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Releasing a new campaign for Zara to come back at the bad press for their poor sizing articles, and come together with raw photographer Anastasia Pottinger who will capture the beauty of age in a new collection release both e-commerce and offline in an updated range named ‘Zara X’ (generation X aimed target clientele).

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Knowing how their target audience use imagery to detect the direction of the campaign, gaining recognition from website factors and in store photography billboard visual merchandising. This gets people talking.

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Good press
Higher intake in sales
New target market
Gap in the market
Brand extension
Chance to expand
Social engagement
Noticing to customer needs
Easy name campaign

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The potential to expand into menswear as well as possible skincare and beauty range for the older face demographic. A high street retailer has not yet tested the waters with enough for this specific body change in women.

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Photographer Reveals What The Human Body Looks Like At Age 100+

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Raw black and white imagery capturing the beauty of age (fine lines, wrinkles, body changes physical aspects)

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When we think of human beauty, most of us think of someone young and sexy and in their low to mid 20s. But photographer Anastasia Pottinger makes a strong case for the idea that someone over 100 years of age can also be beautiful in her beautiful and fittingly named “Centenarians” photo series.

Surprisingly, the idea for this photo series came when Pottinger was approached by a 101-year old woman who wanted to be photographed in the nude. The only condition – that she couldn’t be identified from the photos. The black and white photos that they created are undeniably beautiful, and seem to encapsulate the hallmarks of old age – wisdom, patience, time, experience, and yes, mortality.

“The response to the images has been remarkable,” writes Pottinger on her website. “Viewers are visibly moved by what they are looking at. Whether it’s wondering, ‘is this what I’m going to look like?’ or remembering a loved one – the response seems to be universally emotional on some level.”

Source: anastasiapottingerphotography.com | Facebook (via: lostateminor)

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Photographer Reveals What The Human Body Looks Like At Age 100+

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When we think of human beauty, most of us think of someone young and sexy and in their low to mid 20s. But photographer Anastasia Pottinger makes a strong case for the idea that someone over 100 years of age can also be beautiful in her beautiful and fittingly named “Centenarians” photo series. Surp…

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Marcinson Press | Indie Authors. Fresh Ideas.

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Anastasia Pottinger is a professional portrait photographer and founder of Rogue Studios. She has pursued her passion for photography since she was eight years old, when her parents handed her her very first camera, a Kodak 110, which she used to document her first solo trip to visit her grandparents in Georgia.

Pottinger burst on the national and international scene when her black and white portrait series of people a hundred years old and up ‘went viral’ and was featured on thousands of websites and in publications around the globe, including CNN and Bored Panda. Later, the series grew and became “100: What Time Creates” published by Marcinson Press.

Originally daunted by the prospect of being an artist, in college Pottinger focused on her other passion, early childhood education. She earned her degree in Family Studies with an emphasis in child development. After the advent of digital cameras and the birth of her first son, Pottinger returned to her first love – photography –  and four years later, opened her studio.

Pottinger has won numerous local, regional, and international awards for her photographs, most notably second and third place in the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards Nude and Figure category, and first place in the HumanKind Exhibition at PowerHouse Arena in Brooklyn, New York. She has also been included in juried exhibitions at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado and PhotoSpiva in Joplin, Missouri.

Pottinger lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her wife, two sons, and her “beloved mini-zoo” of two dogs, two cats, one ball python, and a part-time guinea pig.

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Author, Marcinson Press • 100: What Time Creates

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Stylish dress book : simple smocks, dresses and tops / by Yoshiko Tsukiori.

By: Tsukiori, Yoshiko [author.]Publisher: London : Laurence King, 2013 Description: 1 volume : illustrations (colour)Content type: text | still image Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volume ISBN: 9781780671079 (pbk.) :Subject(s): Dressmaking -- Patterns | Women's clothing DDC classification: 756 TSU

Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

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Laurence King, 2013 Description: 1 volume : illustrations (colour) Content type: text | still image Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volume ISBN: 9781780671079 (pbk.) : DDC classification: 756 TSU

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BOOK REVIEW: HOW THE PILL CHANGES EVERYTHING

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Dec Sarah E.Hill

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According to FPA.ORG two-thirds of women aged 20-24 in the UK are currently on the contraceptive pill. Similar to women in the same age group in all western countries.

We invest a lot into research and trends at Klarskin, and a topic I have noticed coming up time and time again is women coming off the contraceptive pill and not only seeing huge physical changes and fluctuations (breakouts, weight changes, hair growth/loss, etc) but mental and emotional shifts too.

I have read several studies as to why this is, but Dr Sarah Hill's book covers a lot of the research in a digestible way. So here are my takeaways to consider if you are coming off the contraceptive pill at any stage. If you think you have a hormonal imbalance, consult your medical practitioner and check out our blog post on signs of possible hormonal imbalances and a list of recommended remedies here: My Natural Remedies for Hormonal Imbalances.

1. Consider that there are many types of contraceptive pills on the market today. Some are estrogen dominant, some progesterone, some combined - to what extend varies vastly. If you don't understand what type you are on ask your doctor as this could have a huge impact on the changes you experience once you come off the pill. Page 93 of Dr Hill's book provides a breakdown of Progestins and Estrogens in some frequently used hormonal contraceptives, and splits up the generation, estrogen and progestin type and amount.

2. Dr Hill makes a point of clarifying that our hormones are not something that happen to us - we are our hormones. The pill changes our hormones, and can change our brains. It disrupts our cortisol responses (cortisol plays a huge role in telling us when both good and bad things are happening). It alters our sexual standards. Ultimately going on and off the pill has the ability to prompt a change in identity, something that scientists are still exploring.

3. Birth control pills ARE hormones. There are hormone receptors everywhere in the body that affect female sex hormones, attraction, stress, hunger, eating patterns, emotion regulation, friendships, aggression, mood, learning and many other things. It is important to realize that the pill changes who you are.

4. As pill taking women don't ovulate they don't experience the pre-ovulatory surge that increases attention to markers of genetic quality in men. This means there is a probability that women on the pill decrease the priority they place on a partner's sex appeal and instead prioritize caregiving qualities in response to the progesterone-dominant hormonal profile mimicked by the pill.

5. Pill taking women have altered cortisol levels. One study shows how cortisol should follow a circadian rhythm, reaching its daily peak 30 mins after waking up, however women on the pill have lower morning cortisol levels and even lower cortisol levels than what is observed in most healthy adults in the afternoon. This study also measured administered cortisol doses in pill and non pill taking women and essentially concluded that women on the pill have maxed out their ability to manage excess cortisol, which can essentially lead to chronic stress. Dr Hill explains that the science is still new on this, but suggests these responses could lead to negative effects on your brain, moods and even immune system.

6. Our moods are influenced in significant ways by our hormones, and due to this the pill has the ability to change howe we feel. Sometimes this is for the worse, but in the case of PMS this could be for the better (see point

7. The pill has proven useful in helping regulate extreme PMS symptoms. Dr Hill explains that PMS and PMDD symptoms are believed to be caused by abnormal psychological responses to changing levels of hormones across the cycle. The Pill keeps these hormonal fluctuations stable and unchanging.

I will conclude by saying that Dr. Hill makes it clear that there is a direct correlation between the number of women receiving bachelor's degrees, progressing professionally, and the contraceptive pill. Although men used to earn more college degrees than women, women are now outperforming men by most educational metrics. This is only one of many benefits that the contraceptive pill has afforded us by taking the risk of pregnancy away - and this is no small feat. Dr. Hill mentions the benefits the pill has had for women many times in her book and goes in depth about the socio-economic progress we have made as women thanks to the contraceptive pill.

Even with all of this information, I think 'How the Pill Changes Everything' is an important read for every woman coming off the contraceptive pill. Speaking with customers daily, there is so much confusion yet so many obvious links between our hormones and our minds, bodies, and even achievements in life that we should be aware of.

Hope you enjoyed our first book review :)

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BOOK REVIEW: HOW THE PILL CHANGES EVERYTHING

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According to FPA.ORG two-thirds of women aged 20-24 in the UK are currently on the contraceptive pill. Similar to women in the same age group in all western countries.

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Mirelle Guildiano - embracing the natural fine age of ageing

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French Women Don’t Get Facelifts Q&A – Mireille Guiliano

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Q. So our French counterparts eat well and live well and don’t get fat in the process. Are you now telling us they don’t get old either?

MG: I wish. Gravity works the same in France as in other countries, but from my writing perch in New York, I see French women approach aging with a different attitude, and that’s what I share in the book, along with some trusted beauty and style tactics French women use to feel attractive and bien dans sa peau as they progress through the decades. It’s not about trying to maintain eternal youth, it’s about taking on a new mindset. I call it “aging with attitude.”

Q. What attitude?

MG: Part of it is looking in the mirror and seeing who you really are and not who you once were or who you think you are, then taking some positive actions to make the second half of your life richer and fuller. It doesn’t take a lot to make a big difference. In the book, I discuss skincare, diet, style, grooming, medical interventions and miracles, exercise, friendship, romance, anti-aging recipes and more. In that sense it is a multifaceted approach with strategies for aging with attitude and joy (not necessarily with surgery) from age 40 onwards. Another part of attitude is what I have come to embrace myself. I have the genes to live a long time, so I want to seize as much as I can of life for as long as I can, and appreciate aging and not try to turn back the clock but perhaps to make it run a bit slower. There is plenty of pleasure in being mature.

Q. How do French women approach aging differently than American women?

MG: French women, on average, are more accepting of aging. Rather than trying to turn back the clock I just mentioned, they want to look good at whatever age they are. Part of it is a benefit of their environment. In France, there is a saying, “life begins at 50,” whereas in the U.S. I have heard women in their 30s complain they are too old. France does not have the same youth-worshipping culture. A woman in her 40s and 50s is still seen as an object of desire, and not because she looks younger. I feel the difference myself when I go to Paris. Men look at me and flirt, and what woman wouldn’t feel a boost of confidence from this? It’s motivation to not “let things go” for sure. There are differences on the beauty front as well. French women are more likely to use a variety of creams and serums to prevent aging, rather than going to plastic surgery as a first step, and they also are less likely to pack on pounds as they age. They know they don’t look 25 anymore, but despite a few wrinkles they can still look and feel good by staying active and engaged and putting in a bit of effort.

Q. Yes, French women do have a reputation for looking good as they age. Consider Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert and Nathalie Baye, just to name a few. Can you share some of their secrets?

MG: I don’t know their personal beauty secrets, but I think a part of it is that they still have thriving careers as desirable women, so they feel the part. French women also take a more subtle approach in their looks. They don’t want to look like they’ve had work done. They have their own tricks, I am sure, but we all do. Being French, I am of the mind that every woman should have a “secret” treatment that provides her with an opportunity to pamper herself and feel more confident about her appearance (for many women, this may be as simple as a homemade beauty mask). I mention Argan oil in the book as something I learned about when I was young and use a drop religiously. It amuses me that now I am beginning to see it as the latest anti-aging beauty ingredient embraced by the cosmetics industry.

Q. What motivated you to write the book?

MG: Might it be that I am getting old? I certainly learned a lot of useful things, mental and physical, in thinking, researching and writing this book over three years that hopefully will add a few more very good years to my life. Like all my books, the prime motivation is to help others. One of the ironies of life is you spend much of it acquiring knowledge and experience, but when you pass on most of it passes on with you. We are not living in our mother’s world, and I wanted to share now what I have gained over a lifetime, mostly in France, but also in America and dozens of countries where I worked and/or visited that could help others. Plus, I could see that many women are struggling with aging, based on the numerous questions I get from women around the world by email or when I give talks. Also, as I suggested, this book was very personal to me. I have the genes to live a great many years, and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I was not thinking so much about living long, but rather about looking good and feeling healthy in the decades ahead.

Q. How has your life changed since the success of the first book, which is still selling ten years later around the world?

MG: Let me first say I don’t like the word “success” (or “power” for that matter), and those who know me know that I don’t take myself seriously, though I always took my work seriously. The biggest change has been that I have gone from the life of a corporate executive to that of a full-time book author who is ten years older. Now I mostly take summers off (thank you very much). I still try to help and do good things for others, and my core values and my lifestyle have not changed much. It’s not like I suddenly went out and bought myself a lot of jewelry. Expensive jewelry has never been me. I am amused by how easily people who don’t even know me make assumptions and pass judgments. One wonders. I am glad to have more time in my control to devote to my health, pleasures and projects.

Q. We live in a snarky age, and some people lash out against almost anything French, and certainly you get accused of espousing all things French as an ideal over things American or elsewhere. Is there a bit of truth in that?

MG: Ah, yes, I get accused of a lot, mostly by people who I am sure have not read my books. I remember Tina Fey once joking that if you ever felt full of yourself, there’s this thing called the Internet. Amazing what people write. I fell in love with America when I was an exchange student and have chosen to live my life centered in New York. I am certain that during my lifetime America was and is a super great place to live and certainly work. I’d say the greatest place, but that implies a value judgment that cannot be pressed upon all people. Surely some people on a remote island would prefer their home and lifestyle. Ditto many countries. But it is no secret that for the past hundred plus years, more people have wished to emigrate to the U.S. than to any other country. I have been blessed to live in New York and travel throughout America and much of the world; however, that does not negate the fact that French food is pretty good—and here I will say definitely better than in America—or that French women live longer than American women and most others in the world, that’s a fact; or that French women have had centuries of developing tips and tricks and attitudes that embrace aging holistically.

I started the category of French Women lifestyle books, and while imitation is flattering, the whole category now gets bashed. It is a bit tedious. All the so-called Internet critics commenting without having read the book and digressing on all kind of stuff. It shows the frustration and unhappiness out there. The Anglo-Saxon world has long had a love/hate relationship with the French and at least in England a national thirst for gossip. They are having a lot of fun with the past two French presidents. The reality is it is hard to please 100% of the people, so I look at the people who follow me, write me, come to my talks (I like to think they are the 90%) to tell me the difference I’ve made in their lives. That’s very encouraging.

Q. France today is most associated with luxury goods. Louis Vuitton bags and the Veuve Clicquot Champagne you know so well. Food and wine and three-star restaurants and the Rivera and jet-setters. I am sure it is easy to grow old in luxury.

MG: The French are pretty good on vacations and other pleasures, too (wink). You know, my book is not really about facelifts, which is the most expensive “luxury” treatment I cover. It is not where one begins. My book is about the dozens of inexpensive things one can embrace that will “add good years” to your life. As I told the New York Times in a recent interview that I still hear from readers of my first book saying, “I drink more water, take a walk every day and eat yogurt, and my skin and hair are great and I feel so much better.” In that price range, there are dozens of other actions in my book.

Q. What advice would you give a woman who feels depressed about aging and in need of some help?

MG: My first advice, of course, would be to read the book, bien sûr, because it is a much more complete guide than I can provide here. Beyond that, my advice would be to make small changes peu à peu. Assess how you feel mentally, physically and appearance-wise and develop a plan for some manageable adjustments you can make in increments. Also my mother gave me so basic but wise advice: “Be natural, keep your sense of humor, and do whatever it takes to be bien dans sa peau without torturing yourself.”

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French Women Don’t Get Facelifts Q&A – Mireille Guiliano

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Q. So our French counterparts eat well and live well and don’t get fat in the process. Are you now telling us they don’t get old either?

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Nora Ephron - ageless power of humour

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Sometimes it takes a friend to get you to read a book. I Feel Bad About My Neck has been on my physical bookshelves for years. I'd look at it and look at my neck and think, "Do you really want to read this book?" I've got six friends on GR with the beautiful name of Julie but it was the clever one that wanted to be certain to stand out, the Julie preceded by a flower, that finally gave me the push to read this book. Thank you.

Heartburn, published in 1983 was my first encounter with Nora Ephron....more

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Sometimes it takes a friend to get you to read a book. I Feel Bad About My Neck has been on my physical bookshelves for years. I'd look at it and look at my neck and think, "Do you really want to read this book?"

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Aging changes in body shape: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

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Your body shape changes naturally as you age. You cannot avoid some of these changes, but your lifestyle choices may slow or speed the process.

The human body is made up of fat, lean tissue (muscles and organs), bones, and water. After age 30, people tend to lose lean tissue. Your muscles, liver, kidney, and other organs may lose some of their cells. This process of muscle loss is called atrophy. Bones may lose some of their minerals and become less dense (a condition called osteopenia in the early stages and osteoporosis in the later stages). Tissue loss reduces the amount of water in your body.

The amount of body fat goes up steadily after age 30. Older people may have almost one third more fat compared to when they were younger. Fat tissue builds up toward the center of the body, including around the internal organs. However, the layer of fat under the skin gets smaller.

The tendency to become shorter occurs among all races and both sexes. Height loss is related to aging changes in the bones, muscles, and joints. People typically lose almost one-half inch (about 1 centimeter) every 10 years after age 40. Height loss is even more rapid after age 70. You may lose a total of 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 centimeters) in height as you age. You can help prevent height loss by following a healthy diet, staying physically active, and preventing and treating bone loss.

Less leg muscles and stiffer joints can make moving around harder. Excess body fat and changes in body shape can affect your balance. These body changes can make falls more likely.

Changes in total body weight vary for men and women. Men often gain weight until about age 55, and then begin to lose weight later in life. This may be related to a drop in the male sex hormone testosterone. Women usually gain weight until age 65, and then begin to lose weight. Weight loss later in life occurs partly because fat replaces lean muscle tissue, and fat weighs less than muscle. Diet and exercise habits can play a large role in a person's weight changes over their lifetime.

Your lifestyle choices affect how quickly the aging process takes place. Some things you can do to reduce age-related body changes are:

Get regular exercise.

Eat a healthy diet that includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and the right amounts of healthy fats.

Limit your alcohol use.

Avoid tobacco products and illicit drugs.

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Aging changes in body shape: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

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Your body shape changes naturally as you age. You cannot avoid some of these changes, but your lifestyle choices may slow or speed the process. The human body is made up of fat, lean tissue (muscles and organs), bones, and water. After age 30, people tend to lose lean tissue.

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When do girls stop growing? Height, breasts, and what to expect

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Girls tend to have a major growth spurt between the ages of 10 and 14. Most will have reached their adult height by the time they are 14 or 15 years old.

This major growth spurt happens during the phase of physical and psychosocial development known as puberty.

Everyone starts puberty at a different time, and genetics largely determines growth patterns. This means “normal” growth rates in humans occur within a range.

During puberty, teenagers tend to experience a growth spurt that takes them to their adult height.

Puberty is the transition from childhood to adulthood. It describes a series of changes people go through as their bodies start to increase the production of certain hormones.

In females, puberty tends to start between the ages of 8 and 13. The average age for females to start puberty is about age 9-10. However, it is different for everyone. Once it has started, puberty tends to last for about 4 years.

Starting puberty before the age of 8 is considered early in females. Puberty is late if breasts have not developed by age 13, or periods have not started by age 15. While there is often no cause for concern, it is recommended to consult with a doctor when signs of puberty are early or late.

The start of menstrual periods, known as menarche, happens on average around age 12. However, the observed range of ages at which periods can start is much wider, from ages 9 to 15.

Acne is a common sign of puberty. Body hair typically increases and may become darker.

The hormones associated with puberty may also make teenagers feel emotional or moody. This is a normal and expected part of this time of life.

Females usually experience their fastest growth spurt around age 11 or 12. After menstruation starts, it is typical to grow another 7 cm (2.75 inches) in height. It is also typical for females to gain weight during puberty.

Usually, females reach adult height around age 14 or 15. However, this can vary.

Other factors that can have an impact on height include:

Nutrition: Malnourished children are often shorter and smaller than expected during childhood. However, with proper nutrition, they may be able to catch up before adulthood.

Hormonal imbalances: Low thyroid or growth hormone levels, for example, can lead to slower growth rates and shorter adult height.

Medications: The use of some medicines can slow growth. The long-term use of corticosteroids is one possible example of this. However, some conditions that are treated with corticosteroids, such as asthma, can also affect growth.

Chronic illness: Long-term health conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, kidney disease, and celiac disease can lead to a shorter than expected adult height. Children who have had cancer may also be shorter as adults.

Genetic conditions: Children with Noonan syndrome and Turner syndrome are expected to be shorter than their peers. Those with Marfan syndrome tend to be taller.

Because growth patterns are largely determined by genetics, there are a lot of variabilities when it comes to “normal” height. Expectations for overall growth based on age come from studies of healthy populations of children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the use of growth charts from the World Health Organization (WHO) until age 2 to guide expectations. CDC growth charts are then used for ages 3-19.

If there are concerns about a child’s growth, a doctor can use growth charts to help determine whether their rate of growth is typical.

Breast development (thelarche) is usually the first sign of puberty in females.

The earliest sign of breast growth happens when bumps develop under the nipple, called breast buds. As these buds grow, they will form breasts made up of mammary glands and fatty tissues.

Breasts can start to develop from around age 9 or 10. For some, the earliest stages of growth can start as young as ages 6 to 8. Doctors define signs of puberty before age 8 as precocious (early) puberty. In most cases, early signs of puberty are benign and do not require treatment.

Breast growth typically continues throughout puberty. Certain aspects of breast size are hereditary, meaning it runs in the family. Breasts will also vary in size depending on a person’s weight.

After puberty, breast tissue continues to change and respond to hormones throughout life, including during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, breastfeeding or chestfeeding, and menopause.

Teenagers can sometimes feel self-conscious about this element of growing up. However, it is normal to:

have one breast slightly bigger than the other

have sore or swollen breasts at times, particularly around a period

have hair around the nipples, or stretch marks

A well-balanced diet and regular physical activity will support growth and healthy development.

However, puberty and subsequent growth can be delayed for a variety of reasons. Constitutional delay, or “being a late bloomer,” describes a pattern of later development that runs in families and is nothing to worry about. These teenagers will fully develop, just later than their peers.

Children with long-term conditions, such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, or kidney disease, may also experience delayed puberty. This may be less likely if the condition is well-controlled, with limited complications.

Conditions affecting the pituitary or thyroid glands, which produce the hormones the body needs to grow and develop, can also delay puberty. Likewise, some genetic conditions can interfere with the process.

Intensive training and restrictive eating may delay the onset of puberty in young female athletes. In contrast, obesity is associated with an earlier start to puberty. These variations may be due to changes in hormone levels associated with activity levels and body composition.

Nutrition

Nutrition is important, and someone who is malnourished can develop later than their peers. Severe malnutrition as a child can contribute to growth delays, which can have ongoing effects if not corrected. Malnutrition can cause children to be underweight, low in height, or both.

Worldwide, the WHO reports that in 2020, 149 million children under the age of 5 were too short for their age, and 45 million were too thin for their height. These conditions can cause delayed puberty, as well as other developmental complications.

Puberty and gender-affirming care
Some transgender, nonbinary, or intersex people may decide to take puberty blockers. These are medications that prevent the physical changes associated with puberty.

Gender-affirming hormone therapy may also be used by a person who is transgender, nonbinary, or intersex to help their body align with their gender identity. Options include estrogen therapy and T therapy (testosterone therapy).

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, gender-affirming care includes supports other than medical care. This can include mental health resources, and social services for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people and families.

Young people and their families can discuss gender-affirming care with their doctor or pediatrician.

Puberty is a time of major transition in a child’s life, and they may experience a rollercoaster of emotions. It can sometimes be difficult to know whether these changes are normal, or a sign of conditions such as anxiety and depression.

When thinking about how to support a teen during puberty, the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) suggests considering questions such as:

Does the child have at least one good friend they can talk with?

Does the child have at least one adult in their life they can talk with? Examples can include a family member or a teacher.

Does the child have a hobby, sport, activity, or area of interest that they are engaged with?

Does the child appear happy, at least some of the time? If a child never expresses contentment or happiness, this may be cause for concern.

Is the child’s well-being at risk due to substance use, self-harm, or other risky or destructive behaviors?

If a child seems moody or irritable, but they have solid supports in place, then they may be experiencing normal puberty-related changes.

If a child appears to be struggling and lacks support, or if there are concerns about a child’s wellbeing, talking with a doctor is a good place to start to get help.

If there is an immediate risk to a child’s safety, get emergency help.

According to NAMI, parents and caregivers of teens can support their mental health by:

listening without judgment

providing nutritious food and opportunities for exercise

encouraging good sleep habits

remaining calm in the face of conflict

Puberty and growth patterns are different for everyone. If there are concerns about a child’s progression through puberty, families can talk with a doctor or pediatrician.

If puberty appears to be early or late, a doctor can find out more using tests such as a physical exam, an evaluation of eating habits, blood tests to screen for medical conditions, and X-rays that look at how the bones grow.

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When do girls stop growing? Height, breasts, and what to expect

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A look at when girls stop growing. Included is detail on when puberty starts and finishes, in addition to what can prevent or delay development.

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Abstract

Body shape and composition are heterogeneous among humans with possible impact for health. Anthropometric methods and data are needed to better describe the diversity of the human body in human populations, its age dependence, and associations with health risk. We applied whole-body laser scanning to a cohort of 8499 women and men of age 40-80 years within the frame of the LIFE (Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases) study aimed at discovering health risk in a middle European urban population. Body scanning delivers multidimensional anthropometric data, which were further processed by machine learning to stratify the participants into body types. We here applied this body typing concept to describe the diversity of body shapes in an aging population and its association with physical activity and selected health and lifestyle factors. We find that aging results in similar reshaping of female and male bodies despite the large diversity of body types observed in the study. Slim body shapes remain slim and partly tend to become even more lean and fragile, while obese body shapes remain obese. Female body shapes change more strongly than male ones. The incidence of the different body types changes with characteristic Life Course trajectories. Physical activity is inversely related to the body mass index and decreases with age, while self-reported incidence for myocardial infarction shows overall the inverse trend. We discuss health risks factors in the context of body shape and its relation to obesity. Body typing opens options for personalized anthropometry to better estimate health risk in epidemiological research and future clinical applications.

Introduction

Human body dimensions and shape vary between individuals in an age-dependent manner. Body size and shape are governed by genetic and environmental factors, including lifestyle with potential impact for health. There is growing evidence that body shape and regional body composition are strong indicators of metabolic health. For example, overweight and obesity increase risks for developing metabolic and cardiovascular diseases in an age-dependent manner. Simple anthropometric measures such as the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are often used to define the obesity status of a person. However, it turned out that about 10% of BMI-defined obese individuals of European ethnicity are healthy in terms of their metabolic state, while another nearly 10% have a normal BMI but are metabolically unhealthy. Health risk obviously associates in a more complex way with human body dimensions and depends, for example, on the relation between fat and muscles and their distributions along the body. For example, upper body and lower body fat depots show opposite associations with risk for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Fat distribution can be analyzed in detail using imaging techniques, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which are relatively expensive methods requiring expert skills and which are therefore difficult for application in large population studies. Other methods, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and bioelectrical impedance analysis, represent interesting options of estimating "internal" tissue distribution in the human body. Three-dimensional (3D) whole-body laser scanning provides another promising technique for evaluating "external" body shape by granting the opportunity to assess dozens of anthropological body measures at once with high accuracy and within only a few seconds of time. Body scanning is utilized in medical application, for example, for cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, and increasingly in health research to study anthropometry of hundreds to thousands of participants in epidemiological cohort studies to assess their possible relevance for health risk prediction.

The capability of 3D laser scanning anthropometry arises from the vast number of measured body surface dimensions that allow discovery of health risk phenotypes beyond simple, one-dimensional classification schemes based on the waist-to-hip ratio (WTH) or the BMI. However, current applications usually do not consider the whole information provided by the set of body measures and instead use only a small part of them often to extract only body indices such as BMI or WTH. 3D body scans were applied in the Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases (LIFE), conducting the largest population-based study with extensive phenotyping of urban individuals in Germany.

Previously, we proposed a concept of human body types based on a machine learning to extract meta-measures from the LIFE-ADULT body scanning data. However, it remains unclear how body shapes change upon aging, and how body types describe the aging process.

Health scientists and epidemiologists increasingly use a Life Course approach to interpret anthropometrical data because body measures such as weight, height, and BMI in earlier stages of life seem to affect diseases later in life, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, or stroke. Developmental trajectory types enabled to assess the relation between body shape and the mortality risk. The results indicate the health benefit of body shape management across the lifespan, but they also underline the necessity of developing elaborated measures of body shapes and their age-depending characterization.

In this publication, we aim at studying and characterizing systematic alterations of anthropometric measures as a function of participant's age using cross-sectional data derived from 3D laser scanning technique of the LIFE-ADULT cohort. Hereby, we direct our special focus towards alterations of body shapes of participants based on their stratification into body types according to our previous classification scheme.

Results

Aging as seen by body indices

The LIFE-ADULT cohort included 10,000 participants sampled from the population of Leipzig. This cross-sectional study covers an age range from mid-age (about 40 years) up to elderly (80 years) men and women. Basic characteristics of the sampling are summarized in Table 1. 3D body scanning data is available for 8499 participants, which were stratified by sex and age to estimate the alterations of "classical" anthropometrical characteristics (body height, weight, BMI, and waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WTH)) upon aging (Fig. 1). Body heights of both sexes start to decrease from an age of about 50 years. The lower quantile of body height in younger participants (<50 years) approximately corresponds to the upper quantile in older ones (>70 years). The weight of the participants alters in an opposed fashion. It increases with age up to 55-59 years, and then it declines. Combination of height and weight results in increasing BMI values up to about 60 years and virtually invariant BMI values for older people. Such a levelling off behavior of BMI at about 60 years followed by a slight decay was found also in other studies and seems to reflect rather aging-related physiological changes than changes of lifestyle (e.g., due to retirement).

Table 1 Basic characteristics of the LIFE-ADULT study population.

a Body height, b weight, c BMI, and d waist-to-hip circumference ratio are given as violin plots stratified by sex and age, respectively. Dashed horizontal lines refer to mean values for women and men, respectively. e The overall distribution of participants classified as underweight (BMI <18.5), normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI < 25), overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30), and obese (BMI ≥30) according to WHO classification. f BMI categories stratified by age.

BMI curves of both sexes are very similar; however, men show a slightly higher mean BMI than women. The age dependency of WTH resembles that of BMI, where, however, men show typically markedly higher values compared to women. Among people older than 50 years, more than 50% show an "apple-like" body shape (WTH ≥0.8 and 0.9 in women and men, respectively), which is found to associate with higher health risk.

The body indices remain, on average, virtually invariant for women and men older than 60 years, which makes them unsuitable to discriminate age-dependent trends for elderly people.

Overall, about 21-23% of women and men are obese, while a markedly higher fraction of about 45% of men are overweight compared with 32% of women. The relative amount of obese people increases with age, while that of normal weight ones decreases mainly up to an age of about 60 years. More than 25% of participants older than 60 years are obese (BMI ≥30). In summary, standard body indices reflect typical alterations of body dimensions upon aging, such as decreasing body height and increasing WTH, sex specifics, and also deviations from linear changes as, for example, observed for elderly people. Especially WTH, but also BMI, show sex-specific differences with relation to obesity. In summary, we find age-related trends of decreasing body height and weight. This single-feature related anthropometrical information is however relatively rough and not sufficient for a detailed evaluation of changes of the body shape upon aging.

Aging body shapes

Next, we analyzed age-related alterations of the body meta-measures, which distribute virtually over all parts of the body (Fig. 2a). Most of them positively correlate with age (Pearson's correlation coefficients between 0.2 and 0.5, whereby correlation is stronger for women than for men in most cases, Fig. 2b). In contrast, thigh girth and upper body lengths decrease with age on the average as indicated by negative correlation coefficients.

a Assignment of the 13 meta-measures defined previously. b Correlation of the meta-measures with age visualized as polar diagram. The black polygon refers to r = 0. c The "bodygram" visualizes the meta-measures in Z-units as a polar diagram. The black polygon refers to Z = 0. Mean bodygrams of male and female participants averaged over all ages (left part) and after stratification into age decades (right part) reveal gender-specific differences and age-dependent changes of the meta-measures. Difference Δ-bodygrams visualize the changes of the meta-measures between the 40-49 and 70-80 years intervals. The green and red arrows in the left part highlight the most pronounced differences (Δ Z >±0.2).

For visualization of the meta-measures and of their changes, we use a polar diagram termed "bodygram," where each axis refers to one meta-measure (Fig. 2c). The bodygrams reveal marked sex-specific differences such as larger dimensions of the upper body (meta-measures H-M) in men, and larger girth and length dimensions of the legs (meta-measures C and F) in women (Fig. 2c, left part), meaning that the leg measures were larger in women in relation to their body height. For an age-dependent view, we generated mean bodygrams averaged over decadal age intervals (Fig. 2c, right part), and difference bodygrams between the youngest (40-49 years) and oldest (70-80 years) strata (Fig. 2c). Interestingly, these Δ-bodygrams are very similar for women and men, indicating similar changes of the body measures upon aging despite the distinct gender specifics of the bodygrams. In correspondence with the correlation analysis, we found that all meta-measures increase upon aging, except for meta-measure H estimating upper body lengths. These opposite trends indicate reshaping of the body towards a smaller torso in relation to body size in older individuals. The increasing meta-measures collect mainly girth measures, reflecting a gain of body volume and weight as discussed above. Other meta-measures such as J and L (neck length and arm girths, respectively) markedly increase in women, while C (thigh girth) increases typically in men. The latter alterations reflect redistributions of body mass from legs towards the torso, or, in other words, the shift from a pear-like towards an apple-like body shape.

Overall, we documented alterations of the anthropometrical meta-measures extracted from 3D body scanning. They reflect marked sex-specific differences of the body shapes as expected, especially the broader upper male body and the larger dimension of female legs. At the same time, we see similar reshaping trends upon aging in both sexes, namely increasing body girths and a (relative) shortening of the upper body.

Aging body types

In the next step, we aimed to describe age-related alterations of the 15 body types identified previously to describe the heterogeneity of body shapes observed in the population of Leipzig (see also Supplementary Fig. 1). Each of the body types collects different age strata of participants showing, however, large variances and broad mutual overlaps (Fig. 3a). We ordered the body types with increasing mean age of their members. Female body types (F-types) show a broader range of mean ages, whereas male body types (M-types) are more uniform. The gender-unspecific (B) body types collect either younger (B1) or older (B2) people and were considered separately for women (B1F, B2F) and men (B1M, B2M). Variability of M-types is higher than that of female ones, except for F3, which collects overweight and obese women of all ages. Age-related changes of BMI are small compared to variabilities of the body types (see below and Supplementary Fig. 2). Two F-types (F3 and F4) and one M-type (M5) collect mainly obese individuals (BMI >30 kg/m ²). Interestingly, the WTH ratios do not reflect obese characteristics of these body types compared with the other, non-obese ones. Body types F5, F6, B2M, and M7 collect the highest fractions of people older than 70 years (Supplementary Fig. 1).

a The age dependence of F-types (F1-F6) is more pronounced than that for men (M1-M7). b, c F3 and F4 are obese types among the F-types with a high variability of F3, while M5 is the most obese M-type. d The WTH data do not reflect these characteristics. P values of differences between the body types groups and age-matched reference groups are indicated as signs in the head line of each plot ( p  < 0.1 (+/−), <0.01 (++/-), and <0.001 (+++/−−−).

Detailed bodygram analysis of the different body types reveals type-specific changes upon aging, where a part of them is characterized by increasing values of the meta-measures, while others are dominated by decreasing or virtually age-invariant meta-measures (Supplementary Fig. 6). The shoulder angle, for example, increases with age, leading to more hanging shoulders for older people. Also, chest and arm lengths are growing measures reflecting the relative increase of the upper body. Decrease of the dimensions of the lower part of the body is reflected by decreasing thigh girths in men. Overall, aging body types are characterized by the shift of body proportions towards a larger upper part and smaller legs, which become relatively short and lean. Some of the meta-measures reveal gender-specific alterations, such as upper body girths, which increases typically in the M-types reflecting the shift into apple-like body shapes. Other meta-measures, for example, arm length, arm girths, neck girth, and neck length specifically change in F-typess and partly reflect the increase of the upper body's size. In general, F-types seem to underlie stronger changes than male ones.

Table 2 summarizes the characteristic body shape changes observed. The major characteristics of the body types are virtually age independent. They maintain and partly amplify their most prominent characteristics in elderly people. For example, body types with tall and lean shape (B1, F1, and M2) become longer and/or leaner (longer chest and upper body). Moreover, men with a broad neck (M4 and M7) keep this property, and participants with a massive upper body (F3 and M5) additionally get leaner legs. Overall, these results indicate that, upon aging, slim body shapes remain slim and partly tend to become even more lean and fragile, while obese body shapes remain obese. For most of the body types, we observe sex-independent changes upon aging as described in the previous subsection. Stratification of individuals into body types provides a detailed picture of aging body shapes.

Table 2 List of body types and associated characteristics of body shape.

The incidence of body types is a function of age

The mean age of the body types ranges from about 45 to more than 65 years (Fig. 3a and Supplementary Fig. 6), reflecting a systematic change of the age distribution of the respective participants. The incidence of most of the body types markedly alters with age and locally deviates from the mean incidence, especially for younger and older people (Fig. 4a). Age-dependent changes are more pronounced for women than for men as indicated by the steeper slope of the respective curves in Fig. 4a. It corresponds to the stronger correlation of most of the meta-measures with age observed for women (Fig. 2b). Net changes of the relative frequency of body types are all together roughly twice as much in women (±94%) as in men (±43%; Fig. 4a, right part). Changes of the incidences of F-typess are observed in the complete age range, while the incidence of most M-types remains virtually constant above 60 years.

a Percentage distribution of participants per body types as a function of age (middle part). The sidebars show the respective percentages of individuals in each of the body types averaged over all ages (left side) and their changes between the latest and earliest age interval (right side), respectively. b Frequency distribution of age of the participants collected in the individual body types.

The body types B1, F1, and M1 show the highest incidence for middle-aged people of about 40-50 years, while their incidences then markedly decrease for elderly people, who enrich in F6 and M7. The incidence of F2, M2, and M3 is virtually independent of age. These body types collect participants from intermediate age ranges, which suggest compensation of in- and out-fluxes of type members upon aging.

Taken together, we find gender-specific aging of body shape where alterations of women are more pronounced than shape changes of men. Aging is characterized by the redistributions of body shapes towards specific body types of elderly people showing a narrower age distribution than body types of younger people (Fig. 4b).

Transitions between the body types suggest Life Course trajectories

So far, age-dependent alterations are described by changes of the mean meta-measures (Supplementary Fig. 6) and by the changing incidences of the body types (Fig. 4a). Both effects are linked because alterations of the meta-measures potentially change the incidences of the body types due to the re-classification of individuals between them. We applied a probabilistic approach to estimate such transitions. They are assumed to refer to pairs of individuals from two different body types with similar body shapes and they are obtained by counting all such similarity links between all pairwise combinations of body types (see heatmaps in Fig. 5a, b).

Frequencies of similarity links between female ( a) and male ( b) body types are shown as heatmaps. These link frequencies were used to construct a schematic overview of transitions between the body types in an age-versus-BMI coordinate system. It suggests a partly linear sequence of female body types ( c), and a more compact structure for male ones with more mutual transitions between the different body types ( d). Intersecting areas and arrow widths approximately scale with the number of corresponding links (see also Supplementary Figs. 6 and 7 for more details). The figures schematically illustrate the mean BMI and mean age of the body types in an arbitrary scale.

We found such links especially between "younger" body types (B1, M1, and M2 for men, and B1, F1, and F2 for women). Their number strongly decreases with increasing age ( Supplementary text). Body types of the intermediate age range (M3-M5 and F3) form "transition" types linking "younger" with the "older" body types. The links typically refer to a relative shortening and broadening of the upper body (decreasing meta-measure H, increasing meta-measures B, K, and L; see Supplementary text). For example, the intermediate position of F3 suggests transitions from F1 and F2 towards F3 and from F3 towards F5 and F6 (see Fig. 5c). For men, links reflect a less pronounced age structure (Fig. 5d) in correspondence with the weaker age-dependent changes of M-types (Fig. 4a). Interestingly, F4 (women with massive bodies and thick girts) forms a relatively isolated body type virtually without similarity links to other body types. Younger women of the androgynous body type B1 link to F1, and younger men of B1 link to M1, whereby all of them collect slim bodies. The second androgynous body type B2 (big upper body) links to M4-M6, which all show larger upper body dimensions. In summary, similarity relations between individuals of different body types enabled us to identify possible transitions between the body types upon aging. They can be summarized into two major Life Course trajectories for women linking the younger and older body types F1 and F5, respectively, either by direct transitions or via the obese type F3, both affecting predominantly the dimensions of the upper body. For men, possible trajectories are more diverse, involve more inter-linked body types, and affect different parts of the body. Also for men one of this pattern of links reflects two major Life Courses, one via the obese type M5 and the other via the tall types M2 and M6.

Body types diversify the aging curves of anthropometric indices

We found that most body types develop specifically upon aging. For their better characterization, we decomposed the age dependencies of the "classical body indices" separately for each body type (Fig. 6). The body type-specific curves of body height roughly follow the course of the mean body height averaged over all participants (thick curve) with a slight scatter between them reflecting different body height levels. In contrast, the body weight and especially BMI curves of the individual body types show much stronger scattering (Fig. 6b, c).

Curves were smoothed for each body type. Thick black lines indicate the mean parameter development averaged over all female (left panels) and male participants (right panels), respectively. Gender-unspecific body types B1 and B2 are not shown here due to low sample sizes. The background colors in c, d indicate different weight categories as indicated. The horizontal dashed line refers to minimum BMI-associated all-cause mortality (BMI = 24 kg/m ²) and the dotted lines to hazard ratios of 1.5 taken from ref. .

Importantly, the BMI of the body types remains virtually constant, while the overall mean BMI increases until the age of 60-65 years. In other words, body typing roughly stratifies the population into virtually age-independent BMI levels, especially for women in the order F1 < F2 < F5 < F6 < F3 < F4 and, to a less degree for men M1 < M2 < (M3 ≈ M6 ≈ M7) < M4 < M5. M3, M6, and M7 are characterized by similar BMI levels (and body height), but different WTH levels. The relative small scatter between the body height curves of the individual body types indicates that body height is only a relatively weak determinant of body typing, while the much larger spread of the weight curves reflects its larger impact on BMI.

The WTH index is steadily increasing with age in most body types, reflecting a general apple-to-pear-like shift of body shapes, where the slope is largest for F-types with smallest WTH (F1, F2). WTH seems less suited as an age-independent marker index of body shape. The slope of the different WTH curves decreases with increasing WTH level, especially for women, leading to convergence of WTH indices and thus of stable pear-like body shape for elderly people. F6, accumulating elderly women, shows virtually constant WTH over age, and M5, accumulating obese men, is even slightly decreasing for participants older than 60 years. Interestingly, the female body type with the highest BMI, F3, does not show the largest WTH values, presumably reflecting a different fat distribution. Also, other body types of both sexes show differing relative BMI and WTH levels.

The mean BMI levels of F2 and M1 roughly correspond to a BMI value of about 24 kg/m ², which associates with minimum all-cause mortality. The more obese types F4, M4, and especially F3 and M5, seem to associate with an increased risk based on previous data linking mortality risk and BMI. Overall, stratification of body shapes into distinct body types levels out age-related alterations of body indices and enables the study of health-related associations in terms of defined anthropometric groups.

Association between body types, physical activity, and selected health and lifestyle factors

Next, we studied the physical activity of the participants of the LIFE study as a function of age and its association to the body types. The number of steps per day and the metabolic equivalent (MET) as measures of physical activity systematically decrease with age similarly for women and men (Fig. 7a). Among the body types, we identified more (F1, M1) and less (F3, F4, M5) active ones using age-matched reference groups for comparison ( p value <0.001, Wilcoxon's rank-sum test, Fig. 7b). The mean MET value of the body types decreases as a function of age, except for the most obese type F4 (Fig. 7c). The MET levels anti-correlate with BMI and weight values (compare with Fig. 6, r = −0.87). The plots of the mean BMI and MET values per body type as a function of their mean age can be roughly described by lines of opposite slopes (Fig. 7d), but obese body types (F3, F4, M5 and to a less degree, M3, M4) deviate from these lines towards low MET, while B2F has a slightly elevated MET value. Note that MET is normalized per kg of body weight. Consequently, the treated energy grows not in parallel to body weight of the participants. Low MET values were found particularly for F3, F4, and also M5, which were risk groups in terms of high BMI (see above).

a Physical activity as measured in units of the number of steps per day and MET decreases with age. b Body types divide into more and less active ones, where the former category collects younger and less obese individuals. Dashed lines indicate median values of the reference age groups, "+" and "−" symbols in the head line indicate significant differences between the body types and their reference groups with p values of <0.1 (+/−), <0.01 (++/-) and <0.001 (+++/−−−), respectively. c MET of the body types as a function of age resemble the respective BMI curves in Fig. 6 and reflects that high BMI associates with low physical activity. d The plot of body types' mean BMI as a function of their mean age can be roughly described by lines of similar positive slopes for women and men (≈0.25 kg/m ² per year) if one excludes the obese types F3, F4, M5, and M4. MET provides negative slopes with larger variability of the values of the F-types and F4 as outlier showing lowest MET value.

We use the history of myocardial infarction (i.e., the prevalence of myocardial infarction in the previous life of participants, PMI) as one proxy to estimate the health risk of the body types. PMI of M-types markedly exceeds PMI in nearly all F-types, except for B2F (Fig. 8a). PMI steeply increases with the mean age for men's types, but to a markedly less degree for women (Fig. 8b). We find slightly increased PMI for obese risk types of men (M5), while PMI is maximal for M7, presumably because of the increased mean age of this type (66.7 years). Age is obviously a relevant risk factor for elderly men compared to BMI and physical activity. Among women, the androgynous-type B2F shows strikingly high PMI. Notably, PMI is virtually independent of BMI and MET for women of all body types, except for B2F, while it increases/decreases with BMI/MET for men's body types. Surprisingly, no case of previous myocardial infarction is among F4 collecting obese and elderly women ( p  = 0.11). Also, F3, another obese body type, associates with a relatively small PMI level. On the other hand, F3 and F4 collect, on the average, younger women than F5 and F6, suggesting that age constitutes the more relevant risk factor of PMI for women in contrast to men, who are under increased risk with increasing BMI for most body types.

a Prevalence of myocardial infarction is much smaller for female (1.1%) compared with male (4.1%) participants of the LIFE study where however women of the B2F type have a strikingly high PMI value (7.4%). b Plots of PMI as a function of age, BMI, and MET consequently reveal much steeper slopes for M-types than for F-types. Women of the androgynous body type B2F are disproportionately affected by myocardial infarction. c Medication frequency of the individuals of the body types (within 7 days before their examination in LIFE) with drugs of the ATC groups C (cardiovascular system), G (genito-urinary system and sex hormones), and H (systemic hormonal preparations, excluding sex hormones and insulins), which all show anomalies for B2F. d Violin plots of the lifestyle factors alcohol consumption and smoking stratified by the body types. Alcohol consumption is higher for men than for women, and it slightly decreases with the mean age of the body types. Smoking among B-type women is more intense than among the other F-types and resembles that of men. Note that the violin plots reflect a bi-modal distribution for most of body types referring to non-smokers and smokers, respectively ("smokers" here subsumes current and former smoking; see percentage of smokers in the body type as indicated in the header).

The high PMI of the female B2F group is noteworthy, and it even exceeds the PMI levels of men's body types (except M7). Androgynous women are obviously under elevated risk for myocardial infarction. To better understand this anomaly, we included alcohol consumption and smoking status as lifestyle factors, and also medication data available for the LIFE participants into our analysis. Particularly, medication of the group "C: cardiovascular system" according to ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) Classification shows similar patterns as PMI, for example, higher percentage of medication in B2F and M7 (Fig. 8c). Obese and elderly women of body types F4-F6 take more medication than men of all BMI categories, except for oldest (M7) men. B2F women, on the other hand, take virtually no drugs of the medication categories "G: genito-urinary system and sex hormones" and "H: Systemic hormonal preparations, excluding sex hormones and insulins," which considerably deviates from women of the other F-types. Women consume, on average, less alcohol than men, and the consumption decreases for body types of elderly women, but without marked specifics for B2F individuals (Fig. 8d). In contrast, B2F women show highest smoking level among women, which is comparable with that of men: 56% in B2F compared with 40% for all women and 59% for all men.

In summary, the physical activity of participants measured in units of MET anti-correlates with BMI and decays with age. Prevalence of myocardial infarction increases with age and/or BMI among men, but it is low among women, except those of the androgynous body type B2F, which, in turn, associates with high medication of group C drugs and relative extensive smoking.

Discussion

Obesity per se is associated with health risk, for example, for cardiovascular diseases. This relationship is however complex due to several independent associations with risk factors. Hence, the total body fat mass can have divergent associations. There is emerging understanding that instead of considering "simply" obesity, one hast to take into account "obesities," that is, a heterogeneous multitude of phenotypes depending on factors such as the distribution of fat over different types of fat depots in the human body with different impact for different diseases and health in an age- and sex-dependent fashion. "Paradoxically," previous studies reported differences in short-, medium-, and long-term mortality showing partly better survival for overweight compared with normal and underweight individuals. Moreover, despite perceptions of higher risk, increasingly obese patients can have fewer adverse clinical outcomes than expected. Hence, there is a need for better risk assessment for obesity. This task includes collection of extended and refined cohort data to better understand variability between humans and also the identification of improved measures, which more specifically and sensitively serve as markers for health risks.

Single anthropometric indices, such as weight-to-height ratio, waist circumference, WTH, and BMI, are advantageous because they are easy to measure and to interpret in terms of simple threshold values. As the major trend of "classical" anthropometry upon aging, we observed a decrease of body height, a moderate increase of BMI towards obese and overweight characteristics, and the increase of WTH ratio reflecting changes, popularly described as apple-to-pear-like body shape transformations. Application of 3D body scanning in combination with our body typing shows that human body shapes are diverse requiring a detailed description to study possible associations with health and lifestyle factors as a function of age.

Here we applied our body typing approach to resolve the multidimensionality of anthropometrical data extracted from 3D body scanner measurements. Our method reduces the about 150 derived body measures into 13 relevant anthropometric dimensions called "meta-measures." These meta-measures reflect marked sex-specific differences resulting in the clear division into F (female) and M (male) body types. They were used to diversify human body shapes into 15 body types, 6 of them for female participants, 7 for male ones, and 2 mixed-gender types (see ref. for details). Interestingly, aging results in virtually sex-independent reshaping of female and male bodies, which is characterized by the shortening and widening of upper body dimensions and an expansion of the leg girths of women and arm girths of men. With increasing age, slim body shapes remain slim, whereas obese body shapes tend to remain obese. We find marked sex differences of the distribution of body types upon aging: the populations of F-types change twice as large, in terms of cumulative percentages, compared with those of men. The age dependencies of the mean anthropometric indices (BMI, WTH) do not reveal such differences. Making use of similarities between the body measures of different body types, we deduced possible Life Course trajectories based on the frequencies of possible transitions between the types. For women and men, we identified two main aging paths referring to more obese and to normal weight individuals, respectively. For men, trajectories seem more complex particularly because of a network-like structure of links between the body types. Overall, female body shapes are more diverse and change more strongly than male ones. Anthropometric changes in terms of body types and indices begin to level off in the age range between 55 and 60 years as a physiological characteristic of the aging body of elderly people.

Several anthropometric measures, such as BMI and WTH, but also waist-to-height ratio and "a body shape index" (ABSI), have been developed to judge the health status in terms of obesity, mortality, and biological age using simple, "one-dimensional" measures. For example, discussion has developed around the so-called "obesity-mortality paradox" stating that mortality shows a U-shaped dependence on BMI with a minimum at about 25 kg/m 2 . Other studies showed that confounding factors and/or other anthropometric measures remove the protecting effect of body fat on risk. Beyond this, there is growing evidence that a certain level of, for example, BMI (or other anthropometric indices) can associate with different disease risks due to differences between "metabolic healthy" and "metabolic unhealthy" physiological states, and also because a series of confounders, for example, age, sex, genetic factors, cardio-metabolic fitness, and pre-existing diseases. Our body typing offers a multidimensional metrics of anthropometry, which aims to fully exploit the data provided by 3D laser scanning. Importantly, our body types divide men and women into strata of virtually age-independent mean BMI levels ranging from underweight to obese characteristics. On the other hand, some body types represent different body shapes for similar BMI levels, for example, the slightly overweight types M3, M6, and M7 (see Table 2).

We here used participant-matched data on the prevalence for myocardial infarction and physical activity as example features to estimate the possible impact of body types on their health and aging behavior. Overall, physical activity (MET) is inversely related to BMI and decreases with age. Obese body types reveal markedly small MET values reflecting low activity levels of these individuals. Prevalence for myocardial infarction roughly increases with mean age and mean BMI for most of the body types with roughly twice the rates for men compared to women. However, obese and "inactive" body types are virtually inconspicuous regarding myocardial infarctions in the disease history of the respective men (M3) and especially women (F4). Interestingly, the obese (high weight and high BMI) female body type F4 shows a decreased WTH value compared with, for example, F6 (Fig. 6). These differences suggest a larger proportion of less dangerous "leg fat" in F4, which eventually is related to reduced health risk and possibly explains the effect observed. On the other hand, elderly men (M7) and androgynous women in B2F had a higher prevalence of myocardial infarction (11% and 7%, respectively) compared with the other F and M body types with possible impact for risk prediction. These results demonstrate that body typing increases resolution regarding health-related strata. However, extensive research, particularly longitudinal follow-up studies and larger sample sizes, are needed to extract detailed associations between body types and health, especially in obesity research to make this information usable in healthcare.

We studied the aging body shape using 3D laser scanning data of about 8500 adult people of Middle European ethnicity randomly selected from the population of Leipzig, Germany. Ethnic differences in body size and composition have been identified as a limitation to use simple body indices for estimating health risk. Systematically varying distributions of visceral and subcutaneous fat between populations are thought to associate with differences in their obesity status and health risks, for example, for developing cardio-metabolic diseases. It has been reported that Inuit and Africans have less fat for any given anthropometric measure compared with Europeans. Hence, the relationship between conventional obesity measures, fat accumulation, body shape, and health risk is not clearly established across ethnic groups at present. In consequence, the use of conventional anthropometric measures in clinical practice to identify health risk is ethnicity dependent and therefore requires further research. Systematic body typing of so far understudied, non-middle European populations offers an option for the better, in-depth understanding of phenotypic variability of humans, its aging behavior, and its relation to health. We expect that the frequency distribution among our body types and their health risk differs between populations. One interesting question is whether our collection of body types must be extended by novel types in other ethnicities. 3D laser scanning offers a relatively simple and non-expansive method for such studies in future.

For estimating the "internal" fat distribution, computational tomography seems to be the best, but also the most expansive method, especially with its ability to pin-point differences between visceral and subcutaneous fat in the abdominal region. DXA is another special x-ray-based method enabling to measure regional body composition with high precision and stability and showing advantages over classical, single-index anthropometry in estimating health risks. Although the expose of patients and operators to ionizing radiation does not exceed natural background radiation, it usually requires licensing of the technologist and a designated X-ray site in contrast to optical laser scanning techniques. Despite such direct "competitive" pro-versus-contra comparisons, both DXA and laser scanning body typing provide complementary information about, for example, the "internal" fat distribution and the "external" body shape, respectively. Hence, parallel studies using both methods are required to achieve a better understanding of the physiological state of the body types, for example, by relating the body shape to the fat distribution and to the associated health risks. Interestingly, recent developments of DXA data analysis aim at deriving "holistic" body shapes from the measured "tissue distribution" in order to better describe its relation to health risk. Hence, both 3D laser scanning-based anthropometry and DXA tend to make use of "body shape" concepts with "tissue distribution" and "body surface" information as outputs, respectively.

In summary, future directions can be seen in the systematic use of the concept of body types to describe body shapes, its application to different ethnicities to better describe the variability of human body shapes, combination of body shape measurements using different techniques to relate the external body shape to the "internal" tissue distribution, and the associations with health and aging.

Body typing by utilizing 3D body scanning data offers opportunities for studying the diversity of human phenotypes. Stratification of aging human body shapes into Life Courses is one step towards personalized anthropometry with the perspective to predict lifetime risks. Verification and further development of this approach should include longitudinal follow-up programs, wider phenotype association profiles to identify multidimensional anthropometrical risk profiles for clinics, and, last but not least, improved bioinformatics for dimension reduction and focused feature selection of this data type. High-dimensional anthropometry after further reduction of size and price of available scanning devices potentially provides a standard option in epidemiological research and, possibly, also in clinical practice for monitoring the health status of patients.

Methods

The LIFE study and ethics approval

Our analysis included data collected in the frame of the LIFE-ADULT study between 2011 and 2014 with a targeted sample size of 10,000 participants with uniform sex and age distribution in the age range between 40 and 80 years. Lists of randomly sampled citizens along with officially registered age and sex were provided for recruitment by the resident's registration office of the city of Leipzig. The study included persons with sufficient knowledge of German to read and understand the study documents and questionnaires. An existing pregnancy was exclusion criterion. All participants gave their written consent to participate in the study.

We utilized body scanner data of 8499 participants and physical activity measurements of 2429 participants. The study was approved by the responsible institutional ethics board of the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig.

3D body scanning and anthropometric data

3D body surface scanning was performed by a "Vitus Smart XXL" 3D laser scanner (Avalution GmbH, Kaiserslautern, Germany), which provides an image of the body surface of each participant. In total, 155 body measures were extracted from each of these images using AnthroScan 2.9.9 software in agreement with ISO 20685, the international anthropometric database standard for 3D scanning methodologies.

We considered 134 body measures of 8499 participants, including length and girth measures, weight, and the indices "BMI", "WtH", WHtR, and "ABSI". The body measures of each participant were divided by the body height to get height-normalized values. Each measure was then Z-normalized, which makes the different measures comparable. Details about data preprocessing are given in ref. .

Meta-measures and body types

We analyzed 3D body scanning data based on self-organizing map machine learning to stratify the LIFE-ADULT data into body types. In brief, machine learning aggregates the body measures provided by the scanner software into a set of 13 meta-measures instead of 150 features measured by the scanner. Each meta-measure represents a cluster of correlated single-body measures. They define the relevant dimension of the body shape (see Table 3 and Fig. 2a for illustration). Approximately half of the meta-measures collects length measures ( n = 7), while the other half mostly refers to girth measures ( n  = 5) of different parts of the body.

Table 3 List of meta-measures and most prominent associated body measures.

The meta-measures were then used to cluster the participants of the study into 15 body types (see Supplementary Fig. 6a, c for illustration): two of the body types (B1 and B2) lack gender specifics because they include both male and female participants. Six body types (F1-F6) collect almost exclusively women (F1-F6), while seven body types (M1-M7) are male specific. The body types differ in the mean age, body height, weight, and BMI characteristics of the participants. We defined age-matched and sex-specific reference groups for each of the body types collecting all participants in an age window of ten years independent of their body type. Body types' features, for example, BMI and activity parameters, were then compared with those of the respective reference group and tested for significance using Wilcoxon's rank-sum test.

Similarity links between body types

For comparison of the body types, we estimated their mutual similarities by calculating the Euclidian distance of the meta-measures between all pairwise combinations of participants. The number of most similar pairs then defines links between the corresponding body types. In Supplementary Material, we stratify body type links by age, and associate differential meta-measures to them (Supplementary Figs. 6 and 7). Changes of the body type with age are assumed to occur along these links.

Physical activity data and MET estimation

Physical activity status of a subcohort of 2429 participants (1319 men and 1100 women) was estimated in units of MET using the SenseWear Pro Armband (SWA, Bodymedia Inc., Pittsburgh), a multi-sensor tool with 2-axis accelerometer, heat flux sensor, galvanic skin response sensor, skin temperature sensor, a near-body ambient temperature sensor, and heart rate detection using a chest strap. It was used by participants on 8 days or more, including at least 4 weekdays and 1 weekend day. We only consider days with sufficient wearing time of at least 18 h on weekdays, or at least 20 h on weekend days. Under these conditions, the SWA delivers valid and reliable data as proven by several validation studies. The SWA software estimates physical activity in units of MET, where a MET value of unity refers to the amount of oxygen consumed while sitting at total rest. It is set equal to 3.5 ml O ₂ per kg body weight and minute. In addition to MET, we also used the "number of steps per day" of the participants counted by SWA during the measurement as a rough direct estimate of physical activity. The SWA has limitations leading to lower accuracy, for example, while cycling, and it cannot be worn while swimming.

History of myocardial infarction, medication, and lifestyle factors

PMI of LIFE participants was assessed in questionnaires and refers to at least one previous infarction during their lifetime according to self-reporting. These particular reports were further verified in an interview lead by a physician, who asked about details of the previous diagnosis of myocardial infarction. This "self-reported" PMI amounts to 4.3% of men and 1.2% of women in the LIFE-ADULT cohort. These percentages are lower than the mean lifetime prevalence for myocardial infarction of the German population (age range: 40-79 years) of 7% and 2.5%, respectively. We are aware of possible inaccuracies in self-reporting giving rise to a bias of the PMI values used and possibly explains the deviation between the PMI in LIFE compared with that in the German population.

Further, we make use of selected lifestyle characteristics of the participants such as cigarette and alcohol consumption, and medication status collected via questionnaires.

Data availability

Participant data presented in this publication are not publicly available due to limitations of informed consent. However, these data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The anthropometric data are available from "The Leipzig Health Atlas" repository under accession number 7XUCQW5V05-3.

Code availability

Data analysis was performed using R 3.5.1 and the packages "vioplot" for violin plots, "fmsb" for polar diagrams, and standard package "stats" for Wilcoxon's rank-sum test, regression models, and Loess curve smoothing.

Acknowledgements

This publication was supported by LIFE-Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, Leipzig University, and by the i:DSem (collaborative) project Leipzig Health Atlas (www.health-atlas.de). These projects were funded by means of the European Social Fund, the Free State of Saxony, and the BMBF. We acknowledge support from Leipzig University for Open Access Publishing. We thank all participants who were willing to take part in the study and the entire study team for their commitment.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, Leipzig University, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107, Leipzig, Germany

Alexander Frenzel, Hans Binder, Markus Loeffler & Henry Loeffler-Wirth

2. LIFE, Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, Leipzig University, Philipp-Rosenthal-Straße 27, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

Hans Binder, Kerstin Wirkner, Markus Loeffler & Henry Loeffler-Wirth

3. Faculty of Sport Science, Leipzig University, Jahnallee 59, 04109, Leipzig, Germany

Nadja Walter

4. Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Leipzig University, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107, Leipzig, Germany

Kerstin Wirkner & Markus Loeffler

Contributions

Conceptualization, supervision, and draft writing: H.L.-W. and H.B. Supervision of laser scanning measurements and data collection in LIFE: M.L. and K.W. Data analysis and results discussion: H.L.-W., A.F., H.B., and N.W. All co-authors contributed to manuscript writing, and read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henry Loeffler-Wirth.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Frenzel, A., Binder, H., Walter, N. et al. The aging human body shape. npj Aging Mech Dis 6, 5 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-020-0043-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-020-0043-9

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Body shape and composition are heterogeneous among humans with possible impact for health. Anthropometric methods and data are needed to better describe the diversity of the human body in human populations, its age dependence, and associations with health risk.

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How Women's Bodies Change with Age: 30, 40, 50 & Beyond

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Your likes, dislikes and perspectives have undoubtedly changed over time-and, though you may not realize all the ways, so has your body.

Understanding how the stages of your life affect you can help you understand how to adjust your wellness routine as you age. Likewise, it can help you appreciate what stays the same: the importance of caring for your body, mind and spirit throughout every moment of life's journey.

Body Weight

The gains in body fat that both genders experience after age 30 often stop in men at around 55, but weight gain tends to continue in women until about 65. Excess weight tends to settle on women's hips and thighs from puberty through menopause. After that, however, a woman's extra pounds are more likely to be unhealthy belly fat, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Eating a healthy diet and exercising to manage weight is always important, but it's especially crucial as you age.

Bones

From puberty until roughly age 30, a woman's bones gain density, especially if she exercises regularly and eats a healthy diet rich in vitamin D and calcium. She starts to lose bone density slowly after about age 35, as hormone levels change-a process that accelerates after menopause. A healthy lifestyle including weight-bearing exercise, such as walking and strength training, helps keep your bones strong both before and after menopause. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that women get a bone density screening at age 65, though at Canyon Ranch we suggest getting one prior to age 50; a woman already has a 50 percent lifetime risk of developing a fragility fracture by then.

Heart

Estrogen appears to help keep artery walls flexible and may improve levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol while keeping LDL ("bad") cholesterol in check. It also protects against the accumulation of belly fat, which contributes to inflammation that can, in turn, increase the risk of a heart attack. After menopause, when estrogen levels decline, heart disease rates in women become two to three times higher; more than 75 percent of women aged 40 to 60 have one or more risk factors for coronary heart disease. But women who eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and don't smoke are 80 percent less likely to develop heart disease than women who don't. Follow your doctor's recommendations for blood pressure and lipid screenings, which will be based on several factors, including your age and family history of heart disease.

Breasts

A woman's breasts change slowly after puberty, although each menstrual period often brings short-term changes. During pregnancy, the breasts swell, as the milk duct system grows to nurse a baby. During menopause, as estrogen levels fall, the breasts change again, becoming less full and less elastic, which can result in "sagging." Breast cancer risk also rises: While a 30-year-old woman's chance of developing breast cancer over the next 10 years is 1 in 227, a 60-year-old woman's 10-year risk is 1 in 28. Genetics do play a role in breast cancer, but you can reduce your risk by maintaining a healthy body weight, exercising regularly, minimizing your alcohol consumption and, if you take hormone replacement therapy, doing so for less than five years. As for mammograms, all women 50 and older should get one every year; if you're between the ages of 40 and 49, or if you're younger but have a family history of the disease, talk with your doctor about whether to begin regular mammogram screenings.

Pelvic and Reproductive Health

Your sexual, reproductive and urinary health depends on strong muscles and ligaments that support your pelvic floor. Childbirth, hysterectomies and menopause can cause changes, leading to conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse, when the pelvic organs slip out of place, and urinary incontinence, an inability to control urination. Maintaining pelvic-floor and core strength can help you prevent these issues. The basic pelvic floor exercise, Kegels, is simple:

With an empty bladder, pretend you're holding in gas for a count of 10, then relax for a count of 10. Do five to 10 reps, three to five times a day. Menopause also causes thinner, dryer vaginal tissue, which can make sex less comfortable.

Skin

Women keep their skin's thickness until around age 50. After that, skin becomes thinner, less elastic and drier, and wrinkles become more apparent. Throughout life, eating a nutritious diet, getting restful sleep, drinking plenty of water and not smoking are cornerstones of healthy, glowing skin-even more so as you age. You can try natural remedies for minimizing wrinkles, like exfoliating and applying a retinol night cream, if you'd like. But the most important step you can take? Protecting yourself from the sun. Your dermatologist may do a whole-body scan to check for any abnormalities (like moles that have changed size or color), but taking your own look once a month is important, too.

Hair

If you're going to gray, it'll probably start in your 30s, though some women experience it earlier (it's all dependent on your genes). But as you age, your hair also becomes thinner and grows more slowly. If you're noticing more strands in your brush lately, don't be alarmed:

Almost everyone experiences some hair loss with time, especially after age 50. Female pattern baldness, a hormone-related condition that may be inherited, usually starts with a widening of the center hair part that spreads to the top and the crown of the scalp. Unlike in male pattern baldness, it rarely claims most or all of a woman's hair.

Whatever your age and the condition of your hair, you can improve its health by avoiding harsh chemicals and treating it gently.

As you encounter these and other changes, remember that the passage of time has myriad benefits. As they get older, many women relish things like not needing to think about birth control and the freedom that comes from having kids out of the house. You may also notice a shift in your attitudes, such as letting go of the need to please others. And your may find that this is a time to reconnect with your true passions and joys.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Women's Bodies Change with Age: 30, 40, 50 & Beyond

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Your likes, dislikes and perspectives have undoubtedly changed over time-and, though you may not realize all the ways, so has your body. Understanding how the stages of your life affect you can help you understand how to adjust your wellness routine as you age.

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Older women and body image: beauty standards are not democratic

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Older women and body standards are not demographic

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Older women and body standards are not demographic

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The representation of women in the media and in the fashion industry has been for long at the centre of countless controversies. For decades, an ideal of beauty has been developing mostly around numbers - size and age - that have inexorably shrunk: just when you thought there couldn't be a thinner or younger model, a new face would pop up from the magazines and, sure enough, it was the face of a very thin teenager. The trend had become so worrying that even the French government repeatedly attempted to regulate size and age of fashion models fearing that such unattainable standards could trigger an epidemic of eating disorders in young women.

In the past decade, a new trend has appeared, after groups of activists and a large part of the public opinion have advocated for a more diverse representation of women in the media. The fashion industry, as well as television broadcaster and news outlets, embraced this call and became more inclusive. Curvy and plus sized models have found space (although limited) on magazines and catwalks, and some of them even have their fashion lines. More recently, the industry has been opening up towards old age: model agencies are now hiring older models, i.e. models who are 50 years of age or older. In relation to age, another shift has been noted by researchers: the mean age of actors and actresses included in People magazine's "World's Most Beautiful" list has increased - it was 33.2 in 1990 and went up to 38.9 in 2017 (1).

But what are the physical features of the older women that appear in the media? Some of them sport grey hair, which is, after all, one of the most powerful symbols that identifies an older body. Some show their wrinkles, smiling from the cover of fashion magazines. Nevertheless, what I find striking is that they are all exceptionally similar to the modern stereotyped idea of female beauty: slender figure, thick hair, plump lips, and perfect teeth. Not many ordinary women look like this. This means that the potential benefit of representing older women in the media comes with the danger of imposing the same worryingly unattainable standards of beauty not only to teenagers but to women who are facing bodily changes connected to ageing.

The word "teenile" - a contraction of "teenager" and "senile" - has been used in marketing studies to describe the similarities between teenagers and older adults who still live an active life (2). These similarities include having money to spend and spare time to do it. The fashion market has been particularly alert in this sense. Older models today are not limited to campaigns advertising anti-ageing products, they are also employed to promote high street fashion - e.g. American Apparel - and even haute couture - e.g. Dolce e Gabbana. Recently, Tommy Hilfiger, one of the most famous American fashion designers, has announced that he will soon release a collection specifically designed for people with disabilities (3). The clothes will feature zippers, velcro closures, and magnetic flies to facilitate wearers and their carers. These clothes will not only be comfortable and easy to put on, they will be in line with current trends, similar to other pret-a-porter garments. This combination is rare, if not unique. I wouldn't be surprised if this collection appealed not only to people with disabilities but also to those older adults who want to wear comfortable clothes but are wealthy enough to afford fashionable items and often feel excluded from the market. The designer have named this move a "democratisation of fashion". However, even with this progresses, the image of women in the media is far from being democratic.

I argue that there is another crucial similarity between teenagers and adult women who are entering old age: both are facing complex bodily changes that are intertwined with their social identity and therefore are potentially more at risk of being influenced by the representation of women in the media and the beauty standards that it promotes. It has been widely reported that there has been a surge in diagnosis of eating disorders in older women, a problem that in the past has been associated mostly with younger people (4). Although anorexia and bulimia nervosa are less frequent - but still present - in older women compared to teenagers, the former tend to exhibit binge eating more often and present pathological eating behaviours that still haven't been categorized (ibid.). Initial reports tended to focus on very old women, those who don't live an active and independent life, therefore there seemed to be a strong connection between eating disorders and factors such as loneliness and lack of enthusiasm for life. Nevertheless, more recent studies have found that body image still plays a great role in triggering eating disorders in older women, both in those who have suffered from these illnesses in the past and those who experience them for the first time in later life. Studies in this direction are very important, especially because signs of eating disorders are more difficult to ascertain in older women. Moreover, it shouldn't be forgotten that anxiety over body image affects men too, although studies so far have been focusing on young males.

An ageing population, to be healthy, must feel included in society. Thus, a more realistic representation of older women in media is urgently needed.

References:

1. Maymone MBC, Neamah HH, Secemsky EA, Kundu RV, Saade D, Vashi NA. The Most Beautiful People: Evolving Standards of Beauty. JAMA Dermatol. Published online October 11, 2017.

2. Cesari, M. (2012). Pratiche Semiotiche e Aspettative Sociali nelle Campagne Pubblicitarie di Multinazionali in Tema di Bellezza e di Etá. [Semeiotic Practices and Social Expectations in Multinational Corporation Advertising on the Themes of Beauty and Age]. In Vivere e crescere nella comunicazione. Educazione permanente nei differenti contesti ed età della vita. (p. 95). Milano: FrancoAngeli.

3. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-17/tommy-hilfiger-creates-fashion-line-for-people-with-disabilities

4. Mangweth-Matzek B, Hoek HW, Pope HG Jr. Pathological eating and body dissatisfaction in middle-aged and older women. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2014 Nov;27(6):431-5. About the Author
Dr Francesca Ghillani is a Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing. Francesca was awarded a DPhil in Sociology from the University of Oxford, under the supervision of Prof. Sarah Harper. Her doctoral research identified four key dynamics that regulate the interplay between ageing, migration, and bodily practices.
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Comments Welcome: We welcome your comments on this or any of the Institute's blog posts. Please feel free to email comments to be posted on your behalf to administrator@ageing.ox.ac.uk or use the Disqus facility linked below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Older women and body image: beauty standards are not democratic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The representation of women in the media and in the fashion industry has been for long at the centre of countless controversies. For decades, an ideal of beauty has been developing mostly around numbers - size and age - that have inexorably shrunk: just when you thought there couldn’t be a thinner or younger model, a new face would pop up from the magazines and, sure enough, it was the face of a very thin teenager.

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Shopping with Attitude: Where ageism is never in style · Sylk Natural Intimate Lubricant

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“No woman is invisible or irrelevant”

That’s what the founder of The-Bias-Cut, believes.

It’s a sentiment that rings true for us at Sylk.  As a company that supports the sexual well-being of menopausal women, it’s important to us to help women feel good about themselves. As we age, hormonal changes can affect our mood, body shape and confidence which can affect our enjoyment of how we look and shopping. Which in turn can affect how sexy and attractive we feel.  Finding clothes that are stylish, comfortable and feminine can be hard.  But now there is an answer as I discovered recently.

The-Bias-Cut is a unique online boutique that celebrates style at every age and is a complete joy to visit

Featuring pieces by some of the best contemporary labels today, the eclectic collections reflect founder, Jacynth’s, thorough and in-depth understanding of different women’s bodies and shapes, as well as cut and fabrics. Throw into the mix her stylist, contemporary eye, and Jacynth is swiftly becoming recognised as one of the UK’s leading experts and pioneers of style at every age.

I would definitely recommend visiting the online store and Jacynth has also kindly given all Sylk customers a 15% discount on their first purchase, simply use code SYLK15.

I caught up with Jacynth and got to pick her brains on how to dress well as we navigate the menopause journey.  The key thing for me that came out of our discussion is “if you feel you look good, that will shine through!!!” Go For It.

What top tips would you give to mid life women to help them choose clothes that flatter and are stylish / fashionable?

It’s essential to understand your body shape. No matter how beautiful a garment is, if it doesn’t suit your figure, it won’t do you any justice.

It’s also important you wear clothes you feel confident in, because confidence is the true essence of style. If you feel you look great, that will shine through, and others will see it too.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t step outside your comfort zone. A lot of women only wear clothes they feel ‘safe’ in, which isn’t emotionally healthy. So it’s important to take risks and try something new. You might be pleasantly surprised, and others will notice the positive change too. And if it doesn’t work, you can just take it off again!

When it comes to picking flattering colours and prints, again I encourage giving anything a go. Some women follow the ‘Colour Me Beautiful’ theory, but I advise against it; it’s an outdated approach which has been scientifically proven to have no foundation. So those who follow it end up severely restricting themselves, and even wearing shades that don’t suit them.

Instead, if a certain colour or print catches your eye, try it. Because even if you’re convinced it isn’t ‘your colour’, this particular shade or style may work. Case in point: a few years ago I asked one of our ‘real women’ models to wear a yellow coat in a photoshoot. She was adamant it wouldn’t suit her, having avoided yellow her entire adult life. But when she put it on, she realised how fabulous it looked on her – which was reiterated by family and friends. So it proved she could wear some yellows after all, broadening her style horizon.

As we get older, many women tend to stop enjoying buying and wearing ‘stylish’ clothes……why is this?

I don’t believe a love for style fades with age. If you’ve wanted to look good your whole life, that doesn’t suddenly disappear because you’re older.

The issue is that a lot of older women feel excluded by the Fashion Industry and, as a consequence, may resign themselves to no longer buying or wearing stylish clothes.

I know many older women who have lost confidence because they have been sneered at or ignored in stylish shops because of their age. They’ve felt embarrassed and rejected. So naturally all that joy they once had drains away, and they move from wearing stylish clothes. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t love to dress stylishly if they felt they could.

How do time pressures such as juggling kids, work, elderly parents affect our clothes shopping habits?

It can vary, but many women with these pressures spend a lot less time and energy on their style, both in terms of shopping and dressing. Of course, online shopping helps with this, but even when women buy new clothes, they may only purchase practical garments, rather than pieces that they really love and will feel special in. They also may spend much less on clothes, even though quality pieces will be more durable.

Of course, it may not matter to some women. But this can have a detrimental impact on those who have valued style and looking good all their life because they can lose a sense of identity.

It’s very easy to feel guilty spending money on yourself and shopping for new clothes. We live in a society that widely considers fashion to be frivolous and superficial, and shames those for not putting other priorities first. But there is a clear psychological link between how we dress and how we feel. When you look good, you feel good, and that confidence and happiness permeates into all areas of your life. So it’s important to remember there is no shame in treating yourself.

Why do older women feel like they can’t wear certain clothes?

There are so many articles out there dictating what women over a certain age should and shouldn’t wear, written by so-called ‘style experts’ and members of the fashion industry, so naturally older women feel they need to pay attention.

Society can be extremely judgemental when it comes to style, and a lot of older women are fearful of being considered ‘mutton-dressed-as-lamb’. So they rely on the ‘rules’ to help guide them and make sure they don’t make ‘errors’.

But these rules are ageist and prey on a woman’s insecurity regarding her image.

Women should feel they can wear whatever they want, at whatever age. It’s hard to not be worried about what other people think, all that really matters is that you feel good in what you’re wearing.

What impact does the menopause and hormone changes have on our enjoyment of fashion?

Whilst it doesn’t happen to every woman, many women’s body shapes change. In particular, women can put on weight around their middle. This can be hard to accept and adjust to, causing a drop in confidence. It also doesn’t help that a lot of fashion brands do not appreciate how a woman’s body changes with age, so their styles don’t cater to it.

It may be difficult, but I encourage women to embrace their new shape, and see it as an opportunity to try new styles and looks that now suit them better than before. We have a ‘shop by body shape’ feature on The-Bias-Cut website so that women can find those pieces that she will feel and look great in.

Additionally, due to hot flushes, a lot of women struggle to find clothes that are comfortable to wear – both in terms of cut and fabric. They may pay more attention to fabric composition of garments, typically looking for cooler fabrics such as cotton and linen. However, in recent years, there have been huge developments regarding fabrics – especially synthetic ones – so women shouldn’t dismiss them straight away and limit their options. Quality, synthetic or semi synthetic fabrics can be just as, if not more, effective as keeping you cool, as natural ones.

As we get older we may not want to totter around in high heels or wear revealing clothes but we still want to look stylish and good, how can we achieve this?

The true essence of style is looking effortless and having confidence. So it’s important to wear clothes that feel authentic to your true self. As Professor Carolyn Mair PhD said recently “our clothes don’t fall on to us by chance”, so the pieces you wear should be a reflection of the best version of yourself today.

I also do recommend subtly referencing trends to keep your look contemporary. I don’t believe in being a slave to trends, but by incorporating a nod to one or two here and there, your look stays fresh.

What top tips can you give for buying clothes that are on trend this Spring?

As more of us are becoming environmentally conscious shoppers, moving away from fast disposable fashion, it can be hard to justify buying into a trend, knowing that next season you will have moved on.

However, there are ways you can buy into trends, whilst still supporting slow fashion:

1. Only follow trends that feel authentic to your personal style

Ask yourself “would I have liked this if it wasn’t on trend?”. If the answer is yes, you’ll known you’ll continue to love it in the future, rather than be inclined to throw it away.

For example, a lot of women love animal print and, whilst it is having a ‘moment’ right now, it will never truly go out of style.

2. Understand your body shape

No matter how much you like it, don’t force yourself to wear a trend if it doesn’t suit your shape. Cycling shorts are hot right now but, as someone who doesn’t like her thighs, I know they’re not for me as I’ll feel too self conscious to wear them.

3. Keep it subtle

To avoid looking too ‘try hard’, eschew pieces that are bang on trend in every aspect, and instead look for garments that reference trends. For example, a classic knit with colour blocking features is both on trend, but won’t instantly date.

Big thank you to Jacynth and her team!

Remember, you can get 15% off when you shop at www.The-Bias-Cut.com.  Simply quote SYLK15.

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Shopping with Attitude: Where ageism is never in style · Sylk Natural Intimate Lubricant

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“I don’t believe a love for style fades with age” says founder of The-Bias-Cut, Jacynth Bassett. Being interviewed here for Sylk. As a company that supports the sexual well-being of menopausal women, it’s important to us to help women feel good about themselves.

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“Non women is invisible or irrelevant” - silk 

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“Non women is invisible or irrelevant” - silk 

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Being seen: how is age diversity effecting change in fashion and beauty?

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How is age diversity affecting change in fashion and beauty?

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How is age diversity affecting change in fashion and beauty?

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A fashion season can be defined as much by the people on the catwalk as it can by the clothes they are wearing. This time around, a key moment came at the end of Marc Jacobs' New York show, when an almost makeup-free Christy Turlington made a rare return to the catwalk, aged 50 (she also stars, with the designer himself, in the label's AW ad campaign). While this is hardly ancient in the real world, it is in modelling, where the average catwalk model is around 18. A few days later, Simone Rocha arguably upped the ante. The 32-year-old's show - in part inspired by Louise Bourgeois, who lived until she was 98 - featured models in their 30s and 40s, including cult favourite Jeny Howorth and actor Chloë Sevigny.

Of course, the motives for this are not entirely pure. The over-50s account for around 47% of all UK consumer spending, according to figures from 2015, and if their financial clout has been dubbed the "grey pound" by the retail world, it's an even more dazzling silver in beauty. In an arena where youth has always been highly prized, older faces are finally having a moment in the spotlight, or at least on a billboard near you. Unretouched, unairbrushed Helen Mirren, 74, tells us we're all worth it for L'Oréal Paris; Neal's Yard Remedies' #AgeWellRevolution stars "real" women of all demographics; and Pantene's #PowerOfGrey initiative challenges the discrepancy between perceptions of men and women with grey hair, encouraging women of all ages to share images of themselves on social media, using the hashtag #powerofgrey.

Maggie Wright, 69, wears a top and scarf by Mulberry, jewellery by Jennifer Fisher and glasses by Alessandra Rich x Linda Farrow. Her hair was styled by Abra Kennedy using Maria Nila

In MAC's What's Your Thing campaign, models and non-models wear makeup looks that represent their unique style. Among them are Anna Klevhag, 50, sporting bold, berry-stained lips, and Jan de Villeneuve, 75, in full foundation, pillarbox-red lipstick and smoky eye makeup. Neither has been made to look younger; instead they look confident, stylish, modern - a woman in her 20s would be as inspired to buy that berry lipstick as one in her 50s. Feedback for the campaign has been overwhelmingly positive and thousands have shared their own #whatsyourthing posts on Instagram.

Campaigns such as MAC's demonstrate a shift in attitudes. "Older women are usually forced into either rosy 'mother-of-the-bride' makeup or the New York-eccentric caricature of bug-eyed glasses and bright clothes," says MAC's Terry Barber. "What people enjoy about this campaign is seeing older women who look very different from one another, are very stylish, and are not just there to tick the diversity box. Consumers are constantly offered 'fixes' or told how to hide wrinkles. But what if you don't want to hide them?"

Joan Williams, 60, wears a Chanel jacket and jewellery with gloves by Dents. Her hair was styled by Abra Kennedy using Maria Nila

Millie Kendall, a makeup artist and CEO of the not-for-profit British Beauty Council, which represents the industry, says the culture of invisibility around older women is finally lifting. She points to fashion's embracing of grey hair and advancements in product innovation as proof. Turning 50 made her realise "how invisible my ancestors must have felt - my great-aunts looked like cartoon old ladies at my age. I think the future will be less about age and more about your attitude to life and how you express yourself."

The language of beauty has also had an update. In 2017, US magazine Allure banned "anti-ageing" from its pages and in 2018, a report by the Royal Society for Public Health called for an end to the term's use for UK cosmetics. Meanwhile, earlier this year, British Vogue released "The Non-Issue", a mini magazine focused on the over-50s, created with L'Oréal Paris. "Diversity is intrinsic to all that [editor-in-chief] Edward Enninful does, so age representation is as important as skin tone, size and gender diversity," says Vogue beauty and lifestyle director Jessica Diner. "Having a project dedicated to the idea that age shouldn't be a factor in beauty felt important."

Having Jane Fonda, 81, on the cover generated a buzz. "This has really spoken to me. Loved it," read one of the 700-plus comments on Enninful's Instagram post of the cover. "Beauty is truly ageless. I hope we see more of this in all aspects of the industry," read another.

Fabia Khan, 56, wears a Louis Vuitton scarf

L'Oréal Paris deserves credit for working with older celebrities long before anyone else, having signed Fonda in the mid-noughties and now boasting a "golden squad" including Mirren and Julianne Moore, 58. "We celebrate women of all ages because women of all ages use and love our products," says Karen Flavard-Jones, UK general manager. "We know that women over 50 don't feel represented in advertising, and that the amount spent on beauty increases with age."

Beauty advertising has traditionally focused on looking younger, rather than embracing beauty at any age. A Palmolive ad from the 30s even read, "A wife can blame herself if she loses love by getting 'middle age' skin." While things have moved on, there are still issues. In 2017, Dior cast 25-year-old Cara Delevingne in its Capture Youth anti-ageing campaign, sparking a social media backlash, while in 1996, Lancôme famously let Isabella Rossellini go at 43, only to rehire her at 63.

"It's hard to believe in an anti-wrinkle cream if it's shown on a younger woman who is unlikely to have any," says Renia Jaz, 53, whose blog and Instagram account @venswifestyle are dedicated to ageless style. "We are not ashamed of the changes happening to our hair, face and body, and we want brands to respect that."

A move towards intersectionality is the next step. Though we do now see older women in ads, almost all are white, a notable exception being 67-year-old JoAni Johnson, selected by Rihanna for her debut Fenty campaign. "It's time my demographic was reflected more broadly," Johnson said in an interview with Paper magazine. "Fashion doesn't have any age, gender or race limit, so why restrict it in the visuals?"

While the industry works towards meaningful representation, Kendall points to Instagram as the best place to see "real" women talking about beauty, citing journalist Nadine Baggott and skin expert Caroline Hirons as good examples. Others include 91-year-old Baddie Winkle, whose neon-hued makeup led to her creating her own collection for INC.redible cosmetics, and 69-year-old Suzi Grant, whose @alternativeageing account got her spotted for a role in a campaign for Revolution.

"The image of a mature woman that has been in the consciousness of our society for many years is outdated. We want to be represented by women who are just like us, who are real," Jaz says. "Women over 50 are not unicorns. We are consumers and we know what we want."

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Being seen: how is age diversity effecting change in fashion and beauty?

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With fiftysomethings on the catwalk, what's the impact on the traditionally youth orientated beauty industry? Lisa Niven-Phillips reports and four women try out the latest looks

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Media Platforms Design Team

European import Zara has become a must-have staple in many closets, at least in New York. But, the brand's more fashionable cuts (read: skinny) haven't found the right audience in the rest of the U.S. just yet.

While business is booming in Europe using Zara's model of supply and demand in fast fashion (see what the consumer is buying and produce more), the brand's westward expansion has hit a snag. According to
The Economist:

"Zara has struggled in America, for instance. It sells trendy cuts and slim fits. Outside the biggest cities, Americans have long preferred classic, roomier clothes (though this may be changing)."

Sizing has always been an issue in fashion when addressing mass lines. Many brands offer vanity sizing, allowing customers to fit into a size six when in reality, they're an 8 or 10. For Zara to do well here, perhaps they'll need to adopt the flattering-yet unrealistic system as well?

But sizing isn't the only factor. When mainstream brands have traditionally aimed to go more high fashion, they got slapped by consumers. Easy, classic pieces that aren't super trendy do better with the mainstream audience.

Do you think Zara should size to accommodate American tastes and sizes?

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

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Media Platforms Design Team European import Zara has become a must-have staple in many closets, at least in New York. But, the brand's more fashionable cuts (read: skinny) haven't found the right audience in the rest of the U.S. just yet.

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Are YOU too old to shop at Zara? Data reveals the age we should stop wearing clothes from the high street favourite (and it's younger than you think)

Consumer analysis agency Insight Rooms studied Zara customers

Found that women tend to stop 'interacting' with the brand after the age of 33

While customers' social engagement was found to peak between 23 and 27

It's the cult high street store whose affordable versions of designer looks have made it a firm favourite among millennials and thirty-somethings alike.

But according to consumer experts, there is an age limit for shopping at fashion favourite Zara - and it's much lower than you might expect.

Consumer analysis agency Insight Rooms have studied the way women socially engage with the Spanish brand - indicating that they still shop at Zara - according to their age.

Their research found that engagement 'peaks' between the ages of 23 and 27.

Scroll down for video

After that, shoppers begin to drop off and 'collapse beyond', according to WWW, who spoke to Insight Rooms' co-founder and CEO Ed Dilworth.

By the age of 33, social engagement falls to below 1 per cent, Dilworth revealed, suggesting that women in their thirties are looking to other brands when it comes to wardrobe inspiration.

While this may come as a surprise to 30-plus Zara fans, it's worth noting that the brand's so-called 'age cliff' is less drastic than some of its high street competitors.

The reason for this? 'The looks include more conservative and classic styles that stretch up into that older range more than the youth brands,' Dilworth explained.

MailOnline has contacted Zara for comment.

The fast-fashion store, which hails from Spain and now has more than 2,000 branches all over the world, is quick to pick up on catwalk trends and famously ships new products into its stores twice a week.

It has enjoyed something of a popularity boom in recent years, with many of its catwalk-inspired products taking on a cult status.

The store became Insta-famous last year when a £69.99 printed coat proved so popular it spawned its very own social media account.

The Zara coat that went viral

Last summer saw the reign of Zara's blue and white printed coat - a £69.99 number worn by women young and old across London.

It proved so popular an Instagram account was set up especially to document its success - capturing women wearing it at bus stops, while doing their shopping or grabbing a drink at a bar - using the hashtag #thatcoat.

The account That Coat comes with the description: '#thatcoat @zara You know you've seen it please send your pics if you'd like to be featured where it all started.'

It was set up by Londoner Alice Frances, who first noticed the humble high street piece at the Chelsea Flower Show.

She then started spotting it everywhere, and called it an 'epidemic'.

'We kept seeing it, but it felt like no one was acknowledging that this unassuming Zara coat was slowly infiltrating the streets of London,' she said.

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Consumer analysis agency Insight Rooms studied Zara customers Found that women tend to stop 'interacting' with the brand after the age of 33 While customers' social engagement was found to peak between 23 and 27 It's the cult high street store whose affordable versions of designer looks have made it a firm favourite among millennials and thirty-somethings alike.

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Three Ways To Shop Zara If You're Curvy, Plus Size Or Over 30

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Zara holds a very special place on the British high street. Fashion-forward without being designer, high end without being luxe and covetable without being collectable, they've managed to create an identity that appeals to pretty much anyone who's interested in fashion. They were the ones that created *that* midi dress last summer, which has since seen hundreds of imitations attempting to capitalise on its success, and they were the ones that proved the high street wasn't failing - it was the other stores that were failing to stay on top of the trends. It may be frustrating to never be able to again find that piece you fell for but never bought (they famously rarely re-stock) but that makes them all the more desirable and one of the most popular shopping destinations in Europe.

It's long been a go-to for me, with some of my favourite ever fashion pieces being Zara finds; but as I've got older (and my waistline has gotten bigger) it's become even trickier to shop their selections and find pieces that truly work for me. They're well known for having incomprehensible sizes and the smallest sleeve width known to man, but with a few tricks up your metaphorical sleeve you can still shop Zara with ease - especially if, like me, you're curvy and over thirty.
STRETCHY FABRICS OVERSIZED STYLES
I'm all about the stretchy fabrics at the best of times, but in Zara often this is the only way anyone beyond a size ten can wear their clothes. When perusing the shelves I'm instantly drawn to anything stretchy because I know I don't have to worry about the fabric pulling over my hips or arms; often it means you don't even need your usual size, as sizing up or down can still provide you with a decent fit. This maxi dress features a stretchy fabric that helps to flatter without sticking to all the wrong places.
STATEMENT SLEEVES
Nobody is happy as me to find oversized styles in fashion again, for it means most things are cut with plenty of room for curves. Zara are the king of oversized too, often cutting in so much fabric that I actually have to size down and opt for a medium for fear of the garment overpowering my short stature. I've got a few oversized tee style dresses that work incredibly well, as well as a white shirt that I love to pair with skinny jeans - so don't be fearful of anything that looks like it will make you look bigger, because often it's the opposite.
Check out all my other fashion looks from Zara... SHOP THE LOOK
One of my biggest bug-bears when it comes to shopping in Zara is that they make their sleeves suited only to elves or teenage children who've yet to actually put on any muscle mass. They barely make room for anything beyond bone, so my thirty-something bingo wings certainly aren't fitting in there. However, statement (or as I like to call them 'poofy') sleeves are a real saviour as they by default cut out that problem entirely. The slightly puffy sleeves on this maxi dress make the style all the more flattering and seriously comfortable too, which is not something you'd expect to find in Zara.

Usually it would be suggested that you avoid Zara if you don't want to feel downtrodden, disheartened and generally disappointed that you can't fit into the majority of their clothes - but that just means most of us don't get to experience their high end looks at affordable prices, or to take part in micro-trends that see things like polka dot midi dresses become the hottest piece of the year. If you go in with low expectations, know what to look for and be prepared to completely ignore the size on the tag, then I promise you'll often come out with numerous pieces that will make you look and feel fabulous.

Who said you couldn't shop Zara if you're curvy, plus size or over 30? Not me!

Zara Floral Midi Dress | £40.00 | SIMILAR HERE
Kurt Geiger Pearl Sandals | £35.00 | SIMILAR HERE
Monsoon Basket Bag | £40.00 | SIMILAR HERE
TK Maxx Sunglasses | £25.00 | SIMILAR HERE

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Three Ways To Shop Zara If You're Curvy, Plus Size Or Over 30

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Zara holds a very special place on the British high street. Fashion-forward without being designer, high end without being luxe and covetable without being collectable, they've managed to create an identity that appeals to pretty much anyone who's interested in fashion.

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Captures portraits of elderly couples

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Comment vivre 100 ans

Province d’Ogliastra, île de la Sardaigne, Italie

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Giacobba Lepori, 104 ans

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Villagrande, province d’Ogliastra, île de la Sardaigne, Italie

Je m’habille toujours entièrement de noir et je porte un voile noir sur la tête parce que mon mari est mort et que la tradition veut qu’une veuve se vête ainsi. Je ne sais pas ce qui va m’arriver à la fin de ma vie. Personne ne sait, mais je n’ai pas peur de la mort.

Natale Lotto, 88 ans

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Villagrande, province d’Ogliastra, île de la Sardaigne, Italie

Comme berger, j’ai toujours été très pauvre et j’ai eu la vie dure. J’ai passé ma vie à marcher dehors, beau temps, mauvais temps, de jour comme de nuit. Comme la plupart des bergers de la Sardaigne, j’ai commencé à travailler très jeune et je n’ai pas eu beaucoup d’éducation, c’est pourquoi il m’est difficile de m’exprimer avec aisance quand les journalistes viennent m’interroger. De plus, je me trouve laid sur les photos, je parais vieux.

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Cela dit, je suis plutôt satisfait de ma vie. Chaque matin, je m’occupe de nourrir le bétail; ça me plaît de travailler un peu pour rester occupé. Tant qu’on le peut, il faut continuer à travailler. Aujourd’hui par exemple, j’ai été jardiner. Je cultive de tout : patates, fèves, zucchinis, tomates, tout. Mon jardin nourrit six différents foyers au sein de ma parenté.

Arianne Clément Photography

of the elderly

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Page web officielle de la photographe Arianne Clément. Arianne Clément se spécialise dans la photo d'aînés.

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Survey Q’s and Results

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Question Title

* 1. What age do you fall into?

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

Question Title

* 2. Do you shop at Zara often?

Yes

No

Question Title

* 3. Do you feel too 'old' to shop at Zara?

Yes

No

Inbetween answers, depending on the style of item

Question Title

* 4. If answered yes above, please write a brief reason why?

Question Title

* 5. How important is it to you to have clothing brands that are applicable to every age? (pick one)

not very

neutral

very

Question Title

* 6. Where do you find clothes that fit your body shape better?

M&S

Next

H&m

Other

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 7. Which style of imagery appeals more to you? pick one

Question Title

* 8. Which image makes you feel more comfortable? pick one

Question Title

* 9. What is one thing you'd like to see more of from Zara clothing?

Question Title

* 10. Would you be interested in a new range at Zara aimed at an older demographic?

Yes

No

none of the above, does not apply to me

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Web survey powered by SurveyMonkey.com. Create your own online survey now with SurveyMonkey's expert certified FREE templates.

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Data graphs

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App/ webpage development

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A list of bloggers within the older demographic that I have chosen to look into to help me gain a better insight to choosing someone with the perfect crediblies to act upon a tik tok content creator for Zara X

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The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing

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Gray is the new black, and 60 is the new 40. Forget what you heard about the Golden Years being a time for R&R and winding down. We've found 20 Instagram influencers and bloggers over the age of 50 (and 60 and 90) who are living life like it's golden golden.

Here's How We Came Up with Our List of Mature Bloggers and Influencers

We penned a post last year that pretty much detailed how we put together influencer roundups using our actual influencer marketing platform instead of just picking people we know and like. You can read that post here. It shows you how our platform does super-useful things like detect fraud and suss-out where influencers really live, what they're all about, and who their audience is.

For this particular roundup on the over-50 crowd, we actually ran into some unexpected challenges.
First of all, we were looking for more male bloggers over 50.
We discovered male influencers over 50 aren't as keen on hashtagging as female influencers over 50, so they don't get as many followers, which leads me to the next set of criteria...
Second, our roundup of mature bloggers had to qualify as a nano-influencer... at least.
At the very least, bloggers and influencers had to have 3,000 followers on Instagram with at least two percent average engagement. For the men, some of the ones we wanted to include in this particular roundup didn't meet the minimum criteria for nano-influencers... either that or we just couldn't find them.
Third, they had to fascinate in some way.
This was one area the data couldn't tell me about. So, we enjoyed hours of scrolling Instagram feeds, reading captions and checking out the blogs of some of our over-50 blogger candidates. We wanted to feature people who had "a thing", whether that thing was style over 50, fit over 50, being outrageous, being an avid blogger (on an actual blog, not a mini-blog), or being Creatives... whatever.
Fourth, we skipped anyone who recently bought tons of followers.
We put potential candidates through our database to filter out people who recently purchased followers. You know how we are about that sort of thing. Truth is, you would be hard-pressed to find an influencer who never bought followers. And sometimes, a boosted post will look a little like follower fraud, but boosted posts typically don't have the unfollows you get with influencer fraud.

We also excluded people who were actively engaged in the practice of buying followers. That meant excluding some of the people we really wanted to include in this roundup (we were actually shooting for 50 mature influencers with this version of the roundup, but you'd be surprised how many grandmas are out here trying to cheat at influencer marketing!!).#badgrandma
Fifth, #Thisis50 has reclaimed it's intended meaning.
This is actually now more of an interesting story, rather than a bonafide discover. When we first published this roundup back in July 2018, we pulled up the hashtag #thisis50, thinking it would help find more influencers. Instead we discovered the hashtag had been cop-opted by media mogul Curtis Jackson, aka rapper 50 Cent, aka Kanan Stark from Starz's drama, Power, which was at its height in 2018.

Today, however, the hashtag is back to being used by people over 50.

The big takeaway: Do your research on the nuances of using hashtags for your brand...
We also learned #over45 is a popular hashtag in the fitness community. Not sure about the importance of the number 45. Maybe that's just when things start getting real for people and they go, "I'm 45. Time to do something about this gout."

Or gut.

Whatever the case, #over45 is an important milestone age in the fitness community.

Just a quick lesson on the importance of researching hashtags... even the seemingly obvious, fail-proof ones. Never know what a hashtag has been appropriated for. (We picked up that handy, little lesson while researching toy hashtags for a holiday post. Yikes!)

Captivating Influencers and Bloggers Over 50 (who are probably way cooler than anyone else you know)

Shauna Robertson is the engaging and fiery persona behind the Chic Over 50 style blog. What began in 2015 as an online look book for Robertson to share with her friends has grown into a community of more than 98K actively engaged Instagram followers, 18K Facebook followers, and more than 93K monthly views on Pinterest. Based in Salt Lake City, Robertson's pink pixie cut, colorful outfits and high energy posts have become the exemplification of her personal charge for women to "Be confident, be beautiful".

Angelique Miles is the record industry veteran - turned - over-50 fitness model who was responsible for signing to publishing deals some of the biggest names in the music industry. Today, the fitness over 50 guru is turning heads with her radiant skin (like, really - she glows) and incredible physique, while inspiring droves of Gen Xers to practice self-love with nutrition and good, old-fashioned sweat equity.

Her Instagram feed - where she has more than 48k followers - is liable to show pics of her pre-, during and post-workout. I spotted a sponsored post of her and Full(er) House's Candace Cameron Bure in her Facebook feed, and another picture of Miles and singer Carrie Underwood post-workout in her Instagram feed.

Miles' Instagram tagline is "Sweat, beauty, lifestyle".

Alyson Walsh is a 50-something journalist, former magazine fashion editor and the author of two books, Know Your Style and Style Forever. Walsh is the editor of That's Not My Age, a fashion and lifestyle blog for women of all ages.

By, far one of my favorite fashion bloggers over 50, Walsh's Instagram feed is curated to well-styled perfection. It's an elegant mix of reserve and sophistication with a bit of the UK's infamous 80s-styled anarchy rioting just beneath the surface.

I dunno. There's just something there that I can't put my finger on. Her outfits are some of the dopest things I've seen on Instagram.

We respectfully submit that Instagram's cutest influencer couple may, in fact, be Boomers. Japanese couple Bon and Pon are killing it on Instagram with 832K followers and nearly five percent engagement on each post. How? By being awesome.

Bono and Pon appear together across Instagram in matching (but not identical) outfits, Bon standing on the left and Pon on the right. You can find them doing everything from boating and hiking to stroking a goat or just standing in the rain.

There are actually two books already published on Bon and Pon's lifestyle. The third hits Amazon September 14. The third book is a magazine of their complementary style choices.

Evelyn created Fashionista Over 40 as a way to showcase her lively ensembles and share style ideas with other women entering their prime. For Evelyn, confidence has accompanied age.

Evelyn grew up in the Bronx and spent her late teens and early 20s living in Puerto Rico. Formerly a stay-at-home mom, Evelyn is now a grandmother with an eye for bold colors, tall heels and striking jewelry.

Liz Webster is a mother, hair stylist and a second place winner in the 2014 NPC bodybuilding competition as a bikini competitor. Her Instagram feed is a veritable portfolio of Webster, her partner (he's also a bodybuilder), their three kids, life in the gym, and days at the beach.

She also posts the occasional recipe and tons of gentle motivation (without her screaming "get off your a**!" to her followers). She is also an affiliate of ID Life, a company that sells dietary supplements for athletes and bodybuilders.

Dawn Lucy is the over-50 siren behind the over-40 style blog Fashion Should Be Fun. Lucy is a style blogger, a high school English teacher, a wife and the mom of dogs. Her Instagram feed is replete with Lucy's fresh and playful outfits, pics captured from her daily life in San Jose, California as well as her travels (it's New York Fashion Week, people!).

Fifty-five year-old Annette Höldrich launched Lady of Style in 2013 as a way to provide style advice and inspiration for women over 40 - transcending trends in favor of ageless style and natural beauty. It is now one of the top blogs in Germany for women over 40.

Höldrich describes her style as "elegance currently interpreted". The flip side is that she's a huge soccer (football) fan - even listing Bayern and the soccer ball icon in her Instagram bio.

Höldrich lives in Upper Bavaria where she works as an Executive Assistant and Travel Manager at NATO (she also includes professional dress ideas on her blog - which I love). You can find her on Instagram under the #ü50 hashtag.

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I came across Arlinda McIntosh while I was "flipping" through the pages of Alyson Walsh's blog, That's Not My Age. She was included in a roundup of over-50 influencers (along with Bon and Pon). McIntosh's out-of-the-box (read, in-your-face) style reminds me of the vibe you get wandering the streets of Midtown Detroit -100% the work of a Creative, 100% drawn from the grit and guts it takes to build something amazing out of scraps and found materials.

McIntosh is the creative director and founder of Sofistafunk, a "slow fashioned lifestyle collection of versatile zero-waste skirts". Her elegantly flamboyant skirts coupled with her low-key persona have earned her the moniker #thefairyskirtmother.

Sofistafunk is doing its part to reduce waste: "In our efforts to be more environmentally responsible, 99% cuttings are re-purposed into other useable fashion moments, so they never reach the already overflowing landfills."

Last, but certainly not least is the infamous Baddiewinkle, the 90 year-old social media marvel from Hazard, Kentucky who - with help from her granddaughter - crafted an Internet personality that now has her on the red carpet.

Unlike over-90 influencers like Iris Apfel, who's been on our radar for decades for her work in the fashion world (she's the one in the big, round glasses), Baddiewinkle had a less glamorous job. She was a factory worker for years. In a CNN interview, the influencer said Baddiewinkle was born after her husband of 35 years died and she had trouble coping with the loss. When Helen was still grieving, Baddwinkle set about doing all the things Helen hadn't been able to do. The result - Instafame. Baddiewinkle has 3.8M followers on Instagram, and in 2016, she won a Shorty Award for Instagrammer of the Year.

Ernestine Shepherd, social influencer and the world's oldest bodybuilder shatters typical perceptions of how an 83 year old looks, how she feels, who she is, and what she does.

She's now world-renowned, but Mrs. Shepherd wasn't always fit. In her 50s, she was swimsuit shopping with her sister, and they noticed that they were out of shape. After a few well-timed jokes about each other's appearances, they decided to do something about the way they looked and felt. They vowed to start on a journey to health.

This is a promise she's never broken. Despite losing her sister, she continued to push, beyond her wildest dreams. She has held the world record as the oldest competing bodybuilder and maintains a body fat percentage of 9-10% even out of competition.

She now gives back by being a personal trainer to other female seniors. To stay in shape, Ernestine still trains and runs a very impressive 80 miles a week. Amazing!

All across the globe, but especially in Australia, the name Jenny Kee has become synonymous with the words fashion icon. Her eclectic and unforgettable designs have completely revolutionized the global definition, philosophy, and face of high-fashion

She has received numerous commissions, including the design of her breathtaking parade of costumes for the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. She's even styled Diana, Princess of Wales. She knows that she's far too gifted to stop designing people, so she's also designed a housewares line for Target!

Kee attributes her success to the planet Earth, and living within nature. She designs nothing without considering the earth and its role in her art. Outspoken about her love and dependency on the planet, on her website, she declares " I really cherish this earth. It's behind everything I do"

Frumpy, divorced, and homeless. Like other superheros, Susan's story began with pain, and heartbreak. A decade ago she was unhealthy and in a battle for her life. She suffered from diabetes, hypertension, and there were times when she didn't even want to leave her home. One day she took a look at herself, and came out of agreement with the shrunken-back, illness-ridden version of herself. She decided to do something about it.

She turned to healthier life choices, and lost about 50 pounds. That's when she decided that she'd never go back to her old self. Not only did she come out of her dark season victoriously, but she does all that she can to make sure no other woman experiences that pain.

The influencer formally known as Fifty Not Frumpy has amassed a large following on both her blg and social media and inspires women all over the world, shattering generational barriers.

Gracefully grey, and enveloped with unmistakable style and confidence, Susan feels better now than she did in her thirties!

Hillary B, Or @SilverStorm as she's known on social media is a Zumba instructor turned model. Beautifully playful, her face is adorned with freckles, and an unforgettable smile. As a teen she searched for modeling jobs but was rejected because she didn't have the look that was thought to be "All-American". She didn't have blonde hair, or fit into society's unrealistic mold of beauty.

She wasn't deterred. She refused to change who she was, She wouldn't even consider dyeing her hair. And to this day, she's still never altered her hair color. Fast forward. At Age 50, she got wind of a position as a Zumba instructor- or so she thought. Once she arrived, she realized that the job was for a model, and she had everything they were looking for. She began her modeling career then.

Her minimalistic, effortless beauty is impossible to ignore. She is the true embodiment of good things coming to those who wait. Along with Cindy Joseph, She now also works to spearhead the Boom Movement, A Pro-Age Revolution. Her mission is to do away with the stereotypes of old, and dispel myths and misconceptions about aging.

In a post featuring her as the first Boom Brand Ambassador she shares her simple morning beauty routine with her audience. Hillary is quoted as saying "I have freckles. I have lines. And I have no desire to cover them up!" Legendary!

For over 30 years, Lance has serviced the wonder people of London, England as the owner of a fruit stand. He appeals greatly to GenZ-ers because of his vivid, fashionable appearance. His business is located outside of the Supreme's Soho location. In 2012, he became interested in the Supreme brand, and started collecting articles one at a time-starting with a simple hat, and buying one additional piece when his budget allowed.

Lance, a father of three must seem like the coolest dad in the world to his children who are young adults; Although he seems to be unfazed by the attention he receives on a daily basis. If you're ever in the area, stop by and say hello. This influencer won't be hard to miss! The bright colors he wears remind him of exotic fruit. People's preconceived notions may make it appear as though he's outlandish.He insists though, that he doesn't purchase or wear anything impractical, no matter what it is.

Photographer, Ben Awin whose usual clientele is well-dressed urban youths, couldn't help take immediate notice of Walsh as he stood dressed in Supreme from head to toe. Awin posted a pic online of his elder protege.

As a result, locals say he's become a tourist attraction of sorts. Fasn gather just to meet and take pics with the unexpected influencer. HypeBeast features a documentary on Walsh on their site. Take a minute and watch Supreme Reality!

Lyn Slater, an Associate Professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services remembers the day she became the Accidental Icon. Waiting for a friend outside during fashion week, she was suddenly swarmed by hordes of thirsty photographers, journalists, and tourists who assumed, because she was so well-dressed that she must've been a fashion icon.

She was wearing a perfectly tailored Yohji Yamamoto suit and her arm was adorned with a Chanel bag. As the chaos died down, and she sat down to lunch with her friend, they laughed. Her friend joked "You're an accidental icon!" Lyn knew that would be the perfect name for a blog.

And what an amazing blog she's built. She embodies the idea of living a life unrestrained by societal norms and biases. She's designed her blog in such a way that it targets and caters to 'Women who live interesting but ordinary lives.' I found it almost impossible to stop reading as I was offered a seemingly exclusive look inside her very intriguing everyday life, as she shared victories, frustrations, and even bad hair days!

Never once mentioning age or aging, Lyn offers her readers advice- allowing them to glean from her ample wisdom. After sharing her life, and teaching readers everything from how to pair your earring with your personality to self-reinvention, she wraps up each post with calls-to-action; urging participants to share their lives as well.

She's mysterious, poised, and is indeed iconic. And she knows it! She's changed her Instagram bio to reflect that she's a 'No Longer Accidental Icon'. Epic!

Linda, crowned with ageless beauty, has been turning heads for decades! Starting out as a model in the sixties, Linda excelled, and moved up in the fashion industry quickly. She began exploring many opportunities; Climbing the perfectly accessorized ladder to success.

She went from fashion buyer, to consultant/stylist of A-listers, icons and elite brands. She also rose to the ranks of a boutique owner. Inevitably, she found her sweet spot as the Founder of beauty brand RODIN olio lusso. The beauty mogul formly believes that "there is beauty in simplicity". She cites it as a philosophy that has helped shape her career. After only six years of operation, Estee Lauder acquired the company. Her unmatched face oil formula was a major consideration in the acquisition. After reaching the pinnacle of her career in human fashion, Ms. Rodin shattered expectations by pivoting into a slightly different niche.

Sporting a beautiful head of platinum grey hair and oversized specs, Linda is rarely seen without her nine year old best friend and business partner, Winks. The adorable, fashion-conscious poodle is Linda's muse. Winks is the inspiration behind Linda and Winks, a haberdashery of sorts for you four-legged family members.

Sticking to her simplistic design ideology, the shop carries a single tote design, a single flavor of beautiful flower shaped dog biscuits, and a collection of leash and collar sets Ten percent of all Linda and Winks proceeds benefit The Humane Society of New York. with nostalgic names like Wild Thing, Mellow Yellow, and Aunt Dottie (who ran an amazing hat shop when Linda was a teenager). Similar to other growing fashion empires, inclusion is very important. Linda is careful to mention on the site that these products aren't for poodles only! 😍

Let me share something with you. Close your eyes. Oh...wait..then you can't read with your eyes closed. Okay, keep them open. Now imagine you're a healthy, happy seven year old. The world is your playground. Anything is possible.

Colors are brighter, the world is safe, you have endless energy, you can grow up to be a superhero and unicorns are probably real. Scratch that. They're definitely real! Look up into the clear blue sky of your imagination's past. Notice the vivid birds flying overhead? See the beautiful bright contrast of flowers? (Mine are royal blue and orange). The world you've created is pretty awesome. Huh?

This is EXACTLY how Lisa Congdon's art makes me feel. She has an awe-inspiring way of translating her thoughts and imaginations onto the canvas, and nothing can compare. I wonder what it must be like to be able to convey a complete sequence of ideas using brushstrokes. It's profound. Poetic almost.

Lisa inspires me. Something about her is intriguing in the best way. She captivated me immediately. I find it hard to look away. Every smile, every sentence, every train of thought challenges me to be more. Maybe it's because of her "Do It Anyway" mantra. Maybe it's because she's a self-taught artist who never even went to art school. Let alone picked up a brush until her thirties. She used social media as a platform to give it a go- just to see if she could get herself out there. Now she's globally sought-after.

Again like most superheroes, Linda's "powers" are a result of painful, perceptually tragic change. Twenty years ago Lisa was a school teacher by trade. She was transitioning from childhood education to the nonprofit sector. As if that wasn't a big enough weight, she and her romantic partner were ending their 10-year relationship. She needed to find a safe place- even if it was in the form of a new hobby. Her art was born. The rest is history.

In a very relatable admission, Lisa shares that she still struggles with insecurities and can sometimes be apprehensive about sharing her art and herself with the world, but she cites the key to success as doing it anyway.

Across social platforms, on her blog, in her published works, and as a Skillshare instructor, she constantly urges creatives to acknowledge those times of uncertainty as part of the creative process, and push through to the other side. She reassures her community by saying "Begin despite your fears or whatever roadblocks you think are in your way. Let go of the excuses and justifications, and begin anyhow."

Sophisticated, stylish, sexy, confident, gaze-worthy. That's what comes to mind when I see Nickelson Wooster. Have I ever mentioned that I'm a black millennial from Detroit? Yeah. Let that sink in.

I'm just as stunned by what I said as you are. But there's something undeniable about Nick. We're not talking silver foxes here, this dude hits unicorn levels. I'm talking OVER 9000!!! Have you noticed that he can pull off a pompadour? He has an air about himself that the Dos Equis guy can only dream of. May I suggest to you that Nickelson Wooster is in fact the most interesting man in the world?

Born in Salina, Kansas , Wooster had an eye for fashion in his early years. In junior high school, he noticed the disparities in clothing quality between the "rich kids" and himself. That didn't stop him. He looked for ways to improve on current style trends, and hated to wear any ensemble more than once. His mother quickly brought him back to reality when she suggested that he get a job to buy the additional clothes that he wanted.

Nick is no stranger to adversity, but he's never allowed himself to stay down. Growing up as a member of the LGBTIQ community in Kansas in the 70s wasn't easy, neither was beating drug addiction. But after college he made his way to New York where he thrived in the fashion industry, and this year, we'll celebrate 25 years of sobriety. Congratulations, Nick! You inspire us!

Nick-named, #MrStealYourGrandma on Instagram, Irvin Randle has 'drip' that transcends generational boundaries. The 58-year-old Houston native has a background in education that he remains true to. Being pursued by talk shows, media outlets, and the demands of his fans never takes a backseat to the passion he has for education. He has dedicated his work and website to education.

Pushing the philosophy that coordination is key, Randle offers personal style guidance, grooming advice, and fitness advice to men over 50. He even suggests grooming products categorically, intentionally pairing fragrances to create balanced notes.
Admittedly, his physical attractiveness is what grabs your attention, but what keeps it is the value he provides. He's worked with AARP, and has been featured by Essence, USA Today, The Real, and on The Wendy Williams Show!

The Big Wrap-Up

This isn't the end of the list. There are tons more over-50 and over-60 influencers who are building their audiences on Instagram. The twelve Gen Xers and Boomers featured today are just a handful in a sea of mature influencers with what author Ari Seth Cohen calls "advanced style".

Do you need influencers for your next big product push? Ramping up sales? Drumming up leads? Influencer marketing - when done right - delivers the kind of consistent returns you just can't get with your PPC ads. Let us help you.

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20 INFLUENCERS AND BLOGGERS OVER 50 WE'RE FOLLOWING * The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing

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Gray is the new black, and 60 is the new 40. Forget what you heard about the Golden Years being a time for R&R and winding down. We found 20 Instagram influencers and bloggers over the age of 50 (and 60 and 90) who are living life like it's golden golden .

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An article I found which highlights societies problems with brands not recognising body changes and how body dismormia is within the images brands use to promote their clothing. A change needs to be made with this.

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Have you ever bought clothes online and realised it doesn't fit? I recently bought a t-shirt dress from The Ragged Priest, I've bought one from them before so I didn't expect a problem. However, it turned out that this one despised curvy figures. It's difficult to know what's right for you when all the models have only one body type. She's usually a girl at least 5'9 with a slim figure, size 8 and minimal curves which is kind of crazy since the average size in the UK is a size 16.

Bloggers and influencers have made a major breakthrough in fashion, anyone who has a large social media following can model for top high street brands and people love it because it's an opportunity to see our own shape in clothes. High street brands would save a lot of money on paying bloggers and influencers if they hired more diverse models. But this isn't always the case, we've built a culture where we adore those who are impossible to look like. Fake bums, boobs, lip injections and other enhancements do not prevent women being idolised, as long as their new unattainable appearance looks natural, we'll endorse it.

The problem of diversity is mixed messages between consumers and brands, we praise fakery but also complain that we hate it. Supporters of the Kardashians are also supporters of Alicia Keys being natural and plus size models like Ashley Graham. Celebrities like Kylie Jenner have become an icon and inspiration despite giving into personal insecurities.

ASOS is receiving extra brownie points as a huge retailer at the moment, the brand recently posted a model with stretch marks and used a plus sized model whose stomach wasn't retouched and the internet went insane. Although plus sized models are used in their curve collection, the models are still made to look unrealistic. It's relieving seeing other people's flaws, it means you can stop excessively applying cellulite cream, skip out the extra gym sessions and stop contemplating laser stretch mark removal.

It looks like fashion is moving towards more diversity within body shapes however it's not moving fast enough. It's a special occasion when a retailer like ASOS accidentally forgets to edit stretch marks. The truth is everyone is insecure and fashion plays on this so we shouldn't take it too seriously.

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ASOS shows stretch marks and encourages body positivity - CUB Magazine

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Have you ever bought clothes online and realised it doesn't fit? I recently bought a t-shirt dress from The Ragged Priest, I've bought one from them before so I didn't expect a problem. However, it turned out that this one despised curvy figures.

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The imagery used on websites showcases body dismormia

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The fashion industry can be a wonderful world of creativity, expression and style. Unfortunately, it can also be a place of misleading images, dangerous ideals and exclusion. The fashion industry has long used tools like Photoshop and airbrushing to edit models to appear "perfect." Brands like Victoria's Secret and Ralph Lauren are infamous for airbrushing their models to achieve a flawless and unrealistic image.

This deception also exists on a smaller scale with celebrities editing their own images and posting them to social media. In a magazine interview with Blake Lively and Gigi Hadid, the pair claim that 99.9% of celebrities' images are photoshopped. Editing images in this way creates harmful standards in the minds of both men and women.

My first real exposure to unrealistic body standards was through Instagram. While Instagram can be an amazing tool to discover, connect and share content, it can also be dangerous. Not only can sketchy strangers try to rope you into their pyramid schemes, like Mary Kay and Arbonne, but images of "perfect" bodies in "perfect" clothing can give viewers a warped idea of how they look.

I downloaded Instagram my sophomore year of high school, and it quickly became a portal to all the ways I thought I should look and all the ways I could get there. The idea of clothes only looking good on a certain body type further fueled my desire to look that way. My obsession with looking a certain way spiraled out of control until I was losing a battle with orthorexia, an exercise and eating disorder.

While I recovered, I never fully forgave Instagram. I still feel overwhelmed and sick when I hear people talking about regimented schedules of exercise and eating. I want to tear down airbrushed images, especially when they are paired with headlines about how to lose weight or "be your best self." I want to tell people who wish they looked a different way that it is not worth it, so they can learn from my mistakes.

I hate it when my little sister picks the skinny doll in stores because she wants her friends to think the doll is pretty. But I love fashion, and clothing can be so beautiful. I long for the experience to shop and dress confidently. The saddest part is even when I was at my worst (or best, depending on the view), I still did not feel like enough. I still did not think I was ready to buy those cute clothes marketed to someone who didn't look like me.

What the fashion industry does not realize is that pushing these images of "perfect" people does not make customers want to buy their clothes. It makes customers feel like they can never buy these clothes because these clothes are not meant for them.

Recently, there has been a movement of acceptance and visibility in the fashion industry. Clothes are being designed to fit all bodies now. Brands like Dove, Aerie, Modcloth, ASOS and more have made a commitment to have honest photo shoots and show real bodies in their advertising and products.

Saying goodbye to airbrushing and Photoshop will send the fashion industry into an era where people can be confident and see themselves in the brands and models of clothes they buy. No longer will we be wistfully looking at pictures and thinking, "I would wear that if I looked like her." We will instead be confidently saying, "She looks like me. I'm getting that."

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Are brands finally ditching Photoshop and showcasing true bodies?

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The fashion industry can be a wonderful world of creativity, expression and style. Unfortunately, it can also be a place of misleading images, dangerous ideals and exclusion. The fashion industry has long used tools like Photoshop and airbrushing to edit models to appear "perfect." Brands like Victoria's Secret and Ralph Lauren are infamous for airbrushing...

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The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing

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Welcome to The Shelf's complete guide to influencer marketing strategy. Our marketing team, account managers, and sales team worked hard to put together a virtual encyclopedia of influencer marketing. Originally, this sucker was more than 10,000 words of content. But we shortened it. A little. Still, this complete-slash-ultimate-slash-A-to-Z guide to influencer marketing covers:

Everything a brand needs to know to justify influencer marketing spend

Everything the Marketing Manager needs to know to get buy-in from the higher-ups

Everything the marketing team needs to know to set up and run a campaign

And everything the demand gen/paid team needs to know about optimizing a live campaign to deliver the best results

Nuff chit-chat. Let's get started.

What You'll Find in Our Epic Influencer Marketing Strategy Guide

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing has become an increasingly important part of the digital landscape. But what (EXACTLY) is it? A mommy blogger speaking well of a skin cream that helps reduce the discomfort of her daughter's eczema? Is it a celebrity endorsement? How do we define it? How does it really affect your marketing campaigns? More, how do brands translate 💗 Instagram Likes 💗 into conversions? We'll get into all of that in this guide, but first, let's start at the beginning:

Influencer Marketing is a form of word-of-mouth marketing where brands hire social media creators with influence in specific areas (👈 important) to talk to their own audiences about the various benefits of a brand or product.

That's because influencers (or creators) are the people others follow and keep up with for advice and inspiration - whether the topic is fashion, beauty, finance, tech, gardening, or even more niche interests like car detailing, agriculture, or spelunking!

The Benefits of Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is personal... Where paid ads are often thought of as non-personal marketing, influencer marketing is far more personal, and that personal touch is the driving force behind the effectiveness of influencer campaigns. Four in ten millennials who follow influencers say they feel like social media influencers know them better than their own friends. How's that for personal?

Influencer marketing is a more targeted approach... Influencer marketing allows brands to get in front of niched-down segments of their target audience by borrowing the goodwill of the people those audience segments already like, trust, and admire. Sixty-one percent of consumers trust the recommendations that come from influencers.

Influencer marketing offers strong social proof... Influencers are great at two things: creating compelling content and getting their followers to take an action. Brands that work with influencers are gaining allies who already know how to present ideas, concepts, and visuals to their audience that can get them to respond.

Influencer marketing allows for real-time results... When brands roll out influencer campaigns in stages, they have the opportunity to monitor the campaign performance in real-time to allow the marketing team a chance to optimize campaigns and put more resources behind content that's performing well. Influencer marketing is also a great way to test messaging before sending ad concepts to print or using them in PPC campaigns.

Influencer marketing is more affordable... Influencer marketing is an all-in-one solution that allows brands to go directly to social media influencers for branded content, eliminating the need for a creative team whose job is to create the assets for specific campaigns.

Influencer marketing works faster... Influencer marketing has proven to be an effective tool for boosting brand lift across multiple channels. It's also a good way to drive traffic back to their website, talk-up an event, promote a new product, and assemble a catalog of creative, compelling content.

Why Influencer Marketing Works So Well (even though we know we're being marketed to)

We are bombarded every single day with branded messages. Ads abound. There's a popular stat floating around that the average person sees up to 10,000 ads a day. Well, if we're seeing more than 5,000 ads a day, and the average person's only getting six hours of sleep a night, that means during our 18 waking hours, we see 277 ads every hour on the hour, which is about one ad every 4.5 seconds.

For every day in 2019, about 13,560 pieces of influencer-created sponsored content went up on Instagram, according to Statista. Between 2019 and 2022, the influencer market more than doubled in size, going from $6.5B to $15B in value.

Today, nine in ten marketers say they are running or planning to run an influencer marketing campaign in the near future. Influencers seem to have a finger on the pulse of social communities.
So, how do we get ANYTHING done?!!?
Two ways: Adblockers and ad blindness.

Tens of millions of people have taken deliberate steps to make sure they're not exposed to ads by using ad blockers that are so sophisticated, they even help you skip pre-roll YouTube ads altogether. Something like 44 percent of adults who use the Internet globally also use an ad blocker.

So here's the question: If people hate ads so much, why does influencer marketing even work on smart consumers?

Short answer: It's the presentation. Influencer marketing doesn't disrupt an Instagrammer's experience like a TV ad interrupts an episode of The Bachelor. And believe it or not, one of the (many) reasons people go to social media in the first place is to learn about new trends, products, brands, and movements.

How Influencer Marketing Works

Influencer marketing integrates pretty seamlessly with your overall digital marketing strategy because it lets brands show up at different touchpoints along the path to purchase. The most effective influencer marketing strategies work across multiple platforms.

For every channel you add to your digital marketing strategy, you can improve your ROI and effectiveness by up to 35 percent, according to Analytics Partners. And studies have shown that conversions increase by at least 10 percent for brands that use influencer-generated content in the online purchase path.

Take a look at the channels identified in the graphic above. All of those channels - the subway ads, the Pinterest board, the newsletter - are access points for influencers to extol the virtues of your brand, creating a kind of echo chamber all across the web.

In the previous section, we included the stat (in the pink chart) that 81 percent of millennial women say social media is the best way to reach them. That's a stat to which most digital marketers would easily subscribe. Well, here are a few more of the answers given by millennial women from that same poll:

36 percent say websites they trust are a good way to reach them

35 percent say online articles

35 percent say email

17 percent say online video

Let's move on to some tactical elements of your influencer campaign to give you a basic understanding of how the puzzle pieces fit together. This will make it easier to understand how threading an influencer marketing strategy throughout your digital marketing activations can help you hit all the important KPIs your brand is targeting this year. (And really, after the year we've had, don't we all just kinda need a win right now?)

Setting Your Campaign Goals

We totally get why some marketers and brands are still giving influencer marketing the side-eye. 😒 There's a lot of talk about things like earned media value, brand-building, long-term value, playing the long game...

That's all great, but aren't you more interested in finding out what part of influencer marketing lines up with ACTUAL business goals - the kind of business goals set by REAL companies? So many brands are still under the misguided notion that influencer marketing is just a brand awareness play when that's not the case at all. For brands, the value of running an influencer campaign goes far beyond just reach and Likes.

It's not that you can't accomplish important business goals with influencer marketing. We've run our fair share of campaigns to help clients get more app downloads, boost sales, drive site traffic AND foot traffic. More often than not, there's a disconnect between what a brand WANTS to accomplish and how it STRUCTURES its influencer campaigns to achieve that end. The former has EVERYTHING to do with the latter.

Influencer campaigns need goals. Your campaign goals set the metrics you use to track the success of your influencer campaign.

Whether the goal is to get a new product in front of buyers, get traffic back to your site, or get a catalog of creative assets you can post across your own branded social platforms, a well-planned influencer marketing strategy can help you accomplish REAL marketing goals and move the needle on larger organizational goals.

Knowing How to Structure Your Influencer Marketing Strategy to Hit KPIs

Influencer campaigns can (and should) be custom-built to achieve specific goals. Knowing which outcomes you want to see will determine how your campaign is structured and which influencer marketing strategy you use. There are three primary types of campaigns you can use to reach your influencer marketing goals:

Brand Awareness Campaigns help you get lots of eyes on your brand, product, or event very quickly. These campaigns work best when your goal is to introduce a new product, when you're rebranding, when you're trying to present a value prop big enough to interrupt the buyer's regular pattern (like getting someone to cancel the auto-shipped vitamins they like to switch to your brand of vitamins).

Content Campaigns are designed to create a catalog of high-value sponsored content that brands can reuse as needed across their own branded channels. Traffic/Clicks Campaigns work best for increasing site traffic, growing your list, getting sales, and when you're also running retargeting campaigns (and need prospects to see your brand a few more times to stay top-of-mind).

Let's say you're a women's clothing retailer and you're planning to run a spring influencer campaign. Here's how each campaign would look with the different types of campaign structures:

Scenario 1 for Traffic/Clicks... You partner with three or four Instagram macro-influencers who have really popular blogs. You do this because you want to drive tons of people to your site to shop your big sale and use the blogger's discount code to buy a romper you know their audience will love.

Scenario 2 for Influencer Content... You want to swap out your boring-as-hell product pics with influencer selfies or candid-looking shots of customers wearing that romper. You bring on a dozen or so Instagram nano-influencers who can take cute pics of themselves in the romper, and maybe even leave reviews so it looks like regular user-generated content.

Scenario 3 for Product Awareness... You're also upselling a snug, new body shaper to pair with the romper and you have a couple of great YouTube macro-influencers in mind who are active on TikTok and Reels. These gals will talk shoppers through the different ways to style the romper with tips on how to match the right body shaper with the right outfit.

The point is... Once we know what your goals are, we know the best way to structure the campaign to meet those goals by tweaking the way we handle the rest of the campaign elements

Choosing the Right Social Media Platform(s) for Your Campaign

Which platforms should you choose for your influencer campaign? The answer to this question eludes many marketing teams. So, by default, a lot of marketers just go ahead and run influencer campaigns on Instagram alone. Instagram influencer marketing is definitely important. But each of the other major social media platforms offers advantages that are naturally a good fit for achieving different campaign goals.

Instagram is the most popular platform for running influencer campaigns by a long shot, with 67 percent of brands using Instagram for influencer campaigns, compared with Facebook (43 percent), TikTok ( 42 percent), YouTube (36 percent), Twitter (15 percent), and LinkedIn (16 percent), according to Influencer Marketing Hub.

The factors that determine where your influencer campaigns should run are your product and your audience:

Knowing what your audience needs to see and hear in order to understand the value of your product

Knowing where your audience spends time online

Understanding which platform will give you the best shot at nailing the other two factors

For instance...

Platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok are great social media platforms for reaching different types of audiences with different products. They each have their own culture, norms, and way of presenting ideas. But they're not the only channels for influencer marketing.

If you're trying to reach busy professionals, for example, you may need to loop podcasts into the mix. Or add YouTube and Facebook if you're targeting a more mature demographic since those two platforms are so widely used by older social media users, especially now that churches, community groups, and in-person gatherings have gone virtual.

On a good day, only about 2 in 5 marketers feel like they know what the heck they're doing when it comes time to recruit influencers, according to Ste Davies.

That's a BIG DEAL because knowing how to align the RIGHT influencers with the RIGHT concept determines how your influencer campaign will ultimately impact lift across metrics like brand awareness, follower growth, new subscribers, downloads of your awesome thing, intent to purchase, or completed purchases.

Yet, influencer selection remains one of the primary challenges for most of the marketing teams who sit down to plan an influencer campaign.

So, how can you tell the difference between an influencer who is going to push your brand to the next level vs. one that will just eat up your marketing budget with no return on your investment?

Let's work out some of the most effective techniques for partnering with creators who will be the best fit for your influencer campaign and help you reach important KPIs.

The Different Types of Influencers

Remember a few years ago when most brands focused their attention (and budgets) on large influencers with huge audiences? The general consensus was the more followers an influencer had, the better their influencer marketing campaigns would perform. But that consensus turned out to be flawed. Actually, it wasn't true at all. Not even a little.

Thankfully, most of the brands we encounter now know better, even if they don't exactly know how to do better. Now, clients come to us asking for recommendations on which types of influencers would work best for their campaigns. There are basically five tiers or types of Instagram influencers to choose from when it comes to social media influencers. Different agencies and brands will have some version of this chart that they're working from. But based on our extensive research and our own knowledge of the influencer culture, we think this is the most logical and inclusive breakdown.

How to Find Influencers for Your Campaign

Have you ever seen an influencer's feed and thought he or she would be perfect for your next campaign? Yeah, that's how a lot of brands handle the process of finding influencers for their campaigns. In reality, influencer selection is a bit more complex than just pinpointing influencers who create visually appealing content, and it takes more than just finding influencers who seem to be members of your target audience.

The pool from which you source influencers also matter. Here are the four most common sources brands use to find influencers:

* Influencer Networks: A roster of an existing influencer network curated by a third party

* Opt-Ins: Influencers who respond to your "casting call"

* Agents: Professionals who represent a group of top influencers (which isn't the same as repping a large group of influencers)

* Outreach: Conducting cold outreach to influencers you don't know and who probably don't know you

Although popular, these methods often end up being too restrictive and time-consuming to execute, and they don't allow for real-world applications.

What happens if your campaign calls for blue-collar influencers, gardeners, or gamers? Will the agency have the resources and know-how to find the people needed for that campaign?

Influencer marketing platforms usually give you the best chance of finding a large enough pool of potential candidates for influencer campaigns, especially for brands that are targeting subsegments of your audience. You can sift through creator profiles using filters like age, location, brand affinities, engagement ratios, and even the categories in which influencers wield the most sway to narrow your candidate pool.

Choosing the Right Influencer Partners

Reaching the right audience hinges on how good you are at choosing the right influencers for your campaign. In order for that influencer selection process to work, it needs to integrate a couple of really important factors.

A lot of marketing teams underestimate the importance of their influencer selection process. Influencer selection directly impacts a brand's ability to move the needle with a social media campaign, but most brands have no idea how to actually structure the influencer selection process.
Factor #1: You have to analyze both quantitative and qualitative influencer data to find the right creators for your campaign.
Most marketers have a pretty solid grasp of the basic information needed about an influencer to determine if he or she is a good fit for a campaign. That data usually falls into the category of quantitative data:

Stats

Follower size

Engagement rate or view rate

# of posts

Overall post performance

Demographic targeting

Location

Age

Budget + Availability

Previous sponsorship performance

Fraud detection

But qualitative insights are also important for choosing the influencer(s) who will be able to get you the outcomes you want to see. These include information on:

Quality of content

Is it creative? Original?

Influencer aesthetic

Relatability

Does the influencer fit your brand?

Are their values/messaging aligned with the brand?

Does the influencer's content fit the campaign's creative direction?

Factor #2: Influencers must be able to create targeted content.
An influencer should be chosen based on the likelihood she'll be able to create content for the specific buyer persona/audience segment she's creating content to reach. In the example below, let's assume these influencers both talk about fashion & are currently in their 20's. But they clearly target different demographics, which means they will appeal to different types of brands in the same vertical.

💡 Finding the right influencer partner requires you to know more about an influencer than just demographic info and follower count.

Factor #3: Influencers must be influential on the platform(s) where the campaign will run.
The influencer selected also needs to be great at creating content for the specific platform(s) where your target buyer is most likely to spend time. For instance, a food blogger who creates amazing-looking flat lays for Insta may not have the same knack for creating entertaining TikToks, and the entertainment factor is a huge part of TikTok culture.
Factor #4: Influencers should understand how to create content that supports your messaging.
An influencer should stick to creative concepts that support the messaging needed to push your target buyer deeper into your funnel and/or farther along on the purchase path.
Factor #5: Audience behavior matters.
One thing you'll want to remember about your influencer selection process is that it's also important to take a look at the audience behavior. By looking at the behaviors of audience members who are actually liking and commenting on an influencer's posts, you can refine your targeting even more. Huh?

We have an entire post dedicated to influencer outreach penned by our Director of Account Managers. If you want to know how to approach influencers for collabs, that's the post you want to read. Even has email templates.

Click the big, pretty button below to read that one.

PART 4: ALL THINGS SPONSORED CONTENT

Identifying your campaign goals and understanding who is in your audience determines how we structure campaigns to get specific outcomes

→ which helps you pinpoint the best platforms to use to reach your customers

→ which then dictates the types of influencers we need (and the superpowers they need to have to make your campaign deliver on KPIs).

And of course, all of this shapes the kind of content that influencers will create for your campaign.

There's a caveat here because a BIG part of what we provide for our clients has to do with the creative concepts our strategy team comes up with to help guide and shape the direction of the influencers' content.

Our Account Managers serve as the bridge connecting the brand's desired KPIs with influencers who are best equipped to deliver. One of the ways we do that is by building out creative concepts BEFORE we even select any influencers.

Specifically, as it relates to your content strategy, influencer marketing has some pretty compelling benefits:

Scale content creation by outsourcing it to an army of influencers.

Expand your visibility by aligning influencer selection with keyword research so you have a diverse group of creators building content specifically designed to target different long-tail keywords.

Amplify your messaging by bringing in creators who are also raving fans who can promote content and increase the likelihood of making your content go viral.

Prove your value by leveraging the Domain Authority of your influencer partners and adopting their endorsements as much-needed social proof.

Securing Content Rights

We know it's not fun and it sounds pretty boring, but you have to have a UGC rights contract in place for any influencer campaign.

We typically negotiate rights for sponsred content to be used by the brand as they see fit, across their social media channels. But the larger the influencer, the more likely you are to have resistance from the content's creator. Sometimes that takes the form of an expiration date for the content, or the creator being able to delete sponsored posts from their feed after a certain amount of time... it can get a little weird and a little complicated.

Still, it's crucial that you iron out those types of details in a written contract because influencers are well within their rights to ask a brand to take down a post that was part of a sponsored campaign the brand has ALREADY PAID FOR if reuse is not clearly defined within the contract. In an absolute-all-out-worst-case-ever scenario, the influencer could actually sue for copyright infringement.

Clarity and transparency are KEY in negotiating UGC rights, both for brands and Creators. Creators need to know from brands exactly how sponsored content and other UGC will be used and how long it will be used for that purpose.
Take Down and Removal Rights
Include a section in your influencer contract outlining when an influencer can take down sponsored content, and clearly state that you reserve the right to remove any content an influencer produces for your brand.

Influencers can be particular about the content they leave on their feeds. If you've ever looked at an influencer's Instagram, you know that they're selective about how much-sponsored content they have on their page. And duh! This makes sense. You don't want to see sponsored post after sponsored post - it will ruin their authenticity with their audience.

Brands, on the other hand, also need the authority to take down or remove content that doesn't meet the established brand guidelines. You can't have bad or misaligned content that you paid for hanging out on the internet.

It's important for brands to get influencers to agree they won't infringe on any other person's rights or copyright. Influencers should not incorporate the pictures, content, audio, or video of another creator's work into any campaign. That's uber-important.

To ensure you get what you paid for, we always list a set of DOs and DON'Ts because influencers (bless their hearts) will inevitably do weird things. So, you need a record of the hashtags to be used, any people or things that need to be mentioned in sponsored posts and the length of time the post is to stay published to a creator's site or social channel.

Contracts also include things like confidentiality clauses that require influencers to keep your super duper top secret secrets a secret... and indemnification that keeps you out of court in the event a zombie apocalypse, Yeti appearance or freak accident happens during the creation of the sponsored content.

Contracts are crucial, and the details you include in your contracts can save you time, reputation, and tens of thousands of dollars in litigation. Our iron-clad contracts allow our clients to have stress-free campaigns...but trust us when we say every clause in our contract was the result of a hard-learned lesson.

How to Get the BEST Creative Content from Your Influencer Partners

Okay. Buckle up.

If you want great content from your influencer marketing push, you're going to need really great strategies (plural) that you can provide the influencers.

Building out the strategies for an influencer marketing campaign involves several important elements: knowing who you want to target, knowing where they hang out online, understanding how they shop, and having a solid grasp of the buyer personas the brand wants to reach with the campaign. Those three elements form the comfy cushion upon which your strategists can unleash their creativity.

Strategists?? Yeah... that's the thing...

We know a lot don't have designated creative strategists who come up with cool influencer marketing ideas for a living. Something like a third of the marketers asked still struggle to come up with creative ideas for their influencer campaigns (and you say #basic product post?) If you're not bringing us on to dream up the concepts (because we actually have strategists), the fix for this is to take a group approach to your campaign and dream up some creative influencer marketing ideas that perfectly align with your voice, style, values, and aesthetic.

Your influencer marketing strategy should have two important elements: a way to get your customers to take the next steps on the path to purchase, and specific, measurable goals to let you know your customers are moving toward a conversion. And since your internal marketing team understands your customers' path to purchase so well, it's crucial that they monitor the messaging tied to your influencer campaign.

Take CBD, for instance: In 2019, when CBD was trending everywhere, High Yield Insights released a report which contained a chart of the five buyer personas most likely to purchase cannabidiol (CBD) products.

The personas varied greatly in their demographics and psychographics, which, of course, means marketers have to reach them in different ways and with different messages. Just so you can see what we're talking about here, we pulled a few characteristics from three of those buyer personas. Which would resonate with a message on pain relief? Skincare? Who would you be able to reach on Instagram? Facebook? TikTok?

Campaign Management

If we take a high-level view of an influencer campaign, there really are enough bells and whistles and cogs and doodads to keep a significant portion of your marketing team busy.

Contrary to popular belief, running an influencer campaign isn't a set-it-and-forget-it type of thing. Because...

Even if you give influencers 100% creative control and plan to approve anything and everything they send you, you'll still need a few people handling the logistics of managing a campaign and making sure the campaign content compels your audience to take the actions you want them to take.

Many of the problems that brands have with their campaigns can be traced back to the team (or lack of a team) running that campaign. In order for your influencer campaign to perform optimally, you need team members who will be taking ownership of some really important tasks such as:

Finding influencers

Heading off influencer fraud

Sending products out to influencers

Maintaining brand safety

Coming up with creative concepts and strategies

Maintaining the timeline

Setting up tracking pixels (for affiliate links)

Ensuring influencers adhere to FTC regulations

Adapting strategies to algorithm changes

Integrating new features on social if they'll help your campaign

Optimizing campaigns

Which is the topic of this section - how to get better and better results from the influencer campaigns you run.

Which Metrics Should You Track with an Influencer Campaign?

Without fail, that's the question brands (and especially CMOs and VPs) want to know before, during, and after their influencer campaign. Which metrics will move the needle for our brand?

You and I both know that influencer marketing was darn near overrun by fraud a few years ago when brands were hellbent on only partnering with influencers who had the most followers and engagement, both metrics that can easily be gamed.

The hit list of metrics you want to watch during an influencer campaign includes these:

Post Engagements - The number of likes, comments, and shares on a post

Engagement Rate - Post engagements / total number of followers * 100

Story Views - The number of times a user has viewed an Instagram story

Story View Rate - Story views / total number of followers * 100

Post Video Views - The number of times a user has viewed an Instagram video post

Replies, Shares, Profile Taps, Link Clicks - The various actions a user can take on Instagram stories

Post Impressions - The total number of people your content is visible to

Post Reach - The total number of unique people who see your content

Clicks - The number of actions taken on a post in the form of a click to a designated URL. Clicks are counted through link in bio, swipe up, post links, etc.

Unique UTM links - These codes added to the end of a URL track clicks and performance of marketing activities

Tracking Pixels - Used for blog content, these snippets of code allow you to gather information about visitors on a website (how they browse, what type of ads they click on, etc.)

Brand Sentiment - How relevant was the branded content to the influencer's audience and did the branded content actually resonate with the audience (ie: commenting on the outfit vs. the brand sponsorship or messaging)

And the preferred metrics for this list can shake out a number of different ways depending on your campaign goals.

Optimizing Influencer Marketing Strategies for Better ROI

One of the great things about running an influencer campaign is that you're able to tweak live campaigns as they're running and keep an eye on the metrics listed above in [relatively] real-time. That means you can make changes to the content, messaging, visuals of your campaign, and even your overall influencer marketing strategy as already-live posts deliver the insights you need to keep your campaign performing well.

Optimization allows you to use influencer-generated sponsored content to target the exact audiences that are most relevant to you, directly from the influencer's account. This supercharges social proof because endorsements come directly from the influencers' accounts, not the brand's account.

Create an optimization framework that you can use as a roadmap to continually improve on the results of a LIVE campaign and deliver data that can have profound effects across ALL of your marketing channels.
The 6 Variables Incorporated in Optimization
#1 CTA

What is a CTA? Call to Action- A button or request for users to do something, to take some type of action.

Why a CTA is important: Establishes connections, results in a conversion, expands customer reach, motivates your audience.

#2 CONCEPTS

What are campaign concepts: Brand-safe creative ideas that make people want to engage with your campaign content.

#3 Post Type

What are post types: Post types refer to the combination of media formats + platform features.

#4 VERTICALS

What are verticals: Verticals are segments of your target audience identified by their commonalities.

#5 INFLUENCERS

What are influencers: Social media users whose followers look to them for advice and guidance on specific subjects.

#6 DISTRIBUTION

What is distribution? Distribution entails getting a greater reach for the top-performing content in your campaign.

The sponsored content influencers generate for your campaign can be repurposed and reused across different channels. Doing so extends the life and value of your campaign content and enables your influencer campaign to deliver returns for years to come.

Instagram feed post of Iris Apfel x Zenni Optical collab
As little as 16 percent of brands have a strategy for incorporating user-generated content (UGC) even though a quarter of search results for large brands are linked to UGC and other content not created by the brand itself.
Instagram story introducing the Iris x Zenni collab
A Few Things to Keep in Mind

Before you reuse any influencer content, make sure you have permission to do so.

Plan ahead. Draft a plan for how you'll incorporate influencer content into your social content calendar.

Mix in influencer content with your traditional branded content. Remember: Balance is key.

Yes, you still have to tailor the content to the channel. No copying-and-pasting, y'all. Reformat assets to platform specs, and craft unique captions/post text.

Try out different methods of reusing, and multiple formats. Alternate between resharing, reposting, and repurposing (defined on the following slides).

Not all influencer content will be great for your pages. Reuse only high-quality content that is representative of your brand and/or compliments your existing brand aesthetic.

You have options. You'll usually have more content from each influencer than just what gets posted to their feed. So, you can use similar content for retargeting or different posts altogether for different parts of your funnel. Check out the reuse of the above Instagram post from Iris Apfel ☝🏼 to this screenshot 👇🏼 of Zenni Optical's website homepage.

Reshare, Repost, and Repupose Influencer Content

Quite simply, when your page SHARES the influencer's original post from their page to yours.

Note: this is frequently referred to as "sharing" a post, and sometimes - to make things equally confusing - reposting a post. Typically we don't need to make such clear distinctions between re-share and repost, but for the purpose of creating a clear, precise article with explanations for you, we're gonna harp on this for about 20 more seconds.
Defining Elements:
→ You do not upload a new asset to your post before RE-SHARING it

→ The post on your page appears as a SHARE rather than a photo or video.

→ RE-SHARES can only occur on the same platform on which the original post was published.
Examples of Ways to Reshare Influencer Content

Reshare an influencer's live FB video broadcast onto your brand's page

Re-share influencer giveaway posts published on their Instagram feed to your IG story to notify your existing followers of the giveaway and tell them how they can enter

Help amplify an influencer's video published to Facebook Watch by sharing it to your page with a meaningful caption

Embed influencer social posts of any type in your brand's blog posts

When an influencer tweets a link to their sponsored blog post, "favorite" the tweet and then retweet it with a comment

Create a playlist on your brand's YouTube account that is only for influencer YouTube videos. Add their videos (uploaded to their YouTube channel) to the playlist

Level:
👶 Beginner - Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

A new post published to your page that looks as though it was "reposted" from an influencer's page.

Create a REPOST by uploading the influencer's asset to your post and pair it with quoted text from their original post caption.
Defining Elements:
→ The post appears as though you REPOSTED an influencer's original post and added a sentence or two to the caption before doing so

→ REPOSTS are confined to the channel the original post was published to.

When a brand takes the influencer's assets, optimizes them for the channel, and then posts them directly to your page(s) with an original caption.
Examples of Ways to Repost Influencer Content

Quote an influencers' product review (or something they've said about your products in one of their post captions) in a tweet and tag them for credit/as the source

Repost an influencer's Instagram feed giveaway post to your page with a caption outside the quoted text telling your followers how to enter the giveaway on the influencer's page

Have influencers submit additional assets + captions for an Instagram or Story takeover on your brand page, and post them to your page on their behalf on the day of the takeover (have them cross-promote the takeover on your page so their followers know to go check out the content!)

When an influencer posts to their Story and links to a sponsored blog post, do the same on your page (upload the asset and link to the blog post in the swipe up) rather than re-sharing their original story to yours (see Grove Collaborative repost example)

Level:
😎 Intermediate ...But still pretty easy.
WHAT ARE REPURPOSED POSTS?
When a brand takes the influencer's assets, optimizes them for the channel, and then posts them directly to your page(s) with an original caption.
Defining Elements
→ REPURPOSED POSTS can occur on any platform, regardless of where the original post was published to.

→ REPURPOSED POSTS include totally original captions (written by you) and multi-asset posts can feature assets from multiple influencers (if app.).

→ Creativity is key!
Examples of Ways to Repurpose Influencer Content

Use influencer assets in ads that promote a new product launch or on product detail pages

Feature influencer photos as "proof points" in abandoned cart reminders ("We noticed you still have X in your cart! So and so loves their X - here's what they said about it...")

Chop up influencers' videos and string together into one that tells a story about your brand from your influencers' perspective, and post it to Facebook Watch or YouTube

Get your influencers to create product demo videos they don't post to their pages that you can feature on product detail pages on your website

Include influencer assets in e-books or another type of downloadable/gated content

Create quote graphics using part or all of an influencer's caption/comment about your product(s) and post it to your social pages

Level:
💪 Advanced-ish - Requires some thought & planning.

We created an entire guide just on repurposing influencer-generated content. Click the pretty button below to read up on best practices.

PART 7: INFLUENCER MARKETING GLOSSARY & BENCHMARKS

Influencer Marketing Definitions

Reach - Influencers' follower count at the time of posting

Unique Reach - Campaign-wide metric that means the sum of all influencers' follower counts across platforms

Total Potential Reach - Influencers' follower count x Total number of posts

Impressions - Total number of times the content is viewed on Instagram. This can come from the influencer's profile, scrolling on Instagram, searching hashtags, etc. (IG does not identify how many seconds qualifies)

Authenticated Total Impressions - Sum of all story views (called impressions) across all story frames

Engagements - Number of interactions on post (i.e. comments, likes, link clicks, shares, replies, profile visits, sticker taps)

Total Engagements - Likes + comments: sum across all posts (Stories: Link clicks, shares, replies, profile visits, sticker taps: sum across all frames)

Engagement Rate (ER) - Authenticated total engagements divided by total potential reach

IGC - Also called influencer-generated content, it's the total unique images and/or story frames created for a campaign. Also referred to often as User-Generated Content, or UGC.

Avg. Platform Engagement Rate - Average engagement rate from ALL the influencer's posts in last 60 days minus the last 15 days (the last 15 days are subtracted as new posts are still gathering engagement)

Campaign Platform's Engagement Rate - The overall engagement rate for the campaign as a whole (total engagements from all campaigns posts divided by the total potential reach of the entire campaign)

Impressions/Reach Rate (IG Story Stats) - Auth. total impressions divided by total potential reach

Engagements Rate (IG Story Stats) - Total engagement ÷ auth. total impressions

Authenticated Total Impressions / Impressions - Sum of all story views across all frames

Total Aggregate Follower Counts / Total Potential Reach - Influencers' follower count x total number of posts

Whitelisting - Using obtained permissions from influencers to run paid ads through their identity. (See the example in the whitelisting section)

CPC - Cost per Click: Your total digital spend, divided by your total number of clicks

CPE - Cost per Engagement: Your total digital spend, divided by the number of paid engagements

CPM - Cost per 1,000 Impressions: Your total digital spend, divided by your total paid impressions, then multiplied by 1,000

Sticker Taps (on Stories) - A sticker is a design element that can be added to images or videos on Instagram to give context to posts. Stickers are usually things like related hashtags, @mentions, locations. They can also be more interactive things like quizzes, donations, polls, and emojis. Now you can even include links in stickers. So, sticker taps are responsive taps to the stickers on a post to show interest in the content. Total clicks on Influencers' "story stickers" is an important indicator of campaign success.

Swipe-Up - A swipe-up happens when a social media user slides their finger from the bottom of a Stories post to the top to find out more information, go to a sales page, or engage with social media content in another way. Swipe Up to Buy or just Swipe Up is commonly used in Stories as a call-to-action

Link Clicks (on Stories) - Total times someone swipes up on an influencer's swipe up link or clicks on a sticker with a link.

Profile Visits (on Stories) - Total clicks to an influencer's profile from story slide

Replies (on Stories) - Total replies to an influencer's Instagram story using direct messaging

Shares to Stories - Instagram can share in-feed posts of other users by posting them to their own Stories for 24 hours.

Views - A view is a predetermined number of seconds a user allows a video to play. This magic number differs from platform to platform.

Clicks to Branded Pages - On Instagram, clicks to branded pages happen when users either click the branded link in an influencer's bio, the link in a story sticker, or swipe up to go to the landing, sales, or product page of a promoted offer.

Influencer Marketing Stats and Benchmarks

Blogs

70% of consumers would rather learn about a company from a blog post than an advertisement (Source)

72% of blog readers would rather watch the recap video than read the blog

Internet users in the US spend 3X more time on blogs than they do on email. (Source)

59% of people will share an article without reading it first, or ever. (Source)

SNAPCHAT

PINTEREST

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

TWITTER

40% of those on Twitter daily have purchased something from an influencer or blogger recommendation. (Source)

87% of Twitter users also use Facebook, and 84% also use Instagram. (Source)

Promotional content from influencers yields a 5.2X increase in Twitter users' purchase intent. (Source)

YOUTUBE

Video content is 50X more likely to drive organic search traffic than plain text. (Source)

One quarter of daily Youtube users have purchased something from an influencer or blogger recommendation. (Source)

90% of global shoppers say they discover new brands and products on YouTube.

70% of consumers in the US, Mexico, and Colombia have purchased a product after seeing it on YouTube. (Source)

TIKTOK

In less than 18 months, the number of US adult TikTok users grew 5.5 times. (Source)

Half of TikTok's global audience is under the age of 34 with 32.5% between 10 and 19. (Source)

TikTok users spend an average of 52 minutes per day on the app. (Source)

49% of US teens have used TikTok, compared to 9% of Americans overall. (Source)

Half of TikTok users say they've shared someone else's TikTok on another social network. (Source)

Let This Be a Starting Point

Interested in more data-fueled insights to build your influencer marketing strategy? Check out 111 Influencer Marketing Stats. It's frequently updated and a great source of insights and info that will give you a great overview of the influencer marketing space.

Plus, this post is loaded with links to good sources to provide you with a more in-depth understanding of the influencer marketing strategies covered in this guide.

Or if you'd rather talk to a human, we have a couple here who are pretty awesome. Our influencer marketing services can help you run campaigns shaped by data-driven insights.

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The Complete 2022 Guide to Influencer Marketing Strategy

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Welcome to The Shelf's complete guide to influencer marketing strategy. Our marketing team, account managers, and sales team worked hard to put together a virtual encyclopedia of influencer marketing. Originally, this sucker was more than 10,000 words of content. But we shortened it. A little.

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When Sylvia was two years old, she experienced third-degree burns on her back, legs and stomach. It took her more than 30 years to accept the scars left behind, but eventually she started Love Disfigure, a campaign to empower people to show off their bodies and overcome the shame of perceived imperfections.

Photo: @mrelbank

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The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing

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Marketing is a lot like real estate - it's all about location, location, location. The channels you choose to promote your business will determine your visibility. So, when you see a platform with millions of regular users, it should demand your attention. And that's one of the reasons why TikTok marketing should be on your radar.

The social network boasts an impressive 100 million monthly active U.S. users, and about 50 million daily U.S. users . It's not Facebook numbers, but it could prove worthy because of the audience it captures - Gen Z. Roughly 60% of its user base are between 16 and 24 years old. If this is your target audience, then now's a great time to start some influencer marketing on TikTok.

Let's take a look at how.

First, Some More Stats to Tickle Your Marketing Fancy

Here are some more stats to prove to you data-driven marketers why TikTok is worth checking out:

So, from these numbers, you can see a lot of people like the platform, and it's a nesting ground for brands looking to reach Gen Z. And if you're already keen on working with influencers, then you'll find plenty of creators to reach out to on TikTok.

So, What Sorts of Tactics Are Brands Using to Market on TikTok?

TikTok is like any other social media platform - people want to be entertained, influenced, and inspired. With great content, you can attract attention, followers, and potential customers to your brand. Here's a look at some of the TikTok marketing strategies you can try for your campaigns.

THE HASHTAG CHALLENGE

We know the power of hashtags. We already know they work, so why not add it to your list of TikTok marketing tricks? They're already popular on the platform, which means users are waiting for the next challenge to jump on. Now, what's great is that TikTok sponsors hashtags, which can help newbies get more participants.

BRANDED CONTENT

If you think you can come on TikTok and dole out a bunch of ads for your business, then take a minute to consider a more strategic approach. Remember, TikTok started out as Musica.ly - a platform where users sing and dance to popular songs. It's used for the same thing today, alongside other content (like skits, stories, political views, and social education).

The idea is to first build your credibility and authenticity by posting for pure entertainment and/or education. Then, you can blend in some branded content, such as videos of people using or wearing your products.

TIKTOK ADS

Social media ads can help brands maximize their visibility. You can use them to promote your content alongside your products. There are three different types of ads you can buy on TikTok:

1. Hashtag challenge ads: a banner ad that takes users to your page explaining the rules.

2. In-feed native ads: a traditional ad that links to your product or landing page.

3. Brand takeover ads: a mix of ad types (images, GIFs, video clips) that link to your hashtag challenge or landing page.
And these ads seem to be working - in 2019, TikTok saw $176.9 million in ad revenue.

COMPELLING VIDEOS

TikTok is a video platform, so it makes sense to center your strategy around creating compelling video content. The goal here is to make them visually appealing and worth watching. For example, if you sell Halloween costumes, you can create a video with people dancing in your costumes. You can even go as far as to have a song made.

Think along the lines of Backstreet Boys' " Everybody " video.

You can have various themes to showcase the types of costumes you have available (without all the advertising). Just make sure that every video you post comes with a clear description (no teasers, please).

BEING SMART ABOUT HASHTAGS

Like with any social media platform, you need to use the right hashtags to gain the most traction for your posts. One method of doing so is to use the search bar. Type in a relevant word and then click "Hashtags" to see a list of what's trending. Find those that are relevant and specific. Add these to your posts to help TikTokers discover your content. Also, don't cram your posts with too many hashtags - try to stick to around 10. You can also use this feature to identify competitors.

PARTNERING WITH TIKTOK CREATORS

Remember those influencers we mentioned earlier? Well, you don't have to go after the top 40 with 10+ million followers. There is a range of micro-influencers you can reach out to who may be more affordable.

Plus, we always promote opting for influencers who are authentic and connect with followers on a more personal level. This is the audience with a higher chance of converting. Working together with an influencer (or two or three) can help build your reputation and follower list faster. Just make sure they cater to your target audience.

STAYING ENGAGED

Don't create TikToks and forget about them. Be sure to check back to see if there are any comments. It's also a good idea to comment on others' posts to start conversations. Then, if people find your comments meaningful, they may decide to check out your profile. Do this regularly enough, and you can build connections (with followers and other TikTokers) quickly.

POSTING REGULARLY

It's simple - the more you post, the higher the odds of someone finding your content. This is the formula on any social media platform you market on. People like to follow TikTokers who are entertaining, engaging, and offer regular content. So make sure you're publishing multiple videos every week.

TIKTOK EFFECTS

There are millions of creators on TikTok, so you'll have to find unique ways to make your content stand apart. One option is to use TikTok effects (look in the "Effects" tab). You can use these to replace the background in your video (like a green screen). These are split into various categories, like beauty, world, funny, animals, and interactive.

CROSS-PROMOTING

By default, TikTok videos are only 15 seconds long. So you'll have to ensure your content is short and sweet. But don't stop there; make sure you're also cross-promoting your TikToks on other platforms you're using, such as Instagram. Actually, quite a bit of the video content you see on Instagram Reels was pulled from TikTok (as evidenced by the TikTok logos at the bottom of the video). This is a smart idea because Instagram Reels are getting crazy reach and engagement right now, so reposting widens your audience. OR you can repost your content as Instagram Stories, for example. If you already have a following of more than 10K there, then you can include a call-to-action, like "Swipe up to follow us on TikTok."

TIKTOK ANALYTICS

It's a good idea to set up a TikTok Pro account so you can get access to analytics data. This way, you can monitor the performance of your posts over a 7-day or 28-day period. Stats available include follower growth, views, gender, follower locations, and even the videos your followers watched and the time of day they're watching them. Use this to help find ideas for content that'll attract them to your TikToks (and when to post them).

Super-Cool Examples of TikTok Marketing Campaigns

Now that you have a better idea of how to use TikTok, let's take a look at some of the brands already using the platform.

GUESS CHALLENGE BECOMES THE FIRST BRANDED CONTENT IN THE U.S.

CHIPOTLE USES A COMPELLING HASHTAG CHALLENGE

Joining in the hashtag trend is Chipotle, with its 2019 #ChipotleLidFlip Challenge. In this challenge, TikTokers are asked to take their Chipotle bowl and drop it on the aluminum lid so that it flips into the air. It's a lot like those water bottle flipping challenges you've seen around and about.

Users have taken to the challenge, finding creative ways to complete the challenge. It was a six-day campaign, generating 110K submissions and 104 million video starts. It also garnered over 315 million views on videos with the challenge's hashtag.

ZALORA USES HASHTAG CHALLENGE, INCENTIVES, & BRAND TAKEOVER ADS

The #ZStyleNow Challenge invited TikTokers to flash a "Z" hand signal, which would then trigger an outfit change (just like magic).
The goal was to show off the brand's outfits and their customer's awesome fashion sense. Then, to get more people on board, they decided to add an incentive - a $200 giveaway of ZALORA products to winners of the challenge. The brand also used different variations of Brand Takeover ads to promote the hashtag challenge. This drove more traffic to their website, and new app installs.

The result: 991K video views, 1.1K user-generated videos, and 19.75% CTR (for the brand takeover ads).

Get Your TikTok Influencer Marketing Campaign in Order

There's enough evidence showing TikTok is definitely worth your time. At least if you're looking to appeal to a younger demographic.

But to make the most of your campaign, you need a solid strategy. With the above tips, you can create content that attracts your core audience. However, if you want to speed up the process, we invite you to try out our top-notch TikTok influencers. We'll match you with the best influencers for your brand and campaign. Reach out to us today to get started!

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Amplify Influencer Campaigns with TikTok Marketing - The Shelf

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Marketing is a lot like real estate - it's all about location, location, location. The channels you choose to promote your business will determine your visibility. So, when you see a platform with millions of regular users, it should demand your attention. And that's one of the reasons why TikTok marketing should be on your radar.

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The Shelf Full-Service Influencer Marketing

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Have you ever thought about running a podcast influencer marketing campaign? We have. We actually run those types of campaigns for our clients when the product is a good fit. So, let's talk about the strategy we use to incorporate podcast influencers into digital marketing campaigns. This way, you'll have a roadmap for when and if podcasters should be a part of your next influencer marketing campaign.

Podcasts Exploded in Popularity in 2020!

Podcasts are nothing new. AM radio still exists, right? Our great grandparents (or maybe it was our grandparents - not super clear on that) listened to radio dramas, our parents listened to the Dr. Lauras and Jim Romes of the world. Most of us probably even know someone who will tune in to listen to a regional sports broadcast.

So, consuming non-musical content as essentially audio blogs has been around for decades. But it's true that the way we experience it now took hold in the early 2000s... a decade or two before the format took off last year during the pandemic.

We talked about this in our report on The State of Influencer Marketing: In July of 2020, NPR reported a steep decline in Q2 ratings as a quarter of its radio audience stopped listening. Why? Shelter-in-place orders eliminated those morning and evening commutes.

Interestingly enough, during the same period, engagement with NPR content on its site and with its audio app increased by the same percentage. Podcast consumption reportedly increased by 42 percent globally from March to April 2020 after the initial dip. Listeners from around the world began adding podcasts to their shelter-in-place routines. Podcasts are used as the backdrop to other activities like driving and exercising.

Most podcast lovers will go to Spotify and Apple. Those are the faves when it comes to podcasting platforms. But new(ish) innovations like Clubhouse offer live group audio experiences that are also bringing in consistent traffic and regular listeners.

Podcast Statistics and Demographics That Will Justify the Marketing Spend

The answer to the question we know you're asking - "why should we incorporate podcast influencers?" - lies in the numbers.

There are millions of episodes from ALL SORTS of podcasts

Podcast Insights reported that in April 2021 there were 48 million podcast episodes available, running the gamut of topics. Sports podcasts, podcasts that focus on local entertainment, podcasts from TV co-stars, true crime shows, religious, horror, comedy... Podcast listeners can pretty much find whatever they THINK they may be in the mood to hear.

Edison Research released The Infinite Dial this year as an in-depth study on media consumption and found that eighty million Americans (28 percent of the U.S. population 12+) are now weekly podcast listeners, a 17 percent increase over 2020. The pandemic likely plays a role in these numbers.

Who listens to podcasts?

Gender - Percentage of monthly podcasts listeners by gender

48 percent men

45 percent women

2 percent non-binary

Ethnicity - Percentage of Americans who have listened to a podcast in the last month:

57 percent of White Americans

13 percent of African Americans

16 percent of Hispanic Americans

4 percent of Asian Americans

Age of Americans who have listened to a podcast in the last month:

50 percent of US 12 to 34-year-olds

29 percent of US 35 to 54-year-olds

21 percent of those 55 and older

Podcast listener behaviors (Source: Small Biz Genius)

74 percent of podcast users listen to learn something new

71 percent of podcast users listen for fun

52 percent of podcast listeners listen to entire episodes

58 percent of podcast consumers listen to between 76 percent and 100 percent of all the podcasts downloaded on their devices.

94 percent of podcast consumers are active on at least one social media channel.

More than half of podcast consumers pay attention to the ads they hear on podcasts

54 percent of podcast consumers say they think about buying an advertised product.

More often than not, podcast listening is a social activity. The Edison Research poll reports that 51 percent of podcast listeners frequently or sometimes listen to their favorite shows with other people. Only 21 percent said they always tune in solo. For listeners under the age of 35, 69 percent say they typically listen to podcasts with another person.

The average podcast listener listens to 8 podcasts a week, divided between 5 different shows.

Are Podcasts Good for Marketing?

The short answer? YES! Here's why.

The spoken nature of podcasts can better highlight the benefits and value of different products and services, in a way it would be difficult to do with just a still image. Podcasts also provide a sense of longevity as many return to them for insight, making your ad placements transcend time better than other forms of marketing.

Edison Research performed another study that surveyed "Super Listeners" in 2020 which they define as Americans (18+) who listen to five or more hours of podcasts weekly. Forty nine percent of these consumers agreed that podcasts were the best way for a brand to reach them, which is a 12 percent increase from 2019.

Not only are the heavy podcast listeners taking in more content, they're also paying more attention to the ads and seeing these brands in a more positive light just for being mentioned by their favorite shows. .

When Should You Add Podcast Influencers to Your Marketing Mix?

One of the most critical aspects of any marketing campaign is identifying the best channels for your campaign. In our line of work, most brands have focused their campaigns on Instagram, whether or not their audience is actually on the platform. Big mistake. Not every product can be sold or explained in still images and 30-second video clips - not in a way that truly communicates its value, at least. When that's the case, podcasts are a good choice.

For instance, we recently ran a campaign for a product called Sweet Defeat. Sweet Defeat has a patented formula that uses the Gymnema Sylvestre plant to actually make sweets tasteless or bitter, thus curbing cravings and allowing you to lose weight naturally. Sweet Defeat products come as gum, lozenges, and fast-acting spray.

The challenge we had with the campaign was that running it as a traditional Instagram campaign with pretty pics and witty captions led to a campaign that was woefully underperforming. It's hard to communicate the real value of a product like that in a single picture.

So, we had to pivot. We hired new influencers video expertise who could better communicate the value of the product. We looped in podcasts that were popular with our client's target audience to give Sweet Defeat a chance to be showcased, highlighted, and profiled. And THAT worked.

Podcast influencer marketing provides brands with a chance to really talk about the benefits of a product. So, for influencer campaigns where the goal is to establish social proof or introduce a new product, or explain a product, or generate qualified leads, partnering with podcast influencers are the way to go.

The Challenges You May Face Using Podcasts as a Marketing Channel

One of the greatest challenges of podcast content marketing can be the lack of data or ability to track performance. Instead of likes or comments, you're searching for streams and downloads that are not often made available to the public. In marketing, we rely on key performance indicators to help us measure success, and in podcasting advertising the numbers may not always be perfect for ad delivery.

Think of podcast influencer marketing as more of a long-term play.

Before reaching out about a partnership, try to ask for data on downloads as well as a media kit to help you tell a clearer story with their numbers. Remember, most people who download podcasts will listen to the entire podcast... even though half of users say podcasts are too long

Be sure to analyze their reviews, ratings, and rankings to help you understand their audience and overall popularity of the show. Look for a volume of reviews as well as recent dates to ensure their content is still relevant and engaging to their audience. Upon partnership, be sure to use unique linking that corresponds to the podcaster to support more accurate tracking.

Rapid growth anywhere can often mean a great deal of change. Other audio-centered platforms are starting to emerge, including Clubhouse, the social audio app. Last year, it was all the rage with cameos from heavy hitters like Bill Gates and Elon Musk dropping into different conversations happening on the platform. In 2021, Clubhouse seems to have lost its luster, but found its stride. Instead of being a place to run into celebrities, Clubhouse is a platform where people go to gather and share information. Cool environment, but it's not turning out to be the threat that podcasts marketers worried it would be.

Hubspot in a survey found that when asked which of audio activity they preferred, 36 percent of their participants chose podcasts while 25 percent chose listening or participating in Clubhouse conversations (39 percent choosing neither). As podcasts hold their lead, it still might be in your best interest to jump into the possibilities of this buzzing company that's essentially still in its pilot program.

Another note to keep in mind is that younger generations are becoming more ad savvy and share a desire to avoid advertisements. However, the avid podcast listeners from the 2020 study from Edison Research found that 49 percent of consumers had a more positive opinion about brands that were mentioned on their regular podcasts, which was a five percent increase from the year before. Not only is it critical that you select influencer podcasts that align with your brand, but that you also select the right type.

Which Podcast Ad Type Should You Incorporate?

There are two types of podcasts ads to negotiate within your podcast influencer marketing campaign. Understand that your selection may vary depending on the podcaster, campaign goals, and nature of your brand's product or service.

Organic or live-read ads are when the host naturally introduces the service or product into conversation. While you can provide a script, it's more common and helpful for the host to use their own words for an authentic delivery. They also know and understand their audience better, making them well-equipped to talk at a level that meets their audience's ears in a way that can be less jarring than a sponsored ad that's pre-recorded.

This type of ad is pre-produced and can feel similar to the ad breaks from traditional radio spots. You can either craft the ad for the podcast to insert into their show, or create a script for them to read. According to Edison Research, 33 percent of super listeners pay more attention to host-read ads as opposed to other types.

How Much Is Podcast Advertising? Where Do I Start?

As you embark on the selection process of your podcast content marketing campaign, there are a few ways you can find the ones that align with your brand best. You can easily type in your buzzwords for your industry to find podcasts related to your niche, or consider using Listen Notes as your go-to search engine as it offers the contact information for partnerships. Be thoughtful about the podcasters you reach out to as quality content and alignment far outweighs quantity.

Podcast advertising typically relies on the CPM (Cost Per Mille) for a reliable metric that means it's sold by thousands (mille means thousand in Latin). The industry standard for a 30 second clip is $18, while 60 seconds is $25. This means that a podcast with 1000 listens would cost somewhere between $18 and $25 depending on the length. Influencer marketing is often open for negotiation, so use the industry standards and your overall budget as a guide for setting the terms of your partnership.

Build out your podcast influencer marketing strategy further by making sure that it works in conjunction with campaigns running on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Conclusion

While partnering with podcast influencers may still be an underutilized opportunity for your brand, there are different elements to consider as you build out your campaign. There's no disputing that podcast consumption has experienced massive growth and continues to increase regardless of the caveats that come with podcast influencer marketing. New and upcoming audio-focused platforms like Clubhouse may serve as an easy way to grow your brand alongside working with well-aligned podcasters that can help your brand grow.

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How to Loop Podcast Influencer Marketing Into Your Campaign - The Shelf

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Have you ever thought about running a podcast influencer marketing campaign? We have. We actually run those types of campaigns for our clients when the product is a good fit. So, let's talk about the strategy we use to incorporate podcast influencers into digital marketing campaigns.