Many people cannot imagine their life without social media, and it has also become an important part of the marketing strategy employed by big companies. Being present on social media involves increasing the prominence of web pages, reaching different groups of recipients using particular distribution channels and improving the image of a company. However, long-term solutions that establish a relationship with the brand’s fans and go beyond average shopping process are the most important aspects. The so-called “Social Media Ninjas”, i.e. the people who are very knowledgeable in the world of social media pages, emphasise that nowadays there is no better place to meet a client than on the Internet, since Facebook itself serves 2 billion users worldwide every month.

Where are cosmetics companies and how do they operate?

A few years ago, there was a boom on the social media market that left many companies abusing these websites. Memes were spread around the internet showing the profiles of the companies that were inadequate for platforms such as Instagram. Nowadays, the companies are smarter and they know that social media choices must be well-thought-out and carefully planned. The most popular platform among cosmetics companies is Facebook, where the number of likes on some profiles is really spectacular. Some examples include L’Oreal Paris with 34 million followers or Avon and Nivea with over 20 million followers.

The second most popular platform for cosmetics brands is Instagram. This platform, which focuses on aesthetics, is perfect for the beauty sector. Brands such as MAC Cosmetics or Kylie Cosmetics are followed by around 20 million users. Vichy and Nivea have a little lower results because their Instagram profiles are divided between different countries. L’Oreal also faces decreased popularity on Instagram compared to Facebook because the company divided their Instagram accounts depending on the types of beauty care – hair, professional cosmetics etc.

The third platform that is worth discussing is Twitter. The unusual mini-blog form of this platform does not attract as many users as the previous two websites. Let’s just look at L’Oreal, which has only 23 thousand followers there, and it is enough for us to know that this is not a good website for cosmetics companies.

Polish cosmetics companies

The number of followers among the Polish cosmetics brands on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is very similar, just as in the case of the biggest international brands. When it comes to Twitter, some companies do not even have verified accounts and reach a mere 1,400 followers. On the contrary, there are companies on Facebook, such as Inglot or Semilac that are followed by 520 and 570 thousand users respectively. The results of these companies are not much lower on Instagram where other Polish brands, e.g. Bielenda or Eveline, are doing really well.

Strategy for managing a social media account employed by cosmetics companies

The most popular strategy followed by cosmetics companies in social media is adapting the content to the beauty and fashion context. In order to publish interesting information from different areas and in different forms – photos, video, infographics etc., it is important to focus on content marketing. No one can become successful in the social media world with annoying marketing and worthless content. The purpose of social media websites is to provide good entertainment, and not attack customers with advertising and direct marketing.

What is the right direction?

The studies show an increasing interest in video content among customers. Excellent quality of the image and sound, great editing and storytelling are becoming more and more popular. This is why different types of videos are used, and short vlogs are posted on Instagram, not to mention YouTube which also belongs to the social media world. Reddit is also gaining in popularity, however its use among cosmetics companies may be limited, similarly to Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+. It is difficult to estimate the status of Facebook from a long-term perspective since it, following scandals over personal data leaks, faces an image crisis and more companies, such as Mozilla, are pulling out of the platform.

This is why, instead of opening new accounts on the platforms that are not appropriate for our sector, cosmetics companies will focus on video marketing on YouTube in the near future and on improving their activity on Instagram, posting interesting content in captions. It is also worth considering full implementation of social media into the brand, following the example of Juice Beauty. The company created a nourishing face mask, making sure it was designed to look great on photos with Instagram filters.