The most effective marketing can often be word of mouth. A positive review from a well-liked character creates a sense of trust, so much so that 61% of consumers value the product recommendations social media influencers put forward. In 2023, the influencer industry is worth $21.1 billion, predicted to grow to $143 billion by 2030. While it may be assumed that the influencers with the largest follower count have the most power and produce the most sales, micro-influencers (those with a follower count of 10-50K) generate 60% more engagement than macro-influencers. To highlight micro-influencers, public relations specialists Seen Group created Community x Seen, a beauty-specific micro-creator marketing tool that allows brands to connect and interact with influencers best suited to them. After success in the UK, with 4,000 creators on the platform having worked on over 60 campaigns with big-name brands, including Charlotte Tilbury and Fenty Beauty, Community x Seen has expanded to the US market.
"This is a natural evolution of our agency's service offerings to best meet the evolving US communications landscape, address our clients' changing IMC business needs, and continue to define Seen as a transformational partner," Melissa Sansone, Managing Director of Seen US, tells BeautyMatter. "As innate communicators and storytellers, Community x Seen arms our team with a strong tool to deliver impactful strategies for our clients and ultimately enable a collective collaboration to grow a new beauty industry for the future."
To be a part of Community x Seen, creators must produce beauty-specific content and have a follower count of 1-50K on TikTok or Instagram. Once they are onboarded, the platform aims to empower members through connecting them with brands while giving them tips and mentorship along the way to help develop their unique voices and ensure their points of view can be heard.
Community x Seen was created to provide a solution for brands after Seen Group recognized a strenuous weighting on PR companies trying to find the best creators to engage with. The platform intends to significantly reduce the time spent searching for creators, allowing for more time to be dedicated to effective campaign creation. "Historically (finding creators) has required a manual lift from PR teams to identify, execute, and connect—often through cold outreach. With Community x Seen, we knew we needed to digitize this process, so through the new CXS platform, we are able to filter our members based on their beauty preferences to connect creators with the campaigns that are right for them, which has led to rich content and real brand love," Sansone adds.
Across the platform, influencers are categorized based on their beauty and wellness preferences to ensure that the partnerships created are of the highest standard and the best fit for each brand's campaigns. "When it comes to brands, we know they are looking to new channels and new voices, which is why we've seen a rise in the number of brands wanting to work with micro and nano creators. When it comes to beauty, brands are looking to work with thoughtfully chosen creators based on certain beauty specificities—from their hair type to skin issues to the type of climate they live in—in order to receive more authentic results tied to their products," Sansone states.
Community x Seen works for not only the brands seeking creators but also the creators themselves, who may not know where to begin when it comes to a career in influencing. "We receive hundreds of messages monthly from micro and nano-creators looking to work with our brands. This was the true inspiration behind Community x Seen, and we knew we must harness those voices. With this platform, we are able to support the next generation of beauty voices who now have a direct opportunity to collaborate with their favorite brand,” continues Sansone.
The activation also offers the opportunity for creators to engage with one another, building a network of like-minded peers who can support each other's growth. Creators will also be able to gain exclusive access to brands' new and upcoming launches and paid content collaboration to showcase their talent, creating impactful exposure for their content and a unique experience for those wishing to work in the beauty industry.
"While we are aware that there are other platforms in existence that may focus on micro and nano creators, Community x Seen is the only platform that is beauty specific, meaning that all of the brands and creators we work with are true beauty enthusiasts. Utilizing our agency's 16+ years of knowledge in the beauty space has allowed Seen to curate a hyper-engaged network of creators that we have real relationships with and continue to foster on behalf of our clients," Sansone concludes.
As the beauty industry continues to evolve at a rapid speed, PR companies, brands, and influencers alike must be prepared to think outside the box and approach professional relationships in the most effective manner. Community x Seen expresses a new era for the way brands connect with potential influencers, helping them to have a more pinpointed and targeted relationship that aligns perfectly with a campaign’s vision. Through the platform, influencers will be able to further express their true selves and their values in a professional way, opening the door to many opportunities. As 90% of marketers report advertising success through the use of social media campaigns, it will be interesting to see the progression of platforms being created specifically for those behind such initiatives.
