In its Digital IQ Index: Beauty Germany 2016 report, market research firm L2 outlined that of the overall interactions on social media for 214 brands, 88% of these (i.e. likes, comments, favourites, etc. on posts) were made on Instagram.
However, strikingly, Instagram made up just 1% of the total share of posts being made by brands across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, suggesting brands are misdirecting their social media efforts considerably.
“Though Instagram usage in Germany is only half that of in the UK for US, its importance for beauty brands cannot be understated,” the firm said in its report excerpt. “The visual nature of the platform lends itself well to posts that help convey the artistry critical to beauty brands.”
How to maximise
MAC and Urban Decay are the colour cosmetics brands enjoying the strongest success at social media in Germany, according to the report, taking the lion’s share of interactions per post, despite L’Oréal making more posts per week.
This success demonstrates the importance of targeting a brand’s social media presence appropriately. L2’s report notes that brands do best when they avoid a local focus, and instead take a global approach.
“The Instagram landscape is dominated by colour cosmetics brands that focus on global handles to reach a larger scale,” the report explains.
“Compared to localised accounts, brands focusing on global properties are able to leverage greater resources in order to collaborate with influencers for focus on producing higher quality content to engage with a wider pool of users.
“These global Instagram pages dwarf the others, garnering more than 10.5x the average interactions of local accounts.”
Mobile in favour
Another key trend noted for digital beauty in Germany by L2’s recent report was the dominance of mobile, with the firm stating that this means brands need to invest in highly functional mobile versions of their sites.
“Shoppers are choosing to visit brand sites on mobile devices rather than on desktop. Over half of site visits in Germany were from a smartphone or tablet in 2015, compared to 44% that came from desktop,” L2 notes.
“Currently, only 70% of German Index brands have mobile-optimised sites, leaving a decent amount of brands with room to grow.”