Why Does Mrs Hinch Have Such An Influence?

The ‘Hinch effect’ has struck again.

Last year, I wrote about the company Mister Loft Ladder, who saw their Instagram following jump from just 49, to 36.2k followers after one organic endorsement from Mrs Hinch. They had multiple enquiries and probably (though I can’t be 100%) sure, made a great deal of revenue thanks to just a few Instagram stories, that were shared to a devoted army of over 3m ‘Hinchers’.

I wrote back then, that this proves that influencer marketing is still very much a worthwhile strategy.

Today, Mrs Hinch proves my point once more.

I want to talk below about how another organic endorsement from the influencer sent an online retailer’s sales soaring. This, of course, is just one of many. Every day Mrs Hinch posts on her Instagram story, recommending a plethora of cleaning products, homeware, baby items and so on. I’d say around 50-60% of this is sponsored or gifted content, thanks to her partnerships with P&G, along with many other independent cleaning brands. A great deal of her content is also candid and organic too, though – and every day I see the online performance of businesses completely changed for the better, all from one endorsement from one account.

It’s really quite something.

The Online Pound Shop x Mrs Hinch

So back to the brand in question. I wanted to talk about a company that Mrs Hinch recently promoted, without any sponsorship or gifting.

During lockdown, she placed an order with a company (that I’d never heard of but am so glad that I now do) called the Online Pound Shop. They are basically like Poundworld, or Home Bargains, but delivered. A saving grace to many during the lockdown period, who couldn’t visit similar bricks & mortar stores for their cleaning and homeware essentials.

As soon as I saw Sophie’s ‘Hinch Haul’ Instagram story, I knew that this would be a brand that would benefit from the endorsement. I perhaps didn’t anticipate just how much so, though.

Crashing the website, looking back, was unsurprising. We already know that Mrs Hinch has an insanely large and impressionable group of followers, and I’m sure for many this was a revelation to them. I certainly didn’t know there was an ‘online Poundshop’ and going from what I’ve seen on various Facebook groups, before the discovery of this brand, many were paying over the odds on Amazon for some of their ‘Hinch Essentials’ online.

The company, who I still follow now because I simply love how they navigate social media, handled the surge in interest really well. They reacted quickly with clever stories and updates, and have since been really good in keeping their newfound audience engaged (plus, their branding is SO good). This business has certainly been handed a wonderful opportunity by Mrs Hinch and has made the very most of it, which I love to see.

Why Is Mrs Hinch Such An Influential Influencer?

Now, with that in mind, here’s what I really wanted to discuss… Why is Mrs Hinch so influential? And is there anything that we can learn from her, for any other influencer marketing campaigns in the future?

Relatable Content

Many influencers these days find themselves promoting unrealistic standards and high price-range products. They live a lifestyle that many of us could never hope to copy, and too often I see influencers, especially past Love Island contestants, promo-ing designer gear that doesn’t fit the demographic of most of their audience. Mrs Hinch, I notice, has very relatable content. A lot of her posts are about her home life, which isn’t too dissimilar to any of ours. Plus, the products she recommends are often affordable and easily accessible. Cleaning products, mainly. Evidently, this resonates with a lot of her audience, and I think this is mainly the reason that she has so much influence. She’s easy to listen to, but her advice is also actionable to anyone who is house proud. The future of influencer marketing, in my opinion, is this. Down-to-earth and approachable influencers who make it easier to be actionably inspired by their content.

Unique Influencer Theme

I haven’t followed Mrs Hinch on Instagram for as long as most (maybe around a year or so), so I’m not sure where and how her journey properly began. What I do know is this though: even if she was not the first, she is certainly the biggest ‘cleaning influencer’ I have ever come across. There are so many fashion and lifestyle influencers on the market, I can imagine that when Sophie Hinchcliffe rose to ‘fame’, it was a new type of marketing to play with. I know that now, there’s a lot of similar accounts – some quite large. I do wonder how many of these came about as a result of Mrs Hinch though? Like I say, I can’t say for certain, but I would reason that one of the reasons that she is so influential, is because she’s one of the first of her kind.

Large Audience Demographic

I also think that Mrs Hinch has a massive influence as an influencer because her ‘target audience’, so to speak, is huge. Her content speaks to pretty much anyone with a home, and even those without (I’m in a few cleaning groups and there are some younger individuals who ‘Hinch’ their bedrooms after being inspired by Mrs Hinch). This, alongside her endearing content and friendly manner, has in no doubt contributed to the number of followers she has. You might choose to follow her for any number of reasons, home life, cleaning tips, baby advice and so on. As an influencer, she provides a lot and I think that’s why she’s so impressionable – because she has the opportunity to reach quite a wide demographic. If you’re PR-ing a brand, there’s a massive opportunity here. So long as your product is relevant (one of the other reasons I love Mrs Hinch is because she only really promotes things that fit with the general theme of her platform), it can be shared to a huge, engaged audience. I think one of the reasons that she is so effective as an influencer is because she’s authentic with the products and services that she promotes, and therefore, in turn, her audience knows that what’s being recommended is ‘the real deal’. Not only do you have a massive potential reach, but the audience is so receptive too.

Numbers Don’t Lie

And just to add to that, when I was writing my post last year (about the Mister Loft Ladder results), Ellie Wray, Content Marketing Manager at Rise At Seven, kindly shared with me some research she conducted earlier that year. I think these numbers just reinforce what I’ve been saying above, and once again strengthen the argument as to why she’s such a prolific influencer:

• Around 93.6k authentic engagements per POST
• 94% of followers that are highly engaged
• NO paid or fake following

It’s the dream to one day work with a brand, where I can one day work with Mrs Hinch too. I can only imagine the amazing things that would come from such a partnership.

Anything to add? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter.

All the best!