Want to improve sales at your cosmetics business? Even if you’re new to the industry, you’ll know that having a social media presence is absolutely essential. The numbers make this clear – on Instagram there are more than a billion active users, of which 70% are under 35 years old. Facebook is even bigger, with 2.85 billion. Even the newer social network TikTok has already amassed more than a billion users. Let’s take a look at which among all these platforms is best for expanding your cosmetics business.
Indice
We’ve just mentioned Instagram’s impressive numbers. Add to that the fact that it’s the social media platform most centered around image, it’s particularly useful for the cosmetics market. On your Instagram page, you can publish posts and stories. Give special attention to what images you use in your posts as they will all stay on your profile and contribute to the personality it conveys, and this in turn communicates the personality of your brand and products. Stories, by contrast, disappear after 24 hours and so are ideal for fast and engaging content; how to use a product, a backstage peek, product unboxings (videos where you open a product bought online, or sometimes received for free from a company). When a story is successful and well-received, you can put it into your Featured Stories, so that it stays visible on your profile indefinitely. Years ago, it was possible to achieve some success with organic marketing, which is to say, just by posting normally online for free. Nowadays though, with the sheer volume of posts and online advertisements going around, you’ll need to pay platforms to show your posts to people interested in your industry and products. You also have the option of selling directly on Instagram with the Shopping feature. Much loved by users are also the tags that can be put directly on images to indicate prices and purchase methods. Just one click of this will take you straight to the purchase page.
For the first time in history, Facebook is currently experiencing a period of slight decline. But we’re still talking about a platform used by an incredible 2.85 billion people. On Facebook, you can open your business page and publish posts normally, or pay a fee for targeted advertisements, which will ensure they are seen by those interested in your products. Facebook is an ideal space for more conversational marketing, for example explaining how your company was founded, how your products are made, or even just talking with potential customers. It’s important to respond immediately to comments and questions from followers, as users appreciate immediate responses. With these methods, you can gradually form a relationship with people and cultivate trust in your brand. As with Instagram, you’ll also need to carry out paid marketing campaigns to have meaningful results on Facebook. These days, the social network offers a nicely automated system that effectively targets customers based on your specifications. There’s a comprehensive online advertisement guide that takes you through the Facebook sponsorship platform Business Manager, which works in three stages – Campaign Objective, Ad Set, and Ads. In the first of these, you’ll need to indicate whether your goal is to make yourself known, elicit reactions, or sell products. In the second, you’ll enter information about your intended audience and your budget. In the third, you lay out the actual information to be included, be it images, videos, text, or links to your site.
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TikTok
Until some time ago, TikTok was considered to just be a platform for young people to post dancing videos. Nowadays, however, TikTok has since been occupied by many big cosmetics companies due to its now greatly expanded audience, already at a billion users. On TikTok, you can publish short videos, from 15 to 180 seconds long. The peculiar thing about Tiktok is that, unlike other social networks, users cannot choose to watch videos from some chosen point. The video always starts from the beginning, and you can only reset it to the beginning manually by scrolling to the next video and back again. Some TikTok creators have become incredibly famous simply by recording their personal life. However, very few have managed this, because like all social networks, TikTok demands professionalism and consistency from those who want to sell products on the platform. Among the most popular videos are transformation videos, also known as ‘glowups’, which uses the “before and after” format, which is as old as advertising itself, and has always been engaging. So, some ideas for marketing cosmetics on TikTok might be:
- transformation videos: showing the difference before and after you use an anti-wrinkle cream or do a makeup routine
- how-to videos: how to apply one of your creams or your makeup products
- behind-the-scenes videos: how your cosmetics are made (especially effective for products with naturally sourced ingredients)
- entertainment videos: a story that’s just enjoyable to watch, with the topic being relevant to your cosmetics products.
YouTube
Everyone knows what YouTube is. Precisely because of its audiovisual nature, the most common topics are music, and cinema, as well as tutorials on all kinds of topics, from fixing a dishwasher to putting on makeup. Who, for example, doesn’t know Clio MakeUp? We discussed her previously in this article, as she’s a professional who just put her business out there with passion (and a lot of videos!), and achieved international success. YouTube is the right social network for selling your cosmetics primarily if you’re able to produce a lot of videos for your company’s channel. To ensure your videos are interesting to viewers, make it so that, in each video, you’re solving some problem users may have, and not just advertising your products. For example, don’t make a video called “New XY Moisturizer”, but “How to moisturize your skin every day in just 2 minutes”.
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Pinterest is a platform long snubbed by companies, despite having strong numbers internationally, but is now being discovered by cosmetics multinationals. On the platform, users publish images they made or found on the web. Others can put a ‘pin’ in these posts to log the post and pin it on their wall. Today, Pinterest has 400 million active users worldwide, with a very large proportion of women. One of the main topics that have made the fortune of this platform are all forms of DIY content, from home-improvement to embroidery. Over the years, the range of topics common on Pinterest has broadened – for example to recipes, fashion, and beauty. This social network too promotes quick and easy solutions, so if you want to sell your cosmetics on Pinterest, from your very first post you’ll need to be communicating the special advantages of your product, e.g., “Smoother skin in 10 days” or “A single shampoo to get rid of knots”.
LinkedIn is a social network dedicated to the world of work and business with 774 million subscribers, more than 300 million of which are active. LinkedIn is one of the few virtual spaces where B2B (‘business to business’) communications occur, and so it’s the best social network for your business if you don’t sell directly to customers, and instead sell products to other businesses. On LinkedIn, you can make free or sponsored posts and direct them to an audience defined by type of work and location.
Ideas for selling cosmetics on social media
As we explained earlier, the social media sphere is heavily crowded, and so paid advertising is often a requirement to get noticed. However, sponsored posts must follow these platforms’ terms of service. Here are some tips for selling cosmetics on social media.
Quality content.
Advertising has changed. Nowadays, users appreciate authentic and original content made by the company that publishes them. You can show how to take care of yourself with your cosmetic products, adding some interesting information in addition to just a description of your product. For example, for a massage cream, don’t just talk about its quality, but also show how to do a good massage.
Engaging start.
You have about 3 to 5 seconds to capture users’ attention before they move on. You should be especially convincing and interesting at the beginning of your posts.
Influencers.
If you have an influencer in mind that you think could advertise your cosmetics, first check if their style is suitable for your products, because this is the only way they’ll ever be convincing. So go with a nature lover if you want to sell organic cosmetics, a true beauty for pharmacy cosmetics, or even a particularly unconventional personality if you really want to get noticed.
Always remember as well that, on social media, the keyword is authenticity!
