Lowe’s recently launched its Creator Network – focusing on home improvement content – with 17,000 creators already active in their community.
After a year of beta testing, the Mooresville, NC based retailer has explicitly connected this marketing program to online growth strategy and measurement attribution, tracking influence beyond dotcom and into stores… while offering commissions up to 20% through the network.
Yes, the campaign is propelling influencers into revenue drivers.
Rather than acting merely as brand levers.
And, in lockstep, The Home Depot launched a centralized Creator Portal of its own… where creators can earn commissions on online sales they drive. While accessing partnership opportunities with Home Depot and its suppliers.
Building ProductBrands aren’t the only ones “influencing the influencers”.
Now retailers too, are joining in the mission. Even targeting sports fans with early creator partners.
Why This Matters for Manufacturers
To manufacturers – re-thinking building products marketing in the new year – these programs are a flashing sign:
- Influence is becoming shoppable infrastructure. Raising the traditional stakes to surpass simple brand awareness.
- Creators are being treated as affiliates… and affiliates are being elevated as distribution partners.
- Credibility travels faster than messaging, and it’s what converts attention into adoption.
- The brands that win will connect creators into a wider distribution strategy, designed to align both PR and sponsorships with affiliate marketing.
Influencer Marketing isn’t Just a Tactic Anymore
It’s evolved into a trust channel.
Influencer marketing has grown far beyond blogging. Or being limited to a single platform.
Today’s creators move seamlessly across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and podcasts. And the best programs don’t chase formats. Or even the next “big thing”.
They follow where audiences are.
Just ask Lowe’s and Home Depot … this matters, because influence doesn’t just drive clicks.
It drives adoption.
An Overlooked Reality: The “Pro Veto”
Even when a building owner wants a product, a pro can nevertheless say “no.” We call that the pro veto… a professional’s power to block the product from ever reaching the jobsite. Or the cart.
So, the question isn’t just, “How do we get talked about?”
It’s: How do we get trusted… by the people who literally decide what gets installed?
That’s where influencer relationships go beyond content. They have become leverage.
The Friction That Breaks Programs
Influencer work can turn expensive fast… especially with macro creators.
Adding to the friction, our construction channel has become oversaturated. And is ripe with “message fatigue.”
Requiring tighter vetting. And even more relevancy.
Relying on the strategy of “a few posts should do it,” is destined to fall short.
How to Determine Influencers Who Actually Move the Needle
This is where most brand influencer programs go wrong: they shop for follower counts.
Better approach: shop for alignment.
- Engagement over vanity metrics. A high follower count can be misleading. After all, micro- and nano-creators often drive stronger engagement.
- Audience alignment. Unless their followers demonstrate buyer intent, it won’t matter how good the content is.
- Brand fit and genuineness. Forced partnerships read as advertising… and audiences will retreat from hints of shameless self-promotion.
- Content quality + creative freedom. With clear briefs and strategic messaging, creators can pivot to sound like themselves. That’s the whole point in borrowing trust.
- Long-term partnership potential. One-off posts spike. Ongoing relationships compound.
Working Better Together
Resist the urge to treat user-generated content and influence marketing as competing strategies.
Rather, frame them as complementary tactics.
Reddit and similar forums provide authentic community engagement. While influencer activations deliver controlled storytelling, reach and measurable ROI. Especially valuable… when they’re both integrated into a single system.
Designed to deliver together: a robust content engine that isn’t dependent on a single voice, platform or post.
Influencer marketing succeeds when it’s run like a program, not a stunt.
The mission isn’t merely identifying creators.
It’s capitalizing on relationships… developing strategic briefs, contracts and timelines.
As well as crafting usage rights, measurement and leveraging content across paid / earned / shared / owned channels.
We’re looking forward to leading our client brands next month at IBS/KBIS.
With unmatched influencer relationships – and best practice in sales & marketing success – the K&A team would welcome the opportunity to discuss time-tested programs and process with forward-thinking leaders together in Orlando.
Send a message to Steve at sk@kleberandassociates.com and consider a brief chat at the show to get the conversation started.
