer Example for the Pet Supplies Category

Our influencer campaigns for ZippyPaws have been some of the most successful campaigns Kaspien has managed. ZippyPaws strives to present professional, fun content for dog lovers, especially in exciting locations. For one campaign, we partnered with influencer @bend.brothers to promote ZippyPaws’ new line. @bend.brothers creates adventurous and fun content for their 66K Instagram followers through consistently sharing the dog trio’s lives.

The assets @bend.brothers provided were high-quality — capturing details of both the dog and the toy — which is exactly what ZippyPaws was looking for. ZippyPaws is a well-known brand within the pet category, so influencers’ content must reflect a brand of quality. Because the dog in this photo has such unique and captivating features, social media users are likely to be drawn to the post, taking in both the dog’s beauty and the highlighted product.

Sporting Goods Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

As you hire influencers to promote sport and/or fitness content, keep in mind the type of athletic content they usually promote. Fitness is not the same across the board, and neither are the influencers in the category. Each influencer has their own niche, and your products should fit their followers.

If your product pertains more to weightlifters, then look for influencers that are bodybuilders or personal trainers. The same goes for sports equipment; target someone whose followers would likely fit your buyer persona.

Influencer Example for the Sporting Goods Category

UB Toner is a fitness company targeting women who want an accessible and non-intimidating way to improve their fitness and physique. Influencer @nitda.cee shares lifestyle and fitness content with her followers on Instagram and TikTok. For this collaboration, we utilized her 100K follower platform on Instagram to reach women who are more likely to be interested in muscle toning and therefore also UB Toner’s product.

Nitda’s work with UB Toner was valuable as she highlighted the product’s on-the-go capabilities. Part of the selling point is that it can be utilized in a variety of settings and is easily portable. By shooting images outdoors, Nitda used “show don’t tell” to demonstrate the product’s convenience.

Home & Kitchen Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

When hiring influencers for the home category, we recommend targeting influencers who focus on home aesthetics and/or those who promote home improvements. Because these influencers already share content that is related to your offerings, it will not seem ingenuine for them to promote your products.

Influencer Example for the Home & Kitchen Category

For Linen and Towel, we targeted influencers that shared home décor and renovation content. We worked with @simplystyled.home, who creates content that checked both boxes and shared it with her 11.4K Instagram followers.

Nichole created content that was well shot and styled, aligning with Linen and Towel’s brand aesthetics. In the home category, this type of aesthetically pleasing content is ideal as followers are oftentimes looking new ways to organize and decorate their homes. Matching this need with the products that followers are looking for allows content creators and brands to capitalize on demand, which is exactly what Nichole did here.

Health & Personal Care Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

As you hire influencers for the Health & Personal Care category, you must first determine the positioning of your product. This category covers such a wide variety of products, so you must ensure you are targeting the right type of influencer to best market your product.

For example, if your product is more health-oriented, you should target someone who continuously publishes health and/or wellness content. The followers of this influencer would likely be more interested in your product than the followers of an influencer who leans more on the personal care side of the category.

Influencer Example for the Health & Personal Care Category

As the name suggests, Smilestra creates products for dental care and beauty. The influencer campaigns that we ran for Smilestra were about brand awareness and reaching a wide audience. Due to these goals, we targeted a range of nano and micro influencers that created quality content while also reaching a wide audience. One of the influencers we chose for this collaboration was @ohhthtscrystal.

Crystal is a lifestyle influencer and blogger with 11.7K followers on Instagram. Her content covers a wide variety of topics and consistently gets around a 7% engagement rate. Smilestra’s product was a natural fit in Crystal’s getting-ready routine, which made her promotion feel authentic and real when she highlighted it on her feed.

Beauty Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

Hiring social media influencers for products within the beauty category offers both its advantages and disadvantages due to the category saturation of influencers. On the one hand, there are a lot of different influencers to choose from, which can allow you to create campaigns that are more aligned with your goals. On the other hand, it can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for as you need to search through so many different individuals.

As you go about the process of hiring influencers for your campaign, keep in mind the goals of your campaign and the consumer looking for your products. For example, if your product has anti-aging benefits, you should be targeting influencers who are above the age of 30, as their followers are more likely to be interested in your products than the followers of a 20-year-old influencer.

Influencer Example for the Beauty Category

For their influencer campaigns, Vijuve was looking to target a wide audience of women interested in skincare and beauty. We hired an array of women to promote their Vitamin C serum and applicator. Influencer @foreign_fresh_fierce was among the group we hired for this campaign.

Cindy has a following of 21.4K on Instagram and has an engagement rate of around 3%. Her audience follows her for her tips on fashion, beauty, and travel. As Cindy’s content is largely targeting women, she was a great applicant for this campaign. Cindy created high-quality content for the brand and promoted the product in a way that was authentic to her page and audience. The assets she provided Vijuve with were clean, professional, and captured her skin’s beauty. Within this category, one’s physical attractiveness can offer a sense of credibility. Here, Cindy’s clear and youthful skin aided her to successfully market the Vitamin C serum as she posed herself as someone having the credibility to do so.

Electronics Category Influencer Marketing Strategy

Because the world of electronics and tech becomes obsolete faster than products in most other categories, utilizing influencers is extremely important in building hype for your latest product. When hiring these influencers, you need to understand the different types of tech influencers and the roles they play within the industry.

First, determine if you are looking for bloggers or analysts. If you are looking to increase product awareness and/or sales, the blogger route may be most beneficial. These influencers will be able to share exactly why they love your product both on their blog and their other social channels.

The analyst route would be beneficial if you are looking to capitalize on differentiation. Analysts are trusted individuals who review the latest devices. By highlighting why your product is superior to others, these influencers help you create authority within the industry.

Influencer Example for the Electronics Category

For their campaign, NSP Electronics was looking for traditional influencers and bloggers to market their headphones. Instead of going through a tech influencer, they wanted to reach a wide audience through lifestyle influencers. We hired Lily (@hellodarlingblog) to work on this campaign. While Lily did not typically promote products in the electronic category, the exposure she provided increased product visibility to individuals who may not have otherwise known of the product. This approach to influencer marketing is not necessarily ideal for every product, but it was beneficial in this case to increase brand awareness and sales.

Lily’s post highlighted the product as a great last-minute Christmas gift, driving traffic to the Amazon listing through her compelling caption copy. The photos she provided were well-shot, effective in showing product use, and timely for the holiday season.

Combine Influencer Marketing with Your Amazon Business

Whether you are just starting up your business or are far along in your business endeavors, working with influencers is a marketing strategy that you should be utilizing! Curious about starting an influencer campaign, but would like some help getting it going? Contact our influencer marketing team and let us help you out!

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