3.10.2023
As the beauty industry expands – both with newcomer brands and product launches – it’s becoming harder to get your communications campaigns heard above the noise. The good news is, as the scope of work has changed, so too has the technology and tactics available. So much so that your team might be missing out on some key optimisations.
So, here we’re breaking down your three-step guide to driving the best outcomes from your next communications campaigns. Follow these tips for a strategy that harnesses the best of analytics, so you can make more informed decisions…
Step 1: Plan and Research
Look Back and Learn
Unless your brand is on the brink of launching, you should have historical campaigns to look back on. The insights you gain when reflecting on past performance are some of the most valuable of all. So, before you start working on a fresh strategy, gather data on your three most recent campaigns (at least), making sure to note the following metrics:
- Budget
- Number of press releases, samples and/or launch invitations sent
- Number of mentions
- Earned media value (EMV) of these mentions
- Number of influencer campaigns arranged
- Average engagement rate from each influencer campaign
- Number of link clicks (if trackable)
- Return on investment (ROI) for each activity
By looking at the results produced in relation to the budget and level of outreach for each campaign, you can start to understand the variables that added up to success – or disappointing sales. Make sure, if you work with influencers, that you also delve back into their demographics and performance statistics. This will better inform your choices when you’re identifying new talent to reach out to.
Analyse Your Competitors
With the right media tracking tool, you should also be able to look at competitors’ past campaigns. This can help to inspire new tactics for your own communications strategies by seeing what worked across the industry. For each competitor, you should analyse:
- Who they were targeting
- What messaging they used
- Where they gained the highest share of voice (SOV)
- How their campaigns performed in terms of overall mentions, EMV and ROI
Layering these insights with your own performance data will allow you to build out a blueprint for success. You can choose to adopt similar strategies to competitors or target the gaps in their communications.
Remember: gathering this data manually can be time-consuming and leaves room for human error or inconsistencies. By leveraging beauty industry-focused analytics, you can shrink down days of work into mere hours.
Understand Your Audience
When analysing the data points above and highlighting the tactics that worked, make sure you go granular to gain insights on the audience you reached. For example, if a certain influencer’s content performed particularly well, take a look at the demographics of their followers to see who was engaging with your campaigns.
An in-depth influencer campaign management tool will make this simple, showing you average age groups, locations and common interests for different audiences (amongst other characteristics) . This will help you start to build a picture of who your audience really is, so you can finetune messaging that’s relevant to their age and lifestyle.
Step 2: Execute Effectively
Refine Your Outreach
Now you’ve gathered research on the best influencers and media outlets to target, it’s time to begin your communications outreach – and it needs to be impactful. Take a methodical approach by using intelligent tools that keep your outreach organised. A tool like influencerIMPACT lets you communicate with new talent through the platform, and you can even categorise conversations by campaign, so that they’re easy to keep track of.
Such technology also enables you to automate messages when you need to, so you can save time by refining one perfect, professional email that goes out to your chosen collaborators. Sending out introductions and hunting down buried emails are some of the more laborious tasks you can let a tool handle, leaving you with more time to channel into growth tactics.
Send Out (Lots of) Samples
The decades-old practice of sending beauty samples to the media is still crucial. The industry’s power players don’t skimp on mailing out new launches, so make sure you do the same to boost your visibility. The more people who try your product, the more potential there is for media mentions. It’s a simple tactic, but that also means it’s often underestimated by beauty brands.
Get your latest launches in the hands of a range of different content creators too, from micro to macro influencers with a proven passion for beauty. You can even personalise this style of outreach, say by sending a wedding prep beauty routine to someone who’s just got engaged, or a collection of luxurious hand washes and home fragrances to another who’s recently moved house.
Nurture Press Relationships
Throughout your campaign – and beyond – make sure press and influencers have a good experience with you and your brand. Nurture relationships with those you’re working closely with and, again, give communications the personal touch. Simple things, like recognising and celebrating their content style, putting forward messaging that aligns with their values, and ensuring they receive all press invitations and sample send-outs will reinforce positive perception. Keep a priority list of talent that you feel represents your brand well and truly likes your product; these are the people you want to maintain strong partnerships with.
Step 3: Measure and Report
When your communications campaign is over, make sure you have all significant data recorded, so you can measure the exposure and ROI gained from your activities. Using a comprehensive tool to monitor media as the campaign runs will make this easier, as insights will be saved within a platform, allowing you to access them when you need to.
And then the loop begins again. Using your learnings from your most recent campaign, you can return to step one for the next – this time with greater insight into what drives results.
Want to take you beauty brand further? Download our ultimate guide to media monitoring for beauty brands ...
Up next: Looking for more advice to elevate your campaigns? Discover 6 new ways to work with beauty influencers in 2023.
