Instagram Beauty Influencers in Action: The Success Story of Dear Doer in Russia
How Instagram influencers can drive brand awareness in Russia
Background
In March 2022, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation banned Instagram in Russia. This was a significant setback for advertisers, as it became impossible to run paid social from Russia via Instagram. Russian users also faced challenges, but they quickly adapted and connected to the social network via VPN. Despite the blockage, 22% of the Russian population (approximately 25 million people) aged 12 or older use Instagram at least once a month. These numbers were much higher—over 60 million people. Nevertheless, traffic is still significant, and the average user spends about 22 minutes on the platform. This is ample time to view content from acquaintances and advertisements. It's clear that Russian Instagram is still active, despite the ban. While precise targeting is lost, we know from experience that native promotion strategies are still effective.
Goal
The new Korean body care brand, Dear Doer, has recently launched in Russia. The client's main goal was to increase recognizability among Russian users. The brand's assortment is limited. The product line primarily consists of body scrubs. The bright design and affordable price point made these products ideal for promoting to young female consumers in Russia. Furthermore, the high demand for Korean cosmetics in Russia dates back to 2023. Therefore, the campaign was destined for success, despite limited budgets. The client wanted to "test the market" with a small budget and no big launch. And we succeeded.
Solution
Social Network Selection
We presented the client with two social networks that we knew would be perfect for promoting their product. We offered YouTube and Instagram as options.
We quickly identified relevant influencers for the campaign using our systematic approach to working with opinion leaders and our constantly updated database of bloggers across various market segments and social platforms popular in Russia and the CIS. The client received a list of 50 candidates suitable for advertising integration, complete with descriptions of their content characteristics and detailed profile analytics.
Our work revealed that Instagram would be the optimal choice for the client. This social network allows full publication of brand content. On YouTube, only short integrations within the author's main video content can be used. This will not suffice for the initial phase of promotion.
Furthermore, it is impossible to set up paid social on YouTube (Google Ads is not available in Russia) or Instagram (Meta and its products are recognized as extremist). These platforms are only used in Russia for native integrations with opinion leaders. We chose Instagram despite the common misconception that ads are inappropriate on a social network that requires a VPN to access. This is a false opinion, and the results of this campaign prove it. Let’s dive deeper into it.
Segmented Selection of Beauty Experts
We developed an Instagram strategy that capitalizes on current market trends. The campaign's key faces were macro Instagram Influencers dedicated to cosmetics, lifestyles, and beauty.
- @alinavalova.beautyblog (134K followers). Beauty mom and blogger Alina Valova publishes various beauty content and reviews products from marketplaces.
- @muamarisha (175K subscribers). Makeup artist Marina Orlova boldly proclaims the cult of beauty in everything she shares with her subscribers.
- @__cheapbeauty__ (73.4K subscribers). Blogger Dinara is a beautiful girlfriend to her audience. She provides valuable beauty tips and life hacks, as well as reviews on affordable cosmetics in a straightforward, ‘want/can afford’ style.
Blogger Cooperation and Content Strategy
Each blogger caters to a different demographic of women, but they all have one thing in common: an interest in cosmetics and body care products. This is how we segmented the potential audience. Next, we decided on the format of the cooperation.
Instagram Reels Video Content
A few years ago, stories and posts were the go-to formats for advertising. Now, reels are the way to go. It lets you reach a lot more people organically without any targeting tools.
A lot of blogger accounts are made up of nothing but vertical videos. Some create an entire series of Reels to motivate viewers to subscribe to the account. Reels with more views maximize organic reach and find new audiences.
We took this to heart and invited selected bloggers to shoot Reels about the brand's products without any restrictions on narration or the broadcast of a memorized text. The Influencer campaign was a resounding success, exceeding expectations and making a significant impact.
Legal Support
Russia introduced new provisions on the labeling of internet advertising into legislation in 2022. This includes bloggers, too. The ADO (Advertising Data Operator) is the name of the regulation. From our experience, it is clear that brands entering the Russian market are unaware of this aspect. It is an important part of the campaign, and non-compliance will be penalized.
Instagram is banned in Russia, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the labeling requirements for advertising. The RMAA team took full responsibility for this legislative task as part of the Dear Doer promotion. This frees the client and influencers from having to report on ADO. Without understanding the intricacies of the process, they would have been unable to undertake it on their own.
Results
The Dear Doer Instagram campaign was launched in May 2024, and after only three months, the advertising content was gaining views and likes. Users were actively sharing Reels with their friends and acquaintances. Furthermore, blogger Marina Orlova was so pleased with the brand's products that she created an additional video post on her Muamarisha VK Community.
The client was delighted with the result of our work. We've got another successful case to show for our efforts. It confirms that Instagram* is popular and effective in Russia, despite being officially banned.
