CEW UK hosted its third business breakfast with Google, offering insights into how beauty brands can lead in the digital age of assistance and influence.
Speakers included Jacqui Owens, head of beauty at Google; Vaso Kanistra, online partnerships manager at YouTube; and Leila White, strategic partner manager at YouTube.
Owens noted that today’s consumer is “super-powered” by the 7.8 million beauty-related views on YouTube each day in the United Kingdom alone. These consumers are curious, demanding and impatient, meaning every product can now be high consideration—raising both the opportunities and the stakes for marketers.
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“We can’t not know something nowadays, and this is creating a rising opportunity for marketers,” said Owens.
The heightening empowerment created by limitless access to information has led to higher expectations. Google has addressed this desire for a frictionless experience by providing a free online mobile speed test for companies, so that they may compare their site speed against their top 10 competitors.
Brands offered three pieces of advice when it comes to operating in the digital age:
- Show Up—Customers expect assistance everywhere; if your brand is not there in moments of intent of value, another brand will.
- Wise Up—Today’s consumer responds to brands that understand their needs and tailor messages and experiences to them.
- Speed Up—More than 50% of mobile site visits are abandoned if a page takes more than three seconds to load.
Kanistra shared her expertise when it comes to working with creators, as well as best practices to brands for forming their own channels. Her 10 fundamentals of a creative strategy included shareability, inspiration and interactivity.
White facilitated a conversation with influencers Emily Norris, Sophie Shohet and Simone Partner (aka Eltoria), discussing the success of their channels and keeping followers engaged. The panelists agreed that interactivity—such as answering questions and encouraging them to contribute to future content creation—establishes a sense of community.
The panel also discussed successful brand partnerships, and how factors such as thorough briefing but allowance for creative freedom can create the most effective and engagement content. All three noted that brands are more likely to resonate with audiences if partnerships are authentic; Shohet highlighted the importance of brands collaborating with influencers who already use the product.
Partner emphasized that bloggers want to create relationships with brands, not just business. She added: “It’s great to really build a relationship with a brand and that doesn’t always have to involve a monetary fee.”
