New trends in new media content marketing in the beauty industry!

During this year’s 618, the battle reports of major e-commerce companies hit new highs. More than 110 brands on Tmall had sales of over 100 million yuan; JD.com’s cumulative order amount reached 201.5 billion yuan; Suning’s omni-channel orders increased by 133% year-on-year; and Pinduoduo’s order volume exceeded 1.1 billion.

With the development of urbanization and the improvement of national economic capacity, the ability of Chinese women to consume beauty products cannot be underestimated. The beauty category performed exceptionally well in this 618 battle, showing off fancy marketing methods in an effort to occupy more traffic and capture the hearts of more consumers within the short promotion period.

In terms of content marketing, cross-border and youth have become hot words; in terms of channel selection, short videos and new content media have become necessary marketing platforms for beauty brands.

This article will be based on the data of the four major platforms tracked by Mihui , Weibo/TikTok/Bilibili/Xiaohongshu , to gain insights into the marketing intelligence of the beauty industry in Q2 2019 and provide reference and reference for relevant practitioners.

The core ideas are as follows:

1) China's cosmetics market continues to grow: In 2018, the total consumption of cosmetics reached 261.9 billion yuan, and will continue to grow. However, the annual per capita beauty consumption is still far behind that of developed countries, and there is huge room for market development;

2) International skincare and beauty brands are more active in new media: In the skincare and beauty industry, international brands have a higher content marketing enthusiasm, while local brands are less discussed and content marketing efforts need to be strengthened. Perfect Diary, Chando, Lin Qing Xuan and other brands are at the forefront of local brands;

3) Interactive word-of-mouth marketing: The amount of beauty content in content media is much higher than that in short video media. Among them, KOL beauty reviews, celebrity beauty Vlogs, and beauty brand recommendations are the most popular, and Xiaohongshu has become the main battlefield for beauty brand recommendations.

4) Celebrity traffic effect: local brands and niche brands can better generate brand popularity by leveraging new traffic spokesperson topics;

Beauty industry development trends and marketing overview

1) The total amount of cosmetics consumption continues to grow, and the growth rate is fluctuating

In 2018, the total consumption of cosmetics reached 261.9 billion yuan. During the weak retail market, the cosmetics category still maintained fluctuating growth. In November, due to the influence of the Double 11 e-commerce festival, retail sales reached the highest level of the year.

2) my country's per capita cosmetics consumption is far lower than that of developed countries, and the market potential is huge

The average annual per capita consumption of cosmetics in developed countries is US$249, which is 6.4 times the gap between China and developed countries. Therefore, there is a large room for continued growth in my country's beauty market.

In addition, in 2017, the consumption growth rate of young people in small towns was higher than that in first- and second-tier cities, reaching 8.4%. According to GBS Aurora Big Data research, in 2017, 70% of young people in small towns were willing to spend more than 80% of their wages. The beauty market for young people in small towns deserves attention.

3) International brands occupy the high-end market, while local brands gradually improve

The share of international brands in the high-end market has been showing a relatively stable downward trend, while the share of Chinese domestic brands has been increasing rapidly, from 3% in 2012 to 7.5% in 2017.

Analysis of the popularity of new media marketing of beauty brands

1) Two major components of beauty new media content: pictures and text + video

In this report, we selected data from graphic and text platforms: Weibo, Xiaohongshu , and short video platforms: Douyin and Bilibili for analysis.

2) The average monthly content volume of each platform is not much different, and Xiaohongshu has the largest content volume in June

In terms of content volume, except for Xiaohongshu, the monthly content volume of beauty short videos and graphic content is not much different; however, in terms of data scale, the content volume of graphic content platforms is far greater than that of short video content platforms . Xiaohongshu , as a beauty vertical platform, has the largest content volume.

3) International brands occupy the top positions in terms of content volume, while local brands need to be given more attention

In terms of brand content volume, Lancôme, MAC, and Estee Lauder account for the top positions in short video media and content media;

Among the content media Weibo and Xiaohongshu, Lancome has the highest content index and the largest amount of content;

Among the domestic brands with better content volume performance, Perfect Diary is ranked second on Bilibili. No local brands made the list on the Weibo platform, and the importance of content marketing needs to be improved.

(PS: International brands refer to foreign skin care and cosmetics brands, and local brands refer to domestic Chinese skin care and cosmetics brands)

4) Local brands: Perfect Diary is the most active in content marketing

Perfect Diary tops the local brand rankings of bilibili, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu, and is far ahead of the second place on bilibili and Xiaohongshu channels. Its main marketing events include brand marketing in the form of fresh celebrity endorsements and KOL evaluations , with good results.

5) International brands dominate Douyin, and domestic brands dominate Bilibili

In terms of brand voice in short videos, Douyin is dominated by international brands, with the top three being Chanel, Lancome and MAC. Bilibili's local brands and international brands are evenly matched, with Perfect Diary occupying the top spot.

6) Chando and Perfect Diary are active in marketing and remain at the forefront of local short video volume

Chando ranks 9th in the overall Douyin brand voice list and ranks first among local brands, leveraging the hot topic #國貨光緒#. On the Bilibili platform, Perfect Diary ranks first in both content volume and brand voice, followed by Zhiyouquan and Bolaiya, which are far behind the first in terms of volume.

7) Among the content media brands, high-end international brands top the list

Among content media, Dior topped the Weibo brand volume list, and Lancome topped the Xiaohongshu brand volume list, with the highest discussion heat;

The discussion of local brands is relatively low. No local brands are on the list on Weibo, and only Perfect Diary is on the list on Xiaohongshu, which is quite different from the top brands Lancome and Estee Lauder.

8) Local brands: Perfect Diary is the most discussed brand

Local brand Perfect Diary can better boost brand popularity by leveraging the topic of its new traffic spokesperson.

Perfect Diary uses popular young actors Zhu Zhengting and Lai Guanlin as its brand spokespersons, and the combination of these topics has greatly increased the discussion heat of the brand. In addition, Perfect Diary also invited a large number of celebrities to carry out brand public relations promotion, including Ouyang Nana, Jiro Wang, Jike Junyi, Guo Junchen, etc.

Analysis of beauty new media content and hot topics

1) Beauty brands’ sales promotion methods focus on the “KOL + word-of-mouth” effect

Celebrity endorsements, KOL recommendations, live shopping by internet celebrities, and functional interpretations by industry professionals are the current mainstream ways of selling products. After purchasing a product, users will share their experience on social platforms, creating secondary word-of-mouth communication.

2) Fresh and handsome young men drive the beauty fan economy on Weibo

In the TOP10 list of celebrities in the beauty category on Weibo, Yang Mi is recognized by brands for her strong ability to bring products; in addition, 6 of the TOP10 are currently popular young actors with high traffic, and the young male stars have shown stronger appeal and popularity.

3) Beauty KOLs have a direct impact on consumer purchasing decisions

With the development of apps such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou, and bilibili, social e-commerce and live streaming have become hot topics. The fan economy effect of beauty vertical KOLs is obvious. They have accumulated a large number of fans with their professional beauty knowledge and distinctive personality traits, and their contributions to promoting the development of the e-commerce field have frequently attracted attention.

4) Douyin’s most popular videos show outstanding performance of Chinese cosmetics

Douyin’s Chinese cosmetics videos are very popular, with 3 of the top 5 brands being Chinese, 1 being a European or American brand, and 1 being a Korean brand;

In the past two years, the trend of beauty and cosmetics has become polarized: on the one hand, various foreign niche skin care products have flooded into the domestic market; on the other hand, domestic beauty and cosmetics brands have also been rising rapidly. Domestic beauty products, which are known for their high cost-effectiveness and focus on product functions and word-of-mouth reviews, have changed consumers' previous tendency to blindly pursue the country of origin of the brand.

5) What are the users on Douyin paying attention to in the "618 Beauty" Challenge?

After conducting a word cloud analysis on the topic of "618", it was found that facial masks, whitening, manicures, lipsticks, whitening, and sun protection were the main topics of discussion. Domestic beauty brands use the topic of "the glory of domestic products" for marketing;

As the lipstick king in the KOL world, Li Jiaqi is the undisputed number one Douyin beauty KOL, both in terms of topic discussion and video popularity.

6) Affordable beauty products are more popular among Bilibili users

The top 5 recommended brands on Bilibili's popular beauty video list are Mac, Anessa, Olay, Perfect Diary and CPB. Affordable and mid-range beauty products are more popular among Bilibili users. The way to recommend products is mainly through reviews, showing the product's efficacy and makeup experience.

7) Bilibili users pay attention to beauty brands, and Mac is the hottest topic

Compared with Douyin, Bilibili Up masters prefer to make beauty review videos, and one video includes the experience of using multiple brands;

Using Vlog to present content will not only increase platform traffic, but also increase user acceptance and interaction compared to regular short videos.

Mac cooperated with many Up masters to conduct reviews, and the product discussions were heated; among domestic products, Perfect Diary performed well, with highlighters and lipsticks as its main products.

8) Beauty brands tend to choose fashion and lifestyle KOLs

Beauty brand advertisers prefer fashion and lifestyle KOLs the most; in addition, KOLs in the entertainment, food, film and television and other pan-entertainment fields cover more potential consumers and have a stronger influence on the dissemination of beauty products.

9) Weibo brand hot spots mainly come from celebrity endorsements and discount promotions

The most popular keywords in the beauty discussion on Weibo are Zhu Zhengyan, Wang Yuan, Tfboys, Wang Junkai and other young stars. They have a large number of female fan groups and obvious fan economic benefits; popular events are brand endorsements, lotteries, coupons and discounts, etc.

10) What beauty categories are Xiaohongshu users interested in?

Among the articles on Xiaohongshu, cosmetics are the most popular category , accounting for 38% of the keywords, followed by skin care , accounting for 27%;

Facial skincare products and makeup are the two most discussed categories by KOLs in new media; among facial skincare products, basic moisturizing products such as masks, essences, creams/lotions, etc. are hot topics; lipstick and foundation lead the popularity of makeup, and lipstick color tones have become a key topic.

11) Celebrities promote beauty products by sharing their beauty tips on Xiaohongshu

On Xiaohongshu, celebrities mainly share their beauty and skin care habits and daily lives; among the top 100 popular article keywords and content, the most frequently appearing keywords are lipstick, review, and sunscreen.

New Media Marketing Suggestions for the Beauty Industry

1) Local brands are advised to take advantage of popular spokespersons to drive brand discussion and increase brand awareness

Perfect Diary invited popular young stars Zhu Zhengting and Lai Guanlin as brand ambassadors. The discussion was heated and the brand volume ranked first on many lists (Bilibili/Weibo/Little Red Book).

2) In terms of marketing strategy, the company attaches importance to the fan effect of beauty KOLs, and uses KOLs’ evaluation/live broadcasting to promote products and sell them online, thus influencing fans’ consumption decisions.

KOLs such as Li Jiaqi and Shen Ye Xu Lao Shi encourage fans to buy beauty products through product recommendations, reviews, and live streaming.

3) Expand cross-border marketing with an open mind, classic IP + beauty brands, and create hot topics

The Palace Museum Taobao launched its original series of cosmetics on December 11, 2018. During the four-day pre-sale period, sales of lipsticks alone exceeded 90,000 units. Its ideas can be borrowed by more beauty brands, linking classic IPs, jointly launching beauty products, and achieving a win-win situation.

Forbidden City IP-Lipstick Series

Author: Mihui

Source: Mihui