Makeup and beauty products are a billion dollar industry, and for good reason. The demand for makeup has never been higher, with one report expecting the American cosmetic market to reach $10 billion by 2020. In order to stay ahead of competition in this flourishing industry, it is important that you remain on top of the latest trends and news.
As part of the rapidly growing digital marketing industry, makeup and beauty businesses are increasingly using online tools to enhance their brands. They’re not just about looking good anymore; they represent a brand’s personality and message as well. As such, successful makeup business owners get serious about their IT and marketing budgets for crafting Facebook ads, maintaining Instagram profiles, designing email newsletters that convert subscribers into customers, or running paid promotions on sites like Poshmark.com.
In short, being an expert in the realm of digital marketing and IT buzzwords is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have for every makeup and beauty business owner. And as an added bonus, these skills make you a more attractive candidate for makeup brand collaborations or even for joining other businesses as a consultant or contract employee.
As the make-up industry continues to flourish and grow, more and more entrepreneurs are becoming involved in it. This blog post is to share helpful marketing tools for Makeup and Beauty Businesses. Included are essential applications, tips, resources, and tutorials that you can use to help you run your business!
It’s not easy running an entrepreneurial business. That’s why there are a multitude of platforms out there that aim to provide solutions for just about every conceivable need – including marketing needs.
On the hunt for some new must-haves? This makeup and beauty blog post will give you 10 of them!
What are your favorite online marketing tools? Let us know in the comments section below!
1. Facebook Advertising
Facebook ads are the most popular online marketing tool for makeup and beauty brands. They’re quick and easy to set up, but they can be time-consuming and frustrating when things don’t go as planned. Yet, they’re an essential part of any effective digital marketing strategy, especially in the 1-2-3 (or less!) day rule applied by some businesses.
You can set target audiences for Instagram posts or Facebook ads based on a number of factors like purchasing behavior or location. And you can advertise content or products that target your specific audience. As with any Facebook ad, you need to research your competitors’ campaigns before launching yours to avoid wasting your advertising budget on ineffective campaigns.
When you’re using Facebook ads, you can identify the audience on other sites like Poshmark.com for your Facebook advertising campaign. Keep in mind that it takes around 20 minutes per day to run an ad or a post on one of these popular websites.
Here are some tips to get you started with Facebook advertising:
2. Instagram Analytics and Optimization
Instagram is another essential online marketing tool for makeup and beauty brands because of its popularity among consumers. People use the app to find new products and brands, which means their followers become potential customers at a later date.
Instagram analytics allow you to get a real-time idea of how your followers and the traffic that Instagram is sending you behave. This will help you optimize your profile and target audience, whether your goal is to engage them or convert them into customers. You can also use tools like Loom and Iconosquare.com to get detailed reports on the performance of your profile.
Instagram also has a Stories feature, which is similar to Snapchat. You can post Instagram Stories in between posts or create exclusive content for them, which can make it a bit easier to get the word out about your business without coming off as too aggressive or spammy.
3. Site Optimization and SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of making sure your website gets the maximum visibility and influence when people search for your products or services online. It’s a complicated process that usually includes a number of different tactics that you can perform on your own, from choosing the right keywords to using internal and external links in text. Another important element of SEO is getting backlinks from other websites as these are what make up many times part of what makes SEO work.
SEO will help you keep your products in front of consumers in search engine results pages. As an example, Urban Decay does a great job in this department, as you can check out the makeup brand’s page in Google’s search results to see the techniques they use to get their products to the top for searches related to makeup.
Although SEO isn’t a must-have tool for most makeup and beauty brands, it’s absolutely essential for all big players in the niche. For example, Sephora likes its products to appear as close to number one as possible on Google search results pages. There are also countless articles online that teach you how to optimize your blog or business website for better SEO.
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing is another popular form of online marketing. It’s easy to use, especially if you’re an experienced email marketer (and the good thing is that your subscribers won’t unsubscribe as fast as they would from social media sites). Email marketing also allows you to reach more people at a time and get more detailed insights on your audience.
As such, it’s no surprise that ecommerce brands are flocking to email lists (especially Amazon affiliates). Many of these brands send fake emails promoting new products or services. When these fake emails go out, ones that are actually sent by brands you’ve subscribed to get buried underneath spam folder filters and never see the light of day.
Email marketing also allows you to stay in touch with your subscribers. In the beauty niche, Email marketing for makeup and beauty brands is extremely popular. For example, Poshmark offers a subscription-based mailing list, in which they send weekly emails about new brand listings, fashion tips, and new features on the site.
5. PPC Search Engine Marketing
Paid search engine marketing will give you the added advantage of appearing right up there at the top of search engine results pages without having to wait for your website to rise through the ranks using SEO tricks and techniques alone. It’s effective, but it can involve a lot of work to get results.
It all comes down to your keywords. If Google is sending you traffic, you’ll need to make sure that your most important keywords appear in the title and description of your products and that they are part of the text on your product pages. More importantly, you’ll need to keep an eye on trends and make sure that you’re optimizing for the keywords with the highest potential.
6. LinkedIn Marketing
LinkedIn is one of the important online marketing tools for makeup and beauty brands because it connects businesses with professionals who may be interested in their products or services. It also allows you to advertise directly to your followers, giving you a direct line to your target audience.
LinkedIn is a huge network, one that has around 575 million users across the globe. You’ll want to make sure that your profile is up-to-date with company information and contact details. You should focus on marketing your product or service instead of yourself, so try adding it in the title of your summary area. A lot of brands are also growing their online presence by posting original content on LinkedIn (photo slideshows are very popular).
7. Content Marketing
Content marketing is the strategy of creating and sharing content to attract visitors to your site. Usually, you’ll want to focus on building long-form, in-depth blogs about your expertise or goals with the brand. For example, Sephora discusses makeup trends and how to use them in your everyday life in its blog.
It’s important to know that you don’t necessarily need a fully-fledged blog or website for content marketing. You can simply create one piece of original content and share it over different platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
8. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Social media marketing is a broad term that encompasses all of the platforms used to reach audiences. There are many types of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. While all of these platforms have their own unique features and can be successful if used correctly, one that’s the best for beauty and cosmetics brands is Instagram.
In 2016 alone Instagram had over 200 million photo uploads on its platform. With so much content posted daily by people who use their mobile apps on the go (even though many brands have begun to advertise their products through Snapchat), your photos need to stand out from all the others if you want to get noticed.
The best way to do this is to create beautiful, eye-catching images that display your product. It’s also a good idea to keep your images short and simple on Instagram. The platform is much more picky about photos than other social media platforms, so don’t try to be too creative or funny.
9. Social Media Management
Social media marketing isn’t as simple as posting a photo of your product and letting Instagram take care of the rest (although you certainly should use these platforms for marketing purposes). Your time spent on social media can make or break the success of a campaign, so it’s important that you dedicate some time every week or every day to see what’s working and what isn’t.
To do so, you’ll want to use a tool like Hootsuite, which allows you to manage multiple social media accounts from one dashboard. You can use Hootsuite to comment on posts and monitor engagement through analytics tools. It also offers several useful features that help you track how your posts are doing in the real world.
10. Facebook Ads
You’ve probably seen Facebook ads all around the internet recently, especially with their crazy in-your-face approach to marketing themselves (can’t you just see Mark Zuckerberg standing outside your local coffee shop pressuring you into buying a new iPhone?). They have to do with driving more people to their website, so if you’re an ecommerce brand and looking for a way to drive more sales, Facebook ads are often a great option.
You can manage your Facebook ads from the News Feed page, which is far less expensive than creating and running your own ads. Moreover, it’s easy to use the platform. In its Ads Manager sub-menu, you’ll find all of the tools you need to target your audience and create eye-catching ads that draw their attention.
Conclusion
Beauty and cosmetics brands have a lot of digital marketing options. While it’s not always easy to decide which one is right for your brand, you’ll want to consider the image you’re trying to convey and the audience you’re trying to reach. Will your target market respond well to content marketing or Instagram ads? How much time do you have to dedicate to each form of online promotion? If you don’t have time to focus on all of these options at once, you might consider hiring an advertising agency or consultant to help you choose the best approach for your brand.
The good news is that there are products available that can help make your life easier. If you’re looking for branded packaging for your cosmetics, consider working with a company that can help you make your makeup look professional but attractive. Our packaging experts will work with you to create custom packaging for your products that is designed to sell.
If you’re looking for more specialized services such as cosmetic and beauty miniatures or luxury makeup bags, we can also help. Many companies are dedicated to providing a wide range of customizable products including brand-name cosmetics. Browse through our unique one-of-a-kind products today and get started designing your brand’s new look!
Author Bio:
Hi. My name is Kathy Keeks. I’m a writer and digital marketer with a passion for content. I write blog posts, articles, and social media posts for others.I love to travel, Netflix and Beyonce. I love what I do! I help people find their voice and tell their stories. I love to write and am always looking for new projects. Now you know everything about me, too.