I love seeing behind-the-scenes moments — like when you see brands rejecting colors or sharing parts of the process to getting a product from creation to production. For example, I love seeing Pat McGrath’s inspiration leading up to a launch, her looks created for Fashion Week, etc. I just want primarily brand-related insight and more surface-level personal things (like pets!).
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I honestly do not pay attention and I am not on social media much. I get my makeup fix from here and from a couple of youtubers I follow and that’s plenty.
Exactly what Wednesday said!
YES!
If they are makeup artists, like Pat McGrath, I absolutely love the behind-the-scenes and close up videos of runway looks! In a similar vein, I also like to see makeup looks being done on Asian faces. It gives me inspiration.
Not even middling interest. Here, Muse. Formerly Marlena and Cora, but they have transformed into other people. Occasionally Trendmood. I follow no one. YT, too much of a time suck, and TMI. and, there’s such a question of honesty. Occasionally check an IG of a brand, like SG. Much more likely to check a store’s site after s.t. has reviewed well here. When there is a controversy, oddly, I watch many perspectives (Subculture.)
Professionalism. Big brands like Nars and Estee Lauder are super professional (that I know of), but some other… Their owners lie, mistreat customers and react badly to criticism.
I second everything you said, Cil!
Agree with professionalism, but `lie, mistreat customers` (even if true in some cases) it’s just an extreme. You don’t have to lie or mistreat to be un-professional. It’s also the small things, the subtleties of keeping a calm objective tone, of not letting a bad day show on your feed, of not replying without thinking your statement twice, of responding objective and constructive to criticism, of simply not being a spoiled brat, etc. And one doesn’t have to be a big brand to keep it professional; one just need to be a mature individual who understands the limits between personal life and job, between your opinions and the standpoint of the brand you represent.
But in the end big brands have the money to buy qualified representatives for their social media. I’m not that keen on the cold reply `We have noted your comment and give your suggestion to the formulation / research department`, but it’s better than `If you don’t like my product, don’t buy it` (and it the worse cases with an insult added).
Just what I was going to say! I’m so sick of the drama and BS from brands’ owners that I hardly follow anyone any more.
Honesty, openess, and integrity when it comes to how they sell their brand and its offerings. And because I too have a creative thinking process, I love to read little quips or stories on how and where they got their inspiration for a name from or a color layout in a palette!
As for their personal life? I’m not really into the whole “cult of personality” mindset unless it is something so negative and bane, that I cannot overlook it.
First of all, I would like to see different social media channels for personal and brand stuff; I don’t like when things are mixed together. If I want to follow the brand owner as an individual (travel, lifestyle, selfies, pets, what they eat, etc.), I’ll follow them separately (which rarely happens, but yeah). I don’t mean completely separate… since the brand is part of their life… but I like to be able to choose if I want to follow the person as an individual or the person as a brand owner.
But for brand related things I wan’t to see more snippets from the creative process (mood-boards, products along things that inspired them) and from the production (with the latest scandals I think we all got a little bit more curious on how labs and formulation work). I would love to see how specific colors have evolved (for example, the 10-20 different blues that tried to formulate until they got the right one for the palette), the fails and the iterations before a product was done just right, and other behind the scene stuff.
I also like to see behind the scenes, where inspirations for new items/names/packaging might come from. Maybe a little insight into themselves and what got them into makeup. I
When it comes to beauty brand owners, I would like to see them demonstrate how their products work on models with different skin types, undertones and of different ages and weights. Don’t just show how the foundation/concealer/powders apply on the impeccable skin of a 20-year old with no texture, wrinkles or spots to cover. Don’t contour only those cheekbones that don’t really need any carving out because they are naturally like this. Otherwise, they are no different than those YouTubers who apply concealer to cover their nonexistent dark circles and bags. The brand owners should show in short videos how a particular lipstick shade applies on lips with different undertones/pigmentation, instead of those unrealistic arm/lip swatches posted on their website. I would like to see them more involved in educating their consumers, not just selling them products.
What I DON’T want:
Brand owners/managers treating the brand social media channels like it’s their personal account. I’m interested in the company because I’m interested in the makeup. If I’m interested in you, I’ll follow your personal social media channels! Please don’t post a weepy divorce announcement video to the channel I go to for lipstick release info.
Related: brand accounts that don’t seem to respect the art of PR management, or who treat the brand as though it’s their living baby and thus get defensive — or blame customers! — when the brand fails to perform as advertised. Norvina so badly mishandled the ABH Subculture blowback that I haven’t bought anything from the brand since.
-excuses.
What I do want to see:
-accurate, detailed information about products!
-suggestions for how to use said products!
-interesting editorial makeup or application techniques!
-interesting production details — something a normal person might not know about related to the process 🙂
-cute animals are always welcome on any social media channel as far as I’m concerned. You want to post a video of a cute puppy? I’m happy with that, even if it has nothing to do with eyeshadow. (But please don’t overshare and/or try to market your pet and/or create a cult of personality around it.) (I love all the Mellan photos, and love that you don’t find it necessary or professional to include him in every lipstick shot!)
Well… there’s also the case when the pet inspires the collection (like Too Faced did). Than the line between oversharing and marketing your pet becomes fuzzy. 😆
But if people start being more influenced by their pets… at least they should keep the pets out of labs. I already ingest too much hair from my cat. 😆
Not political statements.
They don’t interest me because they are essentially commercials; no different from many of the infomercials that populate TV. That being said, if the brand owner is going to be using social media, I think it wise to keep things professional and to avoid any personal commentary.
I followed Pat McGrath on Instagram for a bit and was not engaged by it so I stopped. I use social media to keep in touch with faraway friends. I am not really interested in the doings of strangers and that’s who brand owners are to me.
Nothing-their personal lives don’t really interest me. I don’t mind a few sneak peeks of a coming-soon-launch but other than product focused information, I don’t really care. Just the make up, please!
I love to see behind the scenes stuff on the brand, how the products come together, and the people behind the brand including the lab if they can like ColourPop does. I just love seeing stuff like that in addition to the inspiration behind products and all the different phases of putting things like a palette together etc.
What I would most like to see from brand owners is greater responsibility when using social media to stick to their brands products and not use it to promote themselves or their questionable views/feuds etc.
I would like to see how they choose their shades and the process for the compliation of eyeshadow palettes, because sometimes it is hard to tell what the brand was thinking about when including certain colours and finishes.
I’m not on social media a lot but I like to see engagement and good cs. Persona is good at that.
Creativity, inclusivity, and calm cool customer oriented service.
I follow various brands and influencers and brand owners. I like to see brand owners being professional, I understand it is their personal account but they are representing their brand and should be mindful of that. I like Norvina, I know she has had controversial tweets but most of her tweets are related to the makeup industry and her brand. The ABH account is more professional in showcasing products and launches. Norvina’s account connects more personally with the consumers/fans as well as influencers. I like that she has polls about products and looks for ideas from the people who are BUYING the products. I remember she asked for opinions on loose vs. pressed glitters before releasing the loose glitters this year. It shows she is thinking of what the consumers want and need and it makes ABH stand out as a a brand. I don’t like brand owners to be calling out customers or influencers negatively. I think it is best to direct them to a customer service email or to DM privately. The owner is likely the face of the brand. I don’t want to buy products from someone who is rude to customers. This reminds me of Z-Palette drama, stopped using their palettes as a result. I refuse to purchase Jeffrey Star or Lime Crime products right now. I haven’t purchased anything from Laura Lee, James Charles, Tati, or Manny MUA. Not necessarily as a direct result of their drama but it was a turn off in how things have been handled. Most recently, I haven’t purchased Jaclyn Hill Cosmetics products. These influencers are not the professional. They rely on their fan base to sell products rather than the quality it seems and they don’t have the experience that more established mainstream brands have. I don’t feel these influencers have what it takes to keep their brands relevant if they were to quit youtube. The only brand that I can see sticking around from these youtubers is Jeffree Star.