What explains the ‘Rise of Influencers’ in fashion and beauty?

Zoe Sugg or Zoella as she is known to her over 10 million followers, is no stranger to fashion and beauty. At 24, the YouTube sensation, has the power to sell out an entire product line in, quite literally, the blink of an eye. It is no wonder that brands - fashion, luxury, beauty and beyond, go the extra mile to woo and win her over.

But who is Zoe Sugg and how did she get to become Zoella? From practicing the age old, word of mouth marketing, but on new age social platforms.

Digital media and the subsequent growth of social networking platforms and mobile apps have made publishers of us all, giving anyone with internet access, the right to influence. Realising this, marketers have turned their sights on those who have successfully built a community of people who listen, who follow and who respond to their word, thus making them influencers in their own right. This has pushed influencer marketing to the forefront of communications and made storytellers of ordinary people with social clout.

For the fashion and beauty industry in particular, where aesthetics and aspiration play such a big role, influencers represent a completely different way of working, and not everyone has rushed to embrace it.

This is evident from Fashion and Beauty Monitor’s report, ‘The Rise of Influencers’, published in association with Econsultancy, that explores the rise of influencer marketing and the impact it has had on the fashion and beauty industries.

The insights derived from the report convey a clear disparity in the way influencer marketing is perceived and the way it is currently practiced. Moreover, the findings from the report underscore the changing landscape of the fashion and beauty sector brought about by digital technology – with influencers leading this dialogue of change.

While you can read the entire report here, a couple of findings that stand out are: 

57% of survey respondents say they have an Influencer Marketing strategy in place - goes to show that influencer marketing is clearly well embedded in fashion and beauty.

An astonishing 84% of influencer research is carried out by manually searching social media platforms and forums; It is no wonder that 73% state identifying the right influencer is the greatest challenge.

Budgets for Influencer Marketing are set to increase for 59% of respondents in 2016.

The stats above and overall survey data confirm that many fashion and beauty brands have aligned themselves with social media influencers already, but there is a way to go before they actually get it right. While the exponential reach of digital platforms may explain the rise of influencers, how the industry leverages their potential will ultimately define the future of influencer marketing.

@DayalPriyanka