It's no secret that many indie and grass-roots beauty brands get much of their exposure on social media. With limited marketing and advertising budgets, word of mouth is the most cost effective way to build a brand. But how do you get your audience to engage on social media? It's not always as easy as it seems. Here, experts from these popular indie brands name their go-to marketing strategies for social media and beyond.
“Reply, reply, reply. I do my best to interact with anyone and everyone on social media. I try to engage with my followers by sending direct messages to them to make them feel special. I reply to comments made on pictures and try to keep the conversation going. The best strategy I have found that works is to engage constantly with anyone.”—Kayvon Tavakoli, brand manager, PRODjin
“Adding reviews to our ecommerce site has been incredibly successful. Customers don’t always want to hear from the brand—they want to hear about the experience of other users. Now more than ever, people research before purchasing, so real reviews shared from loyal customers helps build trust with new customers and gets them engaged in the Florapy experience.”—Kristen O’Connell, founder and chief, Florapy Beauty
“Our weekly newsletter campaigns have proven to be our most effective form of communication with our clientele. Our list of subscribers includes current and prospective clients; leads from a variety of marketing initiatives and publications, trade shows and events; and web sign-ups, creating a comprehensive collection of our extended community. These lists have been built over time, as has our customers’ trust in our ability to provide consistent, relevant, and educational content. It is from this messaging that we experience the most tangible movement and growth in our business.”—Bonnie Campbell, director of marketing and outreach, KM Herbals
“Recently, we’ve found success in our giveaway campaigns. It’s a great way for people to try our products, but it’s also an opportunity to request communication and additional followers, and the response has been very favorable.”—Pamela Friedman, president and CEO, CV Skinlabs
“Targeting millennials is based on creating a cool educational experience and not pushing sales. Personally, when I go shopping, I want a fun experience and to learn something without the pressure to buy. There is nothing worse than the old department-store model where you are taken hostage by sales reps.”—Romain Gaillard, founder, The Detox Market
“Millennials are more appreciative now of ad campaigns being inclusive and empowering rather than didactic in telling women how to be and making over-the-top promises about the effectiveness of products. Messaging that implies, ‘This product is going to help you be the best version of yourself’ is more effective, in my opinion, than messaging that implies, ‘This product is going to make you more like this beautiful, skinny model.’"—Jillian Wright, cofounder, Indie Beauty Media Group
“Our base strategy is face-to-face communications during skincare services—a consultation along with facial service and product recommendations is extraordinarily effective and creates a very loyal customer. Free blogs or articles take some time, but they provide good information about skincare with an option to consider purchasing the product—a low-stress form of marketing for the end-user. They are able to consider the information thoroughly, and if it's worthwhile for them they can consider purchasing the product. We believe this is very effective for millennials, because they’re looking for unique brands or approaches that might be different from the standard or traditional models.”—Neil MacQuarrie, vice president, Shunly Skin Care
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