How to Become a Beauty Influencer in 2022

Are you passionate about beauty? Do you enjoy sharing beauty tips and tricks with others? If you answered yes to either one of those questions, then you may be interested in learning how to become a beauty influencer. Simply put, a beauty influencer is a social media user who is well known for his/her expertise in skincare, haircare, makeup, nails, and other beauty-related topics. 

Beauty influencers frequently use social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to share their content. They provide tips on how to attain specific and creative looks with their targeted audiences. Some of the most popular beauty influencers attract a large number of followers who come to trust their beauty advice and product recommendations.

If this sounds like you, then there’s no better time than the present to get started. But, just like with any new venture, it takes time, effort, and dedication to become successful. It’s a competitive business and becoming a social media influencer can be challenging—but if you’ve got the will and the drive, then you’re ready to get started! 

What does a beauty influencer do? 

Beauty influencers share their own experiences with products and brands across social media. The brands they feature are typically those that are unique, current, and on-trend. 

The types of posts that are generally the most popular are interactive “how-to” demonstration videos. But, the true key to differentiating yourself is to provide original content that allows you to engage with your audience. One way to do this successfully is by seeking collaboration with brands that support and encourage influencer marketing. 

How do you become a “successful” beauty influencer? 

Beauty is a broad topic that encompasses many different subcategories—that’s why it's important that you first determine what you want to focus on. 

By following these six key steps, you’ll be on your way to becoming a successful beauty influencer:

Find your niche

Start by narrowing your focus and choosing a niche that you find fascinating and interesting. Think about where your expertise lies and what types of beauty brands and tips you could easily talk about. This could be skincare, makeup, hair, or nail care. Then those areas could be broken down into subcategories such as organic skincare or vegan makeup, for example. 

Once you’ve determined what your niche is going to be, choose 1-2 areas to focus on when it comes to your target audience.

Choose your social platform(s)

You may already have an established presence on one or more social media platforms, but now it’s time to determine where you want to focus your influencer efforts. 

According to Launch Metrics, Instagram is in the top spot for beauty marketers and brands followed by TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, then Twitter. 

Perhaps you want to work with growing one social channel first and then add one or two more to the mix. Most importantly, make yourself visible, ensure that your content is both valuable and unique, and engage with your audience.  

Note: You’ll see in our “dos and don'ts” section below that it’s recommended that you promote on more than one social platform to achieve greater reach. 

Collaborate with a beauty influencer 

When you collaborate with other beauty influencers, you have the opportunity to win their audience. Search key brands and hashtags within your niche in order to locate other influencers that you can potentially partner with. This can be a mutually beneficial relationship to help one another out. You can cross-promote and share each other’s posts, stories, or videos, for example. 

You may want to consider being a guest on someone’s podcast or making a video with another influencer. These are all great ways to get your content noticed and to reach your target audience. 

Additionally, if you’re able to partner with an existing brand or someone famous in your niche, even better! But don’t forget that you need to have something to offer the other influencer so that they will find value in collaborating with you. Even partnering with influencers at a smaller scale can help increase engagement. 

Learn about your audience 

It goes without saying that your content will gain the most traction if it's targeted to what your audience wants—but how do you know what topics they seek? 

One way to find relevant content ideas is to run a Google search for your niche. If you scroll down to the bottom of the search results, you’ll find what’s called long-tail keywords. These keywords will show you what topics your target audience is searching for. Search platforms such as Quora and Reddit can also be helpful when you want to know what your audience is talking about. 

When you understand what your follower community is seeking, you’ll be able to better produce consistent content that is both valuable and engaging. Most importantly, don’t forget to pay attention to the comments section of your posts—and respond! 

Go live

You’ve probably noticed, the influencers who are really slaying it in their niche, are going live on camera. This doesn’t have to be professional quality (but of course better quality will yield better results). You can easily shoot short videos with your mobile phone and a ring light. 

This is the key to building and maintaining a personal connection with your audience. Most social media platforms have “go live” features so that users can share updates real-time with their followers. 

Consider sharing live video from a beauty-related event, hosting a beauty demo, or even promoting a contest in order to get your followers engaged and excited. 

Create a media kit

Just like a writer has a portfolio of work to drive clients to, a successful influencer should have a media kit that serves as a digital portfolio. Besides having all of your work easily accessible in one place, it is a great way to demonstrate what you can achieve for brands. When pitching to brands you’d like to work with, send them a single link to your media kit—it looks professional and makes you stand out as an influencer in the beauty community. 

The dos and don'ts

Once you’ve completed the steps in the above section, you’ll be on your way to kickstarting a strategy that works for you. And, if you’re truly serious about becoming a beauty influencer, it’s important to know the dos and don'ts: 

• Do join beauty influencer communities: There are an endless number of communities out there including Facebook groups and Instagram engagement groups. This is great if you’re just starting out because it makes it easy to spread the word about your influencer pages.  
• Don’t stick to just one social media platform: Many influencers stick with just one social platform such as Instagram. But, as a beauty influencer, you’ll want to expand your reach to multiple channels—this way brands will be more likely to collaborate, and new followers will be able to find you easier. 
• Do guest blog on other beauty websites: This is a great way to get your name out there and reach a broader audience. Many online and print magazines have large readerships, and they may allow you to add your name, bio, and social media handles to your post. 
• Don’t bash other beauty brands or products: Negativity is not going to get you anywhere. Remember that your fans want to know what beauty brands or products do work for you!  

Beauty is in fashion

If you’ve read this far, then you’re probably ready to get started as a beauty influencer. If so, then you’re in luck, because beauty is never going out of fashion!

There has certainly been a rise in successful beauty influencers—from the hugely successful Huda Kattan to James Charles. 

Huda Kuttan (@hudabeauty) is a makeup artist, blogger, and the founder of skincare lines Huda Beauty and @wishfulskin. One way that Huda engages her followers is through the use of the branded hashtag #HUDABEAUTIES. Her mantra is “Show us your looks and tag @hudabeauty #hudabeauties for a chance to be featured!”

James Charles (@jamescharles) is a famous beauty blogger with 18.9 million subscribers, making him one of the most subscribed YouTubers. At the ripe young age of 17, he became the first male influencer ambassador for the cosmetics brand CoverGirl. James’s followers know him best for his videos featuring hilarious makeup hacks.  

The takeaway

With the influx in businesses that deal in beauty-related products—from skincare and haircare to makeup and essential oils—this industry will definitely continue to soar. And beauty influencers will, without a doubt, have a huge market and audience for the foreseeable future.

Remember that your audience is looking for someone that is relatable, but also authoritative. Be knowledgeable, but also share your honest opinions. Most importantly, communicate with your followers and take time to respond to comments. 

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but if you’re dedicated and persistent, you can become a successful beauty influencer. The beauty sector is a competitive one, but by producing high-quality content and sticking to your niche, you’ll have a great opportunity for success! 

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