How using non-beauty influencers led YSL Beauty to a nearly 4x bump in social views

YSL Beauty Malaysia's campaign "YSL Beauty Raya" to highlight its personalised shopping experience was a hit among consumers, resulting in 5.8 million views on social media, most of them coming from TikTok. This was nearly four times the expected results. Done together with Southeast Asian influencer management platform SushiVid, the campaign showcased three aspects of the personalised service: lipstick engraving, fragrance engraving, and makeup service.

Meanwhile, Foong Yuhwen, founder of SushiVid, told A+M that the campaign also achieved a cost per view of no more than RM0.01, lesser than the agency's Q4 2021 benchmark average of RM0.05 per view. The campaign ran from 1 to 28 April and mainly targeted Malay and female consumers. Influencer content on TikTok revolved around their experience at a YSL Beauty outlet. One of the new marketing tactics for TikTok involves viral videos where brands collaborate with KOLs to share "secret", limited-time codes for free samples.

Approximately 50 creators were engaged to shout out about the secret code "YSL BEAUTY RAYA" for consumers to redeem a complimentary iconic mini lipstick across a five-day period. The gifts were fully redeemed within 48 hours and a total of 7,388 new prospects were acquired, the brand said.

One of the reasons for the campaign's success was the use of non-beauty influencers. According to SushiVid, one of the influencers involved was male and a non-makeup enthusiast who purchased a YSL Beauty gift for his wife because she was unwell. This resulted in the content being heartfelt and genuine.

YSL Beauty Malaysia also gave influencers creative freedom. One of the female influencers, who specialised in the general lifestyle scene, created a video to test if consumers would really get a complimentary iconic mini lipstick if they uttered the secret code. There was also a strong call to action, as consumers would receive a complimentary lipstick from any YSL outlet as long as they mentioned the secret code.

3 tips to creating a successful campaign

1. Choose the right influencers

It has always been a known fact that influencers should align with the brand's values. However, aside from that, SushiVid's Foong, told A+M that traditionally, the influencer marketing model dictates that brands should engage influencers as they are subject matter experts.

"The YSL Beauty Malaysia campaign has made me question this conventional thought. Should we really engage only subject matter experts? If you look at the influencers that garner 10 times the views of any campaigns, chances are there was an element of surprise involved and I have not seen a beauty influencer produce that type of result recently. This is simply because the content was predictable," Foong said.

She explained that it all comes down to the campaign objective. 

If a client’s campaign objective is education and building credibility, then absolutely use the experts. But if the client’s campaign objective is awareness, we definitely could explore other influencers as well.

2. Creative freedom

It is understandable when clients want to have control of the storyboard, given that the brand's image and reputation are involved. Foong said many clients want a storyboard written out line-by-line but this format while safe could also mean boring. "Consumers today aren't going to react to a standard cookie-cutter content because it’s the same thing every other brand is doing. YSL Beauty Malaysia is really embracing the essence that makes influencer marketing successful, creating contents that are genuine," she said.

3. Promotion

A successful campaign needs to have three things: the social media platform, the influencer, and the promotion. No matter how convincing an influencer is, if the promotion doesn’t move the needle, it wouldn’t be successful. No matter how great the content is, on the wrong platform, wouldn’t make it a viral campaign. To achieve success, you need all three to work. The complimentary iconic mini lipstick promotion was also a pivotal factor in the success of this campaign.

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