You only have to take one look at Instagram these days to see a plethora of beauty brands and beauty marketers expertly using social media to create perfectly polished and highly aspirational feeds. They may well be wowing us with their stunning visuals and amazing creativity, but the thing is, it works! It's a strategic and tactical approach that they're getting right and you should be replicating. They intrinsically understand and appreciate the need to monitor their KPI's. Yes, they're creating pretty pictures too, but with very much a clear end game in sight and that's all about engagement, reach and growth. You can try and make it more complicated than that, but when it comes down to it, those three key metrics are what the best beauty brands are nailing right now.
Beauty Industry Benchmarks
So let's lift the lid on what the top beauty brands are doing so that you can adopt their strategies and help move your own business goals forward.
KPI 1, Engagement Rate
This is a critical measurement which is all about the ratio of likes and comments versus the brands' total number of followers. There's no point having millions of followers if they're simply not engaging with you, so KPI 1 is really what counts.
The industry average is 2.95%.
How does that figure stack up against your own account right now?
In a highly visual world, if your followers aren't showing their appreciating by hitting that like button, then it's sure fire sign that you're not giving them the content they crave.
Q: What can you be doing better?
Invest in your content, imagery and captioning. Try to truly capture the attention of your followers by serving them fresh, unique, relevant and beautiful material that's alluring and really resonates.
KPI 2, Average Weekly Reach
This calculation is based on the total number of impressions a brand receives every week. In the fast-paced and ever-evolving beauty industry where growth is key, if you're reach isn't growing, then your business is stagnating.
The industry average is 15.8 million.
Yes, really, that much! It's why you're in the beauty industry in the first place. POTENTIAL!
If you're currently way off the mark, don't despair. It's all there to be played for.
Much of the growth experienced by the stellar brands of today has been achieved through strategic collaborations with trusted influencers as well as creating aspirational and relevant content. As we say around here, content is king and marketing is its queen.
Q: What can you be doing better?
Don't be afraid to reach out to your followers and ask them to share and upload their own content. Get them actively involved in posting and participating and set up a brand ambassador programme. Run giveaways and reward users for generating their own content. These kinds of strategies really pay off.
KPI 3, Average Weekly Follower Growth
We've already discussed reach, but how many new followers are you gaining and retaining each week? Is your business accelerating, or is it in decline? You need to keep your foot on the gas to ensure continued follower growth. There's no excuse for creative laziness.
The industry average is 0.78%
Is that what your current weekly growth rate looks like or are you well off the mark?
Q: What can you be doing better?
Is there an audience that you've so far overlooked? Have you been so focused on females aged 18-30 that you've forgotten that the niche male audience might also be interested in what your brand has to offer? Time to think outside the box and put initiatives and collaborations in place to capture the attention of new followers. Think about what you can do differently with your captions and hashtags to entice new eyeballs.
What can we glean from these beauty industry KPI's?
The most successful beauty brands out there right now may have different creative approaches, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are focused on follower growth and audience engagement. Captivating photos, videos, captioning and clever use of hashtags are vital. Strategies such as repurposing user-generated content, running regular giveaways and teaming up with the right caliber of influencers also have a large part to play in Instagram success. You've got the key KPI's and some ideas from us on what you can be doing better.
Now it's time to glam up your gram!