Significant innovations and development in information and communication technology have revolutionized how people relay information in present-day society. They have made the world a global village by enhancing communication process (Ahmad, Salman, & Ashiq, 2015, 1). Online platforms such as websites and applications facilitate interaction among users through creation and sharing of content across social networks. Information shared on social media apps has a broad reach. Some of the most popular social sites include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. Over the years, organizations have acknowledged the impact of online platforms on marketing. Sectors such as the beauty industry thrive by using social media marketing channels to drive engagement and brand awareness.

The beauty industry is a diverse area that covers many segments. It goes beyond makeup and hair products. The immense size of the beauty industry is evident in its earnings. In 2017, it generated $ 265 billion in global revenue (Jenna 2017, 2). Its excellent performance is attributed to the increasing use of beauty product and services among women. Thus, it encompasses segments such as hair care, skin care, and cosmetics, which are the leading divisions in market share and revenue (Jenna 2017, 2). Others include colognes, deodorants, feminine cleaning items, as well as oral hygiene products. The primary goal of the industry is to enhance individuals’ appearance. However, the definition and standards of beauty are malleable as they change with time and vary from one user group to another. Thus, the variations offer limitless opportunities for innovations in the beauty industry.

Business Spending On Social Media Marketing

Social media is an essential element of commerce in a world relying on technology. Evolution of online marketing strategies forces companies to continuously invest more time and resources in order to keep up with modern techniques. Many executives want to benefit from broad market opportunities that Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube offer. Active participation in these forums requires resource input. A study shows that despite uncertainty on returns on investment, 62% of marketers are willing to increase online activities on sites such as Facebook (Stelzner, 2014, 5). It implies that many firms are willing to spend more on social media marketing. The primary motivation behind investing in online platforms is to create brand exposure. For instance, 87% of interviewed marketers revealed that embracing the approach resulted in a significant increase in exposure (Stelzner, 2014, 11). Thus, more potential customers gained awareness through social media platforms.

Digital marketing has become a preferred marketing channel among companies. Increased spending in pursuit of entering or expanding participation in these platforms has grown a tidal wave across enterprises. Thus, companies are incurring significant costs to reach their online target audience. For instance, the first expense in an approach that involves Facebook ads is the cost per click method (Patel, n.d.a). The second entails measuring of cost per thousand impressions. For either tool, the prices vary depending on different factors. The objective of an advert depends on target audience. Also, bidding type and quality of advertisement (ad) impact the cost of generating adverts on Facebook. The ads target users based on features such as demographic and profile information (Patel, n.d.a). Thus, companies ought to engage many users in promoting their brand well.

Instagram’s user base has grown significantly. By April 2017, it had gained 700 million monthly active users (Patel, n.d.b). While it lags behind its parent company, Facebook, in user numbers, it is an effective marketing platform. Companies have shown interest in advertising their products and services on Instagram. Creating Instagram ads is an appealing way for businesses to communicate with their audience. Firms can draw attention of online users by designing creative, artistic, and stunning visuals as well as using high-quality images (Patel, n.d.b). Pleasant and unique adverts effortlessly capture users’ interest in a company’s online page. Firms are investing funds in creating original ads. They also incur expenses in order to ensure the posts reach a broad audience beyond the company’s current customer base. Although the costs per click rates are lower on Instagram compared to Facebook, the ads require more efforts for them to generate traffic.

Despite the high cost of advertising products and services on social media applications, beauty companies and brands have positively embraced digital marketing due to its broad user base. It offers brands an opportunity to reach many customers at affordable rates. Online networks provide a platform for firms to engage users through visual mediums actively. The cosmetics segment heavily relies on Instagram adverts to appeal to the market. In 2016, almost all the major beauty brands were present on Instagram (Statista, n.d.). The popularity of the site and its convenience of usage make it a critical digital marketing tool for beauty products. Thus, businesses are spending more to exploit the numerous benefits of social media marketing.

Business Spending On Celebrities and Influencers

Marketers understand the value of engaging celebrities in advertisement projects as a means of creating popularity about a brand or product. They include famous people who have massive online followings due to their position or role in a given field. Often, most marketers are individuals who have achieved a feat in another area not necessarily related to the product they advertise (Einarsdóttir, 2017, 16). Personalities in the entertainment industry such as actors, professional athletes, and artists have many fans. Thus, when they endorse a company, their fans are likely to develop an interest in the advertised brand. However, it is very costly for firms to pay famous and successful personalities to recommend a brand (Einarsdóttir, 2017, 17). An excellent example of a celebrity endorsement is Michael Jordan’s deal with giant sportswear manufacturer Nike. Jordan has served as the spokesperson for Nike’s Air Jordans (Einarsdóttir, 2017, 16). By engaging such a public figure, the company aims to reach the celebrity’s fan base. Thus, many firms are spending vast amounts of money to secure celebrity endorsements.

Influencer advertising is similar to celebritys’ endorsement in publicizing brands. Influencers are people with ability to sway opinions of others and to lead them to embrace certain behaviors or practices (Einarsdóttir, 2017, 16). Influential individuals on social media platforms have large followings. Their emergence has caught the attention of companies and marketers. People with substantial online followers can affect the purchasing behavior of others. As a result, companies are paying for Instagram posts by influencers (Einarsdóttir, 2017, 5). They aim to increase brand awareness, inform clients of unique features of a product, and improve sales. Posts made by influencer lure customers due to the appeal and façade that they create. Targeted consumers may then develop a desire to acquire promoted items (Einarsdóttir, 2017, 5). Thus, the impact of influencers on buying behavior has led companies to spend more money on online advertising.

Influencers impact sales volumes by publicizing products as well as building trust amongst a target audience. Firms pay for services such as product reviews to get loyal customers and potential users. Famous people with credible personalities and reputations can easily influence buying behaviors of others (Einarsdóttir, 2017, 16). By working strategically with trustworthy product influencers or public figures, brands can give them exclusive access to products before they are launched. Sometimes, companies can send Public Relation (PR) packages to celebrities and bloggers. In some scenarios, bloggers may share some of the free samples in PR packages with a few followers. Influencers can then exercise their creativity to develop exciting concepts that capture viewers’ attention. A good example is using them to create interesting unboxing videos, review the product, and issue feedback on their social media accounts. Information shared on their posts can get their followers excited about the brand. Besides, positive reviews from an audience’s favorite creator serve as proof that commodities are satisfactory.

The freedom of content creation in social media marketing enables beauty brands to thrive on creativity. By engaging celebrities and influencers who use interesting visuals, brands can speak to their followers. An innovative way of communication with vast audiences is through filming and sharing of interesting how-to videos and tutorials (Barnhart, 2018). The beauty industry, especially the cosmetics segment, has set the trend with the use of make-up tutorials. Since a majority of the videos are product-centered, creators have to apply imaginativeness to ensure the clips are not dull (Barnhart, 2018). The essence of how-to videos, mostly posted on sites such as YouTube, is to demonstrate products in action (Barnhart, 2018). Make-up tutorials shared by public figures show the value and benefits of using the endorsed brands. The appealing visuals lure viewers to explore the advertised cosmetic products. Thus, marketers are eager to invest in celebrities and influencers to publicize their commodities.

The Hiring of More Social Media Coordinators

Increased attention on social media as a prime marketing platform has created several employment opportunities. Businesses need personnel to handle and coordinate various online-related tasks. Thus, there is a need to hire social media coordinators whose responsibility is to facilitate online interactions and relay information as prescribed by the management. They also provide user’s feedback regarding experience, price, and quality of a brand. Enterprises that have embraced product promotion through social networks ought to have a person who is conversant with modern communication technology and management of online social groups. This aspect is essential since social media marketing is a relatively new concept (Doyle, 2019). The prevalence of internet-enabled devices penetration across the world has influenced the switch from traditional methods of marketing. Jobs in the profession are marked by constantly changing standards, technical qualifications, licensing requirements, and titles (Doyle, 2019). Some of the duties include digital content creation and brand management. Thus, businesses need workers to fulfill these new responsibilities.

Employees play a crucial role in customer retention management. The process entails upholding processes and practices that encourage clients to remain loyal to a company or brand. The essence of promoting commodities through online channels is to establish a reliable customer base. Once an organization penetrates a market, it is crucial to ensure that it does not lose clients. Achieving a long-term, trustworthy relationship with users requires careful management of the customers’ experience and satisfaction. Based on interactions between social media coordinators and the target audience, a company can succeed or fail at retaining its customers (Doyle, 2019). Given the cost of customer acquisition in a competitive business environment, it is essential to enact strategic customer retention. Social media workers such as online engagement coordinators can play a significant role in guiding communication with audiences. Thus, they can strive to uphold client satisfaction and retain loyal customers.

Corporate social media accounts that have many followers are more likely to influence customer purchasing decisions. Such business accounts create the impression that an organization is credible due to a high number of people who show interest in their products or services. Brands need social media marketing managers and strategists to exploit the opportunity. Having huge followers implies that information shared by a corporation reaches a broader section of a target population. Social media employers are essential in building account profiles that attract massive numbers of online users. By using titles such as the director or manager of social media relations or strategy in their handles, they can formulate tactical methods and posts that will draw massive traffic (Doyle, 2019). Besides, their role in creating a company’s social media personality through unique adverts impacts consumers’ purchasing decisions. Therefore, businesses need a varyingly skilled social media workforce.

There is a growing niche in social media marketing. The rate of growth and diversification in the use of social networks provides space for corporations to embrace innovative ways of reaching their target market. Inventions in the world of information and communication technologies will continue to increase people’s access to social media. Availability of fast and affordable internet implies that more people will rely on the convenience of communication offered by these platforms. Thus, it is imperative that more brands will seek to establish an online presence to interact with their customers. They will, therefore, require staff that will manage the company’s activities on networking sites. Besides, understanding the concept that “content is king” will drive firms to spend more funds on recruiting creative personnel (Jenna, 2017, 5). Developing excellent and engaging content is an appropriate way for brands to distinguish themselves from competitors. Hence, corporate expenses on social media marketing are likely to increase with time.

Businesses Generate More Sales and Revenue

Social media marketing contributes to increased sales volumes and revenue for companies. Integration of social media as a critical component of client retention management plays a significant role in generating revenue for businesses. It achieves this move by attracting and retaining clients by using captivating content (Rodriguez, Peterson, & Krishnan, 2012, 367). Social media, through various platforms, connect people’s content and ideas. The connections range from one individual to another or among groups and organizations. Thus, businesses that utilize social media marketing have a unique opportunity to engage with customers. Effective client retention management equips brands with a chance to get a head start on market development by capitalizing on emerging market trends (Rodriguez et al., 2012, 367). Participating in meaningful and collaborative interactions with customers enables firms to learn more about their preferences. Brands can then leverage information from social media marketing to perform sales-related tasks that lead to increased revenues as well as client satisfaction (Rodriguez et al., 2012, 367). Thus, they benefit from high sales volumes.

The reach of advertising on online platforms has increased significantly. Embracing marketing products and services on social media is an appropriate way for enterprises to stay in touch with clients. Over time, more customers are likely to switch to social networks, and fewer people will have access to other marketing channels (Ramsaran-Fowdar & Fowdar, 2013, 75, 76). Thus, they will rely on online marketing to acquire information about businesses, preferred brands, and their products. An application such as Facebook enables companies to interact with vast numbers of potential buyers. Unlike approaches such as using phones, emails, or meetings, social marketing tremendously increases access to users (Ramsaran-Fowdar & Fowdar, 2013, 76). Therefore, organizations promote their goods to a broader customer base. Besides, fewer marketing costs are incurred on social media marketing compared to other forms of advertising. Companies enjoy increased sales volumes due to broader access to consumers.

By use of an approach such as influencer marketing, businesses generate more sales and revenue. A study by Twitter and Annalect revealed that 40% of its users experienced a desire to purchase a product after seeing a post by an influential individual (Barker, 2018). Thus, social media can influence consumers’ behaviors due to strategic product promotion. For instance, using influencers depends on levels of trust that people place in others. Hence, businesses that exploit this avenue make more sales. The study also indicated that investing in social media influencers has a very high return on investment rate (Barker, 2018). Businesses that engage services of influencers can make more profits from the publicity. An alternate strategic approach that results in massive sales and revenue is using social media to promote unique discount codes (Barker, 2018). Customers enjoy shopping when there are high prospects for receiving discounts. Thus, by responding to such promotions, businesses end up selling more products.

Businesses promoted on social media platforms achieve immense success over a short period when promoters use practical methods. Interactions with potential clients on social networks have far-reaching consequences on organizational activities — platforms such as Twitter and Facebook impact sales significantly (Paniagua & Sapena, 2014, 1). A good example is American Express’ promotion of the first Small Business Saturday on Facebook. In 2010, American Express came up with an idea of an American shopping holiday that takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The company held a successful social media campaign and garnered 1 million likes and 30,000 tweets (Paniagua & Sapena, 2014, 1). At the end of the campaign, the company managed to attract 40% of the general public. Three years after the launch and promotion of the idea, it generated $5.5 billion in sales (Paniagua & Sapena, 2014, 1). It is now a global initiative. Its success proves that social media marketing helps businesses increase sales.

Overall, advances in technologies in the information and communication sector have necessitated changes in business practices. Organizations have had to initiate a shift to modern methods of product promotion to reach a broader client base. The prevalence of social networks usage due to ease of access to the internet and internet-enabled devices has impacted how the public consumes information. The beauty industry has embraced social media marketing as a necessary tool to drive sales and revenue by targeting the online community. It has utilized approaches such as influencer marketing on social networking sites to gain people’s attention. Through creating memorable, high-quality images, and captivating videos, social media marketing has positively impacted the industry and generated profits for various brands.

References

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