If I say influencer marketing, do you automatically imagine a Kardashian posting fashion photos to Instagram and recommending the latest beauty products?

For a long time, the concept of influencer marketing was tied to big-name celebrities who had massive followings. You might not think that has anything to do with home improvement marketing, and unless you’re a huge company with a household name, you’re probably right.

But that doesn’t mean influencer marketing isn’t right for you.

Isn’t influencer marketing dead?
Google the topic and you’ll find plenty of experts weighing in to declare influencer marketing dead. Consumers are wary of fake information online and savvy to the way the influencer game is played. And celebrities have taken a hard hit recently when it comes to credibility thanks to constant scandals in the news cycle.

But that doesn’t mean true influencer marketing is dead. True influencer marketing doesn’t rely on celebrities and people with huge, but potentially fickle, followings.

It relies on true thought leaders and ambassadors that are organic parts of the community you are trying to reach.

Is influencer marketing right for your home improvement company?
If you can answer yes to any of the questions below, influencer marketing might be something worth trying.

• Do you have products that benefit from being shown in real-life scenarios?
• Are the benefits of your products hard to explain if someone isn’t already using them?
• Does your target audience engage more with other consumers than they do with brand messaging?
• Can you describe your target audience’s interests and characteristics and find people within that community that are already leading others?

If you want to try influencer marketing, don’t look for partners with the biggest followings. Instead, look for people with social media accounts and personal blogs that:

• Seem to genuinely care about the community involved
• Already love your product or would be likely to love it
• Have high engagement numbers (high numbers of comments, likes, and shares)
• Seem to be well-liked and respected by the target audience