Influencer Marketing Uncovered: Earned vs. Paid Strategies for Beauty Brands

By Ashley Ritenour

Over the years, influencer marketing in the beauty industry has become a powerhouse. Brands have taken extreme measures, such as gifting insane products to influencers or paying them thousands for paid media. Navigating this world can be challenging, especially when deciding when to use earned and paid media. Each approach has different advantages and challenges that can impact a brand’s visibility and credibility. Understanding the difference will prepare you to make informed decisions that benefit your brand in an overwhelming industry. 

The Unique Marketing Strategy that is Earned Media

Earned media is a unique strategy that fosters genuine connections between an audience and a brand. This form of marketing relies on influencers sharing the brand because they genuinely love the products, not because they are getting paid. It is valued so much because of its authenticity. Consumers are more likely to trust recommendations from influencers who genuinely like a product rather than those getting paid to promote it. 

Earned media can be achieved through blog posts, social media mentions and product reviews.

An Expensive Public Relations Gift could be Cheaper than Paid Media

A prime example of earned media is Tarte’s gifting Hermès bracelets to a select group of influencers on its public relations list. As these public relations packages started showing up on these influencers’ doorsteps, they posted videos on social media sharing the luxurious gift with their followers. Not only were people sharing their thoughts on this type of gift, but news articles also discussed this controversial topic.

Although this topic turned out to be quite controversial on social media, it earned Tarte a lot of earned media. Yes, they spent $700 on each bracelet, but in the long run, it was way cheaper than spending a couple thousand on paid ads from different influencers. 

Paid Media: A Popular Tool among Beauty Brands and Influencers

Paid media is any advertising that involves financial compensation from the brand for promoting a product or service. This strategy increases brand awareness and drives sales. Social media is the most popular type of paid media in the beauty industry. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok can be effective for brands because of the large number of people on them. Other examples of paid media include display advertising, print advertising, affiliate marketing, and influencer collaborations. 

A Paid Collaboration with Sephora is Every Girls Dream

Sephora’s advertising for the beginning of November 1, 2024, is an excellent example of paid media. Sephora is currently advertising this event, which is quickly approaching. Sephora has been paying influencers to post videos sharing products that they love. All the products these influencers include will be available during the saving events. 

Sephora is paying each influencer a lot to post video ads about upcoming savings events. Although the ads can be pricey depending on the influencer chosen, the impressions they receive usually pay for themselves.

The Challenges and Benefits of Earned and Paid Media

Earned and paid media have many pros and cons. Although they work in different ways, they can be very beneficial if done correctly. 

Earned media pros: 

• Brand exposure: When earned media is displayed to viewers, it can result in conversation, cross-engagement, and word of mouth. Although the action of buying the product may not come immediately, it can lead to an interest in the brand and a purchase later on. 
• Trust: Earned media produces authentic endorsements from influencers who genuinely love a brand’s products or services. Because of this, viewers will form connections and develop confidence in the influencer’s recommendations. 
• Cost-effective: It is free or low cost to achieve earned media. It may take time, but if a product is truly that good, earned media will eventually surface at little to no cost. 

Earned media cons: 

• Lack of control: Earned media allows influencers to express how they truly feel about a product or service, but it may only sometimes be favorable to the brand. No brand can control the type of earned media it receives or what is said. 
• Challenging to obtain: Building authentic relationships with influencers can take time, resulting in a slower process. Your product must stand out from other products to achieve earned media, which can be difficult sometimes.  
• Difficult to measure: Earned media can appear on many different platforms, making it more difficult to measure overall success. 

Paid media pros: 

• Instant results: Brands can see quick results from paid media, such as website visits and social media interactions. The instant traffic and engagement contribute to a faster turnaround. 
• Measurable performance: Paid media can be easily tracked using metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates and return on ad spend. This allows brands to measure the success of a specific ad. 
• Targeted reach: Paid media allows brands to target the audience they want to reach. This ensures the ad reaches the target audience, which will interact with the brand. 

Paid media cons: 

• High-cost: Paid media can be an expensive method of advertising. The price breakdown depends on the platform type, target audience and placement of the ad.  
• Limited organic growth: Relying too heavily on paid media could affect the process of creating an authentic relationship with viewers, leading to missed opportunities. 
• Potential negative views: Viewers could view paid media as bad since they are less authentic. This can lead to distrust among consumers. 

But Which is the Best for You?

Making a clear decision on when to use earned and paid media can be challenging for brands. Earned media is a great way to build an authentic relationship with consumers, but you can’t plan when you will receive earned media. On the other hand, paid media allows brands to reach their target audience and drive sales, all while seeing almost instant results. Earned and paid media are two great strategies that all brands should incorporate in their marketing strategy. 

Understanding how earned and paid media work and the benefits and challenges associated with each is essential to any brand. Both strategies have pros that can benefit any brand. The key to a successful marketing plan is incorporating many different strategies to create a balanced plan.