This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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When the pandemic hit, Matt Newman, like many hairstylists, found himself at home unoccupied. Eventually, though, he took his expertise to TikTok — and today, he has 2.4 million followers on the platform and another 1.2 million on Instagram.
Regularly working with brands like Tresemmé, he’s known for both his tutorials and his takes on viral trends and hacks. But what he is most proud of in his four years of content creation is simply teaching people how to do their hair, he said. “The thing people tell me when I meet my internet friends in real life, is, ‘You taught me how to blowdry my hair.’ That’s my biggest accomplishment — and it’s not always my most viral content, but it’s my most meaningful content. It’s empowering to know how to fall in love with your own hair in your bathroom, with the stuff you already own.”
On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Newman discusses the value of educational content, the power of creating with brand partnership opportunities in mind and the reason he’s not creating tons of TikTok Shop-forward content.
Below are highlights from the episode, which have been lightly edited for clarity.
On building a following via educational content
“I think a big part of [how I gained such a large following so fast] is that I’m educating people, and so I’m able to pull people in who are just interested in learning about hair care, even more so than just interested in learning about me. When you take on a topic that is like a give-back, you’re able to build faster. I’m not necessarily getting people to click ‘follow’ because they’re so curious about how I’m making my banana oatmeal in the morning. They want to know about hair. So there’s potential for a big audience when you go for that educational point of view.”
On creating content with brand opportunities in mind
“I thought to myself when I was making some of my early videos, ‘You know, I’d love to work with the brands that I love.’ I want to make videos where a brand person could say, ‘Oh, I’d love to have that, but with my product in his hand.’ So, I did keep that in mind. I thought, ‘Let me keep this a thing where it’s educational and it would be beneficial for brands to work with me.’ I started seeing opportunities come in relatively quick. The first brand deal I ever had was Birchbox Men’s, and they paid me to show what was inside a subscription box.”
On how TikTok Shop has changed the app
“I struggle with filling my content with shoppable links. Even as a stylist in the salons, I used to get in trouble for not selling enough product. I never worked in a salon where I didn’t get spoken to about my retail numbers sucking. I’m not a big salesperson. I’m an educator. And, there is room for people to use all kinds of products. … So it translates into my content that TikTok Shop is not a natural progression for me, and that’s OK. You don’t have to use it. You really don’t. … I have been chugging along the last two years of TikTok Shop without really making it a regular part of my content strategy, and it has not affected me one bit. So I adore that.”