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Glossary:

Vlogger –  Video Blogger

Bblogger – Beauty Blogger

ASA – Advertising Standards Agency

 

In 2014, UK Beauty related searches on YouTube reached 35million per month! (Google, 2014). Beauty brands have realised that collaboration with third-party vloggers is a powerful marketing tool, as consumers perceive vloggers as a more credible source in comparison to celebrities.

 

In an independent survey of UK consumers by affilinet (2015) bloggers are the third most trustworthy source, only behind that of friends and family, and so brands must utilise this influence vloggers have over consumers. YouTube sensation Zoe Snugg better known as Zoella has over 10 million subscribers and she was even listed in Debrett’s 500 Most Influential People in Britain. It is vloggers like Pixiwoo, Tanya Burr and Zoella that beauty brands look to work with, but how successful are these collaborations.

“If a blogger endorses a product it gives it more weight than if it was just featured on the page of a magazine”, says Jessica Walker, a digital marketing specialist who works for eight&four.

 

The two main advantages of beauty brands using well established vloggers is their high reach to consumers at a relatively low cost, especially in comparison to high-profile advertisements such as those aired during the US Super Bowl game. In 2015 these were watched by 100 million viewers and 30 seconds of airtime would cost a huge US$3.8million (Euromonitor, 2015), although a large audience size, the advert cannot be aimed at the target audience and could be seen as ‘wasted’ on non-applicable viewers.

 

This blog describes twelves ways to team up with influential bbloggers and vloggers.

1. Gifting Goods
2. Sponsored Posts
3. Product Reviews
4. Giveaways
5. Group Giveaways
6. Pinterest contests
7. Sponsored Ad Space
8. Influencer Competitions
9. Guest Posts
10. Sponsored Media Posts
11. Videos
12. Affiliate/Referral Program

Brands started to notice that working with vloggers couldn’t always guarantee a positive promotion of a product as the views and opinions are those of an individual or group. This then introduced paid advertisement or sponsorship of products to vloggers, which would guarantee a positive appraisal but this was soon noticed by the ASA.

 

This BBC article reports on a series of vlogs of which were uploaded to YouTube promoting Oreo biscuits, however, these were later removed from the site as they did not clearly identify themselves as being an advertisement paid by a brand owner. This subsequently tightened regulation from 19^th August 2015 where;

‘ad’ ‘ad feature’ or ‘advertorial’,

should be highlighted before or at the start of a video. This is speculated to be the first of many further regulations enforced for vloggers to comply by to allow transparency for consumers and allow other vloggers to continue to be a trustworthy source of influence over brands.

 

The successful trend of vlogs tempted beauty brands to create their own YouTube channels and unlike vloggers allowed marketers full control but still able to add a more personal insight. However the top 25 vloggers on YouTube have 115 times more subscribers than the average beauty brand channel (Pixability 2014). The benefits of well-established vlogger is the huge loyal following they hold, as marketers want high levels of subscribers to communicate to regularly.

 

For 2016 vlogging will continue to grow, along with higher investment into YouTube advertising formats which are often played before or around a vlog. The growth of mobile, where vlogs are accessed on mobiles over screens, are one of the factors that have caused the attention span of individuals to fall from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013 (Microsoft 2015). This means adverts and vlog trailers must make a strong impression within a smaller time frame.

Incorporating vloggers as part of a brand’s digital marketing strategy is highly encouraged, and the future shows no imminent signs of vlogs being dismissed by consumers, as it is definitely favored over celebrity endorsement.

It would be suggested that brand owners continue to follow guidelines and not underestimate the knowledge of a consumer when is comes to ads or sponsorship. It is also important that brands carefully select vloggers who are associated with the brand and not focus solely on the highest subscribed vlogger!

 

 

References

Euromonitor International (2015) Digital Strategies serve all aspects of Operations in Global Beauty [Online] <file:///C:/Users/Tania/Downloads/Digital_Strategies_Serve_All_Aspects_of_Operations_in_Global_Beauty.pdf> [accessed 25^th January 2015]

 

Google (2014) Building Beautiful Brands 2014. London: Google

 

Microsoft (2015) Attention Spans: Consumer Insights. Canada: Microsoft

 

Pixability (2014) “Beauty Vloggers Have More Subscribers Than Brands on YouTube” [YouTube video] [posted 21^st April 2014, accessed 26^th January 2016]