As the beauty industry continues to transform, marketing strategies are adapting to keep pace. With Gen Z leading the consumer group, products driven by viral social media reviews are flying off the shelves at local Ultas. Nowadays, when a product starts trending online, you can expect it to be hard to find for a while.
But what will keep Gen Z consumers coming back, beyond just viral products and reviews? Retaining this demographic requires more than a single standout item. The key lies in branding, authenticity, high-quality ingredients, and creating a memorable experience.
Since Gen Z practically runs this industry and is redefining it, it’s important to tap in and cater to this group of consumers.
THE POWER OF BRANDING
There are endless places to buy a face moisturizer or a go-to mascara – this is where branding plays a crucial role. When deciding from which company to buy products x, y, and z, effective branding will set a company apart from its competitors. It’s all about making that connection with your audience. In fact, connecting with consumers on an emotional level is going to make all the difference.
It’s no secret that Gen Z cares what a brand stands for. Whether it’s through your message, products, or campaigns, people take note of what resonates with them, or go another direction. Younger audiences build strong connections by aligning their values with a brand.
Mission
One way people might gravitate towards a brand could be the company’s mission. If you are making it your priority or mission to be sustainable and make an environmental impact with your products, there are people who will back you for that reason. In 2021, 27% of buyers involved in a large survey said they purchased a beauty product in the last six months because of its sustainable initiatives.
Aside from sustainability, there’s a large number of Gen Zers who will look to buy the product they need from a brand that sits right with personal perspectives.
Values
A brand might not have a clear mission that this audience will feel passionate towards, but that’s where a campaign around your brand values can help. Showing your commitment to something positive, inclusive, and encouraging will go a long way.
Various studies and research have shown that Gen Z values authenticity from brands and expect a connection to the company from aligning values. But what are these defining values? Some guiding values that are common across this group are authenticity, inclusion, diversity, and individuality. These are not only important to themselves, but what they look for in companies they choose to support.
AUTHENTICITY & INCLUSIVITY MATTERS
For years the common advertisements, billboards, commercials, and other forms of beauty product promotion usually pictured highly Photoshopped images. Beauty standards and expectations have been unrealistic for a while, but brands have been changing this. We’ve been moving away from “perfect,” and accepting reality. This looks like different body shapes, sizes, and races now represented. Wrinkles, freckles, and peach fuzz are making the cut and people see themselves in these brands and products.
These types of practices are not only favored, but usually expected by Gen Z. If you want to hook them in and empower them, then prioritize diversity and realness across your marketing channels.
As Gen Z takes a genuine interest into a brand, they want to feel like the brand has their best interest as well. Through the effectiveness of clean ingredients, to how it’s sourced, they want to be looked out for.
Demonstrating Clean Ingredients
Gen Z is filled with conscious consumers, and there’s no point in marketing results that are too good to be true. The demographic will typically put in the time to research what’s going on their face before trusting what the label is advertising. This is where transparency can build that trust, along with making sure that there are reviews on social media to reach this group.
Since the pandemic, Gen-Z consumers have become more focused on skincare. They search for natural, non-toxic ingredients, and put skincare in the category of their overall health. Putting effort into having healthy skin is important to them – 41% polled that skincare is their top beauty category.
In this same poll, these are the top four answers when asked what they want to see from skincare brands on social media:
1. “How I can have healthier skin”
2. “Realness & transparency”
3. “Information about ingredients”
4. “Sales & discounts on products”
From this, we can safely surmise that Gen Z cares about the ingredients in their makeup products.
When it comes to pricing and quality, you must prove your product’s quality, especially if it’s expensive. Less than one fifth of Gen-Z consumers find premium brands less effective than affordable options. Half of this audience will still buy an expensive product if the quality is proven to be high, which is important to note.
PROVIDING DIGITAL & IN-PERSON EXPERIENCES
Social media is still a marketing priority, but don’t neglect building an in-person experience. 85% of Gen Z consumers show that services like customized skin and hair diagnostics, along with positive store environments, are strong purchasing triggers.
While it’s important to have the exposure and earned media through apps like Tiktok and Instagram, beauty brands should also create unique and personalized experiences outside of their digital landscape. A multi-faceted approach is key when targeting Gen Z, and building their loyalty with your brand.
Successful examples of this are skincare consultations, makeover stations, personalized lipsticks created in-store – all immersive in-store beauty experiences. A great example of this is La Roche-Posay’s kickoff to Skin Cancer Awareness Month campaign. On May 6th, they offered free skin checks all day at the Flatiron Plaza in New York City. The skincare had pop-up trucks with exam rooms where they were able to check hundreds of peoples skin, with a goal to help those who might not have access to a dermatologist.
So what are the takeaways for marketing to Gen Z?
Based on information researched and gathered about Gen-Z, these are ways to make sure your marketing gets through to them:
- Know their values, and what they look for in a brand. Based on this, make sure your messaging addresses your values and hits their pain points.
- Prove quality to build trust, no sneaky marketing tricks. This means informing your audience of the ingredients and how they help your skin, in a creative way.
- Represent a diverse range of people so that everyone can visualize themselves with your brand and products. Keep this consistent across your website, socials, and products. People want to see how products look on someone that looks like themselves.
- Utilize social media platforms while maintaining an original in-store experience that will satisfy these younger customers and keep them coming back.