As beauty brands prepare for 2023, many are looking to appeal to younger audiences which means showing up in digital channels and showing off their purpose.
Influencers have long played a key role in promoting beauty products online but this is shifting to creators as more consumers look to their social platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch to seek beauty advice.
“165 million people joined the creator economy since the start of the pandemic. That is mind blowing. Brands that understand the difference between influencers and creators understand that the opportunity that lies in 2023 and beyond is not on followership, but on capturing the storytelling craft at scale,” says Anisha Raghavan, chief marketing officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. “As the intersection between social media and social storytelling continues to evolve, the value of relinquishing your brand’s message to creators – getting other people to talk about you rather than you talking about yourself – will only climb.”
While digital will continue to play a key role in marketing cosmetics, consumers are returning to stores where they can test products in person. This year saw a 36% increase in foot traffic to shop for beauty products as consumers were less concerned about the pandemic and wanted to return to the store, according to a recent report from NPD.
As consumers return to stores, beauty brands are expanding product lines with a range of colors to support a diverse consumer base with a range of skin tones.
“For the past year, mass-market color cosmetics has been growing at ~+10% vs last year (Nielsen IRI data as of 9/10/2022), indicating consumers are back and re-engaging with the category post-Covid lockdowns,” says Jeremy M. Lowenstein, chief marketing officer of Milani Cosmetics. “Brands are back to launching new and exciting product innovation at a steady pace, with focuses on core categories like foundation, concealer, lip color and mascara. Moving into 2023, like most, we are closely monitoring consumer foot traffic and consumer spending behavior given the macroeconomic environment. We are confident that cosmetics will continue to grow and that brands like Milani are poised for success given the brand’s ability to deliver prestige-quality products at an accessible price point that are developed with every skin-tone in mind.”
