Who reads beauty blogs – and why?
London 01 October The top 50 beauty blogs have a combined readership of over 1.8 million people every month, and the majority of these visitors are Caucasian woman between 35-49 years old who live in the US. This is according to Konector’s Top 50 Beauty Blogs and Bloggers report which examines the demographics, amongst other measurements, of the leading blogs in the beauty industry.
Beauty blogging is dominated by the US with all but four of the top fifty English speaking beauty bloggers, and over half of the visitors, living in the US. However gaining a global audience is important. Four out of the top five blogs have a significantly large following internationally, particularly in the UK, Canada, Germany and Australia.
Konector also discovered that over two-thirds of the visitors to the top beauty blogs are Caucasian. There are, however, several blogs that are popular in the Asian and African American sectors. Viva Woman and Makeup for Life are the most dominant blogs for the Asian audience. Viva Woman is the only blog in the top 50 based in Asia, and Phyllis Li from Makeup for Life is originally from Hong Kong.
Afrobella and NaturallyCurly.com are the two leading blogs for the African American market. Afrobella specialises in black beauty and celebrates ‘all shades of beautiful’. Afrobella has done particularly well in dominating the African American beauty market, and the blog was nominated as a finalist for the Best Culture category in the 2009 Black Weblog Awards in August 2009.
Examining the demographics of the top 50 beauty blogs, Konector found similar trends within specific age groups. For instance blogs with a strong presence on YouTube, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, like xSparkage and Pursebuzz, are popular for visitors under the age of 25. Conversely blogs that focus more on skin, like The Dermatology Blog and Savvy Skin, are popular for the over 50 age group. For the 35-49 age category, which makes up over half of the visitors to the top beauty blogs, a wide variety of topics are popular, from hair to high-quality indie makeup (Bionic Beauty).
The level of education and age group were found by Konector to be strongly related. Blogs like Nadine Jolie, which is popular with the younger age group, attracts an audience who are pre-college or are still in college. On the contrary, The Beauty Brains and Basenotes, which are popular with the 35-49 year olds, are visited by a relatively high proportion of post graduates.
Konector’s findings show why more and more beauty companies and PR agencies are using blog demographics when planning a campaign. Understanding and matching the target audience for a particular brand with the most suitable blog community is more effective than the traditional blanket approach. It is also less time consuming for all parties involved, which is a particular concern for the leading bloggers who are currently inundated with requests.
For more information about the Top 50 Beauty Blogs and Bloggers report, please visit our website here.
