A Day In The Life Of A Social Media Manager In The Beauty Industry

The beauty industry has taken over the social media world.

Between 15 second tutorials on ‘how to get your brows on fleek’ to one hour live sessions on ‘how to master the perfect Saturday night look’ and with platforms like Instagram, it’s not a surprise that the makeup industry is performing better than ever on social media.

With visual content and platforms dedicated to it [looking at you Instagram and Snapchat], beauty brands can get their products in front of the right people and show them how it’s intended to be used – which helps a buyer massively in their purchasing journey.

What’s it like to be a social media manager in the beauty industry?

Sophie Darling, Beauty Expert & Content Editor

Q. What’s it like to work on social media for the beauty industry?
It’s all about sharing what’s trending and offering the latest fashion tips with your audiences. Managing a beauty account/channel is like hosting a community where people share the same passion for chatting about the daily dose of beauty hacks, tips, and also some hilarious fails.

Q. What type of ads and posts work well?
Silent videos work extremely well on Facebook and Instagram as more than 85% of videos on Facebook are watched without sound. Fun tutorials, hacks, and makeup demos are among the most popular.

Q. What’s the biggest challenge of working in the industry?
To keep the feed light, fun and at the same time offer engaging content the audience resonates with is always a learning process. Users appreciate the real-time responses, and the more time you spend on interacting and engaging with your followers, the larger audiences and exposures you’ll receive and be talked about more too.

Q. What are your tips for a successful campaign?
Think about your end goal for the campaign in the beginning, and work backwards to define your target audience and ad format. Always keep your end goal in mind, it keeps you focused and on track.

Q. Can you provide examples of beauty industry campaigns that worked particularly well? Why did they perform so well?
The Beauty Board from Sephora is a great campaign that takes advantage of promoting user generated content. It allows their customers to buy beauty looks knowing real people like themselves are rocking these beauty products with confidence.

Q. Which platform do you think is the best for promoting beauty related content?
Instagram for sure. It gives you the ability to use hashtags to search for the specific images and also create your own hashtags for all kinds of campaigns.

Under the search tab, it features images you might be interested in. Not to mention Instagram recently launched location and hashtag stories which are, without a doubt, going to bring the Instagram game in beauty accounts alike to a whole new level of fun and excitement.

Kylee Arreaga, Social Media Expert, Wallaroo Media.

Q. What type of ads and posts work well?
After weeks of A/B testing various ads for beauty products, we’ve found that overall, the ads that do best often have a value incentive attached.

For example, offering a limited time deal such as “15% off this weekend only’’, often pushes the slower decision makers into action by giving them a time crunch.

Even small incentives like free shipping can be enough to push consumers to purchase. Creating look-alike re-targeting audiences within platforms like Facebook and Instagram are key targeting features that generally provide the highest click-through rates and conversion rates.

For organic posts, we’ve found that overall lifestyle shots not only garner the most engagement but also establish the brand’s identity and give consumers a reason to follow.

Collaborating professionally with other like-minded influencers or brands can help bolster both brands up. Even if an official partnership can’t be reached, simply taking a moment to tag other brands or influencers in posts can help generate goodwill between your brand and others while also helping posts gain publicity.

Q. What are your tips for a successful campaign?
➢ Take the time before beginning a campaign to fully understand the branding, lifestyle, and audience you’re trying to reach. Having a clear, concise concept makes for a well-organised campaign consumers can identify with.

➢ Though it may be tempting, do not go overboard on posting. Posting anywhere above 3x a day on social media sites will start losing you followers immediately. Consumers want to stay connected. They do not want to be spammed.

➢ Go easy on the promotional material. Consumers follow social media accounts because they identify with the lifestyle – especially when it comes to beauty brands. So, focus more on giving them lifestyle shots and posts they can interact and connect with. Do not constantly barrage them with promotional material or you will only drive them away.

➢ Remember the power of holidays. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas are some of the biggest holidays for spending on female products. Utilize this. Strategically run promotions or new campaigns centered around these holidays when consumer eyes will be more alert for beauty products and potential gifts.

Who are the top beauty brands on social media?

A post shared by Anastasia Beverly Hills (@anastasiabeverlyhills) on May 20, 2017 at 3:26pm PDT

A post shared by Benefit Cosmetics Ireland (@benefit_ire) on May 7, 2017 at 3:28am PDT

A post shared by Inglot Cosmetics Ireland (@inglotireland) on May 23, 2017 at 12:03pm PDT

A post shared by Sephora (@sephora) on Apr 27, 2017 at 9:37am PDT

A post shared by M·A·C Cosmetics (@maccosmetics) on May 21, 2017 at 9:02am PDT

Run competitions:

Followers love the chance of winning something, whether that be a makeover in one of the company’s studios or a hamper full of the brand’s latest range. Competitions that encourage users to ‘like’, ‘comment’ and ‘share’ work best as it’s raising brand awareness.

Offer discounts:

Similar to competitions, everyone loves getting money off their purchase. Offering limited time only, for example 20% off all lipsticks until midnight, rushes customers into making a purchase decision as they’ll be getting something they’ve had their eye on for a little less buck. Create an image with the discount code in it so people can share it across social, spreading the positive word to all beauty lovers.

Tutorials:

Instagram stories, Snapchat stories and Facebook live are all platforms to take advantage of for this type of content.

➢ Show your followers how your products work
➢ Show them the type of looks the products can create, for example Hollywood Glam or Prom makeup, or the flawless ‘’natural’’ look
➢ Show them simple tips and tricks when it comes to makeup care

Communicate with your followers:

Regularly communicate with your following on social. Let them be the first to know about new products, ask them what makeup looks they want to know how to create, answer any queries they have in relation to all things beauty. By developing an emotional connection with your audience, you’re increasing their trust in the brand. Listen to them and give them what they want.

Work with influencers:

Develop a relationship with key influencers in the beauty industry and work with them on several social campaigns.

➢ Have them do an Instagram/Snapchat takeover, where they’ll give followers an insight into their every day, or take them behind the scenes at a photoshoot.
➢ Send them the latest beauty products from the brand and have them unveil the range to the social following.

Keep up with trends:

Be the first to know what’s going to be the next big trend in the world of beauty. Keeping up with trends is not only a way to keep your current followers happy but also offers you the chance to gain some new followers by using the correct hashtags to get to them.

Know the calendar:

Valentine’s day, International Women’s day, Oscar season, Fashion weeks [New York/London], Christmas, New Years – these are some of the days/times of the year that you need to be prepared for.

Make sure you have something prepared for these events well in advance, for example:

➢ Host a live feed creating a romantic and fierce Valentine’s day look.
➢ Run a competition which offers the winner an Oscar style makeover – make them feel like they’re going to walk the red carpet with some of Hollywood’s A-listers.
➢ Have a makeup artist takeover your social account for the day to offer your followers some makeup looks for the festive season.