In a crowded digital ecosystem, it’s hard to get your beauty product’s name out there. Customers looking for a new brow wax must parse through thousands of reviews, watch multiple influencer reviews, and scroll through pages of product feeds. It’s tough to cut through the noise when developing a new product, but it isn’t impossible. With a strong company brand and a strategic marketing plan, your products can compete with the big players out there.
Read this guide to discover seven tips to market your beauty products.
1. Create a Strong Brand
There is no shortage of beauty brands out there. Before you start distributing your beauty products to anyone, it’s necessary to brand yourself and stand out. Branding starts with what your product brings to the table. To figure that out, research what other beauty companies do well. Examine how your competitors brand themselves. How do they talk about their products? What ingredients do they use? Now compare your competitors to your target audience. Do some research to figure out what your target audience wants. Are they looking for sustainability or clean ingredients?
You’ve done some research. Now it’s time to put together a unique value proposition (UVP). A unique value proposition tells your customers what you do differently and how you’re better than competitors. A strong unique value proposition sets you apart from competitors and appeals to your target audience. For example, your products are cruelty-free when you know your competitors aren’t. Once you’ve fleshed out what your brand is about, continue to examine your mission. What do you hope your products can accomplish? If you’re all about sustainability, be about it! Your values will help inform your marketing strategy.
The framework of your UVP helps you determine the creative details of your brand. Decide what color scheme and typography helps communicate your brand. Sketch an idea for a fun yet functional logo to go with it. A graphic designer can help you create the final logo. You will have to work with your supplier to apply these creatives, colors, and typography to your packaging as well.
You have the major elements of your brand’s identity and matching creatives to go with it. If you’re all about sustainability, be about it! Your UVP, values, and creatives will help inform your marketing strategy. So, how do you wish to speak to your customers? Brand voice is a major element of your marketing strategy. Customers should feel like your brand has a consistent voice that’s in line with the overall mission. Start working on cultivating your brand’s voice by building out your marketing strategy for your products!
2. Use E-Commerce on Your Website
If you’re an SEO guru, you’ve likely already done some work on your website. While keywords can help you rank higher in search results, it’s even better to profit from your website. But it will take some effort. Look into creating an e-commerce extension to your website. Depending on how your website is set up, you may have to work with the developer who originally created your site to add a product feed.
You can also try an e-commerce platform integration like Shopify. Sites like Shopify make it easy to upload a product feed and create an online storefront. Platforms like these have a user-friendly interface, which is important. You don’t want a clunky “add to cart” button preventing customers from making a purchase! Work on setting up your Shopify shop to get users to purchase online.
Before you push your store live though, make sure you’ve worked out the shipping details. Many customers have come to expect free shipping. Decide if you’d like to offer this perk. Be aware though, you might have to eat some of the cost. Also, choose a shipping carrier that makes sense for your business. By shopping around with USPS and FedEx, you can find the best rate for shipping your products.
It’s no simple feat to set up and maintain a functional digital storefront. But unfortunately, no one will find your shop if you don’t promote it. Once your e-commerce store is up and running, let the world know about it! Use a multichannel approach so customers can interact with your product across multiple touchpoints. A great place to start is none other than social media.
3. Promote Products on Social Media
Social media is an amazing place to promote products. Position yourself right in front of people chatting about products they love. Raise awareness about what products you have for sale by posting about them. Pick brand-friendly backgrounds and take clear pictures of the products.
Social media is all about being social, so get your customers talking! Encourage customers to leave reviews on the products they love. To get them to talk more about your products, create engaging posts and polls. Get creative and show your salon staff using the products too. TikTok is a popular medium for creating informative and fun videos. Staff members might do a demonstration using your products in a short video. Don’t be afraid to have fun and be original when posting about your products.
Depending on the platform, social media also provides great conversion avenues. For example, Facebook and Instagram have the option to upload products directly into the app. Create a product feed similar to your e-commerce website right within the social platform! Users can scroll through your products on social media and make a successful purchase through Facebook or Instagram.
As much as the digital landscape is an important pillar for your product’s success, don’t underestimate the value of in-person giveaways.
4. Give Away Test Products
Everyone loves a freebie, right? An excellent way to raise brand awareness among customers is to give them a free sample of your product. Of course, you’ll want this to be a strategic move. You don’t want to give away all your products for free! Giveaway promotions should be relative to your marketing strategy.
If you’d like to raise awareness about a new product you just started selling, this is a great opportunity for a giveaway. Generate buzz by giving away 20 free samples to the first people in the salon that day. Post about it on social media to get people talking! Another great opportunity is to distribute test products at an event. Whether it’s a local gala with the Chamber of Commerce or an impromptu online event, find a way to distribute your product to new people.
Once you give away those samples, encourage customers to write a review or leave a comment after using it. Even better, talk to them in person if you can. Ask them what they liked and what they didn’t. Their valuable feedback can help you alter your ad copy for the product in the future. Once you learn more about your customers’ preferences, you’re ready to start reaching out within your local community.
5. Leverage Local Stores
At this point, you’ve worked hard to establish an online presence for your product. Now it’s time to contact your local network too. Getting your product in the hands of customers shopping at local businesses will help get the word around town.
Do some research and identify companies that would be a good fit to carry your product. For example, if you’re selling a brow pencil, it may be a great product to sell in lash studios as well. Before you reach out to any local businesses, consider margins as well. Of course, they need to make money too. You want to make sure your product is attractive to them but can also make a fair cut for both you and your new partner.
If the company does want to partner, make it easy for them to order with a selling sheet. A selling sheet should contain all the information they need to order your product. Give them several fields to write down what product they’d like to purchase and the quantity. Include all your necessary contact information. You should also use your branded logo and colors on this sheet.
Once you’ve done your research and established ordering information, it’s time to prepare your pitch. If you’re just starting out, chances are many local companies don’t know about your product. Practice informing them of the benefits and positive reviews of your product. You may also include a brief demonstration of how to use the product. Not every pitch should be the same, though. Refer to your research to highlight how this product could benefit the particular business you’re speaking to.
After you’ve done the research and practiced your pitch, it’s time to reach out! Contact local stores via phone or email and ask if they’re interested in having an in-person meeting to learn more.
6. Try Influencer Marketing
If you haven’t worked with an influencer yet, let now be the time! Influencers have a massive amount of reach among people who may be interested in your products. By asking an influencer to review your product, you blast out awareness to possibly thousands of their followers. However, influencers are busy people just like you as a business owner. It’s important to do some planning before reaching out to one.
Not all influencers are alike, either. Some influencers have massive reach similar to a celebrity. Yet, others have a more local or niche audience with only several thousand followers. If you are just starting out, you may have more luck reaching out to a micro-influencer first. Identify some local or niche influencers who review beauty products. Look at what products they review and how much engagement they receive. Examine the demographics of their followers to see if it’s a good fit for your product.
Once you’ve identified a few influencers you’d like to work with, work on building a relationship with them. They may receive quite a few promotional requests, so it’s important to be patient. Like working with a local business, the influencer also needs an incentive to help you. Have a budget in mind when you ask them to consider a paid promotion for your product.
If they agree, you’re in business! Work with your influencer to figure out the best content type for your product and brand. Since they are creative people, they’ll likely have a few ideas. But if you want to get the ball rolling, consider options like shoutouts or sponsored content posts. They may also do a short review if they typically post video content. Don’t be afraid to be inventive and work with their ideas. You might just establish a long-term business relationship!
7. Rely on Reviews of Happy Customers
It’s no secret that positive online reviews motivate people to act. But it isn’t always clear to salon owners how to obtain these coveted 5-star reviews. People like to read reviews, but they don’t always feel like writing them. Unsurprisingly, 73% of customers say they’d write reviews if they were given an incentive to do so.
If you need to amp up your reviews, try a promotion like a discount on services. For example, after a customer buys your product, give them a voucher for 10% off their next brow service if they write a review. If you have a loyalty program, offer a few extra points with a successful product review as well.
There are plenty of ways to incentivize people to review products, but you never want to force or buy reviews. Your product should speak for itself! Plus, customers hold a lot of weight with reviews. If you violate their trust in your reviews, it will reflect poorly on your brand. If you run any incentive promotions, make sure commenters state that this review is part of a promotion.
Bring Your Product Branding to the Next Level
Creating an excellent product is not easy. Marketing and branding your beauty product is a whole new challenge. If you’d like access to quality brow products with your brand’s name and logo on them, contact us. Our design team will help you create attractive and effective products for your salon!