Beauty’s 15 Biggest Brands by Engagement on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
A mini-fridge filled to the brim with honey-infused hair products. The #FineMenUseTopicals hashtag, adopted by social media’s favorite male style influencers and “Love Island” stars. A compilation of Glossier employees reading Balm Dotcom hate comments to announce the return of the beloved OG formula. Sol de Janeiro (full stop).
Such are just a few of the moments that have captured social media’s attention in recent months, propelling beauty’s buzziest brands — including Gisou, Glossier and more — to new heights.
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According to social media marketing platform Dash Hudson’s first-half 2024 benchmarking report, which assessed brands’ engagement levels across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, the trend toward entertainment-focused content has led to a boost in engagement rates on both TikTok and Instagram.
When it comes to average reach, TikTok has officially caught up to Instagram Reels — lagging only four percentage points behind when it comes to short-form video. Still in its relative infancy, YouTube Shorts lags behind both in reach, but is growing rapidly, with average views increasing 153 percent versus six months ago.
According to the report, Sol de Janeiro is the only beauty brand which ranks among the top five by engagement on all three platforms. This is in part thanks to its alignment with several of beauty’s most notable “booms” of late (body care, Gen Alpha, gourmand scents and fragrance mists). Other repeat winners include K-beauty OG Laneige and Negin Mirsalehi’s Gisou, both top performers on TikTok and Instagram.
On Instagram, engagement is still mainly driven by static or carousel posts, according to the report. This finding tracks among most of the platform’s heaviest hitters, though clean hair care brand Dae stands out for its Reels-led approach, with its Reels seeing a 13.4 percent engagement rate, versus the 0.9 percent engagement rate of its static posts. This can in part be explained by the wider reach of its hair styling and care video tutorials, as is often the case with hair care brands.
When it comes to TikTok viewer retention rate, Gisou nets out at 41 percent, beating out the industry average of 28 percent thanks to a diverse content approach which spans behind-the-scenes beekeeping, product-adjacent mood boards and more. While skin care brand Topicals doesn’t crack the top-five ranking by TikTok engagement, it ties with Sol de Janeiro by viewer retention on the platform at 38 percent.
The brand has benefited over the last year from its recruitment of “Love Island” audience-favorite cast members — including the viral U.S. iteration’s most recent winners, Serena Page and Kordell Beckham — as ambassadors.
The top five beauty brands on TikTok by engagement rate during the first half of 2024, per Dash Hudson. (Industry average: 4 percent).
1. Glossier
Engagement rate: 10.4 percent
Average video views: 110,400
2. Gisou
Engagement rate: 9.2 percent
Average video views: 294,700
3. Tatcha
Engagement rate: 8.9 percent
Average video views: 35,800
4. Sol de Janeiro
Engagement rate: 8.8 percent
Average video views: 943,700
5. Byoma
Engagement rate: 7.7 percent
Average video views: 97,000
The top five beauty brands by Instagram engagement rate. (Industry average: 0.2 percent).
1. Dae
Overall engagement rate: 4.9 percent
Reels engagement: 13.4 percent
Static/carousel post engagement: 0.9 percent
2. Laneige Canada
Overall engagement rate: 2.6 percent
Reels engagement: 3 percent
Static/carousel post engagement: 1.8 percent
3. Sol de Janeiro
Overall engagement rate: 2.5 percent
Reels engagement: 1.4 percent
Static/carousel post engagement: 2.9 percent
4. Gisou
Overall engagement rate: 2.1 percent
Reels engagement: 2 percent
Static/carousel post engagement: 2.3 percent
5. Starface
Overall engagement rate: 1.5 percent
Reels engagement: 1.7 percent
Static/carousel post engagement: 1.3 percent
The top five beauty brands by YouTube Shorts views. (Industry average: 47,700).
1. Laneige U.S.
Average views: 482,800
Average likes: 23,400
2. Truly Beauty
Average views: 405,100
Average likes: 12,000
3. Glow Recipe
Average views: 181,700
Average likes: 8,200
4. Ulta Beauty
Average views: 153,600
Average likes: 1,400
5. Sol de Janeiro
Average views: 129,500
Average likes: 3,400
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