TikTok Marketing Secrets from e.l.f Cosmetics Success

Can a single random observation spark a multi million dollar revolution? In the case of Elf Cosmetics, absolutely. But how did they go from $1 makeup to Gen Z's favorite brand? As always in this video, I'm going to break down the marketing strategies brands use into actionable universal lessons your business can learn from. In 2004, two guys spotted an unusual trend. Women driving expensive cars and sporting luxury accessories like Louis Vuitton purses were both buying a 99 cent makeup stores. They instantly saw a gap market for high quality makeup that didn't carry a hefty price tag. Launching in Oakland, they founded Elf Cosmetics. They are the OG Digital Disruptor. They were based on the idea of selling Premium Cosmetics for $1 over the Internet in no time. That simple quirky observation turned ELF into a major player in the beauty industry. Available in stores like Target, Walmart and Old Navy. Their mission to create a high quality product for less would shape one of their biggest success strategies. Strategy one Dupes in the beauty industry, dupes are affordable alternatives that mimic high end products and functionality and aesthetics, but at a fraction of the price. Elf's dupe strategy leverages its ability to create affordable alternatives to high end cosmetic products. Meeting the demands of its primary target market, Generation Z. A few years ago, a prestige brand introduced a new primer format at a $52 price point that quickly became a top primer in prestige. We took inspiration from this item and adding our own unique ELF twist and launch Putty Primer. Our price point of $8 invited a much wider range of consumers into the space, significantly expanding the entire putty primer category. Its low price value proposition caught on and in Elf's first year in business it made $1.5 million in sales. The continued push of this strategy has resulted in some of their dupe products quickly going viral online, most notably TikTok. This takes us to our next strategy. Strategy 2 TikTok pivot we are where Gen Z is and we don't just show up. We show up bold. We are very good at looking for signals and jumping in. We don't wait, we don't dwell. We don't have a lot of red tape. Nowhere is this more apparent than back in 2019, elf noticed something interesting. Their hashtag elf cosmetics was a big hit on TikTok recently, racking up over 5 million views even though they didn't have an official presence on the platform yet. Seeing this, they switched up their marketing game, aiming squarely at the TikTok crowd, which was largely made up of Gen Z. ELF partnered with Brooklyn based agency Movers and Shakers to craft the Eyes Lips Face Challenge. The challenge was meant to highlight their inclusive brand motto. ELF is for every Eye, Lips and Face. To make it fun, they created a catchy music track drawing inspiration from recent popular songs. The goal was to achieve viral status by encouraging TikTok users to create their own content using the catchy song and hashtag. It was massively successful. It became the fastest growing TikTok campaign of all time with nearly 5 million video contributions and around 7 billion views. Billion with a B it currently holds TikTok records for most ever user generated videos in a TikTok brand campaign. Fastest ever TikTok campaign to reach 1 billion views first ever TikTok brand challenge with original music and oh yeah. It not only reached global audiences on TikTok but also expanded beyond the platform to reach number four on Spotify's global viral charts. Listeners added it to 300,000 Spotify playlists. In addition to their clear social media savvy, Elf also has a deep understanding of their target audience. This plays a critical role in our next strategy. Strategy 3 focusing on gen Z Values ELF took a strategic approach to capture the attention of Gen Z by focusing on values important to this demographic, most notably social responsibility and affordability. Recognizing that 50% of Gen Z consumers avoid beauty brands that that are not cruelty free, ELF emphasized its long standing commitment to cruelty free products in its messaging. Affordability was another critical aspect of ELF's strategy with data indicating that 80% of Gen Z consumers are willing to wait for a sale to buy a product and 60% consider the price as the primary factor in purchasing decisions. By positioning itself as an affordable brand and introducing budget friendly alternatives to popular high end products, ELF appealed to Gen Z's price conscious tendencies. Strategy 4 Strategic partnerships with High Profile Brands and Celebrities ELF has strategically partnered with high profile brands and celebrities to enhance its visibility and appeal. A great example is their 2021 partnership with Chipotle where they released a limited collection of makeup that was inspired by the ingredients Chipotle uses in its menu. We share the same renegade spirit and are both committed to bringing the best ingredients to our consumers at extraordinary prices. Consumers love the collaboration, so much so that within minutes these products sold out on chipotlegoods.com and within 44 minutes the extra guac sponge in addition to the Eyes Chip face makeup bag completely sold out. They also ran a holiday themed campaign featuring singer Meghan Trainor and the Weather Channel. The campaign was inspired by a statistic according to the Weather Channel. Eight out of ten women change their personal care or beauty routine with the winter. It centers around a glow storm, which Traynor, acting as a meteorologist, reports on. But our Radiance radar is suggesting gale force glitter coming in from the west. And that can only mean one thing. We are priming for a glowstorm from Chipotle to the Weather Channel. These strategic partnerships have helped ELF build his brand image and visibility among its target customers and and are part of its wider strategy of focusing on Gen Z as its core audience. While you may not have the reach of a global brand, there are some key universal lessons you can use here to boost your business and extend your reach. Lesson 1 Understand your target audience Understanding your audience is crucial in any marketing strategy. ELF's focus on gen Z influences entire brand positioning. You can get started here by creating a detailed buyer Persona. This involves identifying the key traits of your ideal customer, things like their age, gender, income, interests, challenges and motivations. Once your Persona is created, align your product offerings, marketing strategies and overall brand messaging to appeal to this Persona. Lesson 2 Leverage Social Media ELF capitalize on the popularity of their brand on TikTok leading to a successful viral campaign. You can get started here by Simply creating a TikTok account for your brand. Observe trending content relevant to your industry. Then participate in trends by creating engaging on brand videos. Be sure to use relevant hashtags to increase visibility. Lesson 3 Price matters ELF's success with their dupes strategy shows the significance of price point they offered high quality, affordable alternatives that that resonated with their target market. Take this opportunity to compare your prices to your competitors. If you can't lower your prices, consider introducing a budget friendly line. Use a tool like Google Sheets or Excel to track your costs, prices and profit margins, ensuring affordability without sacrificing profitability. Lesson 4 Collaborate for exposure Strategic partnerships can enhance brand visibility. ELF collaborated with high profile brands and celebrities to reach a much wider audience. You can get started here by identifying potential partners with a similar audience to yours. Reach out via email or social media to propose a collaboration. This could be a co branded product, a social media takeover or just a mutual shout out. Start with local influencers or businesses. If high profile partnerships seem a bit out of reach through else rise. We've seen how managing price points, understanding your target audience, leveraging social media platforms and forming strategic partnerships can dramatically improve a brand standing and visibility. The beauty brand which was ranked as the number one cosmetic brand with teens ahead of Fenty Beauty and Maybelline is showing no signs of slowing down. In the third quarter of 2022, Elf celebrated its 16th consecutive quarter of growth, with sales soaring by 49% to a total of $146.5 million. That impressive 49% increase from 2021-22 reflects Elf's successful strategy to focus on its target market, Gen z. As of 2023, they're celebrating their 17th consecutive quarter of net sales growth. As always, if you like what you heard, be sure to subscribe and comment down below to let me know which brand you'd like me to dig into next. Until next time, Bye bye. I can't find this client info. Have you heard of HubSpot? HubSpot is a CRM platform so it shares its data across every application. Every team can stay aligned. No out of sync spreadsheets or dueling databases. HubSpot grow better.