Why 2021 must be ‘digital first’ for the beauty industry
Beauty brands that have shied away from digital content in the past have no choice but to embrace it in 2021, a year which has heralded an unpredictable world firmly rooted in digital experiences
The brands that have shied away from this messaging in the past have no choice but to embrace it wholeheartedly now. With this in mind, what can we reasonably expect in 2021?
The newsletter renaissance
From TV to podcasts, blog posts to vlogs, consumers have a wealth of information sources, whether seeking politics, news, recipes or skincare advice. But the USP of a newsletter is its simplicity: people don’t have to go out and actively discover the information, it just appears in their inbox at the same time every day/week/month. Their level of participation is low, simply click and read.
Newsletters might not be new but they are enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Over the last year they have become the norm for news outlets like The New York Times and Buzzfeed, plus cooks like Alison Roman and journalists such as Dolly Alderton.
The beauty industry has been slower on the uptake but there is a huge opportunity here to forge a deeper connection with existing and potential customers. It’s an opportunity for brands to communicate their values and personality while addressing matters that their customers have genuine interest in, establishing their brand as an authority and a valuable service.
But brands must not fall into the trap of using their newsletter as a bulletin for products and content — it is so much more than that. Taking the time to format and write it in a way that best brings a brand’s views to life will affect how well it is received and whether the audience continues to open and read it. Done well, consumers will even anticipate each new instalment.
From a performance perspective - with open rates, clickthrough, forward and conversation data at marketers’ fingertips - newsletters serve as an excellent tool for measuring success and ROI, and act a barometer of the audience’s interests.
The power of TikTok
According to Mintel, more than a third of online shoppers in the UK have purchased products after seeing them advertised on social media in the past year. TikTok is really energising a younger audience with money to burn, and has been downloaded over 2.6 billion times and spans 154 countries.
Content creators can gather millions of followers and rack up millions-upon-millions of views per video. Engagement is difficult to gauge but the same content posted to TikTok and Instagram has been shown to perform infinitely better in the former (newer) medium. Walloroo Media cites an example of Jennifer Lopez who posted the same video on Instagram to her 45 million followers, and TikTok to her five million followers. Despite her TikTok follower count being the smaller of the two, she amassed 71 millions views compared to just two million on Instagram.
While beauty is popular on TikTok, it is skincare that’s proving to be particularly provoking. Unlike Instagram, which has become synonymous with heavy makeup looks, TikTok is mostly about rawness and skin positivity. Hence by The Ordinary reported a 426% surge in sales for its AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution after the product was picked up by teens on the app.
A growing demand for expertise
The role of the influencer has changed over the last year and will likely continue to do so. As stores shut their doors due to lockdown, brands took their ambassadors from the shop floor to social media to enable them to continue to deliver the invaluable advice beauty consumers crave.
Consumers want to feel there is value in the content they consume online. More and more customers are looking for scientific experts, skincare authorities and beauty and grooming experts, and are less interested in social media personalities.
This is excellent news for brands when it comes to influencer partnerships, allowing them to properly convey the merits of their products. This is something our client, Amway does so well, partnering with skin health educator and seasoned skin expert, Michelle D’allaird, who is hugely popular with Amway customers and business owners. She speaks from a place of authority and understands the products inside-out. Her regular Instagram ‘lives’ with Amway Europe Beauty Brand Manager, Muna Mohsin, are always a huge success because it allows the audience access to a specialist who would traditionally be out of reach.
2021’s beauty consumers have a huge appetite for valuable, relevant content — and digital enables brands to deliver this at scale.
Talk to the digital marketing specialists
These are daunting times for a beauty brand, and establishing a point of difference, a tone of voice and a credible and relatable identity in an already saturated industry can feel like an almost impossible task. Why not sign up for one of our free workshops and let us help you make an impact? Whether your focus is honing your brand purpose or getting to grips with social media, we’d love to help. Head to our website or get in touch with our managing editor Suzanne Scott for a chat.