Post #7: It's on Social Media!

In the previous blog post, we looked at the social media platforms that L’Oréal Paris uses: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. These platforms are all owned media, so L’Oréal Paris has direct control of the content they (or the team behind) post. For this blog post, we’ll be doing a quick recap of what each platform consists of in terms of content, then the main website content, and finally do an evaluation of content effectiveness and other relevant categories.

L’Oréal Paris posts the same content on both Facebook and Twitter at the same time (minutes apart) and is most likely maintained for customer loyalty. In general, the contents follow the following categories: informing about existing/latest/upcoming products, social issue and empowerment posts, special online deals, and celebrity sponsored videos. On Instagram, the content is not exactly the same as Facebook and Twitter, but they do follow the same theme in instances (example: Stand up against Sexual Harassment). Instagram content is more creative, definitely posting for first-time customers and to increase customer loyalty, with their videos being entertaining (formed as advertising) and L’Oréal Paris does more interactions with the comments. Content categories for Instagram are product advertising, use of certain product on models, stances on social issues, and French cosmetic aesthetics. With YouTube, it doesn’t follow the general concept on the previous social medias; instead, it focused on product information and usage, beauty tips and guides, empowerment or social issue videos, and videos with celebrities either promoting a product or talking about social issues L’Oréal advocates for (example: I’m Worth It motto). Lastly, content on Pinterest is on a whole different level from all the above social medias. L’Oréal Paris utilizes Pinterest as a beauty guide platform for those interested in all things cosmetics, makeup, and haircoloring. Content categories on Pinterest include beauty tips and how-to (example: perfect brow, contouring, base makeup application), product categories (example: collection of anti-aging, maintaining curly hair), beauty facts, and miscellaneous (example: Parisienne fashion, quirky beauty sayings).

Now, to the website of L’Oréal Paris. On the landing page, the contents we first see are the promotional banner of the Air Volume Mega Mascara, below that we see the L’Oréal “Must-Have” products (that consists of the latest mascara and other items), followed by the Beauty Magazine that offers tips and guides, and at the end we see the services offered on the site (Virtual Try-On, Beauty Magazine). On the navigation menu, we have a list of product categories, the Beauty Magazine, Explore (general tabs with latest information), and the Women of Worth (L’Oréal Paris philanthropic programs honoring women). When clicking on a category in the navigation menu, the first seen content is the product highlights (example: Makeup – Air Volume Mega Mascara highlight) and you have the option to explore the products with that category, leading to the webpage with that specified product category (example: Eye Makeup – Eye shadow – shadow products). Overall, the content of the website is very organized with a simple aesthetic. The landing page highlights the latest product and gives a view of the best-selling products, while the categories on the navigation menu shows you content pertaining to what you’re searching for without hassle and exhausting searching.

Each respective platform that L’Oréal Paris uses has the content appropriate for their audience and end-users. Their social media platforms carry all the latest information of cosmetics, social issues, and exclusive advertisements, whereas their website is strictly product purchase and product tips (Beauty Magazine, Virtual Try-On). Instagram seems to be the social media platform that is the most effective, with Pinterest coming in at 2nd place. Content is relevant to the platform, for example having How-To videos of L’Oréal Paris products on their YouTube page or having beauty guide collections using L’Oréal Paris products on Pinterest. The team behind L’Oréal Paris do have a firm grasp of how to effectively post content depending on the social media and are doing an effective job at that. They understand which platform has the most influence and reach within the beauty industry and the lifestyle of their end-users, and by creating creative content without too much deviation of who L’Oréal Paris is can definitely be attributed to the original essence of L’Oréal, the simple yet aesthetic elegance of French cosmetics.

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References:

Larson, J., & Draper, S. (2020). Chapter 8: Analytics. Digital marketing essentials. Rexburg, ID: Edify.

Larson, J., & Draper, S. (2020). Chapter 9: Analytics. Digital marketing essentials. Rexburg, ID: Edify.

Larson, J., & Draper, S. (2020). Chapter 10: Analytics. Digital marketing essentials. Rexburg, ID: Edify.