What makes for a popular social media influencer in the beauty care space?

Abstract

Influencers are social media users who have high credibility and popularity within a specific industry. They have access to a large audience and can persuade their followers by their authenticity and reach. They primarily post on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, with a large following. Influencers often present the products they have used themselves, provide a product review to potential customers, educate the audience about product usage and give them useful tips (Sokolova & Kefi, 2020). Influencer marketing refers to the phenomenon of organizations partnering with influencers to increase their brand awareness and create brand-related conversions among a specific target audience. It has become increasingly popular due to the active participation of a large customer base on social media channels. The influencer marketing industry is projected to take up to $5- $10 billion share in the advertising industry by 2020 (Asano, n.d.). According to a study, around 17% of companies spend over half their marketing budget on influencers (Bailis, n.d.). Organizations are interested in influencers because they are perceived as both credible and personal. People relate to them, and their reviews gain more credibility as compared to a celebrity endorsing the same product. Consequently, marketing via social influencers has proven to be an extremely effective way to reach target customers (Boerman, 2020). For instance, Mrunal Panchal (@mrunu on Instagram), a beauty influencer, has a follower base of 2.1 million on Instagram. According to a study by Mediakix, a US-based influencer marketing agency, 89% of respondents believe that ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels.