How to Build a Memorable Beauty Brand

Creating a brand can feel like you’re trying to walk uphill in a blinding snowstorm with 100-mph wind gusts. I’m not saying it can’t also be fun and exciting, but when a founder's presence and input are required at every stage, it doesn’t always feel fun. Does my brand fill a gap in the marketplace? What lab should I use to formulate my products? Should I launch only DTC or also pursue retail space? What about my branding and messaging? How do I truly build a memorable beauty brand?

The questions, the decisions, and the deadlines never stop. Sometimes, neither does the overwhelm.

As a copywriter, I love helping brands and founders answer questions about their advertising and content strategy. From developing your brand voice and cohesive messaging to brainstorming the best way to launch your products with a campaign and copy that makes your audience stop, stay, engage, and buy.

What you need to build a memorable beauty brand

Understand your mission and vision for your brand

You can't build a memorable brand without first knowing who you are, who you want to be, and what kind of relationship you want to foster with your audience. If your audience can't connect to your story or see themselves in it, they aren’t going to stick around through every launch, every email, every post, and every evolution of your brand.

Understanding who your brand is at its core is more than designing a cool logo and choosing your brand colors. Of course, these are important for helping your brand stand out in a crowded landscape, but they can’t be your sole focus. It’s important to remember that every interaction your audience has with your brand matters, especially if you want to build a long-lasting relationship.

And what will help you foster those relationships? A clear, concise brand voice, consistent messaging across all your platforms, and creative, strategic campaigns that always answer the question, "How does your brand solve my problem, meet my needs, and motivate me to take action?"

In other words, if you want to become an indispensable part of your audience's beauty routine. They need to see themselves in your brand story.

Understand who your audience is beyond their demographics

One of the most popular sayings in advertising about target market is, "If you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one." Your product isn’t for everyone; no brand is. This is why it’s essential to have a specific target audience.

A few months ago, I was watching a beauty content creator try to explain how targeted marketing works in reference to some recent rage-bait campaigns. She used examples of other ads and would say, “This one is for men, this one is for women, this one is for teens, etc.” It was a valiant attempt that fell very short.

Defining your target market is not as simple as demographics. Yes, gender, age, income, education level, etc. matters, but you also need to know their psychographics. This includes their interests, buying habits, lifestyle, values, what's important to them and what's not, where they spend their time online, what they like to read, watch, etc. If you’re a beauty brand, you would also want to know their makeup style or routine, skin concerns, level of skincare knowledge, etc.

In other words, you need to understand them as an entire person, not a generic stick figure. You can't sell your products to a stick figure. You need a complete picture of who you are talking to and why they need your products over your competitors.

The more you know about your target, the easier it will be to speak their language and create an advertising strategy that builds your brand and fosters a loyal, engaged community.

Don’t make promises or claims you can’t keep

Great advertising can only get you so far. If your products fail to deliver on their promises or results, no clever or strategic campaign can save you. Yes, your brand story matters, but not if your products are meh.

We’ve all seen brands make major missteps, sometimes business-ending mistakes, because their product launches don’t live up to the hype. This can be fore a variety of reasons, such as making claims of inclusive shade ranges when it's clear the only shade is variations on beige. Sometimes they claim their sunscreen works on all skin types when it's mineral-based and clearly leaves a white cast.

Another problem that can sink a brand is bad customer service. Failing to address customers' concerns or chosing to ignore or gaslight your audience online and off is highly problematic. Ghosting your consumers, leaving rude comments, attacking them, or blocking comments isn't a good look for any brand.

Remember, every interaction with your brand matters. This applies to your product formulations, claims, social media interactions, and customer service. You never want to mislead them, dismiss them, or think of them as just another transaction.

Always ask yourself, "How do I want my audience to feel about my brand?"

Don’t act like every other brand, showcase your uniqueness

No matter what category your products falls into, you have a unique brand story to tell. Don’t try to emulate your competitors. Don’t chase the same social media trends as every other brand.

Be a trendsetter, not a trend follower. Or at the very least, put a new spin on a trend. As my mother used to say, "If all your friends jumped off the roof, would you?" As much as I hated it when she used sound logic on me, I couldn't argue with it. (Didn't mean I didn't try.)

No one needs to tell you how crowded the beauty space is and how many brands open and close on a monthly or yearly basis. It's a competitive industry, which is why one of your main goals should be to stand out, not blend into the background. I know it's not easy, but following what everyone else is doing or jumping on every trend won't help you tell your unique brand story or build a community of loyal fans.

You have to be creative and strategic by:

• Choosing the right platforms and tactics to engage your audience

• Creating a shared identity with your audience

• Developing a brand story so compelling your audience can't and won't ignore it

• Establishing a clear purpose for every email, post, campaign, launch, event, etc.

Brainstorm your way to a memorable brand

Building a brand your audience is crazy about requires effort and planning. One of my favorite techniques for brand building is utilizing brainstorming sessions. They can help foster creativity, get more clear on your branding and messaging, clear your mind so you can better organize your thoughts, give you direction or a plan of action, spark ideas and strategies, and help you identify gaps in your brand story and/or advertising strategy.

Brainstorming is one of my favorite parts of the copywriting process. I love generating new ideas. Almost every wall and door of my office is filled with giant sticky notes full of ideas and strategies for clients, my business, and my podcast. I love when my creativity is flowing, especially when it can help you build your brand.

This is why I created The Spark Lab as part of the Wordwoman Creative Copy Studio. This copywriting service, available in one-time or quarterly sessions, is designed to:

• Spark ideas for your next launch, campaign, event, etc.

• Help you solve content or advertising strategy challenges

• Develop your brand voice and cohesive messaging

• Review your current content strategy or messaging

• Help you break through a creative block through enhanced collaboration

• Give you an outside perspective from a copywriter with 20+ years of experience

My goal for each 90-minute Spark Lab session is to leave you feeling inspired and ready to put the ideas we generated to work for your brand. You'll receive the full recording of our session, an action plan outlining next steps, strategies, and tactics, as well as a list of resources, if needed, and 30 days of email support.

If you're ready to spark your creativity, book a Spark Lab session. Limited spaces available each month.