What does branding mean for a cosmetic product?

Branding is the emotion behind your product — in essence, it’s the consumer’s perception and feelings toward your brand. Give thought to your brand personality, and it makes the brand stick in the consumer’s mind. Brand personality includes the look and feel of your business, a moral standing, a temperament, and a physical appearance. For example, if you intend to market your cosmetic product as a fashion-forward, trendy brand, your marketing collateral should make good use of color and design that appeals to a younger demographic with smells and textures that are light and airy. Launching a luxury product aimed at an older demographic should have a traditional, opulent feel with richer fragrances and a thicker, fuller texture. These factors lead to your cosmetic brand personality, an essential component that leads to product positioning in the marketplace.

How Digital Space has made it easier for cosmetics?

The rise of digital has forever changed the way shoppers consume media, especially advertising. To cut through all the digital noise shoppers are bombarded with today, top Brands are figuring out ways to personalize how they market their products. One of those ways is through storytelling. And some of the most innovative tactics are drawing attention to one area in particular — beauty content marketing.

Beauty, already a whopping $445 billion industry, grows bigger every day. In step with the growth of digital media, beauty shoppers are able to read product reviews, watch how-to videos, and scroll through celebrity influencer photos whenever, wherever they want — right from the palm of their hand.

Brands like Colorbar, MAC, Smashbox, Becca, Innisfree, Bobbi Brown, Bodyography and Sephora do not advertise on television at all, choosing to woo consumers on digital platforms instead.

Even L’Oréal’s make-up line NYX, launched in 2016 in the country, is visible only online and within stores. Some other brands such as Wet n Wild and The Balm, US cosmetic lines launched in India recently, are even more niche in their approach, opting to be present only on one or two websites such as Nykaa, giving in-store presence a miss.

Platforms such as Nykaa are not just e-tailers, but also strong influencers. They take a 360-degree approach where products are not only located in the online shop for consumers to browse and purchase but also get bloggers to write about brands and beauty trends in general, educate consumers through beauty books (online tutorials) and talk to them through Instagram and other social media channels. This helped Nykaa maximize sales.

Most beauty brands from Lakme to Maybelline, Colorbar, and NYX have YouTube channels that act as influencers, too, pushing tutorials, beauty tips, and secrets apart from ads to consumers. This strategy, say, experts, has led to dedicated viewership for these channels, with sales growth.

The content that makes the cosmetics beautiful: Tips from the biggest beauty brands that nailed content marketing.

Create Engaging Content that helps users to pass the Time.

Beauty shoppers on the hunt for the latest, greatest cosmetics often have on-the-go lifestyles to match. This demands that brands meet them all along the way, not just when they’re in the mood to shop. One regular opportunity is the daily commute. Plenty of people scroll through their social media feeds while waiting for a train, bus, or Uber each day (or in line at the grocery store, the post office, or anywhere else, for that matter).

Creating engaging content to help pass the time during these moments is a great way to reach more mobile-first shoppers.

Be short and simple, but captivating

While many brands are able to reach consumers throughout their day, competition for their attention is still fierce. That means brands have to communicate a compelling, relevant story — aligning the message, creative, and media — on mobile.

Creating short, mobile-friendly stories, for whenever shoppers pop open their smartphones, can help build relationships in those moments. And you never know which piece of engaging content will be perfectly timed for an unplanned, impulse buy.

Wrap it in a story

Brands the world over have been embracing the empowerment theme for years (think Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, which has been running solid for over a decade). And there’s a good reason for it: Feeling strong is one look that never goes out of style. Powered by storytelling, the campaign cleverly taps into and celebrates the diversity of its target audience.

Given all the ways shoppers are drowning in digital offers, the opportunity for beauty brands to cut through the noise with content marketing is stronger than ever. Connecting the dots from online storytelling to offline experiences is key, whether shoppers are on social media, in apps, or in your store. With over ¾ of shoppers globally engaging in online to offline and offline to online shopping, building stories that can live across channels is a great way to drive engagement that can lead to long-lasting customer relationships and brand loyalty.