Beauty Influencers - US - April 2021
Overview
 
What you need to know 
COVID-19 has accelerated the divide of the social media landscape. With consumers spending more time at home and online, engagement across social media platforms has increased and the role of beauty influencers has never been stronger. However, the highly sensitized events over the past year has seen more influencer and brand “call outs” than ever before. Brands must continue to adapt to new and emerging social media platforms and evolve influencer strategies to ensure successful communication. 

Key issues covered in this Report
●	The crucial role beauty influencers play in product discovery
●	How communication strategies need to evolve to keep up with shifting beauty ideals
●	The blurring of physical and digital lives and what it means for the industry

Definition 
The term “influencer” can encompass many different personalities and accounts on social media. For the purposes of this Report, a beauty influencer is defined as a person or social media account consisting of beauty-related content that has a following beyond their personal network. A follower is a social media user who follows influencer accounts.

COVID-19: US context 
The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the US in January 2020. It was declared a global health pandemic and national emergency in early March 2020. Across the US, various stay-at-home orders were put in place in Spring 2020, and nonessential businesses and school districts closed or shifted to remote operations. The remainder of 2020 saw rolling orders, as states and local governments relaxed and reinforced guidelines according to the spread of the virus in each region.

Vaccine roll-out began in December 2020. Based on current estimates of vaccine production and distribution, the US could reach herd immunity, with 70-85% of the population vaccinated, by late Summer to early Fall 2021. Mintel anticipates business operations in the US will remain in a state of flux through 2021 as the vaccine is widely administered.

Vaccine distribution began in December, 2020, and it is expected take anywhere from July to December 2021 for 70-90% of the population to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. Mintel anticipates business operations in the US will remain in a state of flux through 2021 as the vaccine is widely administered.