How has the beauty industry changed?
- Shelby
- Mar 5, 2019
- 3 min read
Welcome back,
The whole premise behind this blog is to discuss overall the impact social media has had on the beauty industry, but this is one tiny part of an full load of changes this industry has faced.
Magazines: Back in the day I remember that magazines were the go-to place for me to find out anything about makeup and beauty. I remember going shopping and just bought the magazines with the makeup-free samples. Since the rise of the digital age, a lot of beauty and fashion magazines have seen a decline in sales since everything is online nowadays; BBC stated that Look magazine had seen a massive loss with their weekly sales going down by 35% (source). This goes to show that most content we view about makeup tends to be online, only due to the ease of it being at the touch of a button. However, the magazines that are thriving now are business-themed magazines such as the Economist which has seen a rise in sales by up to 5% (source).
Social Media: The most obvious one of the lot, social media and digital content has had a considerable impact in the beauty industry; hence the reason for The Social Makeup. As I touched on earlier, it's the ease of being able to find everything you need to know about a product, including reviews, prices and substitutes which are a lot easier now it was back in the day. Also, social media advertising has helped brands thrive in this saturated market mainly from the exposure they gain from sponsorships, reviews and of course user-generated advertisement.
Word-of-mouth: This is believed to be one of the most potent forms of marketing, as '92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising' (source), a lot of the time we create a discussion around certain product launches and brands without even knowing about it, I know my friends personally and I will be scrolling through twitter and all of a sudden get into this huge conversation about products we've tried and other similar products we need to try; and before you know it you've ended up buying the product; this is a precious tool that has helped brands succeed especially social media based brands that not many people have tried to them WOM is vital but can be challenging to get right.
"64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing. However, only 6% say they have mastered it." - Forbes
Videos: This links in with social media but I thought it deserves its own section! With the rise of YouTube in 2011, this has changed the game in the beauty industry along with many others, being able to view tutorials and reviews allows the customer to get a sense for the product in a visual way, and allows them to see it being demonstrated. Personally, I learnt a lot of my beauty knowledge from YouTube; it's very informative and watching it from an experts point of view allows you to increase your skills and understanding of the product. In 2018 YouTube received 169 million views on beauty content in that year along 65 million more views than the previous year (source)! This puts into perspective how popular this platform is within this ever changing industry.
Influencers: Saving the biggest one for last, without a doubt it has to be beauty influencers that have changed the game with the makeup industry. They promote a lot of brands and products on their social media platforms to get a more extensive reach for brands; brand decide to use influencers as they have the audience that is their target market, as this is why this is the most popular activity within marketing. James Charles is one of the most significant beauty influencers in this generation, with a following of 14.7 million followers on Instagram alone; he uses his content to post in-depth tutorials which are very editorial, reviews as well as collaborations with other influencers alike such as Jeffree Star and Tati Westbrook. A lot of viewers watch these videos and browse their social media sites as an honest opinion, but as they can relate to them, their content and story so much; which a lot of brands have benefitted from.
"70% of Teens Trust Influencers More than Traditional Celebrities" - Digital Marketing Institute
These are only five of the more significant changes. What do you think has been the biggest change in this industry?
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