Consumers are increasingly looking to beauty videos to help shape their beauty purchase decisions, according to “Digital Makeover: The Social Video Beauty Ecosystem” report released by video-advertising technology company Pixability.
YouTube, alone, has seen an increase of 65 percent in total beauty views year over year; and beauty personalities continue to lead the way, over beauty brands, in catching viewers’ attention.
As online video views have skyrocketed, social networks have seen a staggering increase in video views on their individual platforms. Instagram, for instance, saw a 150 percent increase in its users’ total time spent watching video in the first half of 2016 alone. The report also noted the following:
- there have been 850 million total Facebook video views of the Top 200 beauty brands
- 100 million hours of daily video watch time has been clocked in on Facebook
- there have been 125 billion views of beauty-related content on YouTube
Currently, the biggest influencer in beauty appears to be YouTube personality Zoella, with more than 11 million subscribers. Compare that with Sephora’s more than 660,000 subscribers, and it’s clear who’s determining where beauty consumers spend their dollars.
YouTube’s got competition, however, with Facebook beefing up its video features, and consumers dividing their digital-viewing interests among multiple platforms, including Instagram and Twitter. The variety of platforms is giving beauty brands the opportunity to hone their own niche in digital domination. As such, beauty brands are making headway as follows:
- Chanel leads all-time YouTube views with 245 million views
- Victoria's Secret leads total YouTube engagements with 2.1 million engagements; and it leads total followers on Instagram with a whopping 43 million followers
- Olay leads all-time video views on Facebook with 212 Facebook video views
On Facebook, in particular, some of the top beauty brands are doing well with video views, with the following rankings:
1) 211.8 million views, Olay
2) 84.5 million views, CHANEL
3) 61.8 million views, Benefit Cosmetics
4) 46.2 million views, Head and Shoulders
5) 28.6 million views, HUGO BOSS
Similarly, on Twitter, the beauty brand follower rankings are as follows:
1) 12 million, CHANEL
2) 10 million, Victoria’s Secret
3) 7 million, Burberry
4) 7 million, Christian Dior
5) 7 million, Marc Jacobs
In conclusion, the report offered the following:
“The beauty ecosystem across video platforms is dynamic, and only getting more complex. As creators expand their influence from YouTube to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest, beauty brands must follow suit, and meet audiences where, when, and how they consume beauty content online. By understanding the unique advertising offerings of each social video platform; recognizing up-and-coming influencers, underserved audience segments, and emerging content categories; and experimenting with immersive experiences like livestreaming and augmented reality, beauty marketers can create engaging video experiences for the millions of passionate beauty mavens around the world.”
[Image courtesy of Pixability]