Brand building in beauty is all about digital fandom

To succeed, you need to have an understanding of commercial, creative, and strategy – including how to navigate a fast-moving landscape. Things change at an ever-increasing pace. What worked last week might not work this week, and new movements that grow and gain velocity on social media can quickly derail any strategy, meaning that being nimble enough to adapt at speed is a crucial skill.

By 2026, 62% of global ad spend is predicted to be spent on digital marketing, so it’s only becoming more imperative to understand the challenges the industry is facing and how to stay ahead.

There for you

Let’s rewind a bit. From a World Wide Web dial-up devotee through to a long-time social media marketer, you could say that I was an early adopter of the internet. Born in the ‘80s, the first website I ever visited was for a new hit TV show called Friends. That helps to date that experience. I soon graduated to ICQ (I‘m afraid some readers may need to look that one up), chat rooms, and later MySpace and LiveJournal. I made real-life friends, just like Rachel and Monica in Central Perk did, through digital communities where we all gathered and shared our experiences online.

These references may seem prehistoric in terms of internet culture now, but when you look at the current state of play in social it’s built around the same key insight. Communities build around culturally relevant moments: in my case, it was breaking out of my small-town sphere of reference and finding new interests on the internet.

Modern communities are built around passion points; they have lead characters (creators and influencers), a shared interest, and an if-you-know-you-know set of ‘codes’ including memes, jokes, their unique lexicon, and a defined visual direction.

Smart marketers know how to harness the power of these digital communities and build a world around them through the lens of their brand to create participatory content and experiences to connect with. Think interactive content, AR, gaming, and experiential, as well as UGC, employee-generated content, and traditional digital marketing.

If you’re looking at best practice in this – you only need to look at the beauty industry.

To good ‘elf!

Californian cosmetics brand Elf know it’s no longer enough to release a product and bank on it going viral to boost sales. Modern digital consumers need more than that.

They’re way ahead of the game, building a brand world for their fans to participate in. Elf has just released a 16-track album entitled “Get Ready With Music” under its imprint, Elf Made. It’s a play on the popular beauty TikTok trend, showing that the brand is in on the joke.

It’s not the brand’s first smart move, though. Elf has just launched ‘real-world’ e-commerce on Roblox, targeting over 13m visits to the Roblox experience in 2023, and the brand previously partnered with challenger brands such as Tinder and Liquid Death.

By engaging and rewarding its fans in this way, Elf is more able to adapt to trends such as the underconsumption movement that is currently sweeping TikTok and Instagram.

Brand your brand

Creators are rebelling against the notion of being “influenced” to buy every new product that is released. Abi Daunton posts daily updates on a year-long beauty no-buy after spending thousands on what she describes as a “shopping addiction”. Honest Phoebe posts transparent reviews of makeup that have gone viral to help consumers make informed decisions away from the pressure to keep up with the latest craze on social media.

But, Elf is set up to adapt to this movement. It‘s fostered such a strong two-way relationship with its community that it has amassed over 10 million followers across social platforms. And this translates into sales. A release, published in May 2024 said the brand delivered over $1bn in net sales and gained market share for a fifth consecutive year.

Being a digital marketer may have never been as demanding as it is now. But, if you focus on what makes your brand your brand and offer a value exchange with your audience, your hard-earned marketing budget can work harder than ever through the power of digital fandoms, with huge commercial success.

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