In the highly competitive world of beauty and cosmetics, effective branding is the key to success. Countless brands are contending for consumer attention. And companies must develop strong, distinctive identities that resonate with their target audience.
From skincare to makeup and everything in between, well-executed brand tactics can set a brand apart and create a loyal base of super-fans!
In this article, we explore 10 powerful branding tactics that beauty and cosmetics brands like yours can use to their advantage. You can employ them to elevate your presence in the market, build trust, and ultimately drive sales. Whether you're an entrepreneur or an established brand looking to revamp your image, these strategies will provide valuable insights to help you stand out in the beauty industry.
Yes, content is king. It was true when Bill Gates coined this term in 1996. And it's still true today, even if it's cliché.
You should aim to establish your brand as an expert in beauty and cosmetics. Try to publish top-notch, informative, and captivating content regularly. Topics, including skincare routines, makeup tutorials, haircare tips, and product reviews, will depend on your category. This expertise builds credibility, boosts trust, and ultimately strengthens the brand's reputation among consumers.
Optimizing content for search engines can benefit your beauty brand in the long run. Unlike traditional advertising, SEO-focused content can attract organic traffic and engagement over time. By producing valuable content that addresses the concerns and interests of your target audience, you can have loyal customers who rely on your advice and suggestions.
Social media platforms are the go-to place for beauty brands to interact directly with customers, respond to inquiries, address concerns, and build meaningful relationships. It's a great way to establish authenticity, trust, and loyalty among followers.
With the visual capabilities of social media, it’s no wonder that the best beauty and cosmetics brands already showcase their products through captivating imagery, videos, and creative content formats that perfectly align with the beauty industry.
You can boost your social presence by engaging in these three brand tactics:
Let’s get into details of these three tactics.
Speaking of great content, there is none better than that created by your consumers!
First and foremost, User-Generated Content (UGC) is a powerful social proof. Especially since in beauty and cosmetics, personal experiences matter most. UGC gives potential customers a way to read genuine feedback from real customers. Social proof further builds your credibility as a brand that can be trusted.
You can learn much about how your products are used and their effectiveness by asking customers to share their experiences, reviews, and photos. This can help you identify areas for improvement. UGC also makes your brand relatable to your audience and brings a human touch to your marketing.
Beauty brands can use customer-generated content to create a sense of community among their clients. Showcase this content on your social media profiles to highlight customer experiences and encourage interaction.
Talking about creating a sense of community. Many brands go one step further and build an actual online community for customers and fans to be a part of. Building a community, like becoming an expert in your field through content, is a long-term commitment. A great example of a thriving community is the 2022 Glossy Awards winner in the Most Engaged Brand Community category — Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez.
Your brand can use social media platforms to create groups, pages, or hashtags for customers to connect with them. By actively participating in these communities, you can respond to customer questions, share valuable content, and establish yourself as a trusted authority in their industry. This helps to strengthen the relationship between your brand and its customers.
Investing in community-building efforts can help beauty brands become influential and trustworthy parties in the industry. This can lead to a larger and more loyal customer base and increased brand awareness.
Beauty and cosmetics brands can team up with influencers with a strong social media following on platforms like Instagram or TikTok, to help market their products or services. This partnership can benefit your brand by leveraging the influencers' credibility, devoted fanbases, and reach.
One way to maximize your value out of this brand tactic is to partner with micro-influencers. Those are people with a following larger than average people but much smaller than celebrities. According to Spiralytics, "Images from micro-influencers bring in 20% more conversions than macro-influencers."
Collaborating with micro-influencers can be an effective brand tactic for beauty brands to reach specific target market segments, including those interested in skincare, makeup tutorials, or natural beauty. This is because micro-influencers have a more genuine and personal relationship with their audience, which leads to higher engagement rates and increased trust.
Your beauty brand can also use influencer marketing to promote products. Influencers can make videos and posts showing the brand's products in use. By showcasing products in real-life situations, potential customers can better imagine the benefits they will receive.
You can also showcase your products during events or tailored experiences. Such events can amplify brand tactics for boosting your social media presence.
First, your beauty brand can provide customers with hands-on experiences, product tutorials, and expert interactions by organizing events such as beauty workshops, product launches, and pop-up stores. This can build a sense of community among participants.
Second, hosting workshops, masterclasses, or panel discussions featuring industry professionals can help your brand position itself as authoritative source of beauty knowledge and trends.
Last but not least, events and experiences also generate buzz and media coverage for beauty brands, attracting influencers, media outlets, and industry insiders for valuable exposure and press coverage.
Let’s switch gears for a bit and focus on the visual aspect of your cosmetic brand.
In a competitive market, your beauty brand needs to have a unique and recognizable look. Consistency in logos, colors, and overall style can help set a company apart. When customers see these consistent visual elements across different platforms, it helps them remember and become more aware of the brand. This includes packaging, ads, social media, and websites.
Your visual identity can also strengthen the emotional connection between the brand and its users. For example, a youthful and trendy audience may prefer vibrant colors and bold typography, while a natural and organic product audience may prefer earthy tones and a clean, minimalist design.
How a brand packages its products is often the first thing customers notice about a beauty brand. Packaging can make a lasting impression and grab the attention of potential buyers. Well-designed and visually appealing packaging can encourage customers to learn more about and buy the product. A superb packaging design can help a brand stand out and catch the eye in a crowded market. Benefit Cosmetics, with its bright, attention-grabbing colors, is an excellent example of how packaging can make a brand stand out from the crowd.
Testing your visuals can prove beneficial, especially with fierce competition in the beauty and cosmetics market. One way to do it is on ProQuo AI's platform, where you can A/B test your creative assets and receive live feedback from up to 300 people within 24 hours. You can also ask specific questions about the assets to deepen your understanding of what your consumers and potential customers want. It's a great way to try new packaging, Point-of-Sale, and digital materials cost-effectively.
Packaging plays a significant role in how customers perceive the value of a beauty item. High-quality and well-designed packaging can create a sense of luxury, exclusivity, and desirability. Customers are often willing to pay more for products with attractive and well-crafted packaging, as it enhances their overall experience and adds to the product's perceived value. You can learn how to measure your brand equity in one of our recent blog posts.
There is a growing trend of consumers seeking out sustainable and ethical products. Many people make conscious choices to support brands that share their values and are committed to sustainable practices. Beauty brands that adopt sustainability and ethical practices show they care about social and environmental responsibility.
These practices include:
In fact, according to The Benchmarking Company survey, "Twenty percent [of respondents] look for sustainable packaging, 25% look for sustainable ingredients, and 38% search for formulas that are clean/free of harmful chemicals." And when asked where they look for information about the sustainability practices of the brands, they pointed to the website (84%) and packaging (65%). It means that packaging can play a crucial role in meeting the consumer's expectations.
If you promote yourself as a champion of sustainability, you need to put your money where your mouth is. It’s because there are third-party websites that check brand’s environmental credentials, like Cruelty Free Kitty. There is no point in losing your credibility, so make sure everything you say about your brand is true.
All the brand tactics discussed here today can be even more effective. Truly understanding your brand, consumers, market, and competition will give you an edge. That knowledge should drive your decision, whether it will be what SEO-friendly content to write, which influencers to engage with, what type of events to organize, and more.
You need a forward-looking, real-time marketing effectiveness solution to understand your consumers' real emotional and rational feelings. ProQuo AI have you covered on that front so you can tailor your brand tactics based on what the users of your products really want. Our platform enables you to understand which of your marketing is working, and crucially, why. Learn more about leveraging live consumer insights on our blog. And if you want a deep dive into our platform, book a demo today!
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