Minyoung recently wrote about fashion & beauty gurus selling via YouTube. She summarizes that beauty and fashion gurus are creating sponsored YouTube videos which is when a company gives a guru payment or free products. Minyoung points out that viewers use the gurus’ reviews and suggestions to learn more about products and that viewers should take what gurus say with a grain of salt. However, she states there are “vulnerable viewers – the younger shoppers, the shopaholics, the trend followers”, essentially people “who may be easily convinced to spend on things that their role model gurus gush about”.
From a marketing perspective, I definitely understand why sponsored videos are becoming increasingly popular.
Some beauty & fashion gurus have millions of subscribers such as Michelle Phan, Macbarbie07, Zoella, etc. This indicates a lot of people enjoy the gurus’ content and want to know when they are posting their next video. These user bases are invaluable to cosmetic and fashion companies that want to target people that are interested in makeup and fashion.
Beauty and fashion gurus create content that is dedicated to makeup and fashion. This is valuable to companies because instead of traditional mass marketing (e.g.: TV advertisements), companies are better off promoting via gurus’ platforms. Viewers subscribe to beauty and makeup channels because they are genuinely interested in learning more about the topics. Essentially, the gurus have already attracted these companies’ target market. Additionally, having a guru promote a fashion or makeup product ensures the company’s products are advertised to the right group of people.
Lastly, sponsored videos are valuable to viewers because it involves content marketing. Instead of a typical TV advertisement that evokes emotions or feelings, sponsored videos show you how to use a product. Generally, sponsored videos are more informative and thus, more effective than typical advertisements. For example, Chriselle Lim (a well-known fashion stylist) partnered with Macy’s to publicize their back to school clothing line. Chriselle styled various outfits with Macy’s line, and also featured a giveaway with Macy’s gift cards. Chriselle gave different occasions (e.g.: first day of school, class presentation) in her video and showcases some outfit ideas for those scenarios. Styling Macy’s clothes and seeing the created outfits definitely sways viewers into purchasing pieces. The video can be viewed below:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iir4Ag-eLDI]
I believe selling through YouTube gurus is okay, provided the gurus continue to provide viewers with helpful insight and high-quality content. Many viewers draw inspiration from makeup and fashion videos and recreate them with alternatives such as cheaper drugstore makeup or less expensive clothing. Ultimately, sponsored videos is a great way to market products but viewers need to take things with a grain of salt.