Micro-influencers and the beauty industry
How social media is changing the industry
According to Forbes, sixty-five percent of teens rely on social media for being inspired to buy beauty products. It’s no longer big brands that the youth is trusting, but rather authenticity; like a friend or colleague. Celebrities are also a part of the category that millennials don’t trust as before. Beauty and makeup gurus on the other hand, especially on YouTube are the future of the industry. This doesn’t mean bad news for the beauty industry, on the contrary..
Millennials look for inspiration and customer reviews on social media instead of blindly trusting bigger brands.
They use both Instagram and Facebook, and word-of-mouth marketing that is invading social media, connecting influencers, brands and consumers in a whole different way than before. This means that brands have to adapt to new customer values, and to use “micro influencers” as a way of reaching their audience and creating a trusting bond. The micro influencer who has between 10,000 and 100,000 followers has been proven to reach higher engagement than influencers with more followers — 1mill and up (linkedin.com).
Instagram is not a one-way communication platform; it goes both ways, and having fewer followers seems equal to getting stronger engagement. Followers don’t start a conversation or interaction with their influencers that has a high rate of followers, because they know they won’t be easily seen or taken into consideration. That is also why big brands are no longer the source where beauty-interested teens go for inspiration.
“ If you are a micro-influencer, you can expect an 8% rate — if you’re a major influencer, you can expect 4%.” — Linkedin.com
In particular, millennials have a big interest for cruelty-free makeup and beauty products. Wayne Goss, a professional makeup artist boosted his career because of its successful YouTube presence. Indeed, when he launched a cruelty-free line of handmade brushes, they sold out in just five minutes!(minetanbodyskin.com). A good example of how following the two mentioned trends leads to good results!
All in all, it seems like micro-influencers are the way to reach consumers from a brand perspective. It leads to higher engagement and bigger sales when the influence comes from a trusted source, rather than directly from the brand itself.. A cruelty-free beauty company using micro-influencers to connect to the audience would be the best way of reaching millennials.
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