61% of Twitter users and 51% of Facebook users said that they were more likely to buy from the brands they follow. Building a community and fan following is often viewed with scepticism by marketers who don’t know how to attribute ROI to the money spent on this activity. With influencer marketing gaining popularity, we can now see live examples of the benefits that brands and individuals enjoy when they have a community (of a few thousands/millions) backing them.
Successful beauty blogs have a unique proposition. They have an active following for 2 main reasons
- The blogger provides tips that can be easily used by the masses. The style and tips don’t feel out of reach and don’t break the bank either
- The followers feel a personal connection with the blogger – like the blogger is one among them. And yet, the blogger holds an aspirational value where the followers are inspired to follow their style while being encouraged to find their own personalized style statements.
When you have many people following your business, the relationship fosters loyalty and this, in turn, has a huge potential to bring in revenue.
Take the case of Zoe ‘Zoella’ Sugg . With a subscriber base of 11.6 Million, she is among the world’s YouTube Millionaires. What makes her stand apart? Her girl next door looks and bubbly effervescence plays a part but the USP comes from being ‘one of us’. Despite her following, she doesn’t claim to be an ‘expert’. She may just recommend a $4 moisturizer from a local drug store as much as she would try out a $40 cream from a reputed brand. She eventually started a second YouTube channel MoreZoella which is a curated chronicle of her daily life. With 4.5M subscribers, here’s where here loyalty base lies.
Here’s the next interesting lesson that we learn from Zoella. She didn’t stop with just making money from her YouTube videos. While she collaborated online with brands like most influencers, she also wrote a novel ‘Girl Online’ in 2014 which broke records to become a NYTimes bestseller. She followed it up with sequels in 2015 and 2016.
She did not shy away from discussing the other side of beauty where she shared details about her anxiety disorder and panic attacks with her fans. It brought out the ‘human’ element in her connect showing that she wasn’t this ‘perfectly happy and rich’ person but had problems like the rest of us.
She has amassed her millions and she couldn’t have done this without her community of loyal subscribers.
So what do the numbers really look like?
Instagram’s wealthiest influencer Huda Kattan has 20.5 million followers that allow her to rake a whopping $18000 per post. There’s a lot of learning that comes from the way Kattan treats here Instragram account, which is different from how you would look at Zoella.
Kattan doesn’t do a lot of sponsored posts because she always puts here community first and shares things that she believes is good for her followers. Besides this, what makes here truly stand apart is her content quality. She is also honest about her fillers and botox – that actually helps people see her are real with flaws that can be corrected with the right treatment choices.
There are quite a few stories out there like Kattans and Zoella. And there are hundreds of other beauty bloggers who are looking to reach that level of elusive followership and fame. You can see from examples that this requires a considerable investment of time, a passion for what you do, a genuine concern for what your followers want and also digital skills that need to be upgraded from time to time. That’s where we can help. If you are a beauty blogger/vlogger and are looking to find your million dollar jackpot, here are a few things you can try out:
1. Define your target market
While this looks like an easy task, this is something you need to think about before you put out every piece of content. Beauty blogs of course target people – women – interested in tips, tutorials and inspiration. Does that mean all women in the world are your target audience? Probably not. Also, what type of tips you provide and which age it suits goes a long way in defining your target group. If you dress like them and speak their language, they will have an instant connect. But if you are a 50-year-old giving makeup tips for teenage girls, you won’t have much of a connect.
Research about the most common problems your target group is facing and look to address them. Research about the products they are buying, their spending ability. Last but not the least, be the touch point for their inspiration. Let them aspire to be ‘someone like you’.
2. Don’t blog to sell
Well… bloggers don’t exactly survive on love and fresh air. And you know that by now. We know that you want to grab the first opportunity that comes your way that can put some money in the bank. But take a step back and give a long hard look. Is the product really worth being associated with. As a beauty blogger, everything you do hinges on your reputation. If you promote a product for the sake of it but don’t really use it / subscribe to it then you are cheating your readers. They are your ardent and loyal followers and many will try something on when you say so. Make it worth their while. Having said that, if a good opportunity does come your way, grab on and make the most of it. New products offer a good opportunity to offer a give away to your readers too. Bargain with the brand to offer some to your readers who can even share reviews with you. Its a win-win for everyone.
3. Add value to every blog
Not all blogs tend to add value. The blog about the cutest expression the kitty gave when she sat on the new couch isn’t exactly adding value to the user. It is still consumed because of its entertainment factor. Value, like beauty, is relative. To know how you can add value, you’ll have to first determine what your target audience finds valuable. The ‘how-tos’ and tips blogs come vastly under this category. Is the reader’s life easier or more enriched after reading your blog? Then you are adding value. The spirit is to be able to discover something unique and amazing via your blog.
4. Set your tone right – with an extra emphasis on the headline
How you say something matters as much as what you say. Do you address your readers in the first person or is it a blog written from a 50,000 ft view? Do your readers think it is easy to reach out to you as a friend who has the best beauty tips or are you a diva whose style is above mere mortals?
The former tends to work better than the latter but there needs to be a balance when you present the aspirational factors.
80% people do not go beyond the headlines. So if your titles aren’t catchy, you’ll miss out on readers even if your article is very good. If the title directly addresses the problem area that your readers face, they are highly likely to want to read the solution.
Over time, you’ll know what types of blog content is read most by your reader and that’ll help you improvise.
5. Link to good external sources
Once you are an influencer, you own a very valuable asset – of linking to external websites. These links can be affiliate links that can earn you money. These could be partner links whose products you are promoting. And these links pass on the ‘juice’ from your valuable website to others. So choose your link partners wisely.
Likewise, build your links with caution too. Especially since we don’t know what the next Google update will unleash upon us. Avoid shady directories and spam websites. Instead, choose to build links from genuine content.
6. Get social on multiple platforms
Social media is the best free way to drive continual and incremental traffic to your website. Each of this medium, be it Twitter, Facebook or Instagram offer to build a community in their own media. Some bloggers find their comfort zone on Facebook. Others take to Instagram like there is no world beyond it. Reaching the coveted first million in any of these platforms can give you the clout to be crowned as a ‘social influencer’. If you are a real influencer, you won’t need to mention it as a part of your profile. Your numbers will do the talking.
7. Do a freebie (more often)
Create or obtain something of an incredible value. And then offer it for free to yoru community. Look at it as a way of saying thank you to each of your followers. It can be an eBook with your best kept secrets or niche products that you obtain from a partner or advertiser. Giveaways are a complete delight to your followers. They’ll be happy to go the extra mile and mention your generoisty to the rest of the internet.
If you have limited products to give out then a contest too can work for you. A ‘like and tag your friends contest’ will help boost your popularity and also make your fans get a feeling of winning a great gift from you.
8. Engage actively with comments
Comments can be a nightmare if not handled well. The internet is full of spammers who try to use blog comments for SEO links. Use an effective plugin like WP Spamshield to catch your comment spam. Meanwhile, don’t forget to respond to your real fans who’ve taken the time to share their thoughts with you. Seeing that you respond to comments will encourage your loyal fans to reach out to you more often. It is a tough task and requires patience but is well worth the effort.
Often, your fans will be telling you which of your beauty tips worked for them, often giving an impromptu testimonial. At other times, they’ll be sharing their demands and choices with you, giving you new content ideas. You’ll get all that and more if you choose to listen.
9. Be future ready
#Repost @saratalksbeauty ・・・ Who else loves these pinky-mauve tones? they’re my fav tones along with the warm ones + Huda’s packaging makes everything even better! Who agrees? #hudabeautyobsessions #hudabeautyliquidmatte
152.2k Likes, 600 Comments – Huda Kattan (@hudabeauty) on Instagram: “#Repost @saratalksbeauty ・・・ Who else loves these pinky-mauve tones? they’re my fav tones along…”
Beauty, fashion, and style change many times a year depending on the trends of the season. If you are writing about something after the season has begun, you are arriving at the party beyond the ‘fashionably late’ deadline. You’ll have to not only keep a keen eye on the changing trends but also have an innate sensibility on what can set the trend in the near future. Your ‘Bridal looks for Spring 2018’ will have to be out before the season sets in because brides-to-be will be researching on the topic much in advance.
Huda Kattan, for example, introduced glossy lip strobes to a world that was still going ga-ga over matte. She shared her rose-gold textured eyeshadow pallet before the world knew that it wanted something like it. And therein lies her secret. She has not only got her finger on the pulse of what’s in vogue today but she knows what will be in style in the coming months.
10. Create a schedule and stick to it
This one is a toughie but has to be done. Once you have a loyal base of subscribers, they’ll look forward to your content every few days. If you miss the timeline, you may drop off their radar and the once in a while updates may not get the attention they deserve. Being consistent is a trait that the best in the business follow.
How often you should post depends on your sweet spot. If you find that posting thrice drives up engagement but doing more than that results in a drop, then stick to three. The key is to keep experimenting and then sticking to what works best for you.
11. Look at it as a long-term investment
Not all bloggers tend to rake in the moolah. Case studies like that of Zoella and Khatta often lead people to believe that this is an easy way to make money. The truth is that a blog is a long-term investment. It requires consistent input and creativity and grows in size before you can monetize it. There are 2M blogs being published every day. Think about that number before asking why it is difficult to make money from a blog. Find your niche and be the best at it. That’ll lead the path to your blog’s monetization.
12. Monitor and measure
Last but not the least, use Google Analytics, the search console, and other free tools to measure how you are doing. Is your cornerstone content bringing in the traffic you expected? Did your posts this month do better than the one’s last month? If so, why? What’s the best time to post on social media? Is your organic traffic touching a plateau? Answers to these questions will allow you to improve your blogs over a period of time.
Conclusion
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. A beauty blogger’s success lies with their subscriber base. An evenly spread foundation of SEO, a touch of blush for your headlines, a great khol liner for your images, and some sexy red lipstick for your content – you are ready for the big league beauty blogger party.