The market is full of countless cosmetic products that offer similar benefits and have comparable prices as well. This makes the success of new beauty brands difficult as no one is going to pay attention to an unknown cosmetics business that emerged from nowhere. However, people are still introducing startups and they are even becoming popular.
So, do you wonder how it is possible and how you can do the same for the business you have in consideration? Well, the secret to the success of a cosmetic brand in a highly-populated market lies in branding. No matter what type of product is, the way you market it and make your brand known among the target audience determines your success in the beauty industry.
So, in this article, we will learn the strategies for building a cosmetic brand.
Cosmetics Industry Statistics
2 decades ago, the cosmetics industry was not as stable as it is today. Currently, the revenue of the cosmetic market is around $105 billion and it is expected to generate over $129 billion in 2028 as stated in Statista.
Basics of Cosmetic Branding – The Three B’s
Beginning from the basics of the cosmetic brand, here are the 3 B’s you need to excelin. in the beauty industry as a startup.
1. The Brand
The first B of the basics of cosmetic branding is the “Brand”. It is how consumers see your business setup. It is the expression of the target goals, beliefs, values, and motto of your beauty business in the world.
2. The Branding
The second “B” of cosmetic branding is the actual “Branding”. It is how you represent your brand in the world and how you market it among the target audience. Therefore, branding involves the efforts you make to make your brand known and successful.
3. The Brand Identity
Brand identity is the combination of all characteristics that define your brand. This characteristic involves the following,
- Your brand name
- The motto or representative line of your brand
- Your cosmetic products
- The cosmetic packaging of your brand
- The distinctive logo of your brand
- Your brand’s social media accounts and official website
- The official physical store of your brand
Questions To Ask Before Building A Cosmetics Brand
Even after knowing the basics of cosmetic branding, it can be challenging to take the first step. So, here are some questions you should ask yourself before you start building your brand.
1. Who You Are?
You should know who you are, what is your brand, and how you want it to be known among consumers. Your target goals, values, aesthetic appeal, and physical appearance of your brand and products are all important when it comes to establishing a brand identity.
People only remember the brands that stand out from the rest of the market. So, ensure that your brand identity is distinctive.
2. Who Are Your Competitors?
While you are building a unique identity for your brand, do not underestimate your competitors. Rather, you can use their branding and marketing strategies as an inspiration to make the marketing strategy for your brand.
This will help you improve the areas they lack and present your brand in the market with an unforgettable identity.
3. What is Your Unique Selling Point (USP)?
When several cosmetic brands selling products similar to yours are already gracing the shelves of the market, why should people buy from you? The reason why people should buy from you is your unique selling point.
One of the tips for determining your unique selling point is to analyze which type of products your target audience wants but are not yet available.
4. What are Your Mission and Values?
The mission and values of a brand help it build a connection with its potential consumers. When you have the same values as your target audience, people trust your brand and prioritize it over the other brands.
These values could be,
- Sustainable packaging for cosmetics
- Affordable products
- Aesthetic packaging
- Use of safe and gentle ingredients
- Minimalist cosmetics
5. Who is Your Ideal Customer or Target Market?
In addition to what you are selling, you should know who you are selling to and what they want to buy. For example, older people want anti-aging beauty products while youngsters want products that make them confident.
Additionally, the packaging priorities differ. So, define your ideal customers and make products that attract them.
Building Your Cosmetics Brand
Let us learn how to build your cosmetics brands through the steps given below.
1. Defining Your Brand Identity Building Blocks
As you already know brand identity is the physical identification of your brand, here are its essential elements.
A. Color Palette
Color psychology plays an important role in attracting consumers by evoking certain emotions in them. So, depending on the emotions you want to stimulate and the benefits of your products, choose a color palette for your brand.
B. Typography
Typography is the use of the right font for your brand name, logo, and motto in the labeling of your brand. The logo creates a vibe about your brand. The font can be simple, classic, stylish, or basic. In any case, it should be legible.
C. Brand Voice
Brand voice is the communication between your brand and the customers. It is actually the motto of your brand and should be based on the values of your brand and its consumers.
D. Form or Shape
The form of your brand is the shape of your logo and the elements of the labels of your products. The logo represents your identity, values, and benefits. Thus, it should be designed carefully and must be unique.
Also, cosmetic packaging designs play a role in creating the form of your brand.
2. Designing Your Key Cosmetic Branding Elements
Here are the key elements for building your brand identity.
A. Logo
The logo is the shape of your brand and the first element of your brand image. The logo might only include the name of the brand. But it can also be comprised of your brand motto or brand voice.
Often consumers remember the brand by its logo. So, create a memorable one.
B. Online Presence
To be relatable in society, you have to be active on all social media platforms. Social media is one of the strongest tools for marketing where you can express your brand, launch your product, interact with consumers, and make loyal customers.
C. Packaging
Packaging for cosmetics is as important as the product itself. People are looking for ergonomic, eco-friendly, refillable, travel-friendly, and aesthetic product packaging.
So, as you formulate your products, pay heed to packaging trends, designs, and materials as well. Also, you can hire cosmetic packaging manufacturers like VCPAK to design the best product jars for you.
D. Business Cards
Although a social media presence is enough to connect with your consumers, you need more than that to establish a relationship with retailers, social media influencers, and investors.
So, make creative business cards that show the name, logo, motto, links to social media sites, and official website of your brand.
E. Swag and Merchandise
Whichever product you are selling, it would excite the consumers to receive additional products from your brand on special occasions like anniversaries. Thus, design swag and merchandise with shirts, pouches, and skincare storage cases.
3. Branding for Social Media and Today’s Influencer Marketing Era
Branding yourself on social media works like a charm when you follow a strategy. So, here is how to create a strong social media presence for your brand.
A. Visibility on Social Media
As a new beauty brand, it is difficult to gain followers. So, make yourself visible on social media. For this, you can,
- Pay for social media apps
- Ask your contacts to share your social media accounts
- Get your brand featured on YouTube ads
B. Personalized Outreach
As you have to contact influencers to review your product and also make long-term relations with them, a plain message that looks AI-generated is not going to help you at all.
Rather, be generous and sincere with your words and send a customized message to the influencers you want to work with.
C. Leveraging Micro-Influencers
Big social media celebrities might have a large number of followers. But they are almost non-approachable by startups. Also, they prefer to work with a luxury cosmetic brand.
But, do not be disappointed as micro-influencers with fewer followers can be equally effective yet affordable.
D. Delivering Product Education
Do not just send the product to the influencers and ask them for a review because most influencers say the same things about all products. Rather, guide them through everything from application to the benefits of your products and request them to upload a review accordingly.
E. Customer Service and Engagement
Friendly customer services that solve all the queries of the target audience with respect and in detail can greatly boost the online presence of the brand.
Furthermore, you can post little quizzes about your brand, products, or skincare and makeup to engage with the consumers.
F. Co-Branding and Strategic Partnerships
Co-branding is the technique where two brands hype up each other on social media. These two brands have products that can be used together but not replace each other. For example, custom perfume brands can collaborate with lipstick brands.
Moreover, you can release limited edition products with strategic partnerships. For example, a clothing brand makes T-shirts with the logo or motto of your cosmetic brand.
4. Tie it All Together With A Brand Style Guide
As you have already seen there is a lot to developing a cosmetic brand from scratch. To make a startup one of the best cosmetic brands, you have to streamline the whole process.
For this, make a brand style guide in the form of a document where you record things like,
- Brand identity with color palette, logo, brand voice, and typography
- Social media presence strategy
- Cosmetic packaging designs
- Pros and cons of different branding elements
5. Maintaining a Consistent Branding Presence
Often new brands try their best to satisfy the needs of their target audience. But, once the brand is well-established, the branding efforts are reduced and products do not remain high-quality anymore.
To ensure that your brand is loved by people for a long long time, be consistent with your branding and the quality of the products.
6. Be Flexible Enough to Pivot and Evolve
At times, your initial brand strategy might not work for several reasons like targeting the wrong audience, not following the color psychology correctly, and more.
In such cases, analyze your mistakes, learn from them, alter your branding strategy, and evolve.
Conclusion
Branding for a cosmetics brand is more essential than the formulation of the products itself. While it might seem that building a cosmetic brand can be one hell of a job, you can ace it by following the steps mentioned in this article strategically.
As one of the important elements of brand identity is cosmetics packaging, contact VCPAK to meet all your packaging requirements.
