The Benefits of Content Marketing For Beauty Brands

The beauty industry has changed a lot since its birth in the early 19^th century. From being used only by the richest or most important figures, to falling out of favour and used only by courtesans, actresses and women of ‘loose’ morals, and then rising in popularity again to the general use we have today. During that time recipes were refined, new products were created and packaging was designed so that the modern beauty industry is valued at around £461.9 billion worldwide.

The last few years have seen another big change. Between the increase in popularity of online shopping and the impact of Covid-19, more consumers than ever before are opting to research and buy their beauty products online, rather than going into stores. So much so that around 31% of all global beauty and personal care purchases are made online. For beauty brands, this means only one thing – having an online presence is no longer optional. In this article, we cover the benefits of content marketing for beauty brands.

Why Beauty Brands Should Invest In Content Marketing

Content marketing may have been around for a long time, but it’s something that the beauty industry is relatively new to. In the past, beauty brands primarily relied on traditional advertising through TV, magazines, radios and shops to generate awareness for their products. But now most beauty brands have moved the majority of their marketing online, while still keeping that traditional advertising going. We’ll get onto what kinds of content marketing strategies work for beauty brands shortly, but first, let’s take a look at a few of the benefits beauty brands can see from content marketing:

More search engine web traffic 

Google loves content, and content marketing is the best way to keep yourself visible online. Using a range of techniques, content marketing can get your brand displayed in more places online, and should result in a surge of visitors to your website. When your content is well-crafted and targeted, it will encourage people to visit and explore your website, and the longer they stay the higher the chances of conversion.  

High-quality leads

With an increase in web traffic comes an increase in browsers who are actually interested in buying your product. If you’ve got your content marketing strategy right, that influx of traffic should be made up of genuinely interested buyers who are much more likely to convert. 

Loyal customers

Customer retention is one of the key goals of any beauty brand – keeping customers using your products and not your competitors. With content marketing, you can provide tailored, regular content that showcases not only your products but how much you care for individual customers. This creates feelings of trust and converts one-time customers into loyal, repeat customers.

Increased sales

All of the above leads to one thing for your business – more sales!

Customers who trust you

Providing consumers with information, tips and tricks not only keeps you in their mind when they are ready to buy, but it gives them somewhere to go when they need good information. Content marketing helps solidify your position as a voice of authority and education, and the more high-quality content you publish the more consumers will turn to you and trust your advice.

Flexibility

With traditional marketing techniques, you need a lot of notice to effect changes, and new campaigns can take time to go live. In a world that’s moving much faster, this approach simply can’t keep up. Brands need to be able to adapt to new trends in the market quickly, which is something that content marketing excels at. Because it’s a digital medium, your strategy can be adjusted, redirected or completely re-written as soon as you see a new trend emerging, allowing you to increase visibility with bigger trends.

How To Use Content Marketing For Your Beauty Business

So the big question is, how do beauty brands implement content marketing? We’re not going to go into the nitty-gritty of what content marketing is today (you can read about that here and here instead), but we are going to share a few ways your beauty brand could use content to achieve all of the benefits above and more.

Choose Your Channels Carefully

One of the keys to success in content marketing is getting your content seen as widely as possible – which means you need to invest time into multiple distribution channels. But when choosing which ones, think carefully. You don’t want to just opt for all of them, as this will leave you spread too thin. Instead, start by choosing the channels that you are going to be able to utilise fully, and that your audience uses, and then expand from there. By carefully targeting your channels, you can build a successful following that will only grow as you add more channels later on.

Embrace Interactive Content

With beauty purchases moving online, including interactive elements in your content is a sure-fire way to stand out from the crowd. Whether that’s using quizzes, interactive infographics, branded games or even VR product try-ons. If you can get people to interact with your content, they will likely remember it. 

Use Long-Form

Don’t discard long-form content for your beauty brand – studies show that long-form content accounts for 77% more backlinks than short-form content. Search engines are fairly open about the fact that they prefer long-form content, which means investing in longer blogs, e-books, whitepapers and case studies to educate and engage both your audience and Google.

Use User-Generated Content

User-generated content is an incredibly powerful tool, and many of the biggest beauty brands utilise it to their advantage. Including testimonials and user reviews in your marketing can make your efforts more compelling, providing they are organic and genuine. It also helps your customers feel valued and included, which has its own benefits, as you’ll see in the next section.

Consider Influencer Marketing 

Influencer marketing is one of the most heavily used content marketing strategies in the beauty world for a good reason. YouTubers, Instagram models and so on are ideally placed to spread the word about your products to a highly engaged audience who already trusts them. Individual influencers will work in different ways, but you can learn more about it in this blog. 

What It Looks Like In Practice

If you’re still not convinced, let’s look at an example of content marketing for a beauty brand that’s seen huge success.

Glossier is a multi-award-winning beauty company that has its roots in content. It was initially a blog called Into The Gloss run by Emily Weiss, who at the time was a 26-year-old working as an assistant at Teen Vogue. She launched the blog in 2010, with the aim of profiling fashionistas and their beauty regimes, and sharing tips and product recommendations. The side-hustle was more successful than she could have ever believed, and within months millions of people were flocking to the site regularly to get makeup and skincare recommendations. Fast forward 12 years and Glossier is worth $1.2 billion, and has its own huge range of products on sale exclusively through its website.

Glossier is a beauty brand built on content. Women loved Into The Gloss because Emily encouraged them to share their beauty routines, recommend products and get involved in community discussions – something Glossier still does today. She tapped into the idea that women wanted to hear beauty advice from other women, not brands, and turned that into a thriving business. Her content marketing strategies to build Glossier matched that need and included:

• Truly understanding her customers and providing them with the content they actually want.

• Hearing and respecting her customer’s opinions. Notably, she asked the Gloss community what their dream face wash would be, then compiled thousands of responses and created one of her bestselling products to reflect the community’s answers. She even built the marketing campaign based on suggestions from Glossier’s fans! 

• Empowering the community. In 2018 the Facebook group ‘Into The Gloss: The Group’ was created with the intention of creating online conversations between Glossier fans. The group currently has 21.8k members, and allows members to ask for advice, share their routines and discuss products regardless of the brand.

• Content is their star player. Really, there would be no Glossier without a blog, and so their content is always placed front and centre. Regular blog posts, incredibly active social media accounts, a youtube channel and regular free content giveaways of anything from Spotify playlists to pink-toned wallpaper, bubble wrap and even recipes.

Blog Content Ideas for Beauty brands

Welcome to our blog section on content ideas for beauty brands! Below we have suggested 20 tried and tested ideas for beauty brands looking to create quality content that resonates with your target market, a lot of them can be adapted to suit your brand and its products. If you don’t know where to start then get in touch with us we specialise in writing content for beauty brands.

1. Tips for a Simple Skincare Routine
2. Best Ingredients for Oily Skin
3. How to Choose the Right Makeup Shade
4. Natural Beauty Tips and Tricks
5. Latest Beauty Trends
6. Skin Care Habits of Celebrities
7. DIY Beauty Treatments
8. Best Makeup and Hair Trends of the Season
9. Common Makeup Mistakes to Avoid
10. The Benefits of Using Natural Products
11. How to Create a Professional Makeup Look
12. How to Create the Perfect Smokey Eye
13. Different Ways to Use Neutrals in Makeup
14. How to Apply Makeup for Different Skin Types
15. How to Choose the Right Hair Color
16. How to Style Hair for Different Occasions
17. Tips for Maintaining Healthy Skin
18. What to Look for in a Beauty Product
19. How to Find Cruelty-Free Beauty Products
20. What to Look for in a Sunscreen

Conclusion

In conclusion, a content marketing strategy is a must for any beauty brand that wants to succeed online. Creating valuable and shareable content can reach a wider audience, build trust and credibility, and drive more sales. With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. But with a little planning and creativity, you can create a content marketing strategy that works for your business and helps you achieve your goals.  If you need any help developing and executing a marketing strategy for your beauty brand then Lion Spirit Media can help. Get in touch with our team today.