YouTube: 21st Century Makeup Mirror
One of the most popular categories on Youtube is beauty. From product reviews, to style tips, to how-to videos, there seems to be an insatiable appetite for beauty content among the Youtube audience. Youtube partners such as Lauren Luke, Michelle Phan, and countless others have built up a tremendous following and established their own personal brands on Youtube by producing videos that offer trusted beauty advice. In the past several years, we’ve seen brands such as L’Oreal and Sephora invest heavily in their Youtube presence to tap into this vast audience. For example, L’Oreal built up their own branded presence on Youtube across a number of markets. Additionally L’Oreal has also partnered with Youtube on Destination Beauty, a L’Oreal branded hub that aggregates videos from popular beauty gurus sharing the latest beauty trends and provides a product showcase for various L’Oreal products.
So how can an established beauty brand such as Estee Lauder differentiate themselves from their competitors on Youtube? In addition to building a self-contained platform for consumers, the folks at The Concept Farm developed several impressive ideas that really make the Estee Lauder Youtube channel stand out:
All of the how-to videos include the 'makeup mirror' feature which activates the webcam and allows users to watch the tutorial while trying the application method step-by-step, in real-time. In other words, they’re able to see both the video and themselves on screen at the same time, rather than switching back and forth between the video and their mirror as they experiment with new looks or tips.
Each video also has a 'featured products' icon/overlay that pulls in reviews and ratings from the Estee Lauder e-commerce site, providing users reliable feedback from other consumers without ever having to leave the Youtube environment. This functionality, combined with a direct path to purchase, easily shepherds users further down the purchase funnel.
In addition to those standout features, the channel also provides beauty techniques, tips/tricks, product lines, news, and behind the scenes/extra content from brand ambassadors, so have a look and a play around yourself on the Estee Lauder Youtube channel.