Beauty brands were some of the first to unlock the power of influencers to inspire engagement, build consumer trust and drive business growth. The pandemic accelerated digital formats and technology for beauty brands and created a new level of intimacy between brands and consumers. This led to consumers craving authenticity, transparency and community.
In this beauty webinar, Jessica Parrot, L’Oreal Nordics’ brand business lead and director at SkinCeuticals & Decléor Nordics, Sophie Daly, Walgreens Boots Alliance’s head of comms for global brands, and BDB’s very own group account director, Alice Judge-Talbot, joined Piet Southey, Billion Dollar Boy’s head of new business UK to chat about what authenticity means for beauty brands today, ways to embrace new platforms and formats, and how this impacts measuring ROI.
Here are the beauty webinar key takeaways:
1) Consumers crave authenticity and realism
There is an increasing sense amongst influencers and beauty brands that we have a responsibility to the population to show what reality is like. The unrealistic ideal can be dangerous, so it’s important for beauty brands to understand how detrimental presenting perfection can be. The current trends are reflective of the humour and realism people want to see from social media now and there’s a drive for authenticity online. Influencers that have the most engagement are real, raw, relatable and show their beauty journeys – the ups and downs, before and afters.
2) Paid and organic content live together
Paid and organic content can go hand in hand. Partner with those who love the brand and have a good following, and then micro-influencers who are passionate about skincare. Then, use paid to amplify influencer content across different channels to increase reach but always ensure influencers are fairly recompensed for the value they are adding. Think about the purpose of your brand’s content and where the content can live beyond social to get the right balance of paid and organic.
3) Tap into influencers’ expertise when exploring new formats
When embracing new channels and formats, look to influencers in that space for guidance on which content works well for their audiences and tap into their existing expertise. Think about the content assets you already have that could work in that format, and focus on how can you behave like a native on that platform and as a brand authentically living there. If there is someone already in that space, think about utilising them as a vehicle for being able to play in that space and be less brand-centric.
4) High production content can still be authentic
An attendee posed the question: “Raw and unscripted vs high production: some interpret authenticity as a reason to release unscripted, low-budget videos. But authentic doesn’t have to be low quality. Equally, high production doesn’t mean you’ve abandoned authenticity. But how can high production content be more authentic?”
There is a place for both influencers posting about their real beauty journeys on Stories and those influencers who are mini production houses producing polished content. However, authenticity doesn’t come from the content itself – it comes from the existing trust and emotional connections influencers have with their audience, regardless of high production or more raw, unedited content. For example, L’Oreal Nordics created a highly produced TV commercial using real local advocates in a stripped-back setting, blending both high-quality content with real authentic voices.
5) Measure success based on quality content
Looking at Saves and tap backs can be more indicative of engagement and help you understand what content people are engaging with. WBA looks at building conversations; how engaged audiences are with influencers’ content; the quality of comments, and ways to maximise that two-way conversation and advocacy piece.
Maximising where that content lives will help to build out certain KPIs and metrics. Metrics are becoming more sentiment and brand-equity driven but with social commerce on the rise, there will be even more ways to track and measure ROI.
For more insights, watch the full beauty webinar replay below:
Influencers to follow recommended by the beauty webinar panel:
Caroline Hirons
Dija Ayodele (@dija_ayodele)
Dr Justine Kluk (@drjustinekluk)
Laura Jackson (@iamlaurajackson)
Need help strategising your influencer campaigns? Discover what Billion Dollar Boy could do for your beauty brand by emailing the team: [email protected]
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