The secret sauce to working with Trade content creators
The Secret Sauce to Working With Trade Content Creators
(A practical guide for agencies and manufacturing‑side marketing leaders)
Trade creators are becoming some of the most trusted voices in DIY, home improvement and construction. But working with them isn’t the same as working with lifestyle creators and most agencies and businesses are learning that the hard way.
Charnelle Merritt, Founder of Build and Bloom Management said: “If you want trade creators to deliver strong, authentic content, you need to understand the world they come from, and I say that not as an observer, but as someone who has lived, worked and breathed this space personally, professionally and now as the founder of a DIY, home‑improvement and trade talent management agency.”
Here are the four core truths every agency and marketing leader needs to know:
1. Trade creators are tradespeople first, content creators second.
2. They only promote products they genuinely use, new products take time.
3. Authenticity is their currency, not brand alignment.
4. Communication is the secret sauce, simple, direct, human, no marketing fluff
5. Lived experience matters and it shows in the results.
Tradespeople first, content creators second
Most trade creators don’t see themselves as influencers. They see themselves as tradespeople, business owners, problem‑solvers. Content creation fits around real jobs. This shapes everything:
their priorities, their communication style, their timelines, and the way they approach brand partnerships.
They’re not thinking about the brand’s goals, they’re thinking about their audience, potential customers, people they’ve worked with, and the community that trusts them.
They only promote what they actually use
Trade creators will happily promote products already in their toolkit. They’ve tried them, trust them, and know how they perform on site.
But when you introduce a product they don’t use every day, the process naturally slows down. Not because they’re hesitant, but because they’re responsible. Trade creators aren’t trying to impress brands. They’re trying to stay honest with their audience.
They’ll want to try it and test it first, then compare it to what they currently use, make sure it fits their workflow and mainly, make sure it’s something they’d genuinely recommend. Their reputation is built on real experience, if they don’t believe in a product, they won’t promote it.
Authenticity is everything to them. Their audience trusts them because they only recommend what genuinely works.
So if you’re pitching a product they’ve never used, expect a slower timeline and respect it. It’s not resistance, it’s integrity. You’re not just asking them to make content, you’re asking them to put their name behind a product.
That takes trust, time and the right approach.
Communication style is the secret sauce
Trade creators spend most of their day on site. They’re not sitting at a laptop refreshing their inbox.
Their communication style reflects their work environment, they need short messages with clear instructions… Think WhatsApp over long emails, phone calls over meetings and most importantly practical explanations over marketing jargon…
If you send a 12‑page brief, they won’t read it. If you send marketing speak, it won’t land and if you expect instant replies, you will be waiting.
But if you pick up the phone and say, “Have you heard about this? Here’s what it actually does, would you try it?” You’ll get a completely different response.
Trade creators respond to real‑world explanations, not brand language.
They want to understand why the product matters from a practical, on‑site point of view.
If you want them to speak your language, you need to speak theirs first.
Lived experience matters and it shows
This isn’t theory. It’s lived experience.
When you have grown up in the trade world it comes from a place of understanding that can’t be taught.
Charnelle added “My grandad was a tiler who invented a tool that changed the industry and I was part of the product development and packing process. My dad is a landscaper and general handyman. I’ve lived in 26 homes, many of them full renovations and I’ve spent 10 years working in manufacturing, communicating daily with people who think exactly like tradespeople.
Since starting Build and Bloom, we’ve worked with over 70 trade, DIY and home‑improvement creators in the last 12 months, delivering 35+ campaigns in this niche. This isn’t a space I entered.
It’s a space I come from.”
This is why the communication, the relationships and the content works.
Lived experience builds trust, and trust builds results.
If you’re looking to work with trade content creators and need the level of support required to get the job done, get in touch and we’ll see how we can support you.