Has Social Media Changed the Way We Approach Beauty & Skincare? (Part 1)

Part 1 of Two Episodes

In this episode, Aliza sits down with social media expert and beauty maven, Mimi Banks. With years of experience in the beauty industry, Mimi helps us break down the shift from more traditional spokespeople in industry, to more traditional influencers (bloggers) to the multi-faceted creators and influencers of today. The conversation peels back the layers of how these roles have evolved and continue to impact brand strategies, marketing campaigns, and audience engagement.

**Creators vs. Influencers:**
 What's the difference between a creator and an influencer? Learn from Mimi's expertise how each serves a unique purpose in digital content and marketing, and why understanding these roles is crucial for both brands and individuals in the social media landscape.

**Skin Deep Strategies**
Why are popular dermatology accounts on TikTok so important in educating on products and skincare routines, especially in the maze of skincare and  'TikTok-educated' users.

 **Gen Alpha Waves:**
The episode dives into the emerging trends influenced by the youngest social media users. It touches upon the crucial role of educators in a landscape where a "TikTok made me buy it" culture prevails, potentially exposing younger audiences to products beyond their needs.

Links and Resources - Connect with Mimi Banks
 
Follow Mimi on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mimibanks/?hl=en

MB Social: https://www.mimibsocial.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mbsocial.agency/?hl=en

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Transcript

Mimi Banks : 0:00

The tricky part right now here is that people are also TikTok educated, and so when you see all these products on TikTok and then you buy them, they might not be good for your skin just because something's trending.

Aliza Freud : 0:23

Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to the show. We had a conversation with the very wonderful Mimi Banks, who is a beauty industry veteran, a influencer maven knows a ton about the beauty space. We've decided to actually break the episode up into two. Today you will hear part one of my conversation with Mimi and the next week you'll hear the second part of the conversation. What we talk about today is how social media has really impacted the beauty industry and how the beauty industry has changed, how it's gone from using spokespeople, actresses, people who were very well-known, prominently maybe in the entertainment business, and how it's really evolved to using social media influencers and how those influencers are really having an impact on the beauty industry. I don't know if many of you remember, but Michelle Phan, who was one of the first beauty influencers. I followed her on YouTube. I followed her on YouTube I think she was the first influencer I followed back in the day and she used to do these videos that got millions upon millions of views and it was her doing a makeup tutorial or talking about a skincare product and she just blew up in terms of her exposure and how many people were following her and listening to her advice that the beauty industry took note. Mimi and I talked today about what that has done. We talk also about the explosion of dermatologists who are jumping into social media to really provide more of an authority in this space, because there is so much misinformation online about beauty products and it's so much about just consuming and getting new products that dermatologists have built a huge following by providing real, very knowledgeable and authoritative content about what products you should have and what products you really don't need. So how are dermatologists changing the industry? We talk about that, and then we also talk about the wave of young tweens, so girls who are 10, 11, 12 years old, who are on social media, getting influenced by all of these beauty brands and running to places like Sephora to buy these products. And there's been a lot of coverage lately about how Gen Alpha, which is this generation, this young generation of you, know 10, 11, 12 year olds how they are. They have more in-depth and more expensive beauty routines than you know their moms. That is kind of the focus of today's episode. I think you will really enjoy it.

Aliza Freud : 3:10

Mimi and I have known each other for many years. Mimi was a beauty industry veteran. She started at L'Oreal. She was there for a good part of her career. We actually ended up working together on one of the brands she worked on at L'Oreal. She was at L'Oreal, which is Lancome, and she has just tremendous insight into the space. She now runs a very successful social media company where she helps major beauty, luxury and wellness brands and fashion brands to create content on social media for their brands and she helps them manage their brands, so she has a great perspective on what's going on in the social media space as it relates to the beauty business.

Aliza Freud : 3:55

I think you're really going to enjoy part one. We're going to jump right into it. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Well, you and I have known each other a while. One of the reasons I wanted to have you on is because I consider you to be a real expert in the beauty industry, so we've known each other. It's 10 years now and you were at L'Oreal working. One of the brands that you were working on was Lancome and we did some influencer work together back in the day 2014. How has the beauty industry thought about using influencers? Is it different than spokespeople? How do you think the industry thinks about influencers versus spokespeople? What do you think has been that evolution?

Mimi Banks : 4:46

Well, first of all, it's crazy to think that it's been 10 years and a lot of it's the same but very different. And the approach is very similar in that I remember going through lists and lists with you approving influencers and we still have to do that to this day is when either work with clients or brands and presenting influencers or reviewing our clients' influencers it's the same, our clients' influencers it's the same. And I remember thinking, because it was so new that I was always so impressed that you got it and there were so few people at the time that were thinking about social in that way. So I think that you were very early in the look of influencers and at the time, if I remember correctly, a lot of them were quote unquote bloggers. So bloggers were really the beginning and that they were the thought leaders. They had a community. We didn't really call it a community, then we called it followers and we thought that they had some sort of quote unquote influence and would their brand be reminiscent or would Lancome fit well into their brand and would their brand fit well into Lancome? And that I remember looking at very closely and it was just how luxury were they, what kind of content, who was their audience and really thinking about them as a brand extension.

Mimi Banks : 5:59

Now, some of that still is the same. When you think about influencers, you think about how well their audience fits your audience. You think about their content and whether your product will fit into their audience. But I think the role is a little bit larger now because there's more responsibility. At the time it was, at least for the most part, very one-off. I wouldn't even call a partnership, I wouldn't call it a collaboration. Here's the list of influencers that are going to be posting for you. It was very strategic of strategic yet tactical at the same time, and now it's a hybrid, I would say, between they have an ambassador role, they have a role of influence, they have a role of creator really I would say power to some degree in the brand, because they are an extension of your brand, how they talk about your brand. If I asked you what's the?

Aliza Freud : 6:52

difference between a creator and influencer. How do you think?

Mimi Banks : 6:55

Happens all the time. Happens all the time. An influencer is somebody who has typically a large community on a platform, so in this case we'll say it's social media. So it could be on Instagram, tiktok. I'll say let's say Instagram and TikTok for now. There are the others, but right now, when people are looking at, let's say, influencers that they have a sizable community with high engagement, that means that they have likes, comments, views, that people are actively engaging in their content and driving that conversation.

Mimi Banks : 7:29

Somebody is a creator is not necessarily concerned with influence. What they mean is that they're going to use their phone, their camera, whatever they have to create content and they either post that content or they're creating it for a brand. They're creating it for something else, but the goal of creating their content is not to grow their community. It's not to influence a purchasing decision. It's not.

Mimi Banks : 7:57

They're not evaluating the performance on their content by the number of likes and comments or views that it gets. You just need this robust bank. And so we work with creators to say, okay, can you help us create 10 videos, but they're giving us the videos to post for our channel, because it's a certain kind of content that resonates. They're not posting it on their channels. But we're just working with them and partnering with them because they're excellent creators. Now, an influencer is somebody that you would partner with because their content is strong, because people engage with it and because maybe they have the influence to convert and drive sales, and the assumption typically is that they're also a good creator. So the influencer gives you a different kind of a package deal.

Aliza Freud : 8:46

So you work with a few of these big dermatologists who have created huge followings. So I just want to say that I am one of those people that if I see a dermatologist tell me what their favorite skincare product is, I'm going to listen. Of course, I'm just going to listen. Can you talk about maybe?

Mimi Banks : 9:06

one example. So, for example, dr Dustin Portella he has two and a half million followers on TikTok and what Dr Portela does is he's really about health and wellness and he is there to really break it down, to give you from a physician's point of view what is happening to your skin. Now he's not making a diagnosis, but he can demystify those TikTok experts who don't necessarily have the same credentials, who haven't gone to medical school, but to help you understand ingredients, product application, the science, when to use what product and why. What's interesting is you know you and I talked before is the proliferation of teens specifically, and you have Gen Alpha, gen Z on TikTok. Right, tiktok skews very young and you have.

Mimi Banks : 9:57

I was just looking at a video of like a nine-year-old posting about a Sephora sale. She's on TikTok talking about the Sephora sale. She's so excited. But the tricky part right now here is is that people are also TikTok educated and so when you see all these products on TikTok and then you buy them, they might not be good for your skin just because something's trending and so all these products. There's so much discovery happening on TikTok and I think from a physician perspective, from a skincare expert, it's very much needed to not only just debunk myths, but educate on proper usage.

Aliza Freud : 10:33

Yeah, there are these nine-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds. They are on TikTok as we talked about. They're called Gen Alpha girls mostly are being taken up in the wave of content that's on TikTok as an example about skincare and you have, like these 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds with 14-step cleansing and skincare routines. I mean, I don't have that many steps to my skincare. Do you think that this is modern day version of what maybe we had when we were tweens and we would see somebody in some teen magazine say that they use some product and we all ran to the store to go buy?

Mimi Banks : 11:35

Totally.

Aliza Freud : 11:35

Totally so. This is just the modern day version of that.

Mimi Banks : 11:39

This is totally a TikTok made me buy it. The same reason that we see X product on TikTok is the same reason that the 10, 11, 12 year olds see the product. The difference is is the usage or the need that this is not. This is a fun product, specifically with skincare. It's not necessarily targeted to them at all, like at all at all, at all at all, and so that's the tricky part is that the TikTok made me buy it. I'm seeing this influencer. She posts about it. I love her, so I really want to try it, and which is great for the brand because it widens the reach.

Mimi Banks : 12:16

But it's also dangerous because you're using products, or they're getting access to products that are not good for their skin, that could break them out, that are, or it's complicated, or they're just not supposed to have the routine. I'm not a doctor or dermatologist, but this is, you know, from a 10 year old. Besides, like washing your face with cleanser and adding moisturizer. I don't think they're worried about premature aging, fine lines and wrinkles, bags under your eyes, hydrating your skin, hyaluronic acid, like all these kinds of things. But that's why the brilliance of Bubble, the skincare line Bubble that's actually made for this demographic and they're blowing up on TikTok, which is great because their platform is for this age and their platform is about education and their platform is about the simplicity of creating that skincare Mimi.

Aliza Freud : 13:05

I am so grateful that you spent this time with us. Thank you. If people want to follow you, what is the best way for them to?

Mimi Banks : 13:11

do that. You can find me on Instagram at Mimi Banks, and LinkedIn also at Mimi Banks. I'd be happy to connect with you.

Aliza Freud : 13:19

Awesome, thank you so much Thank you for having me.