From Beauty Blogger to Social Media & Influencer Director: Kristine’s Journey and Insights at RoC

Ever wonder how a beauty blogger transforms into leading social media & influencer teams for major beauty brands?

I had the absolute privilege to sit down with Kristine Ayala , the Director of Social Media & Influencers at RoC Skincare . With over 13 years in the beauty and marketing industry, Kristine’s journey is truly fascinating. From her early days working at Sephora to starting a successful beauty blog, she has worked with top brands like L’OCCITANE Group , Ouidad , Movado Group, Inc . Now, she's spearheading social media and influencer strategies at incredibly fast-growing beauty company RoC.

Kristine shared her thoughts on how social media is changing, why being real matters in influencer marketing, and much more!

So Kristine, you have been in the beauty and marketing space for over 13 years. What got you into social and influencer marketing to begin with? Also, congrats on the recent promotion!        

Kristine: Thank you so much! My background started in beauty retail. Throughout college, I worked at SEPHORA and fell in love with all aspects of the beauty world – makeup, skincare, and fragrance. During this time, blogs were becoming big, so I decided to start my own beauty blog, which ended up being very successful. Brands started contacting me for help with their marketing strategies, and I realized quickly this could be a full-time career.

Over the last decade, I've worked with brands like L’OCCITANE Group , Ouidad , Movado Group, Inc , helping them build their social media and influencer strategies. I'm currently the Director of Social Media & Influencers at RoC Skincare.

What has been the biggest change you've seen in the social media space?        

Kristine: Social media is always evolving. When I started, it was mostly Twitter and Facebook. Then it moved to Instagram with a focus on imagery, and now it's all about video. The biggest shift has been from long-form content like YouTube to short-form, and now back to long-form for more educational content, plus the rise of AI.

Let's talk more about AI and CGI. How do you think it will change content creation?        

Kristine: AI and CGI bring new content types and opportunities. At RoC, we’ve started to explore what partnerships in these spaces could look like. You probably have seen this type of content on your favorite brands profiles, but may or may not have realized it was CGI or AI. Some are easy to spot while others you can’t even tell. We always need more content quickly, so we will see how this changes the content space as a whole. I’m excited to see how it evolves in the near future.?

Shifting gears, what are your thoughts on influencers versus UGC?        

Kristine: They go hand in hand and you need both for a successful marketing strategy. We have seen a rise in UGC creators on social media. Since you don’t necessarily need a strong following to be a UGC creator, brands are tapping into talent to create branded UGC. This is where Kale is very helpful! You can partner with consumers to create content for products they already love and it feels super authentic since they already own the product.

Influencer relationships are also a huge part of RoC’s strategy. We focus on partnering with authentic influencers who genuinely use and like our products before promoting them. Authenticity is crucial in marketing. You’ll hear this at every conference and from every marketer, but it’s extremely important to focus on authenticity when choosing the right partners.???

RoC has a pretty high community engagement rate on Kale, 3-4x more than influencer content. How do you keep your community so engaged?        

Kristine: RoC has been around since 1957, creating a loyal community. Most people discover RoC because their parents used it, so now millennials and Gen Z are familiar with the brand. This generational trust makes us almost a word-of-mouth brand within families. You’ll hear about RoC from a trusted source or discover our products for the first time via our digital campaigns. Either way, consumers know our products are clinically-proven and backed by dermatologists, reinforcing this trust. People know RoC works and love it, making it easy for them to create genuine content.

You guys are also crushing it with the retail content. How has it been seeing all the retail content?        

Kristine: Seeing the retail content on Kale has been super interesting. It's my favorite part of Kale! We already know consumers love to see the product in person but now we can see how they experience the product in-store!?

I love how quickly we can create campaigns to support our retailers, driving traffic and making people aware that RoC is available at all your favorite retailers – 塔吉特百货 , 沃尔玛 , Ulta Beauty , and more! It’s perfect for reminding everyone where they can find us and showing some love to our retail partners. Plus, with so many people shopping online, it’s great to see consumers showing off their local stores.

What’s your perspective on TikTok SEO??        

Kristine: TikTok continues to dominate and now serves as a major search tool, much like Google. It’s a mix of entertainment and education, keeping users engaged. It is essential for brands to think about TikTok SEO to make content more discoverable and continue to increase views, likes and followers. People use TikTok to find products and recommendations, so we make sure to focus on skincare words that relate to the brand. Our Kale hashtag #RoCResults is a great example of another way we ensure our content is easily searchable and found on the platform.

What has been the most surprising thing about Kale?        

Kristine: Honestly, when I first started with Kale, I was concerned our consumer might not be using it yet since it’s such a new platform. But overnight, we had hundreds of videos with amazing engagement. It’s exciting to see how many people are using the platform and creating videos about RoC.?

Kale saves a ton of time, it's efficient and easy to use, which is perfect for our busy schedules. Overall, Kale has helped us increase UGC and we’re happy with our results!?

Last question, what's a social media brand you currently admire or find interesting?        

Kristine: I've been obsessed with celebrity makeup artist brands recently. I’m huge fans of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty , Patrick Ta Beauty , MAKEUP BY MARIO and Danessa Myricks Beauty . They have a great mix of consumer and luxury branding, and the founders are super involved. They use their own products and are really hands-on, which makes them feel more trustworthy.

You can follow along on Kristine's journey here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/kristineayala/