In the age of design bloggers, HGTV and weekend DIY decorators, influencer marketing is one of the most powerful tools in the furniture and textile industry.
You’ve most likely seen the impact of influencer marketing in your own social media feed. Through targeted digital influencers, companies can reach followers, ranging from hundreds to millions, with authentic engagement.
Influencers create content, drive conversation, and have a specialized area of influence, such as home design. Many see these influencers as more authentic than marketing from celebrities or sports figures.
In 2017, an overwhelming 92% of marketers who engaged in influencer marketing reported it as effective or successful (Linqia).
If you’re looking for an example of the power of influencer marketing, look no further than Leesa. This startup mattress company grew to a $45 million company in 8 short months. Leesa’s marketing efforts targeted social media influencers and thrived on unbiased reviews (MarketingSherpa).
One of the keys to Leesa’s success was honing in on bloggers that reached one of their target demographics -- women who were savvy online with an interest in interior design. They whittled down even further, identifying bloggers with high levels of engagement over bloggers with just a high number of followers.
Emily Henderson, an HGTV reality show winner, turned blogger, turned Target home decor ambassador, is a prime example of the power of Leesa’s marketing. Her blog post also shows off a key component of Leesa’s strategy, the “unboxing” video. All this was part of a marketing campaign focused on building trust for an online company in an industry that thrives on in-person sales.
Leesa also capitalized on their digital influencers’ social media reach. 92% of marketers consider Instagram the most important social platform for influencer marketing, followed closely by Facebook at 77% (Linqia).
Throughout the campaign, Leesa judged their influencer marketing success on clicks and conversions. The program resulted in 100,000 clicks to the company website and directly converted to more than 400 mattress sales.
The furniture and textile industry is uniquely poised to take advantage of influencer marketing. On Pinterest, home and decor pins are the third most popular category, behind only crafts and food/recipes (Statista).
From startups like Leesa to established brands like Williams-Sonoma, companies are taking advantage of the interest and influencers already in place.
If you’re ready to see what influencer marketing can do for your company, download our checklist for influencer marketing in the furniture and textile industry today!