“Global Influencer Marketing: Insights from Beauty” Presents the Seven Top Priorities for Brand Executives in 2018
Traackr, a leading provider of Influencer Relationship Management software and global communications consultancy, Talk PR, together with its SERMO partners have released a global research report that demonstrates the significant impact influencer marketing is delivering to global brands within the beauty sector.
“Global Influencer Marketing: Insights from Beauty” provides thought-provoking insights into the evolution and sophistication of influencer marketing practice that will benefit brand executives from the beauty sector, as well as adjacent industries in the consumer and lifestyle realms.
The report is packed with rich data and fresh insights to help organizations navigate 2018 and beyond as they continue to up-weight their influencer strategies, including:
● Interviews with global beauty brand leaders Sephora, NYX, L’Oréal and American International Industries
● Trend analysis of the top 1,000 beauty influencers from around the world
● Insight from senior executives from Traackr and Talk PR’s global agency partners
● Identification of the 8 beauty influencer archetypes and ways to engage them
● A showcase of the 36 most engaging posts per tier of influencer across the 4 main social platforms in luxury, premium and consumer categories
● Insights into the top 17 performing independent beauty brands including Huda Beauty, Deciem’s The Ordinary and Milk Makeup
● The importance of influencer audience analysis and measurement for strategic influencer identification
The report reveals the seven top priorities brand executives must focus on in 2018 to optimize commercial potential and take full advantage of the onward strategic evolution of influencer marketing.
Beauty was the first industry to truly understand the opportunity to partner with social media influencers to reach their audiences in new, engaging and revenue-generating ways. Today, the sector continues to pioneer best-in-class influencer programs. This report illustrates the challenges, lessons and organizational shifts within the most advanced brands globally.
Pierre-Loic Assayag, CEO, Traackr, said, “We’ve seen major transformations in the beauty sector where working with the right influencers, in the right way has enabled brands to rise to dominance or even reinvent themselves.”
He continued, “Our report presents exciting examples of how brands are working to scale, optimizing their work with influencers to drive awareness and advocacy, while maintaining authentic relationships and compliance with regulatory shifts.”
Tanya Hughes, President, SERMO Communications at Talk PR, said, “We’ve always been in the business of influence. But now that influencers are proliferating and commanding more consumer and brands’ attention, budgets are following. As spend on influencers increases, so does the scrutiny on their return. Influencers can work as a highly effective and strategic business tool for brands if they collaborate with the right people, in the right way. This report aims to bring some clarity to the ever-changing, sometimes confusing, but always fascinating world of influence.”
Tara Rogers-Ellis, Managing Partner, Mojo PR added: “Influencer marketing is no longer an option, it’s a reality. Beauty brands are probably the most familiar with influencers as a channel. They have a better understanding of what constitutes an effective influencer, and they are more comfortable with user generated content and not maintaining 100% control over their brand.
“We’re having to counter inaccurate classification by brands of influencers as journalists. Journalists are paid by their publication, and publications earn revenue from advertisers. In the case of influencers, they are their own publication, with the need to generate revenues for the exposure they provide. Today’s media budgets need to include influencers.”
Key insights:
The Many Faces of Beauty Influence
● Amongst the top 1000 beauty influencers across luxury, premium and consumer cosmetics, the report lists out the top 36 most engaging posts per tier of influencer across Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
● The report covers the various Beauty influencer archetypes including the Celebrity, the Expert, the Beauty Editor, the Founder, the Lifestylist, the Thought Leader, the Disruptor to the Personal Brand – and the best ways to engage with each (Infographic available)
Influence is Hard to Come By
● The majority of influencers will grow their audience by less than 50% per year
● 10% of all influencers will lose audience members
● Only 5% of all influencers, no matter if they are micro-influencers, rising stars or top tier, will manage to grow their audience substantially in a year
● Putting that in perspective, for the average micro-influencer to reach top-tier status (more than 500K followers), they would need to be in the 95th percentile for audience growth, three years in a row
Disclosure Doesn’t Equal the End of Engagement
● Usage of #ad and #spon has increased by 54% over the last year
● Yet engagement with those posts has more than quadrupled
● When done authentically, a #ad post can before even better than an influencer’s average organic posts
● When done poorly, a #ad post will see 50% – 80% less engagement than their organic posts
The Importance of Always-On Programs to Maximize Peaks & Minimize Valleys
● To study the impact of always-on, long-term programs, we compared two brands with popular influencer trips, #TrippinWithTarte and #FriendsWithBenefits
● #TrippinWithTarte held multiple trips, collaborating with influencers over 18th months while #FriendsWithBenefits had one major activation
● Over the same time frame, Tarte Cosmetics earned more than 30% more mentions than Benefit Cosmetics, and their trip hashtag earned 200% mentions
Greatest Indie Brand Growth
● Among 17 independent cosmetics, skincare and haircare brands, only 5 managed to sizably increase their Share of Influence between 2016 and 2017 to date
● Top performers include: Milk Makeup, Glossier, Amika, Deciem’s The Ordinary and Drunk Elephant
● The full report includes data for all 17 brands including growth in mentions, engagements, video views and activated influencers
