Social media: new beauty influence trends for 2021

Kolsquare conducted an in-depth study on the drivers of beauty influence on social media. The platform, specialized in the optimization of influence marketing campaigns, examined the behaviour of several hundred brands and influencers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok from January 2020 to February 2021. The analysis of quantitative data was completed with about ten testimonies [1]. This study makes an update on the specificities of the various media and influencers’ profiles and the main 2021 beauty influence trends.
Brands can no longer afford to map out their strategies without a key element: influence marketing, an essential in the beauty world. Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) have become creators of inspiring content and both free-spirited intermediates and brand ambassadors. More professional, they break the mould and provide innovation and freshness thanks to an expert, impacting profile. And as the share of online sales and the time spent on social media keep soaring, no doubt this trend will keep growing. Meanwhile, social media increasingly develop technological tools and systems for brands: augmented reality, buy buttons, live shopping…

Instagram: the beauty star media
According to Kolsquare, if beauty has gained such importance on social media lately, it is because this industry banks a lot on visuals and experience. “Beauty digitalization paves the way for technological innovation: today, you can follow a tutorial or test a lipstick on your smartphone. Influence marketing completes these new technologies with a genuine authenticity made possible thanks to the trust relationship between KOLs, subscribers, and brands,” say the platform representatives.

In practice, the format the most widely used by cosmetics brands is image, and by far: 85.9%. Then come videos (10.3%), Instagram stories (2%), and Instagram videos (IGVT), which represent 1%.

A visual network par excellence, Instagram is by (very) far the number one medium for beauty and lifestyle. Statistics are quite clear: 90.4% of the 1,210,622 publications related to beauty analyzed in 2020 are on Instagram.