Beauty Blogs Getting Attention
The times they are a changing. Writing for The New York Times, Kayleen Schaefer this week reported that cosmetics companies have a new view of beauty bloggers. But relations weren’t always cordial, as this paragraph from the report suggests:
“Bloggers’ inquiries for products started out as an annoyance,” said Alison Brod, whose namesake public relations firm represents the Laura Mercier and philosophy brands. “It was a cost for our clients. It didn’t seem fair that anyone could say whatever they wanted about a product and have an audience.”
These days, however, it seems it is a mistake to ignore them. While the impact of bloggers’ postings on sales is unclear, it is becoming apparent that their opinions are important. With numbers estimated in the thousands, beauty blogs are evaluated by the brands based on criteria ranging from the look of the site to comments from readers. And brands court the bloggers with samples, gifts and meals.
What’s your opinion of the beauty blogs? Are they any different than beauty columns in consumer magazines? Do you visit them as a reader and leave comments about products? Do you evaluate them as a brand owner? Maybe you follow them to get a feel for trends and consumer response to product types? Leave me a comment.
“Bloggers’ inquiries for products started out as an annoyance,” said Alison Brod, whose namesake public relations firm represents the Laura Mercier and philosophy brands. “It was a cost for our clients. It didn’t seem fair that anyone could say whatever they wanted about a product and have an audience.”
These days, however, it seems it is a mistake to ignore them. While the impact of bloggers’ postings on sales is unclear, it is becoming apparent that their opinions are important. With numbers estimated in the thousands, beauty blogs are evaluated by the brands based on criteria ranging from the look of the site to comments from readers. And brands court the bloggers with samples, gifts and meals.
What’s your opinion of the beauty blogs? Are they any different than beauty columns in consumer magazines? Do you visit them as a reader and leave comments about products? Do you evaluate them as a brand owner? Maybe you follow them to get a feel for trends and consumer response to product types? Leave me a comment.
posted by Karen at 8:11 AM
2 Comments:
Hi Karen,
I'm biased of course, being a beauty blogger--but I can tell you that I go to beauty blogs first to research a product before I buy it instead of the beauty magazines. Obviously being an insider, I know whose opinion I can trust vs. many start-up beauty blogs that may only be regurgitating a press release.
What did you think of that NYT article? I thought it wasn't representative of beauty bloggers as a whole--it was a generalization of a select few. (I wish I was being wisked off to Paris!)
Always checking in on your blog! ;)
Shannon
Thanks for checking in! This is great information for brand owners -- not such good news for the beauty magazines. I guessed the NYT article wasn't terribly representative, but it did speak to the growing influence of the bloggers. Keep in touch!
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