The Content Women Really Want
It’s the age of the female entrepreneur
Since the beginning of time, content aimed at women has focused on outward appearance: beauty, makeup, fashion and other traditionally ‘feminine’ topics.
When YouTube first entered the world, this type of content became more amplified and accessible to women across the world.
For more than a decade now, women have been filming makeup tutorials and fashion hauls in their bedrooms and uploading them online. A beauty and fashion community with humble beginnings has since evolved into a billion-dollar influencing machine.
Who could have predicted in 2005 that this type of content would go on to dominate the conversations women engage with online?
These days, the beauty and fashion industry is bigger than ever and doesn’t show signs of stopping.
Yet simultaneously, new niches in female-led content are starting to dominate the conversation. And they’re worth paying attention to.
New Directions in Content
With audiences growing tired of the same ‘Get ready with me’ fashion and beauty videos, creators in this space are having to reinvent themselves and look for new niches to keep their viewers engaged.
So, which direction are these beauty and fashion gurus moving towards?
There are several, but the most dominant new niche has become business, entrepreneurialism and personal finance aimed at women.
An industry that has until now been male-dominated, by the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk, Tony Robbins, Dave Ramsey and other motivational life and money coaches, is now being taken over by women with ties to the YouTube beauty and fashion communities.
Crazy, I know!
Though this may seem like an unexpected direction to stem from beauty and fashion, consider that many of these influencers have amassed substantial wealth and business experience and want to share their learnings with their audience.
They are no longer limited to just clothing and makeup, but are building sustainable brands and venturing into entrepreneurialism, investing and long-term ventures
So why not take their audiences along for the journey?
Influencers Getting Down To Business
No one is denying that pretty packaging and cute clothes have their time and place in every girl’s life, but after years of being bombarded with this content, audience tastes are shifting towards something more than just skin deep.
This has led to a slow yet steady rise of lifestyle content that teaches women to be financially knowledgeable, business savvy and in charge of their lives.
Just look at the rise of the ‘What I spend in a week’ trend, where women in different cities across the world document where their money goes.
It is clear that content creators are ready to switch things up and find a greater purpose in the work they do. Likewise, their audiences seem to be enjoying this shift in direction.
Let’s look at some examples of this trend in action.
Patricia Bright: From Beauty to Finance Guru
Patricia Bright is a great example of someone who started out in the YouTube beauty world, but has recently shifted directions.
With the launch of her new channel, The Break, she is creating content aimed at helping women invest in their futures, become more business savvy and gain financial independence.
Patricia’s goal is to get young women to invest in themselves and not to live above their means, despite the industry she works in traditionally selling expensive and frivolous products to women.
Patricia is a great role model for women who are just starting their careers and investment journeys, because she continues to be humble and empowers women to create their own success.
Zoella and Michelle Phan: Influencers Turned Moguls
Two other women who made it big in beauty on YouTube are Zoella (Zoe Sugg) and Michelle Phan.
If you were a girl on YouTube in the 2010s, you know exactly who I’m talking about. They were the most popular beauty YouTubers of their time, and we can learn a lot from these women by looking at their long career histories.
Zoe and Michelle used beauty and makeup as a stepping stone to build their brands, and now both own and operate multi-million-dollar empires.
Showing young girls that you can be more than just a pretty girl on camera speaks volumes for what the next generation will grow up to become.
Aja Dang: Putting Her Student Loans to Work
Another beauty-guru-turned-entrepreneur is Aja Dang.
Aja didn’t have the best money mindset going into college, and she graduated with $200,000 in student loans. So what’s a girl to do but start making videos about it?
At the time, Aja couldn’t have known how much her viewers would love learning about her finances and witnessing the emotional ups and downs of paying off debt.
However, just like how clothing hauls let viewers live vicariously through the content creator, Aja’s budgeting and finance videos did the same for her viewers on a more serious topic.
Over the course of two years Aja took her audience on a debt payment journey, inviting them to see all the ups and downs she faced.
Watching her road to financial freedom opened a much deeper and more authentic conversation with her viewers, probably more than any fashion haul ever could.
Indeed, Aja found a deeper purpose by going down this route, and now works on projects outside of fashion and beauty to help women deal with their debt.
Jeffree Star: Honorable Mention
Even Jeffree Star, for all the drama that surrounds him, initially didn’t think the business side of his brand would interest viewers.
However, last year he and Shane Dawson filmed an entire documentary series about the creative and business sides of developing a makeup collection, which saw record views from their audience.
Big Media Gets In on the Action
Even large media conglomerates want a slice of the money pie. Just look at Refinery29’s money diaries and Glamour magazine’s money tours if you need further proof.
It’s as though looking at people’s credit card statements has become the new ‘What’s in my bag’ video.
Once big corporates begin producing content dedicated to this niche, you know this trend is here to stay.
In Conclusion
Suffice to say, this is an exciting time for digital media.
Beauty and fashion will always be fun, but content creators are starting to see they can have a bigger impact by talking about the role entrepreneurialism and personal finance can play in women’s lives.
You better believe this isn’t your accountant’s boring finance blog! Content creators and audiences alike are ready to talk about more important issues relating to women.
No doubt viewers will continue to engage with makeup and fashion videos, but they are also making space for new creators whose content is focused on business and finance for the working gal.
Women are beginning to engage with content on self-improvement, gaining wealth and financial health, and things beyond just the materialistic stuff, which is a beautiful thing to see.
And rightly so, because women deserve to not only look and feel great on the outside, but to be great in their careers and lives too.
