Holly Jackson, Global Professional Services Director, Influencer Strategy + Measurement at Traackr02.05.24
As beauty marketers plan for 2024, now is the time to evaluate how influencer marketing strategies are performing, to fine-tune for the coming year. A recent Traackr report gathered data on beauty influencer content to see what’s working for the top beauty brands in influencer marketing.
Fragrance has been a high-performing beauty category since 2020, and influencers are constantly creating new types of interesting content, like fragrance shopping hauls.
To more closely marry the benefits of organic and sponsored content, brands have been leaning toward boosting. Boosting can push a popular video to become a viral hit and supercharge existing sponcon — something that was done successfully by some brands, like Hailey Bieber-owned skincare brand rhode.
A perfect example of the re-emphasis on macro/mega influencers is the top-performing U.S. beauty brand of the year, Rare Beauty, which decreased its reliance on Selena Gomez’s influence to drive social engagement. Even though VIPs drove 40% of Rare’s VIT, the mega/macro tiers generated more VIT for Rare Beauty than last year, as they continue to build a broader community of influencers across tiers.
The power of video shone through in brand performance as well. Top skincare performer Olay aggressively shifted its strategy towards TikTok in 2023, resulting in the platform generating 92% of the brand’s VIT. The brand tapped many popular skincare and dermatology influencers to discuss their products from an ingredient-first, more “scientific” perspective.
No one-size-fits-all influencer strategy exists, but these insights can help beauty brands reinvigorate their influencer programs and invest in the strategies that perform.
About the Author
Holly Jackson is Global Professional Services Director, Influencer Strategy + Measurement at Traackr.
Beauty Influencer Content, Especially Fragrance, Continues to Attract Engagement
Beauty influencer content across all categories – makeup, skincare, hair care and fragrance – saw YoY increases in unique influencers, mentions, engagements and video views. Fragrance saw the biggest increases in activity and performance metrics (84% increase in video views), followed by skincare (82% increase in video views).Fragrance has been a high-performing beauty category since 2020, and influencers are constantly creating new types of interesting content, like fragrance shopping hauls.
Sponsored Content is Paying Off
Most of the social performance growth experienced by beauty brands in 2023 has come from paid campaigns. Engagements and video views from sponsored content increased by 47% and 102%, respectively. Beyond that, sponsored content led to a 90% increase in Brand Vitality Score (VIT) for brands, versus only a 21% increase from organic content.To more closely marry the benefits of organic and sponsored content, brands have been leaning toward boosting. Boosting can push a popular video to become a viral hit and supercharge existing sponcon — something that was done successfully by some brands, like Hailey Bieber-owned skincare brand rhode.
Brands are Going Bigger
A new emphasis on paid content means that brands are investing in different tiers of influencers to drive performance. Macro (250k - 1M followers) and mega influencers (1-5M followers) have increased their VIT impact by 159% and 68% YoY, respectively. Brands aren’t just partnering with nano/micro influencers to drive engagements and conversions anymore, but instead integrating a multi-tier strategy to hit all stages of their funnel.A perfect example of the re-emphasis on macro/mega influencers is the top-performing U.S. beauty brand of the year, Rare Beauty, which decreased its reliance on Selena Gomez’s influence to drive social engagement. Even though VIPs drove 40% of Rare’s VIT, the mega/macro tiers generated more VIT for Rare Beauty than last year, as they continue to build a broader community of influencers across tiers.
Video Platforms Show Highest Growth in Brand Impact
TikTok and YouTube show the biggest growth rates in unique influencers, mentions, engagements, video views and VIT for brands. A recent Traackr survey found that 75% of U.S. consumers said that they find short-form videos (less than 3 minutes) to be the most engaging content type. Consumers also ranked YouTube and TikTok as the top two social platforms that they are most likely to use when searching online for product reviews and information.The power of video shone through in brand performance as well. Top skincare performer Olay aggressively shifted its strategy towards TikTok in 2023, resulting in the platform generating 92% of the brand’s VIT. The brand tapped many popular skincare and dermatology influencers to discuss their products from an ingredient-first, more “scientific” perspective.
No one-size-fits-all influencer strategy exists, but these insights can help beauty brands reinvigorate their influencer programs and invest in the strategies that perform.
About the Author
Holly Jackson is Global Professional Services Director, Influencer Strategy + Measurement at Traackr.
