Google is the New Dermatologist. Here’s How Skincare Brands Can Make the Most of It

Consumers’ New Dermatologist? Google.

Consumers are not shy to express even their most personal problems on Google. In 2019, every month there were on average over 7.7 million English searches globally related specifically to skincare concerns, such as “eye bags,” “wrinkles,” and “erythema” among others.

In 2019, the three most-searched skincare related concerns in were:

• Acne +3.2M searches per month
• Blackheads +1.7M searches per month
• Eye bags +970k searches per month

Consumers are literally using Google as their dermatologist by asking questions related to intimate skincare problems.

Search Enables Identification of Upcoming and Growing Concerns

Skincare brands should proactively identify and anticipate their consumers’ needs in order to be able to put in place the necessary product and merchandising strategies to address them. With a true consumer-centric approach, skincare brands can leverage their positioning and increase long-term customer loyalty.

The top five growing skincare related concerns among consumers:

Brands Play An Important Role in Today’s Society

In these challenging times, it’s more crucial than ever for brands to listen to what consumers want and need. We’ve been seeing great examples of skincare brands such as Estée Lauder, Clarins, L’Occitane and L’Oréal, taking action to help communities,

However, brands don’t need to wait for a crisis in order to help. They can provide assistance to their consumers in everyday life as many of them turn to search looking for help all year long.

By looking at search insights, skincare brands can identify what their consumers’ concerns are and invest massively in content that will provide meaningful assistance during all moments.

What Should Skincare Brands Do?

Our search results analysis has shown us that most of these queries are addressed by publishers’ websites, such as Healthline.com and Allure.com, or even the well-known Mayoclinic.org. This leaves a huge opportunity for skincare brands to either create strategic partnerships with these websites, or surpass them at SEO (Search Experience Optimisation).

Be Helpful, Show Up and Wise Up

Brands should identify consumers’ needs and create helpful content to ensure that they’ll be there for them in their time of need.

Search experience optimisation can help you:

1. Use search insights to inform your content strategy
   Assess all the questions people are asking for a specific topic, and what they are expecting as a result.
2. Make sure your content is user-friendly, easily accessible and easily readable
   Don’t forget that content is not only the copy– it can be videos, infographics, podcasts and more.
3. Maximise your visibility, be there when they need you
   Keep your content updated and amplify it through paid search.

To access the part 1.2 of the “Category Search of The Online State Of Skincare Brands” report, download the report via the link below.

Cover image credit: L’Oreal.