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TikTok, Instagram or YouTube: what’s worth beauty brands’ time and money as we head into 2025?
The question is key to navigating the fast-changing social media landscape, as shifting metrics and evolving algorithms force brands to rethink where and how to focus their spend for maximum reach, engagement and ROI. The definition of success has changed.
“Follower count and likes used to be key metrics, but brands now have to prioritise meaningful engagement — shares, saves and reach — to resonate and connect emotionally with users,” says Kate Kenner Archibald, CMO of social media management platform Dash Hudson. Brands have also had to adopt agile strategies to keep pace with the rapidly evolving beauty trends on social, ensuring they remain relevant and actively engaged in community conversations.
This is already reshaping content strategies for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube; the three biggest platforms for beauty discovery, engagement and audience reach in the US and Western Europe, per Dash Hudson.
“The shareability of content has become more important to the algorithm than ever before, a trend that’s reflected in the shifting behaviours of users,” says Matt Smith, consumer trends manager at consumer reach firm GWI.
Leveraging each platforms’ strengths
As each platform leans further into and adapts to its users’ preferences and behaviours, it becomes even more important to have an agile, tailored strategy for each. “Brands must leverage platform specialities — TikTok for entertainment and community-building, Instagram’s carousels and stories for interaction, and YouTube for video retention. Consistent posting across platforms is key to staying relevant,” says Archibald.
There are changes to note across all three. TikTok has quickly become an integral part of many beauty brands’ marketing strategies. However, the platform is at an inflection point: brands are no longer jumping on every trend in a bid to stay relevant or to grow on the platform. Instead, more thoughtful, longer form and entertaining content that speaks to a brand’s codes and community tracks for growth. Data from the first half of this year suggests engagement is slowing on TikTok, says Kayla Quock, director of brand marketing at influencer marketing platform Traackr. “This could signal an oversaturation of beauty content,” she says.
As a result, TikTok is seeing a rise in engagement with long-form entertainment and educational videos (one to two minutes in length), while engagement with short-form videos (0 to 30 seconds) — once its USP — is declining, according to social video measurement platform Tubular Labs’s ‘State of Social: H2 2024’ report.
Instagram’s updated ‘sends-to-reach’ ratio algorithm now ranks shareable content, which means brands are starting to create material designed for direct messages and Threads’s broadcast channels. For example, clean beauty brand Saie uses its Threads broadcast channel (which speaks to 67,200 followers) to share makeup tutorials, updates on its climate initiatives and where/when customers can purchase products from retailers like Sephora. Meanwhile, images and carousels drive greater reach than reels, per Dash Hudson, and Instagram stories continue to drive strong engagement.
On YouTube, video views for beauty brands doubled in the second half of this year, thanks to the rise of YouTube Shorts, according to Dash Hudson’s latest social media report, as skincare brands like Laneige and Glow Recipe increasingly leveraged the platform for quick tutorials and product showcases.
Experts advise embracing various content lengths, however. “While short-form content is dominant, don’t overlook the growing appeal of long-form media like podcasts, live streams and video essays,” notes Smith. Elf Cosmetics, for example, uses TikTok to engage with fast-moving trends, while on YouTube, it capitalises on longer video formats, including podcasts and tutorials, outperforming the average brand video views by 145 per cent, per Dash Hudson.
Testing and learning are vital to keep pace with evolving algorithms. “Consistency builds momentum,” says Katelyn Winker, VP of client strategy at digital marketing firm Front Row. She encourages brands to experiment with posting times and creative assets to find what resonates the most. Winker also cautions brands to “adopt but not compromise”; content should always align with the brand’s values and aesthetics.
Sara Leeds, senior creative strategist at youth culture agency Archrival, recommends using a social strategy checklist to ensure every post aligns with a brand’s core identity. “The considerations: does your brand strive to be funny, provocative and daring? Or informative, earnest and aesthetically pleasing? If the concept checks off one or more boxes that align with the core pillars, brands should go for it. If not, leave the topic or content to other takers,” she advises.
While no major algorithm updates for 2025 are confirmed, current trends point to platforms continuing to prioritise user-driven engagement through shares, comments and private interactions. New functionalities are already rolling out. TikTok introduced AI tools and enhanced branding placements, while YouTube, partnering with Shopify, is making it easier for brands to leverage affiliate marketing and integrate shopping features into YouTube Shorts. “Now, more beauty brands than ever can easily incentivise beauty creators to feature and tag their products. Plus, with the growth of YouTube Shorts, brands can expect to see YouTube integrate new shopping features that highlight the beauty of shorts,” says YouTube managing director of shopping partnerships Bridget Dolan.
Tapping into communities
Brands’ communities must be front and centre when developing social strategies, says Craft. Comments, re-shares, and feedback provide key insights into a brand’s products, marketing and positioning while fostering loyalty in a crowded market. Beauty brands like Convie, Saie and Merit rely on their communities for product development, while Refy has been opting for intimate community experiences over large influencer trips.
On TikTok, Glow For It is an eyelash growth brand focused on re-sharing organic, consumer-generated content to drive brand awareness. The campaign featured customers showcasing product results with Q&A overlays and trending music. “The success of the campaign has meant that, in the last year, we’ve been able to launch 12 new products with a further five launching before the end of the year,” says Glow For It owner Daisy Kelly.
Communities also hold brands accountable. When TikTok creator Gloria criticised makeup brand Rhode’s blushes for not suiting her skin tone, the brand revamped the product. “In the past, brands would ignore or deny their community and not take part in changing the conversation,” points out TikTok global head of partnerships Vanessa Craft. Now, success happens when brands open the doors to their community to foster a unique sense of belonging.
Front Row’s Winker notes the rise of “edutainment”, where consumers seek content that is both educational and entertaining. In this instance, Archibald highlights skincare brand Byoma, which breaks down complex science into fun, accessible content for Instagram. Similarly, Topicals combines educational and entertaining content on TikTok, sharing tutorials and bringing its community along to events and parties.
Winker adds that brand personality shines not just through content creation, but through active engagement, too. “Outbound engagement is a great way to flex a brand’s personality. Whether that’s engaging on your community’s pages, interacting with your influencer partner’s posts and commenting on other like-minded brand pages to reach new untapped audiences.”
All of this will apply as we head into 2025. “Brands must tap into platform-specific strengths, know their audience, build communities and embrace constant experimentation,” Archibald concludes.
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