In a time crowded with beauty brands and millions of products with three or more claims promising an even better skin how can I, the "solopreneur" become a beauty brand owner? Scary question, I'm sure so many of you have asked yourself before!
Oh, don't forget, we will be 7,79 billion people by 2020 (United Nations prospects source), so I'm sure, that if you do it right, you'll find your consumers and brand lovers in this huge marvelous world!
Now, let’s get some work done. I'll give you a short list of what I consider crucial to succeed:
1. Tell a Story
Storytelling is what makes a brand. You've heard this before, for sure!
You must create an audience before launching your brand. You need to find your niche and understand the main factors that gather those people together and then create a brand around it. With the right concepts you'll create a successful brand that will reach your chosen niche precisely at their heart! And mostly you'll solve their problems, or you'll ease their concerns, or you'll generate an easier way of living.
2. Target your Audience
With so many options available, you really should target your audience precisely. Anyway what's the point of marketing green chemistry-based products as your brand's differentiation if your targeted audience is concerned with reducing wrinkle appearance? (for example) What I mean by this is that you certainly want your product to be environmentally friendly and sustainable, but if your audience's primary concern is wrinkles, then you should talk about it and sell a solution that can be sustainable but has anti-wrinkle efficacy (at the epidermal level, just to clear off any doubts that might emerge around the topic)!
You can start by checking trending topics on social media platforms and start building and audience around the ones that are of interest to your future brand.
3. Wow your Brand
Make your brand recognizable, that is, great logo, lettering and colour choice. Everything in your brand has to breathe your story, your positioning has to be clear to your future clients (at the moment your audience) and it must resonate with them. Certainly, you'll find a designer who can catch the essence of your brand and embody it on your brand's identity. Just to remind you, don't forget to register it as your own!
4. Quality
Product quality is part of the basics. No, no and no to products that don't comply with regulation. And even for those that comply, you should test them with a small group of potential consumers to be certain that the product will match their expectations. It's much better to have a "pre-sales" approval than manufacturing thousands of units to store them at your warehouse (if you have one to start with)!
5. Product Differentiation
Differentiate your product, whether it's packaging, skin feel or fragrance. Once your client tries one of your products, she/he'll have to have it! Your brand has always to be recognizable and your product's design is part of the equation. Keep that in mind from the beginning. Fragrance is also a widely used differentiating factor that distinguishes brands from each other and even within the same brand, distinguishes product ranges. Skin feel can be quite personal and luxurious brands take advantage of it pretty well. Luxury beauty products have a richer skin feel, they convey a full senses experience, to take the consumer to a state of pleasure and enjoyment. It really makes a difference! Your choice of fragrance and skin feel will always depend on your budget and target audience.
6. Start small
Starting small means choosing a consistent range of products that can be combined by your clients to a simple but full regimen. These products will last for several years, they will be your brand's flagship, so they should speak out the essence of your brand.
Meaning, "I will try your products for the first time, once you led me to buy them, so now I'll try them and sense them and feel them and I'll love them! In the end, I'll love your brand and I'll buy them again and again!"
New client - ✅
Brand loyalty - ✅
7. Know your Client
Well now that you have an audience and your first buys, it is time to understand them, what moves them, what makes them return to your brand, the demographics and so on. You see, the more you know your client, the better you can market your products, the more you improve your audience (also called brand awareness) and most importantly, the more you sell. This is also called analytics ☺️. Data will give you more information to sell more and better.
8. Steady Growth
Now that you've created an audience, have generated sales and have returning clients, you can consider expansion. That usually means, widening your product range to reach more potential customers. But it also means raising your advertising budget to widen your audience and reach new consumers. And it also means keeping your existing clients with you, that is brand loyalty programs and raising your brand awareness. To use all those strategies, you'll need more people working with you. What if you partner or find collaborations to reach a bigger audience? You know you've done it all by yourself, but you can grow more if you work with people that can bring a fresh new way of working and reaching to consumers.
9. Innovation
If possible, introduce innovation every six months, and if it's makeup we're talking about, then you must be really trend catching and keep the pace with fashion trends. This generates a lot of planning and work load, but the beauty industry is ferocious. Every other month there's a new star product that is believed to bring even better results. The competition responds with similar products and the wheel keeps on turning with more and more, better and better products. So, how will you survive? First you must know your competition. Second thing to do is to check if your client will want that innovation (new actives, change in texture, new product). Third decision to make, if it's worth a try, is to manufacture a small quantity, like a one-shot innovation to see if the product will be a bestseller. If it is, you'll include it in your product range as your new star product. If not, at least you kept your market share and your clients didn't shift to your competitors. That's also a very good strategy!
10. Retail Clients
Who doesn't want to have their products showcased at a big retailer or a corner at a big department store? You should present your products to as much retailers as you can, it will work on your favor sooner or later. You can be selling on your own e-commerce or your own shop, but always keep in mind, that when a retailer wants to sell your products it is because you've generated demand, so you should be really happy with what you have achieved!
Hope you find this blog post useful for your future business. You know, at labvidaurre we're here to help you out! #labvidaurre
We take care of your brand with our heart! #yourbrandourheart
Author: Maria Vidaurre
