Outsmarting algorithms: Why engagement is the key to a good social media strategy for cosmetics brands

In today’s landscape, it is impossible to leave social media out of a brand’s marketing strategy.

According to Carl Heaton, founder of Web Courses Bangkok, Facebook alone is able to increase your business referral rate by over 60%.

“In a way, social media has taken over the concept of word-of-mouth,” ​shared Heaton. “Understanding how social media can transform communications with your customers and how they interact with your brand is key to getting the maximum benefits.”​

For beauty brands, a social media presence is especially important given the online trends, shared Heaton.

“With more and more customers buying online, a social media presence is imperative to keep any cosmetic line thriving,” ​said Heaton. “Beauty tutorials are some of the most viewed content on the web today. Apart from influencer partnerships, these tutorial videos are the most effective way to market across social media platforms”​

Shifting landscapes

Social media may seem more light-hearted than traditional marketing mediums, but it is often confusing and more intimidating, especially with the constant changes made to its algorithms.

“Social media platforms are now limited in their promotional content. This is to improve the quality and engagement for individual user timelines, but has seriously limited the organic reach for brands,”​ said Heaton

This means that brands have to work a lot harder and manage their accounts a lot smarter in order to get the reach and engagement that they need. 

One thing they all have in common remarked Heaton, was that they are all beginning to move away from the traditional idea of a hard sell.

This has forced digital marketers to create engaging content in order to attract social media consumers and build a strong brand following.

“Social media is not so much about the different social networks and your tools, but your strategy for how to use them. To apply them effectively for communications, we have to recognise that socialising online is all about participation in discussions and sharing of ideas and content,”​ shared Heaton.

Pay to win?

To get ahead of algorithms, some brands take advantage of paid advertisements, which Heaton assures is not the equivalent of flushing your funds down the toilet.

“With the specialised targeting ability of social media platforms, paid advertising enables brands to reach their niche market with targeted campaigns,”​ he said.

However, Heaton adds that brands can definitely create a strong presence on social media without breaking the bank. It is all in the utilisation of tools and smart content.

For instance, Heaton suggested posting content on Facebook groups as a way of ensuring your content is targeted to a specific audience.

As for content, Heaton recommended using images or videos as text-heavy posts get marked as advertisement by the all-seeing algorithms.

Power of influencers

With algorithms limiting the visibility of sales posts, influencer marketing has become the most effective marketing trend in recent years, said Heaton.

“The rise of social media popularity has opened up the market of influencers,” ​said Heaton. “Once a rare and difficult profession, influencer marketing has now taken the lead for the highest return on investment in the digital marketing world.”​

By partnering with the right influencers, brands can increase their credibility, said Heaton. Influencers are effective as unlike an advertisement, they create stories consumers can relate to.

Rise of bots

Another rising trend that brands are using to keep their consumers engaged on their social platforms is a use of chatbots.

“The trend of businesses using chatbots to communicate with their customers on social media is growing rapidly,” ​revealed Heaton. “In the same year that Facebook Messenger launched, the number of chatbots in use have tripled.”​

These bots, explained Heaton, are built to recognise key phrases sent by users and answer effectively and in real-time.

This allows users to attain instant information, provide valuable marketing research or even purchase products. In turn, brands are able to automate sales, customer care and spend less time monitoring their social media platforms.

To learn the secrets behind a winning social strategy for your cosmetics brands, join Carl Heaton in ‘5 big changes in social media and how to leverage them’​, at the in-cosmetics Asia Marketing Trends & Regulations Theatre on Tuesday, 30 October, 3pm.

For free entry, visit http://asia.in-cosmetics.com/register