Need help finding your way in the world of skincare marketing? You have your skincare business set up, and are ready to go. You believe in your products and know that you can make it in the beauty industry. But, is that enough?
Unfortunately, not really. So many potentially great skincare brands don't survive, not because they don't have great products, but because they don't have strong enough marketing in a world where advertising is everything.
Your skincare brand may be innovative and exciting to you, but if you can't communicate that to your customers, you might be in trouble!
Being able to convey to your viewers why they need your products in their lives is no easy feat. A lot of planning and forethought is needed to create a thriving skincare marketing strategy. The beauty industry is competitive, and making your mark will require lots of hard work and dedication to the cause.
Consumers' needs and wants are constantly evolving and changing. If you want to have a successful skincare marketing strategy you need to keep up with, and change with, the demands of customers.
Whether it's the type of product they're searching for, or the type of content they're consuming, you need to have the adaptability to mold your strategy if you want to have a successful skincare brand. You either keep up with the pack, or get left behind. Harsh, but true!
From defining brand identity, to analyzing competitors and cultivating brand advocates, it's all covered in this guide. If you want your skincare brand to thrive, then let's get to work!
Nailing the basics
There are so many different types of marketing you can implement to drive your business forward. However, sometimes the most overlooked concepts are the basics.
Taking time to cover all the basic elements, such as product descriptions, and having a user-friendly website, should be the first port of call.
Crafting descriptive and engaging product descriptions is a necessity. They play a crucial role in informing your potential customers of vital information such as the ingredients and benefits, as well as instructions on how to use the product.
Including customer reviews and testimonials within product descriptions can build trust and credibility within your community.
The role of the product description should be to help customers discover more about your skincare products and make informed purchasing decisions. Use the information you gathered during your keyword research to adhere to best SEO practices.
Another element often overlooked when considering marketing strategies is to create a website with a user-friendly interface. It's vital to create a well-designed and thoughtfully laid-out website to make the shopping process as seamless as possible for the buyer.
Prioritize a simple yet visually appealing layout, with easy navigation, and quick loading times. It should be user-friendly on both desktop and mobile, while also having a straightforward check-out experience.
The benefits of prioritizing these elements? Increased customer satisfaction and improved chances of returning customers. Yes, please!
Background work
Before conducting your marketing campaign you'll need to do some background research. There are a couple of steps you'll need to take before planning how to conduct your skin care advertising.
- Defining your target audience
- Competitor analysis
Target audience
Knowing how you're going to position your skincare business in a highly competitive industry is crucial. You must define your target audience and ask yourself who you are marketing your products towards, what kind of content they consume, and how best to target them. Learn more on user personas and how your business can benefit from them here.
Competitor analysis
Identify your key competitors and study how they conduct everything from their website, product descriptions, how they engage with their customers, the type of content they put out, and how their content performs.
Identify any gaps in the market and capitalize on opportunities. You can use these insights to improve your own marketing strategy efforts, stay competitive, and anticipate market trends.
How to unlock your brand's success
We have curated this fool-proof guide to get your skincare brand set up with some of the most effective marketing methods so that you can reap the rewards.
After reading this article you'll...
- Know your target audience and use it to drive your marketing
- Increase traffic and build brand awareness
- Implement proven methods to increase conversion and sell skincare products
8 ways to market your skin care business
- Social media marketing
- Email marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Paid advertising/Google Ads
- SEO
- Referral codes/discounts
- Customer testimonials
- Online community
Social media marketing
Arguably the most powerful form of marketing nowadays is social media marketing. Social media has the potential to be an extremely beneficial tool for your skin care marketing strategy.
Having a social media strategy for your brand is important so that you can establish your online presence, build brand awareness, and convert potential customers. Once you know your target market, you can decide which platforms you'll target them on.
Your brand voice will dictate the types of content you'll be producing. For example, a high-end skincare brand would tend to have a more formal tone, whereas a skincare brand marketed towards teens would have light-hearted content and colorful language.
Content forms can be anything from educational, such as tutorials and skincare tips, to content that's purpose is simply to entertain. You might want to show behind-the-scenes content, or before and after's of people using your products. The options are endless!
You'll need to know your audience's preference for different types of content, either written, video (long-form or short-form), or imagery. You can make use of different platforms to suit different needs. Sharing a mix of these social media posts will create a well-rounded strategy.
Effective social media marketing for a skincare brand means understanding your audience and creating both valuable and engaging content. By leveraging various social media platforms and strategies, you can build a strong online presence and harness customer loyalty.
Finally, post on notable days and use skin care related hashtags to boost your views. Have fun with this part!
Email marketing
Email is a great way to ensure your customers get the memo, literally. Email allows your skincare business to engage with and nurture customer relationships in a way that's much more personal.
With email marketing, your subscribers can get access to exclusive skin-related content, first access to sales, and exclusive discount codes. A popular method used by companies is offering discounts on your first order when you sign up with your email.
The beauty of email marketing is that you can create personalized emails and know your customers will get them straight to their inbox every time. Newsletters are a great way of keeping customers in the loop and making them feel special by giving them access to subscriber-only perks.
Automated emails, such as a 'Thanks for signing up' message, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups are also beneficial. Including high-quality visuals and compelling calls to action in emails can further entice recipients to explore and purchase products.
In short, a well-executed email marketing strategy can be an effective asset to any content strategy plan, significantly enhancing customer retention and driving growth.
Influencermarketing and UGC
When it comes to social media and digital marketing, influencer marketing may very well be the way forward. When analyzing your target market, it's worth looking at the types of influencers they're following and engaging with.
Using popular influencers to promote your beauty brand is a surefire way to get more customers within your target audience to notice your skincare products.
CeraVe had TikTok star and skincare guru Hyram to thank when he made them go viral in 2020 over product reviews he did in a video for drugstore skincare options. Hyram has a huge online fanbase, now at nearly 6 million on TikTok, thanks to his honest and in-depth skin care videos.
His recommendation gave CeraVe a huge boost in sales, garnering media attention all over the world!
It's important to reach out to those who are a good fit for your brand. Disengenuine sponsorships can be spotted a mile away! Do your homework first by doing searches on related skincare hashtags to find a good fit.
If you're just starting out with your business, don't stress about not being able to work with the biggest names! Working with 'micro-influencers' (anyone with a following under 10,000), can be even more beneficial to your beauty brand.
Smaller content creators often have better levels of engagement on their posts and are available to work for you at a much lower fee. You can discuss the type of content you'd like them to create, such as a product review video, or a tutorial including your beauty products.
UGC, or User Generated Content, is content created by users online that you've been tagged in, or given permission to use.
As an incentive, give people who post a video using your products along with your chosen hashtag a special discount on your products. This may encourage others to use your skincare products and tag you in their content, giving you some great promo for minimal effort. As the saying goes,
'Work smarter, not harder'.
Paid advertising and Google Ads
Regardless of how great your social media posts are, the truth is you'll probably still need to use paid ads to reach your goals. The skincare industry is heavily saturated with so many other well-established beauty brands.
Paid advertising can yield a high return, and running an effective advertising campaign with the likes of Google Ads is a great way to get things moving and gain some momentum.
Paid ads are essential for a skincare brand looking to enhance their visibility and brand awareness. By using platforms like Google Ads, you can create targeted search and display ads that will show on search result pages for relevant keywords. This will make sure the people who are actively searching for skin care answers are being shown your brand as a solution.
You can choose from the likes of Banner ads, which are visual ads on websites, or video ads, the type of ones you usually try to skip through while watching videos on YouTube.
With social media advertising, Instagram and TikTok leverage visually appealing content to engage users and promote products directly in their feeds. Influencer partnerships, sponsored content, and affiliate marketing will further amplify reach and credibility.
Retargeting ads are great for targeting previous visitors to your site and boosting chances of conversion. By combining these strategies, you can effectively capture attention, attract new customers, and increase sales.
Cha-ching!
SEO
Search engine optimization is a great way to organically improve traction and bring more people to your website or social media channels. Having a Blog section on your website is a perfect way to utilize SEO marketing. By using relevant keywords, you can optimize your website content and rank higher in Google search results.
Having quality content that serves a purpose to potential customers is a must. None of that wishy-washy, filler stuff.
The blog section could include articles with personalized skincare advice, information on product launches, and how to craft the perfect skincare routine. Make the content relevant to your product, and the search engine Gods will thank you.
Referral codes and subscriptions
Let's be real, everyone loves a good discount here and there.
Using referral codes and incentives like sign-up discounts are effective strategies that every skin care brand should incorporate into their content marketing plan.
Referral codes are great because not only do they persuade potential new customers to make a purchase, but they also reward their existing customers. This fosters a sense of loyalty and appreciation between the brand and their customers.
Other methods include loyalty schemes where customers attain 'points' with each purchase. You can then build up your points and redeem them against purchases. Discounts for signing up to a newsletter are another great way to reel people in.
Social proof and reviews
It's hard to show the effectiveness of a product without a real customer experience. Customer feedback is a non-negotiable. You can't expect anyone to trust your skincare line if you're not willing to post, real, authentic reviews, and proof that your products are the bees knees.
If you have dermatologically-tested products, you can list them on product web pages and include an image of them. Proud to be cruelty-free? Include the cruelty-free badge on all of your product listings. Shout it from the damn rooftops!
A good example of this is Estée Lauder. In their product descriptions, the product information highlights positive outcomes for women across a sample group. Although the samples are small, it reinforces confidence in consumers.
The easiest way to receive feedback is to allow customers to leave a review. Showing reviews and customer satisfaction gives confidence to other potential buyers. You'll also gain some valuable insights into your products, what's working, and more importantly, what isn't working.
Build an online community space
Establishing a dedicated platform for your customers to use as a safe place for sharing feedback, skincare advice and any concerns they might have is a thoughtful marketing strategy that benefits both you and your customers.
Building a community and a meaningful space for interactions will foster a loyal following and passionate customer base. Examples of this online space could be a forum on your website, or a thread on Reddit. Alternatively, Instagram have introduced Broadcast Channels that your followers can join and engage in with other followers.
You can use this skincare space to host Q&A's, provide skincare tips and tricks, gain insight for new product launches, and harness a positive and respectful atmosphere to further drive brand loyalty.
Brands in focus
Rhode skincare
Hailey Bieber and her team have truly nailed their marketing. In the months and years prior to Hailey announcing she was starting her skincare brand, we often saw her feature in tutorials and videos where she gushed about how much she adored skincare.
When she announced the beginning of Rhode Beauty, many already had faith in the model to provide impressive skincare products, since she already had ingrained into her followers that she was in fact a skincare fanatic.
That alone isn't enough to achieve success. Hailey has a loyal following thanks to smart marketing techniques, but the products are pretty impressive, too.
Rhode has a consistent aesthetic amongst their products and across all platforms–minimal, clean, and modern. They market their products as simple but effective skincare, and know their demographic.
Their social media channels provide tutorials and show influencers and celebrities alike using their products. They embody the 'cool girl' persona, and guess what? Everyone wants to be a part of it.
Hailey often teases new products on her personal account, most recently teasing the now–viral phone case/lip tint holder hybrid. When she posted an image of her using the phone case, the world demanded they knew when and where they could get their hands on it.
Like clockwork, the case was released soon after, as it always was planned to be. Now there was enough hype around the product that of course it was a sell-out. The best part? Every order of the phone case had to be purchased alongside the lip tint. *Claps hands*
Fenty Skin/Fenty Beauty
Fenty founder Rihanna saw a gap in the market for beauty products catered towards darker skin tones, and thus, Fenty Beauty was born. Its mission is to be inclusivity–focused and diverse in the products it brings to the market.
Using Rihanna's star power to push the brand forward, Fenty's groundbreaking approach to diversity and its inclusive ethos is highlighted by its extensive range of foundation shades, catering to all skin tones, and promoting the message that beauty is for everyone. We expected nothing less from Queen RiRi.
Rihanna's active involvement in product promotion is certainly a conscious effort, enhancing the brand's appeal and visibility. Fenty also utilizes strategic product launches and limited-edition collections to generate buzzworthy campaigns and maintain consumer interest among a varied audience.
By combining a strong commitment to inclusivity with savvy use of digital marketing and celebrity influence, Fenty has successfully positioned itself as a leading and transformative force in the beauty industry.
Paulas Choice
Paulas Choice is based on transparency and providing effective, science-backed skincare. Their marketing strategies support this by showcasing detailed product information and ingredient dictionaries, letting their customers be knowledgeable in their choices.
They offer personalized skin care advice through questions and expert consultations, available via their website. This is used to streamline the customer's journey and provide a seamless, personal service.
Providing this service means the customers can make a potentially overwhelming experience an enjoyable one, whereby they eliminate the clutter and find the right products to fit their specific wants and needs.
The brand drives its credibility with numerous celebrity and dermatologist endorsements, alongside raving customer testimonials.
Key takeaways
Skincare marketing looks different for everyone. To have a successful marketing strategy you need to make sure you do the groundwork. Research your competitors and find out how they're doing things. What can you take or learn from their strategies?
If you want your skincare marketing to stand out among other skincare brands you need to take risks! Don't be afraid to experiment and try new ways of reaching your customers.
Review your customer data. Who are your customers? What are their wants, needs, and pain points?
Talk to and engage your customers to create an uplifting and encouraging community. Gain essential insights and feedback directly from the source.
There is more to running a brand than simply having great skincare products. Your marketing strategies and how you adapt to changing trends will decide how successful your brand will be. By prioritizing these fundamental aspects, you can build a strong foundation that attracts and retains customers, fostering long-term brand loyalty.
FAQs
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