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9 Holiday Marketing Strategies for Beauty and Cosmetic Brands

According to Jungle Scout, one in four US consumers plans to spend more on Christmas this year than they did in 2020, which is great news for beauty and cosmetic brands. How consumers spend that money is likely to be impacted by which brands they trust, who they follow on social media, and how brands address important issues. 

Is your beauty or cosmetic brand ready for the increase in sales and competition? Here are nine strategies that will help your brand make the most of the 2021 holiday season. 

1. Plan Your Holiday Beauty Campaigns Early

Due to product shortages and shipping delays, 31 percent of US consumers say they plan to begin their holiday shopping before Halloween. Black Friday is still weeks away, but consumers are already making purchases and deciding where to buy holiday gifts. If you want to reach shoppers when they are ready to buy, you need to start implementing a holiday marketing strategy now. 

Start planning your campaign now by outlining your strategy: 

  1. Set goals: What do you hope to achieve this holiday season? 
  2. Choose platforms: Where do you plan to launch your campaigns? 
  3. Outline KPIs: What metrics will you use to measure success? 
  4. Design Creatives: What creatives do you need? Do you need ad copy, social media posts, blog posts, etc.? Outline what assets you need and who will create time. 
  5. Create a campaign calendar: When will your campaigns launch? Create a calendar and add all the tasks that need to be completed before launch. 

Before getting started on this year’s holiday campaign, look at what worked last year and what your competitors are up to. This will give you critical insights into what strategies will be effective this year. 

2. Use New Social Media Features to Drive Holiday Sales 

Social media is a powerhouse for beauty and cosmetic brands. However, it can quickly get overwhelming as users move to new platforms and platforms release new tools. Staying up to date on new trends, however, is crucial to online marketing success. 

So, what’s the solution? Don’t try to do it all. Rather than building a presence on every platform and using every new tool, try a few new features this season and measure what works.  

For example, Instagram Shopping and Instagram Stories are popular features that can drive real sales. Here are a few newer social media strategies to consider adding to your 2021 holiday marketing campaigns: 

  • Live Video: Live videos are ideal for introducing new products, showcasing holiday gift sets, and building customer trust. Plus, live videos can be edited and used to promote products on other platforms. 
  • Facebook Dynamic Ads: Generate custom ads for users based on items they’ve already viewed. 
  • Instagram Stories: These’s aren’t new, but they are effective. If you aren’t making the most of this engaging feature, give it a try this year. 

Read this post about new Instagram features to help you build a fresh, effective social strategy for 2021. 

3. Leverage Automation to Streamline Your Holiday Strategy  

The beauty industry is growing fast. According to Statista, the industry is currently worth nearly 50 billion dollars. This means there is plenty of opportunities for beauty and cosmetic brands to grow.

However, an increase in traffic and sales can get overwhelming, especially for smaller teams. Rather than trying to do it all (and failing), leverage automation to help you manage the workload. Here are a few tools to consider. 

  • Mobile Monkey: Automate Instagram DMs, comment responses, and create drip message campaigns to stay active even while you sleep. 
  • Mail Chimp: Automate email marketing by creating just-in-time campaigns triggered by specific actions. 
  • ChatBot: Use AI to automate some of your customer service processes by using a bot to answer common questions. 
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  • Woobox: Automate parts of the contest process by allowing our platform to automatically choose winners, build your email list, and engage your audience. 

Big brands are using AI and automation to scale their businesses, and you should, too. Think about where you spend the most time and look for ways to automate those processes. 

4. Get Users Involved with User-Generated Campaigns

User-generated content is one of the most influential and underused marketing strategies out there. That’s because consumers trust their friends, family, and co-workers more than marketing. By encouraging users to share their own experience with your brand, you help build trust and increase your brand reach. 

Here are a few ways to add user-generated content campaigns to your holiday marketing strategy: 

  • Host an Instagram Photo Contest: Ask users to share pictures of them using your products, unboxing videos, or before and after photos for a chance to win a prize. 
  • Create a Brand Hashtag: Ask users to share their photos of your product using a brand hashtag, then share that content on your own social channels. 
  • Prompt Customers to Leave Reviews: Use email marketing, social media ads, or in-person signs to ask customers to leave their honest opinion about your store and products.

5. Offer Discounts, But Carefully

When it comes to holiday shopping, many users are looking for a good deal. While the holiday season is an ideal time to offer discounts to drive sales, you should be intentional about your discounts. You don’t want to attract freebie seekers or customers who will only buy when you offer a discount. 

Instead of offering huge prizes for contests, offer a discount to all entrants. Rather than offering a discount for all shoppers, consider offering a discount in exchange for something. For example, offer new email subscribers 15% off or a discount for orders over $100. This encourages customers to buy and protects your profit margins. 

6. Offer Email Subscribers a Sneak Peek of Holiday Sales 

Want to drum up excitement for your holiday beauty sales? Leverage your email marketing list by offering sneak peeks for your holiday sales. Offering exclusive content encourages users to subscribe and keeps your brand fresh in consumers’ minds. 

Google Store does this by sending a countdown to Black Friday deals email: 

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This gets their audience excited and gives them time to research their options so they are ready to buy when Black Friday hits. 

7. Give Micro-Influencers a Try

Influencer marketing is huge in the beauty and cosmetic industry. However, smaller brands often can’t afford to spend thousands on one campaign. The good news is, you don’t need the likes of Kim Kardashian to make a splash. Micro-influencers (who have a  smaller but much more targeted audience) are far more affordable and may be more effective. 

For example, miszfiorella is a Florida-based micro-influencer who partner with brands for promoted posts like these:

With just over 30,000 followers, she doesn’t have the reach of massive celebrities. However, she has an engaged following of beauty lovers, including a solid connection with Spanish speakers. Find micro-influencers using influencer marketplaces or researching popular industry hashtags. 

8. Create Holiday Beauty Gift Guides 

High-quality content is one of the best ways to attract traffic and drive sales. If coming up with interesting blog post topics is a struggle, consider creating audience-specific gift guides. By targeting specific key terms for highly targeted audiences, you can reach customers who are ready to buy now. Think about who your target audience is, and then create gift guides just for them. 

Here are a few ideas: 

  • 10 Beauty Kits for the Teens in Your Life 
  • Gift Guide for New Moms: X Beauty Products New Moms Will Love 
  • Gift Guides for Dad: X Gifts Dads Will Love 
  • Gift Guides for Kids: X Gifts to Make Bath Time Fun 

These guides can help users decide what to buy and drive them to click “add to cart.” 

9. Make a Plan to Follow up With New Contacts

Don’t let new subscribers and customers fall away just because the holidays are over. As you design a holiday campaign for your beauty brand, make a plan for after the holiday season as well. How will you follow up with leads and new customers? What will you do to keep them engaged? 

Make a plan now, so you are ready to launch after the holiday season is over. For example, you could create an email welcome series or plan a social media campaign that retargets new customers in late January. 

Are You Ready to Launch Your Holiday Marketing Campaign? 

Is your beauty and cosmetic brand ready for the holiday season? These strategies will help you build a bullet-proof holiday marketing strategy that will drive traffic and sales. Don’t feel like you have to do it all, especially if you have a small team. 

Instead, choose two or three of the strategies above and focus on making those strategies work for your brand. Not sure where to start? Contests, paid ads, and social media are some of the most effective holiday marketing strategies for beauty brands. 

Need help creating your first contest? Woobox support is here to help from 9 am to 5 pm PST, Mon. through Fri at 1-360-450-5200 and support@woobox.com.