Engaging with Beauty Consumers Online

Digital Chameleon Blog

Engaging with Beauty Consumers Online

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Here's my column that appeared on Beauty Directory in January

Along with the rapid increase in time spent online, there has also been a significant rise in the amount of time Australians are spending on social media sites. In fact, according to Nielsen, Australians spend more time each month on social sites than any other nationality! And it’s not only the quantity of time that’s important, but the level of influence that social media has on consumers’ purchasing decisions. “The Social Network” recently won four Golden Globe awards (including Best Picture – Drama), demonstrating that social networking has indeed become mainstream.

A Garner Group report (July 2010) found that a majority of American consumers rely on social networks to guide their purchase decisions. This is significant for the beauty industry as women are even more likely to spend their time using social media, and they refer to it when making decisions on products to buy. Many beauty brands have included digital in their marketing strategy by now, but most could still be doing more in terms of keeping up with consumers’ use of digital channels, especially in the social space.

Of those beauty brands who have established a presence online, they would have a website, include email marketing in CRM programs, perhaps offer ecommerce on their sites. Of those who have ventured into social media, they most likely have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, the logical first step for most companies. What’s the next phase of social marketing? It’s social engagement.

Posting on Facebook and Twitter are great, but tend to be one-way broadcasts, not unlike traditional media activities. Rather than simply counting number of posts or fans, marketers should be looking for ways to start a dialogue with, and among, current and potential customers.

Anitra Marsh, Global External Relations Manager at P&G gave an informative talk at the BlogWell conference in 2010 where she shared P&G’s approaches to social media. She shared that one of their focuses has been improving their listening and “choiceful engagement” with their community. They choose 4-5 topics on which they engage with consumers in order to retain focus. For example, they’ve appointed a “Beauty Maven” for Pantene, who manages their online community programs. They found that the kind of information that women want most about healthy hair is “tips & tricks.” So, the Pantene Beauty Maven got involved in conversations where she could add value in terms of providing participants with useful tips and tricks. Anitra cautioned that tone and authenticity are vital when a brand engages with consumers in these environments.

Anitra Marsh also said that P&G has evolved from a holistic communications model to an interdependent communications model. Where a holistic model involves re-hashing the same advertising message across all channels, with an interdependent model the message can change depending on the medium. They are finding that digital often drives the message (via consumer surveys/stats, consumer generated content, etc. via social channels) and that that content then migrates into traditional media.

Have a look at the video of Anitra Marsh’s ”Social Media for Beauty Brands” presentation for an interesting viewpoint from the largest beauty brand in the world.