There was a time when it was relatively easy to grow your social media presence– just run a few competitions, post frequently and before you knew it, you had what seemed to be an impressive following online.
However, times have changed a lot and social media has evolved very quickly.
There is a huge amount of information out there, leading to content overload, meaning consumers get bored easily and it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep them engaged.
Brands no longer have the power they once did; now it’s the fashion and beauty bloggers.
Bloggers are essential to building your social media presence as we look to them for inspiration for beauty advice and fashion know-how.
They’re the ones who hold the key to connecting with your target audience and they’re the ones who consumers trust.
We can see the true power bloggers hold through recent collaborations between bloggers and influential brands, where instead of using celebrities and models, they’re choosing to use fashion and beauty bloggers.
For example, H&M recently brought Swedish fashion blogger Elin Kling on board and MAC chose Brazilian beauty blogger Julia Petit to partner with.
Dominic Smales, MD of social media talent agency Gleam Futures, spoke at the ISBA annual conference and highlighted how bloggers and social media influencers are driving more traffic to brands sites than established media channels, bringing about a whole new era of consumer engagement.
This is an interesting shift in how the digital landscape has changed.
Bloggers also have a positive impact on SEO, where Google cares most about user experience, content quality and influential relevant links which bloggers can provide if you get them to love your product or brand.
For the highly influential bloggers, this usually means budgeting for endorsement.
However, for smaller brands who may not have the resources to pay for top fashion and beauty bloggers, the most powerful digital PR tactic is to build true, long-lasting connections with bloggers to leverage the brand’s reach and vice versa for a mutually beneficial relationship.
Written by Aimee Joseph