Let's Get Talking With: Miriam Jones, @jonesbarratthome

What inspired you to create content related to cleaning and hygiene products?

I’ve followed Mrs Hinch for the past couple of years on my personal account but it wasn’t until recently I saw a rise in home accounts. I felt like every night I was wanting to look at more and more home related inspiration and found it hard to separate the home related content I found relaxing, to the everyday friends and family posts. I found myself losing home accounts I loved at this point as I would just save individual images and inspiration I liked on my personal account. We also got married last summer and that took up a lot of my time so once that was over I felt like I needed a new venture and pass time.
 

As a nano-influencer, it is great to see you working with big named brands such as Oral B! What do you think are some benefits in being a nano influencer? Especially when working with brands?

I still can’t believe the Oral B collaboration! How amazing. I feel so lucky. I have really good engagement at the moment and with being a nano-influencer, my engagement rate is about 6.2-6.4% and I have such a good little community of accounts I know and love and rely on. I feel like you’re more approachable to small businesses to promote products and don’t expect too much from collaborations.
 

What implications do you think Covid-19 and lockdown has had on content related to hygiene? Have you noticed a higher interest?

Yes, definitely! I think with people working from home more accounts were interacting and engagement with posts was so high. It’s starting to die down again now with people going back to work and shops/pubs/restaurants opening. I think people wanted to see more tips on cleaning and products, particularly products they wouldn’t usually use with their normal possibly being sold out at the time.
 

Which trends have you seen on social media that are related to hygiene? Is there a genuine audience interest?

I personally love seeing new tips on people’s accounts, so try to follow that for my audience too. I think stories on Instagram are such a good way of showing off informal cleaning tips and products. A big trend is Instagram allowing you to add music to go alongside your cleaning. There’s also been an increased use of products killing 99.9% bacteria since Covid-19 and viruses e.g. dettol all in one spray, zoflora, bleach sprays.
 

Which brands do you think do hygiene related content well? Any that stand out?

I personally love @lovezoflora and @minkyhomecare insta. They’re super colourful, fun, interactive and makes you want to try new products. Zoflora have recently had a game on their website to pair as many Zoflora bottles in one minute which is such an interesting and unique way to promote products.
 

Is there a gap in the market for hygiene and cleaning brands to create engaging content?

Definitely, it’s a more crowded market than it was a year ago, but if you promote what makes you happy and engage with an audience that have similar interests to you I see accounts end up with a large following very quickly. Especially if your account has a USP.
 

Is there a niche in the market for influencers to create hygiene and cleaning related content?

Yes and No. I think hygiene and cleaning may only get you so far, for example with Mrs Hinch people don’t just love her because of her cleaning. They do love that, but they love the lifestyle, the realness and relatability to her. I think new product promotion, and unique cleaning tips work well for an account but I think there’s probably a celing on your audience.
 

When posting ‘hygiene’ related content do you see an increase in audience engagement? Or do your followers interact with other content?

I think hygiene is always going to have a place on Instagram. Before and Afters and ‘Tap to clean’ are always going to do well, alongside newer ideas like videos of sped up cleaning or TikTok style videos. Instagram users love a poll too, I did a few short polls a few weeks ago on my stories that got over 300 responses! However, I find a mixture of content is best, e.g. lifestyle, new post shares, shares of other homes. The accounts I personally engage most with don’t just post cleaning, it tends to be lifestyle too.