Are you a Michelle Phan?
Michelle Phan is a pioneer of the YouTube beauty community. What started out as sharing simple make up tutorials online quickly evolved into a million dollar business. She currently has over 8.8 million subscribers with more than 600 million video views.
It all started with her blog where she has regularly posted her beauty tips for the world to enjoy since 2005. Her readers then requested more in depth tutorials which then resulted in her posting YouTube videos. Over time, she began to explore different topics on her blog including fashion, wellness, knowledge and art.
Soon after, her YouTube channel began to grow exponentially. Her dedication to her work and fans is one factor that has contributed to her success. Michelle constantly put out videos and replied to her subscribers’ comments and found new ways to interact with them.
Not only did she form a connection with her subscribers on YouTube, but she also used mediums such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get more personal. All of her social media accounts are linked on each platform and is used effectively whenever she has something to promote. In this post, I will be analyzing her use, or lack thereof, of social media and how it has helped with her brand and business.
Youtube and Her Big Breakthrough
Michelle began uploading videos in 2007, mainly posting make up tutorials and transformation videos. Her make up tips were appreciated by many as she started to gain popularity in the beauty community, which was a smaller niche market during this time. Back then, the concept of being an online beauty influencer as a full time job was unheard of. However, she was able to turn this idea into reality and eventually turned it into something much bigger.
In 2012, she co-founded Ipsy, a monthly subscription service for deluxe samples and/or full item beauty products. There are currently 1 million subscribers for this service, which are mostly made up of her YouTube subscribers. To help with promoting this service, she has hired other popular beauty content creators to upload videos showcasing the glam bag each month.
Michelle gives these creators creative control in regards to how they would like to promote the items, which is the key to their success. This helps them appear more transparent with their viewers. If they appear to genuinely like the products, then viewers will be more likely to trust their opinions and purchase the product for themselves. She also believes in helping to stimulate creativity and not limiting it by giving them a set structure to follow.
Ipsy is one of the most successful beauty subscription services on the market right now and is currently a sponsor of “Generation Beauty”, a conference that Michelle has helped organize. This event allows supporters to meet some of their favourite online beauty content creators. With the exposure this event received due to the posts and vlogs dedicated to it, she as able to use this as a marketing tactic for her brand. Her success as an entrepreneur was made possible because of her large following, which she outwardly acknowledges.
Once her channel was well-established, she began to experiment with her art. She posted videos displaying her animation skills which her fans adored. After testing the waters, she started her own online graphic novel titled “Helios: Femina” which people can enjoy for free. Since she has creative control over her channel, she is able to upload content that strays from her normal makeup tutorials. What sets her apart from other beauty youtubers is her ability to address topics outside of lifestyle and beauty. To this day, a majority of her videos have over 1 million views.
Additionally, she developed her own makeup company called “EM” in partnership with L’oreal. Her intentions with creating this company was to address the concerns of those who are often neglected in the beauty community. Michelle strongly reinforces the idea of using makeup as a form of self-expression and creativity for enthusiasts of all expertise; whether they’re novices or experts, her line is made for everyone. Her products are also cruelty free and vegan, making it more accessible to a wide range of people.
Last year she has decided to re-develop her brand which led to her absence on social media for a few months. Although she hasn’t uploaded any videos in 9 months, her fans are still actively commenting on them and patiently waiting for her return.
Instagram and Her A E S T H E T I C
If you appreciate aesthetic as much as I do, then you should definitely check out Michelle’s instagram account. Her way of transitioning between colour schemes in such a gradual way is stunning. Not only is her feed aesthetically pleasing, she also uses this platform to effectively promote her content or products. Her use of visual communication has proven to be effective as she currently has 2.1 million followers.
By having a coherent and interesting feed, this will draw the attention of those who are not already following her, including myself. The way she executes her theme doesn’t make her promotional content feel bothersome, instead they’re presented in a way that can still be appreciated for its aesthetic.
Even after taking a year-long break from this platform, her following did not abandon her. They graciously welcomed her return after she hinted the “rebirth” of her makeup line. This was a result of Michelle purchasing and taking full control of her company from L’oreal in order to start fresh. Her use of planned content after she returned from her break left fans coming back for more.
She slowly began to introduce her new logo by revealing sections of it in multiple posts. This created traffic in her comment section as people left their thoughts as to what the big reveal was. After creating this buzz, she finally announced her newly renovated makeup line. In the post above, Michelle further reinforced her brand’s mission of designing the products specifically for her consumers. This type of promotion was consistently used in her most recent Instagram posts, which generated a positive response overall, seeing as her early access sale is currently sold out.
Facebook and Livestreaming
After the re-launching of her brand, she used her Facebook platform to discuss the details through livestreaming. The real time conversations she had with fans made her more transparent and honest. Once she finished answering questions related to her brand, she then revealed that she went through social media fatigue and also stayed offline for personal reasons. Her battle with stress and anxiety proved that even those with the most influence are often affected by the dark side of social media.
Facebook livestreaming provides actionable metrics as it displays the amount of participants who are able to comment freely. Since she does this regularly, she is able to track how popular certain streams are over the others. She doesn’t limit these livestreams to her main Facebook page, but also uses this tactic on both her EM cosmetics and Ipsy page. On these other pages, she uses amplified influencers by sharing each stream onto her main account. Not only does this link her followers to these brands’ pages, it also helps them discover exclusive content from Michelle and her employees.
In order to promote her brand even further, she retweets fans who have ordered her products to recognize their support as well as show others that it is desirable. She also retweets amplified influencers from EM cosmetics. Michelle has found a balance between personal content and promotional content on her profile. Her passion for art is expressed through her tweets of animated GIFs and retweeting other people’s makeup looks. She also takes the time to reply to followers, which is important considering the fact that she has been off the grid on other social media platforms.
What makes Michelle successful is her ability to take the distinctive features of these platforms and use it to her advantage. For example, the quality of her YouTube videos show the dedication and time that went into producing and editing the videos. These high-production videos, from the resolution to the crisp audio, is what helps her channel continue to thrive. The visuals she portrays in these videos is also used accordingly on her Instagram page. She understands the importance of how the overall feed looks and strategically uploads posts that don’t disrupt her theme and are still interesting. To catch people’s attention quickly, she utilizes Facebook’s livestreaming service to reach her 3.1 million fans, as they are notified of this event while browsing their newsfeed. Finally, her use of Twitter to inspire and engage with others helps her viewers feel more connected to her. After analyzing her success with social media, it’s no surprise that she was included in Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in 2015.
