Last year, CosmeticDesign attended the Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) State of the Union event and spoke with presenter and CEO of Iced Media, Leslie Ann Hall, about the key drivers of beauty brands' digital marketing efforts in 2023. We talked about strategic advice and forecasting. This included the “tiktokization” of advertising and influencer-driven advertising content.
Following this year's CEW State of the Union event, we followed up with Hall to revisit the topic, discuss the most important changes in digital marketing in the beauty industry, and the most impactful aspects of social selling this year. We gained new insight into Hall's predictions about.
what has changed
Social media platform TikTok took center stage at Hall's CEW presentation again this year, but with a new look. Since the discussion last year, the platform has launched his TikTok Shop, a feature that allows users to list and sell products in a digital storefront. This platform also allows users to take advantage of direct sales to their followers.
These new opportunities in e-commerce have “disrupted the social ecosystem and the creator economy in just four months,” Hall said, adding that the rapid rise of TikTok Shops has led to “brand TikTok Shop now brings in more sales.” Tick-tock. This increase is “primarily driven by creator content,” she explained, with “short, shoppable (primarily creator-driven) videos driving 75% of the platform's sales.” did.
Additionally, she continued, “Thanks to the robust built-in creator platform, digital sales are being driven through the TikTok Shop. Rather than creators being paid upfront to create content, brands are co-creating content with creators.” As a result, these innovations are “completely changing the way these types of partnerships are built,” she says. I shared it.
What manufacturers and suppliers need to know
Hall's key takeaway from her presentation to beauty industry manufacturers and suppliers was to “encourage social media advertisers to experiment with AI, consider live shopping based on local best practices, and sign up for TikTok shops.” “We encourage them,” she shared. She urged companies to adopt these innovations, saying they “don't need to be left behind” and “need to see that TikTok Shop is a real business opportunity.”
Analysts at Iced Media see the magic in combining America's top entertainment platform (150 million users, who spend an average of 128 minutes a day) with what could become a top sales channel. “There are,” she explained. Key beauty industry companies are finding that companies that implement these innovations are “achieving amazing results.”
For example, she explained, “I have clients who have sold tens of thousands of products and generated millions of dollars in revenue in just a few months.” She added that brands like this “understand the real potential of TikTok Shop to grow their business,” adding, “This is a true democratization of beauty sales, with emerging brands also competing with traditional brands.” It also has the potential to achieve great results.”
She added, “If you look at the top sellers, you can easily see both types of products that are selling well, from hair stylers to trending tools to color cosmetics.” For example, “a product that can show a visual change like Sacheu Beauty” lip stain. ” With a “satisfying peel-off step,” such products “have an advantage when it comes to content creation,” she explained.
Applications and future prospects of unexpected discoveries
The data findings also revealed some interesting insights into TikTok Shop trends. “We were surprised to find that out of the top 130 beauty brands we benchmarked, only a third were listed on TikTok Shop, despite all the talk about it,” Hall said. explained.
Additionally, she shared, “It was also unexpected for analysts that the median price for the best-selling items (10,000 or more units sold) was $37.” “There's a misconception that TikTok is only for teenagers making $10 impulse purchases, but we have a real appetite for mass and prestige products.”
It was also surprising to see that the top sellers were both billion-dollar brands like ELF, as well as new brands entering the market like Dieux Skin and Beachwaver. It proves that brands can win on the TikTok Shop,” she added.
Going forward, Hall said, “brands onboarding should not expect immediate results,” but instead should evaluate “which products are the best fit for TikTok compared to other sales channels they have.” “We need to think carefully about merchandising,” he warned. He further advised that brands should view onboarding to a new platform as a “serious and significant investment of time, resources, and possibly money, as advertising on TikTok shops becomes increasingly important.” .
He also said that brands should consider onboarding “as a long-term approach, similar to when you onboard to Sephora or Amazon,” because TikTok is “a genuine sales channel and the time and investment is in your own distribution strategy.” It should be worth it,” she concluded.
In 2024, Hall predicts an “era of social selling,” believing that “products with more unique packaging, unexpected ingredients, or more satisfying uses will win.” did. “TikTok is a hypervisual platform that allows you to engage with consumers in half a second and convert them to purchase in under three seconds,” she reasoned. “The more you can surprise someone and prevent them from scrolling, the more you win.”
