The Beginners Guide to Video Content for Beauty Brands

As the marketing landscape continues to expand, heavy emphasis is placed on the power of video content. For example, look at new app TikTok or Instagram’s almost copycat ‘reels’ feature. Instagram also has their IGTV platform. And who could forget YouTube, whose most popular contributors have become household names who in some cases shot to stardom going on to become business owners, writers, actors and musicians.

A large part of this growing popularity stemmed from beauty centric content, such as make-up and skincare tutorials, product reviews and other beauty tips. It is undeniable that the beauty industry already relies heavily on aesthetics and visuals, so it would be difficult to not get on board with implementing more video content into your social media marketing strategy.

The Benefits

You might wonder what’s the real difference between static images and video? Technically they both show case your work and/or products. However, social media is constantly evolving, and video content is better rewarded by all social platforms’ algorithms. Put simply, videos keep users on the platform for longer, so the more engaged your viewers are, the better your profiles will perform overall.

But beyond the techy side of things, opting for video over just images offers your followers a chance to see you in action. Whether that be reviewing your own product, using them and showing how they should be applied or offering inspiration and ideas. Same goes for demonstrating on your clients if you offer beauty services. If you are very confident on camera you can use your social platforms to give your followers a chance to get to know you better, it doesn’t have to be all business all the time!

YouTube Basics

While there are a ton of ways to make videos and plenty of apps to help you edit them – Splice and InShot being some of our favourites – if you are planning to share them on social media they will first have to go through YouTube. Setting up a YouTube channel has so many benefits on its own, including generating income if your view count reaches high enough. With that said, here are some YouTube basics that will help you improve your channel.

Create Playlists: YouTube defines success by having people continuously watching videos. do this is by grouping themed videos and creating playlists based on what your viewers would want to watch. Each video can then auto-play, so the viewer doesn’t have to manually click onto another video or see something from another brand in the sidebar which takes their attention.

Title and Descriptions: write a snappy title and keep it max 70 characters, this will help it rank better in search engines. Descriptions can be longer but make sure the first 100-150 are punchy and keyword rich, you want to appeal to potential viewers. A good description can also help you to appear as a suggested video while they’re watching related videos.

Tips For Descriptions:

• Use specific keywords - use the words that best describe your channel or video

• Repeat your keywords - repetition lets YouTube know it's relevant

• Find complementary keywords - use related keywords that better explain your video

• Tell viewers what to expect - avoid clickbait and irrelevant keywords

• Write like a human - use language your audience will understand

·       Add links below the fold - in the show more section add links to your site and socials

·       Aim for descriptions that solve problems - keep it to the point and offer value

·       Add calls to action - invite viewers to like, comment, subscribe. It is good to include this in the video too

·       Add a few hashtags - no more than 15

·       Research competitors - others will have similar videos, so don't feel bad looking at their descriptions for inspiration

How to Add Tags to YouTube videos

• Sign in to YouTube Studio.

• In the top right-hand corner, click CREATE -> Upload Video.

• Select the file that you'd like to upload.

• In the upload flow, click MORE OPTIONS and add your tags.

 Other small but helpful things to consider when creating and uploading your video content are:

• An eye-catching thumbnail

• Including a transcript or subtitles

• Include video tags

Content Ideas and Trends

As with all styles of social content, constantly coming up with fun and engaging posts can be a challenge. Creating video content is unfortunately no different. However, there are plenty of trends to jump on and it is very much encouraged for other creators and users to do their own interpretation. Just make sure you credit where you saw it!

Lately, there has been a surge in digital companies designed solely for producing mass amounts of video content in short, easy to watch clips. You might recognise names such as Troom Troom or 5 Minute Crafts. These are called content farms and are famed for sharing ‘life hacks’ that don’t work or are sometimes just dangerous! A common trend for beauty vloggers at the moment is to debunk these hacks.

If you are looking for new trends to jump on, head to YouTube’s trending section. In the fashion and beauty section you will see all the videos that are currently trending and see if any of them spark inspiration for your own content. Another simple way is to ask your followers for content ideas, this opens a line of communication between you, ignites social listening and overall improves engagement.