Posted by Melissa Thompson

One of the most competitive industries in the world is surely the beauty industry. It’s still as competitive as ever but the landscape has changed completely. 

Social media has been a major factor in how the beauty industry has changed. Besides just how products are marketed, brands have changed how they approach their business model.

Social media has brought with it a lot of opportunities for brands, but also a lot of challenges, too.

In this article, we will look at some ways the beauty industry has been changed by the rise of social media.

New ways of marketing

The most obvious change has been in marketing. This is no different in other industries, but most beauty brands have seen a sea change in the way to advertise and market their products.

Not long ago, brands would woo celebrities to be the face of their product. Each brand would try to find the biggest face to associate with their products which would almost become a bidding war.

Then, influencers in the beauty niche took over, like the ones in this list by Streamline Marketing. People trusted regular people like them for recommendations over a celebrity. The thinking is, “Well, I will never look like Scarlett Johannson, but I can look like this girl on Instagram.”

Now, brands are reaching out to women with a huge and engaged Instagram following and paying for sponsored posts. It costs far less to market this way and is far more effective.

We see many of the same benefits from social media in the health and wellness niche.

Better connections

Thanks to the social media model, brands and customers have much more of a connection. People follow their favorite brands on social media now and not just the influencers that they like. 

This gives brands an opportunity to create a loyalty like never before. By tapping into what the community on their social media pages thinks is important, they can craft products accordingly.

Consumers also have the chance to ask questions directly to the brand and get very fast responses. When brands have a personable approach with their consumers, then it creates more trust and can also increase their reach as people are more likely to share with their friends.

Brands have to be socially conscious

Where corporations previously felt little need to be good members of the community, they now get instant pressure to respond to topics they would normally stay far away from.

Social media has been instrumental in driving change through awareness of societal and cultural problems and followers expect brands to follow suit. As more people are becoming increasingly engaged in sustainability issues, they want to make sure their preferred brand is also on board. 

If their brand has not entered the conversation then consumers may feel the need to switch. Brands have responded by making more eco-friendly products and donating proceeds to environmental projects and groups. 

Creativity

Lastly, brands are free to be more creative with their messaging now. It can be more long form than it ever was on TV and radio.

And people are responding to this in a very positive way.