Brands connect with audiences in the same way that social media influencers do — save for the fact that influencers present a more personable impression that doesn’t always force a marketing angle, or product promotion. Because of this natural affinity that they’re able to draw out of their audiences, it makes perfect sense that brands should always consider engaging the right choice of influencers to do a bit of the heavy lifting when it comes to their segment marketing.
The health and beauty industry was the first to be mentioned by the Digital Marketing Institute as among the most likely to benefit from influencer marketing on Instagram.
There are salient reasons to explain why influencer marketing continues to power the success of so many beauty brands. In this article, we will take a look at these reasons, a few key trends, and deep dive into what beauty brands really need to do in order to pull off successful influencer marketing efforts.
In order for a brand to stand out from the competition, and especially within a marketing landscape as saturated as that seen within the beauty industry, effectively applied creativity is crucial. Here’s just a small sampling of the kind of content that social media influencers can produce for you:
Many influencers insist on owning the creative control of their content, even if it is produced in partnership with a brand. Giving influencers creative freedom makes their content more authentic and can make a brand that much more relatable and beloved by followers.
While the jury’s still out on how ‘influence’ itself can be measured, the sales generated by influencer marketing remains an irrefutable metric.
These statistics provide a solid case for the way influencers can build awareness for beauty brands. Another statistic says that 67% of women who buy beauty products look to influencers to explore the market for available new products.
Being able to engage with consumers is important for beauty brands because it builds a relationship with them and encourages brand loyalty. Influencers make this relationship-building possible by putting a human face on these brands and their products.
Despite not having the huge follower count of mega or macro influencers, micro influencers can drive effective marketing for beauty brands because of their higher engagement rates. Also, having a relatively smaller follower base makes it more feasible for these micro influencers to interact with their followers on a personal level.
This personal interaction explains why consumers tend to trust influencers more than reviews from an unknown third party brand that they do not recognise. Statistics shared by Kynship say that 67% of consumers who buy beauty products look to influencers to find out what’s new on the market. Another 49% of beauty shoppers will consult an influencer’s recommendations before buying a product.
With considerably lower rate cards than mega or macro influencers, micro influencers are also considered to be more authentic as their audiences find it easier to relate to them. Many beauty brands find it more cost effective to work with multiple micro influencers instead of a single superstar influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers.
Regardless of their follower base or the kind of products they represent, influencers must be able to inspire trust among their followers to be effective for a beauty brand’s marketing. Being able to earn and keep the trust of followers is a huge responsibility for influencers because of the way that their followers tend to take them at their word.
Recognising the importance of trust in influencer marketing, the beauty industry has taken steps to nurture trust and goodwill among influencers and their followers. These steps include educating influencers about skincare and transparency, as even innocently-offered advice by an influencer could be misconstrued as harmful, given the wrong context. The adverse impression this might have on a community, especially during a crisis-related incident, could be damaging when it concerns broken trust that is difficult to regain.
Brands might even consider involving influencers in their product creation process. In doing so, influencers can become even better spokespersons for the brand and market the brand’s products more effectively.
As advocates of influencer marketing and its effectiveness, we at Mediatropy continue to create value in the partnerships that we nurture between client brands and influencers. You’ll be able to see examples of these through the work we’ve done with Abercrombie & Fitch. Discover how you can get started on growing your beauty brand with influencer marketing — have a friendly chat with us today.
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