Gordon Glenister, an industry expert, explores the growth of influencer marketing and its impact on the hair and beauty sector, offering insights on how to implement it in your business.
Influencer marketing involves using individuals, known as influencers, to promote a product or service within a campaign. While the concept is not new—people have always relied on the advice of friends and family—the focus has shifted to social media platforms.
An influencer is someone who can affect change in behaviour through trusted opinions, knowledge, and often content creation on social media. This practice has become incredibly lucrative: the global influencer marketing market has surged from $1.7 billion in 2016 to nearly $14 billion today, indicating that more brands are investing in this strategy.
Within the hair and beauty industry, influencer marketing is particularly significant, with beauty being the leading sector. Instagram remains the top platform for promotions, although YouTube and TikTok are also gaining prominence due to their visual nature.
How Can You Work with Influencers?
While salon owners and their staff can have an influential presence, collaborating with influencers can significantly enhance brand awareness and attract new customers. As a general guideline, it’s advisable to partner with a select group of influencers, as each has different audiences that you can leverage.
You could offer free styling, haircuts, or beauty treatments to encourage influencers to post about your business on Instagram. However, for influencers with larger followings, you will likely need to pay for their content. The cost for an influencer with a smaller following and a good engagement rate might start at around £200 for a post or story, while those with 500k+ followers and substantial engagement can charge £1,000 or more.
Check Their Stats
Before entering into a partnership with influencers, it’s crucial to verify their statistics. Reputable influencers should have a media kit or be able to present their analytics, such as their engagement rate (the number of likes, shares, comments, and views on their content).
Look Around
Utilise influencer tools to understand the audience demographics, location, interests, and, most importantly, the authenticity of their following. For instance, Audience2Media is a global influencer agency that connects with over 107 million influencers. Notably, the most substantial growth is seen in nano-influencers (1–10k followers) and micro-influencers (10–50k followers).
Run Campaigns
Consider running campaigns that utilise influencer-generated content to amplify your own social media outreach, thereby reaching a broader, relevant audience.
Be Specific
You might want to collaborate with influencers on specific challenges, competitions, or charity initiatives. Alongside your staff, this approach can generate buzz on social media. Some of the most successful viral campaigns begin this way.
How to Grow Your Own Following on Social Media
Be Consistent and Unique with Quality Content: Whether on your salon's social media account or your personal one, it’s essential to maintain consistency. Consider creating a ‘weekly moment’—something you share at the same time each week, such as a newsletter, hair advice session, or video upload.
Educate, Inspire, and Entertain: Assess whether your content provides these elements, or at least one of them. Excessive self-promotion is typically ineffective. If possible, develop a monthly content plan that includes tips, motivational quotes, or highlights about different team members. You can also inform customers about new services or products.
Try TikTok: This platform is the fastest-growing, appealing to a wide range of age groups, not just those in their 20s. Reels and live videos can drive substantial engagement. TikTok features its own video editing tools, making it crucial to produce short, consistent content rather than sporadic postings.
Follow Your Customers: Encourage clients to share user-generated content, such as photos after haircuts or treatments. This serves as powerful testimonials
Miss the Top 100 Influencer?
The NHBF Top 100 Influencer 2024 took place on 19 November 2024. The event was held online on the NHBF YouTube channel. Tune in to find out who was named this year’s top influencer in the hair and beauty sectors.
In Numbers: Why Do People Follow Influencers?
- 51% do so to learn something new
- 49% seek entertaining or uplifting content
- 43% are attracted by shared interests or passions
- 38% look for inspiration
About Gordon
Gordon Glenister is an international speaker, podcast host, and author who runs his own influencer marketing program for business owners. He plays a role in analysing the metrics of the NHBF Top 100 Influencers Index and established the UK body for influencer marketing under the Branded Content Marketing Association.