Tarte Cosmetics is notorious for their over-the-top brand trips. Previously, the make up brand has paid for influencers to travel on international vacations to promote new product launches. On February 29, influencers from all over the US embarked on a trip to Bora Bora with Tarte. Oh, and must I mention, they all flew privately!

Tarte’s Trip History

In 2023, Tarte Cosmetics paid for 50 influencers from all over to globe to travel to Dubai. The entire group resided in private villas at the Ritz Carlton during the duration of their stay. The company experienced extreme backlash for being extremely frivolous, despite the current economic state. How did they respond? By putting together a bigger and more expensive trip to Bora Bora. of course!

What’s To Come in Bora Bora

On February 29, Tik Tok was flooded with content showing influencers boarding numerous private jets at LAX. These jets were filled to the brim with ‘Trip with Tarte’ branded merchandise as well as champagne and caviar. Immediately, the brand began to receive backlash from the public, specifically regarding the brand’s environmental ignorance. It is quite surprising a brand is utilizing private travel, especially after the Taylor Swift private plane incident earlier this year. However, Tarte loves creating an identity of luxury and abundance!

How Tarte Responds

Maureen Kelly, CEO and Founder of Tarte Cosmetics, responds to backlash by saying that these luxurious trips are mutually beneficial to both brands and influencers. She mentions how the trips create a relaxed environment where influencers can fall in love with their products!

In the past couple of years, many brand and influencers have used ‘giveaways’ on Instagram. These giveaways aim to boost the creators following while simultaneously promoting products. Although these giveaways can help businesses and influencers gain a following, they can have negative effects. Continue reading to learn more about promotional giveaways to see if one could benefit your account or business!

What is an Instagram giveaway?

An Instagram giveaway is a short-term promotion which followers enter with hopes of winning a product or experience. For example, a hotel could giveaway a free night at their property to a follower who reposts and likes their content. These promotions encourage follower engagement, which in turn can lead to an increase in sales or profit in the future.

In the picture below, you can se Shea moistures 2018 giveaway in collaboration with the New Voices Fund. This giveaway aimed to promote new holiday themed products while also teaming up with Melissa Butler.

What are the pros of Instagram giveaways?

• Increased amount of followers: many giveaways require anyone who enters to follow the account in order to win.
• More follower engagement: followers will like and share the post.
• Brand awareness: more people can come into contact with giveaway promotional posts because others share them.

And, the cons?

• Increased amount of short term followers: many people will unfollow accounts after the giveaway ends.
• Upset followers: in some cases followers will become upset if they do not win.

It is no doubt that social media usage can lead to a decline in the user’s mental health. Although many of these platforms intend to foster connections, many times they do the opposite. With a rise in social media usage worldwide, we have also seen the number of people diagnosed with depression skyrocket.

Social media audiences keep getting younger and younger

According to ConsumerNotice.org, ‘teens make up the largest audiences on some of the social media platforms’ (see article here). Millions of teenagers consume content daily that is not suited for their age. Spending hours upon hours on social media as an adolescent can lead to a plethora of negative side effects. As the audiences of these platforms get younger, more and more adolescents experience negative effects that can manifest in depression.

Suicide rates continue to climb

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the second most common cause of deaths for 10-24 (see article here). Therefore, as the number of teens using social media increases, so does the number of suicide attempts. CNBC reported that youth suicide rates have increased a drastic 62% from 2007 to 2021 (see article here). The increase in number of suicides is mostly credited to depression caused by social media, leading to the isolation of adolescents.

What you can do to help

There are many resources available for adolescents experiencing social media caused depression. If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of ending their life, text the Suicide and Crisis Hotline 988 to speak with someone today.

The humble beginnings…

Video sharing platform TikTok decided to take a dive into the e-commerce world in September 2023. They launched a brand new app feature: TikTok Shop. In short, this feature allows consumers to shop featured products directly on the platform. The hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt immediately became trending on the app. TikTok previously stated that this feature “empowers brands and creators to connect with highly-engaged costumers based

How to shop on TikTok:

On the TikTok app, there is now a designated ‘Shop Tag’ for users who want to browse and search for products. The ‘Shop’ tab allows businesses to showcase their products in a way that is similar to their website. This tab also allows consumers to manage their previous orders, save favorites, and claim coupons. This tab streamlines the use of the shopping features within the app, not requiring consumers to download another platform.

Is it safe?

One of the main concerns regarding TikTok shop is the safety and authenticity of the products for sale. Consumers question the products offered after seeing the extremely cheap prices compared to other websites where these products can be purchased. TikTok has made many public statements regarding the safety of the check out process on the app, but has neglected to speak about the products themselves. Also, age-restricted items are for sale on TikTok shop without any verification of eligibility. This means underage kids can order vapes without having to prove they are 21 years old!

Other TikTok Shop concerns

The United States government continues to be weary of TikTok as a national security threat. The app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, causing Americans to fear this company will use TikTok to spy on Americans. Many are concerned that through the process of purchasing products on Tik Tok shop, their personal details will be compromised.

Dove and Duolingo set a high precedent in the social media advertising landscape.

Wow, what a year! From spy balloons to a new country added into NATO (yay, Finland!) 2023 was memorable for many reasons. The year, however, was not just memorable politically. The social media realm experienced a 7.07% increase in active users when compared to 2022. With the emergence of new users across various platforms, brands have continued to hone in on social media as their main platform for advertising. Among all of the different social media campaigns this past year, two major brand’s creative sides shined brightly: Duolingo and Dove.

Duolingo sat back quietly while Netflix got publicly shamed about their new password sharing ban. Instead of joining Netflix in their quest to get more money, they decided to implement their ‘Duolingo Adoption Center’ campaign. This campaign originally debuted on Instagram in September 2023, receiving praise from over 13,000 people. The campaign allows users who are subscribed to Duolingo with a family plan to ‘adopt’ other users across the platform to fill the unused spots on their plans. Duolingo’s successful social media campaign allows those who can afford the platform to share this luxury to those who cannot. How genius!

Dove is no stranger to the social media campaign hall of fame. Thus, the brand has had an extremely strong social media presence since the beginning of social media advertising. In 2023, Dove debuted their ‘Detox your Feed‘ campaign which encouraged parents to help set a positive tone on their children’s social media feeds regarding body image. This campaign motivated parents of teens and teens to unfollow toxic creators, recognize unhealthy beauty advice, and much more. The campaign urged consumers to post their tips on creating a healthy social media environment with the hashtag #DetoxYourFeed.

Both Duolingo and Dove set an extremely high precedent for other brands utilizing social media for advertising!

Instagram stories are a dynamic tool which allow users to participate in polls, initiate direct conversation with creators, and much more. The use of stories has increased drastically in the last couple of years. Today, over 500 million people use Instagram stories on a daily basis. Understanding how to effectively use Instagram stories to promote a brand and boost overall engagement is essential in the current media landscape. Listed below are some ideas on how to make Instagram Stories your brand’s newest asset!

1. Reposting tagged posts is essential when using Instagram stories. This way followers can read testimonials, reviews, or engage with lifestyle content regarding your brand. Also, reposting tagged posts is a great tool to boost your number of posts without spamming your followers. Next time you see a positive post that tags you, re share it on your Instagram story!
2. Including polls and voting tools on your Instagram stories can give your brand life. Create a fun ‘this or that’ game to boost follower engagement! Consumers see so much content daily, why not make yours fun? Learn more about creating polls on Instagram stories here.

3. Showcase new products, arrivals, or events on your Instagram stories. Many brands do not use Instagram stories enough to show specific products. This is a loss because showcasing specific products by inserting product links can increase website traffic.One of the beautiful things about stories is that you can add links to your website so that followers can shop directly from your story! This is a great way to streamline the online shopping process.

To learn more about utilizing Instagram stories to boost engagement, click here.