When blogs first started there wasn’t usually the highest quality of images included in this content – often taken with a low megapixel camera, a phone camera, or a cheesy photo taken from a stock website – the type of content produced by blogs was not usually what you’d expect to see in a brand campaign.
Fast forward to many years later and the rise of professional bloggers and then influencers and a heavily dominated social media space of Instagram and TikTok – the content created on these platforms now have a much higher level of quality.
In today's day and age anyone, anywhere can take a photo with a professional camera, art direct it, edit it, and publish it online in seconds – and brands can take advantage of this not only for reposting on their own social media but even on their own e-commerce stores or in some cases advertising campaigns.
But is paying an influencer or a content creator to produce content the best strategy?
I first started my career 12 years ago as a beauty blogger and now I work as a content marketing professional and content producer for beauty brands (beautycontentcreation.com) – and since I’ve been on many sides of content (editorial, blogging, influencer, brand marketing, and full-scale production) my experience in the space has drawn me to the conclusion:
There is definitely space for both and a need for both – one shouldn’t replace the other.
User Generated Content for Beauty Brands: Pros and Cons
User Generated Content for beauty brands can be especially helpful in creating approachable and relatable content for use on a brands social media channels – many great brands have even taken a more user generated content approach to their socials by integrating their staff or team into this content (MILK Makeup and Tarte Cosmetics are great examples).
User Generated Content can also be helpful in displaying beauty products on a diverse selection of people and show genuine and authentic results of a beauty product rather than just a product displayed on a very beautiful runway model. This can help brands to be more diverse and relatable. Although User Generated Content for beauty brands can be more relatable be wary that some content can look staged and in-authentic – an influencer holding up your cleanser and smiling is better as part of your influencer marketing strategy - not your content strategy)
One huge benefit of user generated content can be the cost – often significantly more affordable than producing a whole photo shoot. This can be a good option – particularly if brands leverage micro influencers – on the other side of the spectrum – it can actually end up being more costly. Brands have less control over their image, popular content creators often charge a hefty fee for the publishing of content and the cost per piece of content can actually be more expensive than a photo shoot (for example, if a content creator is charging $500 for one photo that isn’t even posted on their socials).
There are many talented beauty content creators out there that can produce content for beauty brands (I myself in the earlier days of my career regularly produced content for beauty brands – often content that was used by these companies on their websites and was of a high quality standard) but can this content replace the work of a professional photo shoot complete with a team?
There are pros and cons to User Generated Content for Beauty Brands:
Pros:
Relatable content
Great for before and afters to accurately display the results of a product
Can leverage influencer/content creators audience
May be more cost effective than paying for a photo shoot
Great for brands social media and digital marketing campaigns
Multiple creators content can be banded together in video and photo content for endorsement style content
Great for your beauty brands online blog
Fast and quick making it ideal for capitalizing on new and rising beauty trends
Can be good for start-up brands that don’t have a lot of budget
Ideal for: Indie Beauty Brands, Mass Market Beauty Brands
Cons:
Lack of creative control
May not have a polished look
Retailer channels may reject the use of UGC on their e-commerce sites
Not likely to have a library of content in a similar format – thus lacks cohesion
Content creators may overly edit or filter their content without brand input or knowledge
Content creators may not have the ability to supply content in line with ad requirements
Brand may not have full ownership of content - Licensing and ownership may be limited to a 1-2 year period
Commercial Content/Professional Photo shoot for Beauty Brands: Pros and Cons
Content produced in a studio with a team of professionals (think models, makeup artists, photographers, videographers) can be incredibly beneficial for a beauty brand and can work alongside hand in hand with user generated content.
When Should I do a Professional Shoot for my Beauty Brand?
In my experience content produced in studios for beauty brands can go two types of ways: very clean and commercial style or fun and with an editorial edge. A balance between both is ideal for most brands (Glossier and E.L.F Cosmetics are fantastic examples of creative editorial content) as it can prevent professional in-studio content which looks too clinical.
La Mer Social Media Content Example from Instagram
Content produced in studio really allows brands to guide the process and to have a high level of creative control and in many cases this style of content is necessary and appropriate for luxury brands that are protective over their brand image and want to convey a very particular message – just look at the Instagram and E-Commerce of a brand like La Mer or Chanel Beauty. They may utilize UGC for paid social campaigns – but you’re not likely to see this style of content on their brand owned channels.
There are pros and cons to professional and commercial content for beauty brands:
Pros:
Professional quality
Gives a clean and cohesive look – ideal for e-commerce channels
Ability to build a very large and cohesive library of content in one shoot at once
Up to industry standard for advertising and marketing campaigns
Brand has a larger say in creative direction and brand positioning
Quality of content may allow for repurposing of content with video cuts, superimposing and editing for new campaigns and trends
Can be used for print or digital campaigns
Brand may have full ownership & own content in perpetuity
Ability for brand to gain “behind-the-scenes” content which can be used across social media
Ideal for: Luxury Beauty Brands, Established Beauty Brands, and Start-Up Beauty Brands looking to nail their brand positioning
Cons:
Can be expensive and costly
Takes time and planning to organize and produce
Content may take time to be delivered to brand and be ready for usage
Content may look overly professional or staged and lack relatability
Requires professionals on site to produce content
May not be a great fit for social media
A large library may be built out but content may not be as relevant in 2+ years
Overall there are benefits to both and one is not better than the other. Influencer and content creator content will never replace in-studio content and in-studio content is not the be-all-end-all answer for brands in the beauty space.
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