What you need to know about Beauty Bloggers and Blogging (Interview)
Beauty blogs are now an essential part of the marketing mix.
The best bloggers can identify trends as they happen, as well as provide a vehicle to generate new customers.
But identifying the best, most influential bloggers isn’t easy…Jenni Retourné understands how beauty blogging works. Through her communications consultancy, Style with Substance, she offers beauty brands blogger outreach campaigns, social media and copywriting services.
She also knows what it takes to become a serious industry influencer through her own blog, http://yourbeautyindustry.blogspot.co.uk/, aimed at people working in the beauty industry.
I recently spoke to Jenni to find out her views on bloggers, blogging and the value of social media campaigns.
Why do you think beauty bloggers have become so prevalent?
First and foremost, beauty bloggers are a fantastic resource for unbiased beauty product reviews. I rarely buy a product without first researching blog reviews of it.
The rise of social media platforms – especially Twitter – has also played a big part in the development of bloggers. These platforms enable instant communication between beauty lovers, which has created a large community of people who share and support each other’s passion for beauty. Many have developed their own blogs because of this.
Beauty brands are now treating beauty bloggers as a form of media in their own right.Where should beauty brands go to find the best?
There’s no shortcut to finding the best beauty blogs for your brand. It comes down to good old fashioned research. Put in the leg work and it will pay off for your brand.
The definition of the ‘best’ beauty blogs will be different for each company. It could be based on a number of elements:
Reader profile
Number of followers
Number of hits per month
Level of influence on social media platforms
Amount of reader interaction with the blog
It could be a mixture of all these things. Brands need to work out what they want to achieve from their interaction with the blogosphere and then devise a communication strategy based on these goals.
I am constantly researching beauty blogs and I work with a large number of influential bloggers to get my clients’ products reviewed. There are many great blogs out there and I never stop discovering new ones.Just as it is important to find the best blogs for your brand, it’s also imperative to do your research on any bloggers who may contact you to ask for samples to review.
There are many great blogs out there, but there are also many that are set up with the sole intention of receiving freebies. There is no regard for creating a credible blog or building a loyal following.
If I were to send out products to every blogger that got in touch and asked for a sample, then I would be wasting a huge amount of my client’s money on samples for blogs that are only read by a handful of people.
What can beauty brands learn from bloggers that they can’t find out elsewhere?
Blogs are an incredible source of unbiased opinion both from the bloggers themselves and the readers.
The feedback from a blog in a blog’s reader comments can be invaluable and is a fantastic form of market research.
Do you think that beauty brands should have blogs on their websites?
Yes, I think a company blog is a good idea. Not only does it give your brand a personality and a voice but from a practical point of view it can help increase traffic to your website.
Google loves a blog. Websites that are regularly updated with new content score higher up in Google’s search engine, and if you use the right SEO (search engine optimisation) words within your blog posts, it will make your website more likely to be found through Google search.
Is it necessary for brands to have a Facebook page as well as twitter, YouTube and Pinterest?
These days, people expect a brand to have a Facebook and Twitter page, and they are useful platforms for conversing directly with your customers.
By having a presence on these platforms you can build up a loyal following of consumers, and then when you have announcements to make such as promotions or new product launches, you are able to convey these messages in an instant.
Other platforms such as YouTube and Pinterest can also benefit your brand – each platform has its own benefit. I think it is better to start by focusing on one or two social media platforms and doing it well.
How do you see social media evolving over the next 5 years?
Social media has evolved so dramatically over the past 5 years, going from being practically non-existent in marketing plans to now forming an essential part of a brand’s marketing activity. So it’s impossible to predict where the next 5 years will take us.
The main thing to realise is that social media is constantly evolving. So I think it is imperative to stay up to speed with developments.
Don’t take your eye off the ball, because blink and everything will have changed.
You can find out more about Jenni’s work with the beauty blog community at, http://www.stylewithsubstance.co.uk/