Why Fashion & Beauty Brands Are Taking a UGC-First Creative Strategy
There was a time when social media campaign rollouts generally meant reworking and repurposing the bigger and more expensive creatives that fed down from TV commercials. This made sense: if a brand invested so much in content production and distribution – video production for a typical US commercial costs between $7,000 and $15,000 (Start Motion Media) – there is every reason to rinse and repeat those ad creatives on digital platforms.
The downside to this approach is that it makes the stakes unnecessarily high. The brand has to take a gamble on expensive video content production upfront in the hope that the audience will be receptive. Brands in the lifestyle sector, particularly those in the Fashion & Beauty industry, have always stayed a step ahead with content creation on social media as a means of reaching and engaging younger audiences – this vertical is more active than any other when it comes to influencer marketing (The Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2023). Fashion & Beauty brands are realizing that approaching ad creatives from a creator-first, social-first perspective actually lowers the stakes and potentially the costs.
This is in large part thanks to a growing trust between brands and UGC content creators and the recognition that imperfect but authentic-feeling UGC video content from individual creators is often more relatable for audiences than ad content produced by the brand. The ease and speed with which brands can now directly brief in collaboration opportunities to UGC creators – and who in turn will just as quickly submit and help to distribute their own creatives – make this kind of content the perfect testing ground for learning about which types of creatives work best for the brand.
Brands can take the opportunity to see how variations in creator visuals, tone, hooks, messaging, and CTAs, for example, affect video reach and engagement. When the brand has UGC and creator content rights, the content can be repurposed into ads and wider marketing campaigns, giving insights into video completion rates – the telltale sign of video content effectiveness. All of this can be fed back and repurposed into higher-production, premium, insights-driven advertising content.
So what creative insights can we take away from Fashion & Beauty UGC?
1. Size matters
According to the latest data from Traackr (2023 State of Influence: Beauty), video length makes a difference, and short-form video content on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram is overtaking longer content on YouTube.
2. GRWM is back
The “Get ready with me” or GRWM video format has made a resurgence, with content including GRWM keywords up by +214% in 2022 over the previous year.
However, rather than the creator walking through a tutorial of their skincare or makeup regime, creators use these videos to tell entertaining and real-life stories while nonchalantly applying their cosmetics (Beauty Matter).
3. Mashups multiply social proof
Videos that combine multiple UGC creators tied together by a powerful hook bring even more social proof than content by individual creators.
4. Testimonials pack power
Videos featuring UGC creators sharing their testimonials about products, especially when those testimonials are a combination of their own opinions and real reviews, are effective for believably conveying product USPs.
5. Brands go big in the States
In the US piggybacking hot trends and bringing in big US influencers and celebrities with major reach pays off.
The best-performing beauty brands in 2022, including Kylie Cosmetics and Sephora, invested heavily in these kinds of collaborations.
6. Trend hijacks work
The “soft-goth” look inspired by the hit series Wednesday has led to the search “Wednesday Addams Makeup” receiving more than 99 million views on TikTok.
Meanwhile, glitter-infused “vampire skin”, inspired by the Twilight series, saw a 500% increase in mentions in 2022 (Beauty Matters).
For an industry as visual as Fashion & Beauty it’s important for brands to spread content that shows how well the products really look and work. Visual imagery, GIFs, and video content are all valuable currencies for these brands to bring their products to life, and who better to provide these than relatable, authentic UGC creators? Besides providing social proof, UGC content can also offer a deeper understanding of the creatives that resonate best with a brand’s audience. Testing creative strategies on social first is therefore the smart route to repurposable content and insights-driven advertising.