Smashbox’s Ginny Chien has dubbed our new media landscape “the crazy world of influencers” while speaking at the WWD Digital Beauty Forum on February 7; and she’s not wrong.
The powerful rise in influencers has “been a game changer”, especially with the makeup community on Instagram. “There’s literally cottage industries popping up around these influencers, from dashboards that show you how to contact them to full-on fancy agencies having divisions dedicated to influencer buying.”
As Chien is the executive director of global digital and consumer marketing at Smashbox, she’s an authority on the topic. While agreeing that the progression into the influencer market is an exciting business venture for brands, however, she also issues a caution: “When you invite the world of influencers into your brand, it can be sort of easy to take on their voice and their persona because they always come with their own distinct voices. You just don’t want to lose sight of your own brand.”
And how does one integrate the world of influencers into a brand, without sacrificing their own voice and integrity? Chien believes the key is in picking influencers that solely align with the brand’s mission instead of those who have large followings; or, are beauty-related, but not appropriate for a brand to build a relationship with.
For Chien, picking an influencer “is like dating,” and such, she notes that “when there is that much money on the table you better make sure you and that influencer are committed to each other”.
