Want to claim your space in beauty products crowd? Think inside the box.

---

Every new cosmetic brand aspires to become another Lakme or L’Oreal, but they miss the point that these brands have deployed a huge sum of marketing budget over the decade’s to reach the stage they are at.

That kind of marketing budget is out of the reach of many of the aspiring brands, even if you are trying to operate inside a geographic niche.

So sometimes instead of looking upward, you can gain better market position by looking sideways and using the tools that you have at your disposal, in your budget.

Using digital marketing for cosmetics & beauty products can be a smart move in a traditionally catered market.

1. Sell cheaper, but never highlight

Use cost effectiveness to win the comparison at a cosmetic shelf inside store, and not in your marketing communication. IMHO, if you are able to offer better prices for similar or almost equal quality products, you should avoid using ‘cheap’ to gain eye balls.

Let the consumers discover the price competitiveness while comparing which bottles to keep in basket. It keeps your options open to go chase a premium product brand image at later stage, but at this stage it gives you the freedom to offer the prices that you want to offer, to get customers.

‘Cheap’ products only get cheaper in future.

So what can you do?

2. Sell a story, not product

A strong core brand story can help you build solid brand empathy for your long term success.

And use that core brand story to design your entire marketing communication & advertising content. Your story should make people curious to explore your brand, to explore your online content, to explore your online communities, to be part of the others joining your brand.

A story can actually help you sell your products even before your launch.

And No, please… going organic is not a story, it’s boring, and almost every other brand is failing on organic story, except Patanjali.

Though storification of your brand is a complex process and require time & patience, you can take the hint from this; Try to hear, heel, and stand with the insecurities of women at mass.

Be creative with this now.

3. Seek 2nd position, geographically

There are only 2 products in any geographical niche market. The Costliest, and The Second Best.

If you look closely, the second best brand is not always the next to the costliest one, but the one that looks like a local popular brand, with a price point that mass number of consumers can afford, serves the similar quality or almost equal quality product, and always have a deal attached like Buy 1 get 1.

And this brand usually doesn’t use ‘Cheap’ in their promotions, outside the store.

4. Build an online + offline experience

Beside your offline distribution chain, it’s absolutely crucial for you to set up your online POS (points of sale).

For online points of sale, you must set up your branded e-commerce stores online and accept the order directly, even if it is not profitable channel initially.

Beside this, you shall also use the online third-party e-commerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. to grow your audience base.

Remember, your online marketing activities will not only bring you additional sales but will help you grow your brand recognition quickly, which will directly impact your off-the-shelf sales figures in physical stores.

5. Be everywhere, digitally

One of the best ways you can use digital marketing to claim your consumer’s eyeball share is by using branding campaigns online ie. Google Display Ads, and Social Media Advertising, and Social Media Marketing.

The branding campaigns are designed to grow your brand impressions rapidly and put your brand & its story in front of a targeted audience. These campaigns have the primary purpose of brand recall & engagement, and not the sell.

Beside this, you shall also use social media communities to spread out the message and to build a community of your primary brand advocates (ie. Loyal customers). These social media communities can prove themselves very helpful in influencing the positive sentiments for your brand.