The influence Instagram has on the beauty industry has already been noted. Yet, a recent research carried out by Facebook details the rising impact of the social-media app on users’ beauty habits.
The photo and video sharing platform, which Facebook acquired back in 2012, hosts some 600 million users who upload more than 95 million posts daily.
The Inside Beauty report surveyed beauty-content-savvy Instagramers in Europe and the UAE. Of them, some 65 percent said they scour the app for inspiration for beauty looks and ideas (especially when they have a special occasion to attend), while 43 percent have discovered a new beauty product or brand on Instagram.
Europeans check the app an average of 21 times a day. Meanwhile, this tally increases in Turkey and Italy. While millennials are more likely to use Instagram as an inspiration hub, middle-aged beauty buyers resort to the app to research and compare prices.
A draw for beauty-conscious individuals, Instagram has also become an integral part of cosmetic brands’ engagement strategies. Case in point is Birchbox US, whose Instagram video campaign has lifted the brand’s awareness by 12 percent.
“Instagram has been an incredibly effective engagement-driver among our current customers,” the report quotes Birchbox US’s executive as saying, “so we wanted to leverage the platform in a creative way to reach new audiences as well.”
It is not surprising that the beauty label chose video to spread its message. Instagram has seen a 150 percent increase in the time users spend watching clips, especially how-to tutorials. This dynamic, enhanced by the Instagram Stories feature, is “unbelievable” to British make-up artist and social-media influencer Pat McGrath, “The feedback that we get is unreal. Shots we take backstage, an accident – whatever it is, five seconds and three million people view it. Just short snippets – it’s incredible how that resonates.”
