Makeup Marketing Trends on the Horizon for 2019
With 2019 well under way makeup brands have been planning and executing their marketing strategies and tactics to reach consumers and gain market share. The past year saw the continued rise and growth of Instagram as a marketing and shopping tool for beauty brands and consumers alike. Between the increasing popularity of Instagram Stories and the emergence of IGTV, the social media platform is on track to be the preferred marketing channel for the beauty industry in 2019.
When looking ahead at makeup marketing trends for this year we will continue to see Instagram used as a popular photo, video and advertising platform for brands and it will remain a crucial part of every company’s marketing strategy. We will also see continued growth with influencer marketing, particularly micro influencers.
A New Way of Thinking About Brand Partnerships and Collaborations
At this point, almost every brand has some type of partnership or collaboration whether it is with a micro influencer or celebrity. There has long been a debate about the preferences of brands when choosing to work with micro influencers versus regular celebrities. Both types of influencers offer benefits to the organizations that partner with them.
Micro influencers are able to speak to their audiences in an authentic way. They also have an extremely loyal audience in comparison to celebrities, especially when it comes to product recommendations. Micro influencers are especially beneficial for niche beauty brands because their audience is usually interested in a specific topic such as products made with natural ingredients and products centered around wellness. While bigger brands tend to collaborate with well known influencers and celebrities, many smaller and niche brands are finding the benefit to working with micro influencers.
One of the ways for beauty brands to maximize their presence when working with influencers is by offering exclusive product releases for their most valued goods to help build buzz and demand for the product. This provides audiences with a special deal and makes the product feel more exclusive for consumers.
Building Your Strategy Around Everything Instagram
Instagram continues to grow as a social media platform and as the preferred platform for the beauty industry. The rollout of IGTV helped to further catapult the brand to social media fame. IGTV has provided beauty brands with the opportunity to create unique video content that would usually be featured on a platform such as YouTube.
YouTube has long been the preferred method for beauty brands and influencers to reach their audiences with video content. This was one of the original ways for beauty vloggers to form connections with their subscribers. With the rise of Instagram, beauty influencers have found a new platform to use.
Instagram also provides beauty brands with the opportunity to reach their audience outside of content creation. The platform offers a plethora of advertising options ranging from regular photo advertisements to video advertisements and stories advertisements. The precise targeting that this platform offers allows beauty brands to creatively and strategically reach their consumers.
The recent announcement related to in-app purchases on Instagram will most certainly change the game for the beauty industry. While the checkout feature is currently being rolled out with select brands there is no question that it will become very popular for makeup and beauty brands looking to promote their products. There are currently select beauty brands participating in checkout including Anastasia Beverly Hills, ColourPop, MAC Cosmetics, NYX Cosmetics and more. More information about the capabilities and success of the checkout feature will come within the next few months.
As 2019 progresses we will continue to see beauty brands using social media to reach their audiences by creating unique content that tells a story about the brand and resonates with consumers. There will also be continued growth with influencer marketing. The biggest takeaways when building a marketing plan for your beauty brand in 2019 are to create content that is authentic, utilize authoritative influencers to get it in front of the right audience and make it easy for consumers to take action and purchase your product!
ACTIVATE is a fully end-to-end influencer marketing platform, covering influencer discovery, program workflow, measurement, and analytics. The platform consists of an opt-in network of 150,000+ vetted and authenticated influencers. Pinpoint niche groups by leveraging our geo-targeting and micro-survey capabilities or dive in deep with our curated networks of creators. Notably, the networks span a diverse variety of influencers including ‘vegan foodies’, ‘outdoor enthusiasts’ , ‘bohemian stylistas’ (and more!). Need a hand? Leverage ACTIVATE Studio, our in-house team of influencer strategists to build out and execute custom influencer initiatives.
Want to learn more about Bloglovin’ or ACTIVATE? Just drop us a note at research@activate.social.
