The Perfect Micro-Influencer for Hobby Lobby

When you talk about social media influencers you typically think of big celebrities such as Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner, Ariana Grande, you get the idea. Why are these celebs so sought after and successful when it comes to influencer marketing? Successful influencers effectively engage their followers and audiences giving them a sense of authenticity they desire.

Another group of influencers that are gaining in popularity are micro-influencers. Micro-influencer marketing is based off the same principle as influencer marketing, just on a smaller scale (Bernazzani, 2019). There are some known advantages for companies to utilize micro-influencers. Micro-influencers are real people with real, authentic content. Micro-influencers typically have better engagement rates, more targeted audiences, they are more affordable, and as previously stated are more authentic (Bernazzani, 2019).

When thinking about a company that might benefit from a micro-influencer, the popular craft and home décor store Hobby Lobby came to my mind. Hobby Lobby is

“primarily an arts-and-crafts store but also includes hobbies, picture framing, jewelry making, fabrics, floral and wedding supplies, cards and party ware, baskets, wearable art, home accents and holiday merchandise” (About Us: Hobby Lobby , 2019).

The store also has strong Christian values and operates under consistent biblical values. This is an important thing to keep in mind when choosing a micro-influencer for Hobby Lobby because you want to select someone that has those same values and reflects those values and beliefs in their posts on social media.

A micro-influencer that I believe would be a great fit for Hobby Lobby would be @shiplapaddict. Shiplapaddict would be considered a micro-influencer as she has 64.4k followers on Instagram and does sponsored post regularly. She is a woman in her 50’s that is a self-proclaimed interior designer that loves everything ship-lap! As you follow her on Instagram you see her love for interior design and frequents Hobby Lobby, often taking you along with her on shopping excursions. She is also a woman of faith and devotes the majority, if not all her posts on Sunday’s to her faith. This, I feel would be a definite plus to Hobby Lobby.

@shiplapaddict is already a micro-influencer for the vacuum brand Hoover. She has a love for cleaning and often posts videos of herself cleaning her house! Hoover caught on to this and recently and sent her an entire line of products for her to review on her Instagram account. And, yes, I watched them all.

In my mind, I think micro-influencers have a bigger impact on potential customers because consumers are getting authentic reviews of a company’s products. To me, that is what I want. I want to see someone who is “like me” using products that I would use. I don’t necessarily want to see a big celebrity using a product or promoting a product just because it’s the next big thing.

#ufcjconline

References

About Us: Hobby Lobby . (2019). Retrieved from Hobby Lobby: https://www.hobbylobby.com/about-us/our-story

Bernazzani, S. (2019, July 15). Micro-Influencer Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide. Retrieved from Hubspot: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/micro-influencer-marketing