Beauty gurus on YouTube share reviews and tutorials about makeup, hair, and fashion products. They have become an influential online community. This document discusses how one wig company, RPGShow, targets beauty gurus by sending them free wigs to review on their YouTube channels. While this provides free marketing for RPGShow, most gurus see their reviews as a public service rather than an advertisement. Their motivation is to educate viewers rather than gain compensation. The popularity and personality of the gurus influences how many subscribers and positive comments they receive. Most gurus also use other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to engage their audience.

1. Bryce Douvier
Heather Garcia
Mike Jackson
YouTube Community – “Beauty
Guru”

2. Beauty Guru’s are an online community that
share review video’s on make-up, hair
products, fashion, and the current rage – hair
weaves and wigs via the online media site
YouTube. Dubbed “Guru” for their vast
knowledge on these fashion aspects.
Who Are They?

3. On YouTube
“Youth has helped create a phenomenon that now
operates in 43 countries in 60 languages, and in
2011 attracted more than 1 trillion viewers, which
is 140 views for every person on the planet .
When YouTube began in 2005, who could have
foreseen what a complex, socially significant
operation it would so quickly become?”
(Duncum,
2014)

4. The Guru’s we targeted were contacted by a
wig manufacturer, RPGShow, who reached
out to random Beauty Reviewers who
broadcast on YouTube to rate, comment, and
provide tutorials on their product.
How Are Guru’s Targeted?

5. RPGShow offers their targeted individuals
free wigs to provide their honest opinions.
These units aren’t inexpensive, the
average wig on the RPGShow website
costs in the $350 price range.
However, no financial compensation is
given for the Guru’s participation.
Free Marketing?

6. According to an interview conducted via email with
an RPGShow customer service representative:
“With the age that we are currently in, why not use
social
media as the sole driving force behind marketing?
More people
are on computers these days than in front of their
televisions, so
it just made sense.”
(Tanaka,

7. RPGShow only uses social media as their
marketing.
While many entities are still utilizing television and
radio to sale their merchandising, RPGShow is a
company who’s sole way of broadcasting their
product it through internet technology.

8. Other companies are starting to catch on to this
exact maneuver, as online marketing is quickly
being determined as a low-cost endeavor that
reaches our vast
“Facebook generation.”
(Saxena,
2013)

9. A questionnaire was sent to each
YouTube Guru viewed online. The
questionnaire consisted of five questions
posed to the Guru.
Interviewing Process

10. The Questions
1. What motivated you to become active in posting beauty
reviews and tutorials on YouTube?
2. How were you approached about doing a review for
RPGShow?
3. Are you being compensated for your RPGShow review?
4. Do you consider your review more a public service or an
advertisement?
5. Has doing your RPGShow review increased traffic to
your YouTube channel?
6. How do you see your YouTube functioning alongside
your other social media profiles, such as Instagram,
Twitter, Facebook, etc.?

11. In a Guru’s own Words
“ …I didn’t start my channel as a business or as a “great
famous” thing…I don’t really promote my channel on
the rest of my social media. I like to keep my Facebook
page private, and not necessarily everyone in my
personal life needs to know that I have a cyber life to
this extent Haha. If they happen to find me , then I am
willing to share. I share a little more on instagram but I
still never actually push my videos. This is not to say
that other social media outlets wouldn’t be useful in
growing my viewership or numbers but I guess like I
said before my motive was never having a large
following. I don’t even like proclaiming myself as a
“guru” because I am not sure of such credentials being
tacked on to me? It started as documenting my hair
journey and I enjoy sharing with other people who are
in similar situation and providing helpful information.

12. The Data

13.  Guru’s were rated on their personality,
commercial appearance, and relate-ability on a
scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.
 The ratings coincided with the guru’s YouTube
popularity. Those which were considered highly
personable and relatable by the group members
had the most positive comments, high rates, and
subscribers.

14. Data (cont’d)
19
19
19
15
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Google +
Guru's Social Media Accounts Usage

15. Of the Guru’s interviewed, all Guru’s admitted to
utilizing various other forms of social media, chief
among them were Facebook, InstaGram, Twitter,
and Google Plus. The pie chart shows the
percentage of Guru’s which use each outlet.

16. Data (cont’d)
4
10
5
Being
Compensated
Not Interested
in
Compensation
Thought They
Should be
Compensated
Monetary Gain

17. Of the Guru’s interviewed, only a few saw
themselves as “advertisers.” The main goal of
most of the community was to educate and aid
viewers by providing reviews and tips.
The pie chart shows those who were currently
being
compensated (via traffic inducing revenue provided
by YouTube,
NOT RPGShow), those who felt they deserved
“more than just
a wig” for their time, and those who were in no way

18. Data (cont’d)
0
3.8
7.6
11.4
15.2
19
Public Service Advertisers
14
5
Public Service vs. Advertisers
Responders (Guru's)
Number
of
People

19. The previous slide shows that the majority of Guru’s
felt that performing their public service was
satisfaction enough.

20. Final Thoughts
The YouTube online Beauty Guru community held
strong community ties to one another. Of the 54
videos reviewed, about half of the Guru’s included
another Guru reference within their video, be it
paying homage to a technique learned, where the
viewer could find more information on what was
being reviewed, or for just a community “shout
out.”

21. “Communities are the building blocks of greater
society, and the development of new technologies
has lead to a re-evaluation of the ways in which
communities are formed and how they function.”
(Muller,
A 2011)

22. Annotated Bibliography
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Dickey, M. R. (2014, February 15). The 22 key turning points in the history of
YouTube.Business Insider. March 29, 2014. http://www.businessinsider.com.
Duncum, P. (2014). Youth on Youtube as smart swarms. Art Education, 67(2),
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e356bb4-473d-4d7d-928b
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Muller, A. (2011). Virtual communities and translation into physical reality in the
'It GetsBetter' project. Journal of Media Practice, 12(3), 269-277.
Saxena, A. (2013). Advertising on social network sites: a structural equation
modelling approach. The Journal of Business Perspective. Vol 17 no. 1 17-25
Tanaka, E. (2014, March 20). Email Interview.
Vertolli, F. (2014. January 10). Online video vs. television – advertising in the
digital age.HospitalityNet. http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4063560.html
Wei, W. (2010). How to become the next YouTube star making $100,000 Plus
Per Year.Business Insider. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-on-youtube-2010-