5 Beauty Brands Killing It On TikTok

We recently reported on six fashion brands leading the pack when it comes to TikTok engagement and activity. Now we are turning out attention to a selection of brands in the beauty sector that other brands should be learning from on the platform. These companies have seen major success with campaigns specifically designed for a TikTok audience, featuring TikTok creators and in-platform initiatives that have captured the hearts of Gen-Z and beyond.

Influencer Intelligence’s latest industry report The State of Influencer Marketing in Beauty includes a full section on TikTok featuring best practice case studies and can be downloaded here. In solidarity with our sister service’s insight, the following blog post will highlight some of the top beauty brands on TikTok right now.

The Ordinary

DECIEM brand The Ordinary had quite an organic rise to fame on TikTok, when it saw unsolicited user-generated content cause a whopping 426% sales spike of its AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution. TikToker @kaelynwhitee shared the results of the product on her acne, applying the blood-red serum to her face. The video has been viewed 1.3m times and spurred over 52K unit sales directly in just two weeks. Kae has since endorsed various other The Ordinary products on her profile. The brand has since been able to capitalise on the natural momentum on the channel, with the tag #theordinary now gaining 377.9m views without the use of paid endorsement. More recently, The Ordinary has harnessed the power of staff advocates as brand champions.

Fenty

Rihanna’s beauty empire Fenty has really stepped up its TikTok marketing in 2020. In March of this year, the brand opened a dedicated content creation #fentybeautyhouse, featuring creators such as Makayla and Emmy Combs who attended the launch. However, due to COVID restrictions, influencer activity has been taking place remotely. Fenty Beauty was one of the first brands to open its own collab house specifically for TikTok, demonstrating the platforms priority investment potential. Overall, Fenty features product tutorials featuring a diverse and inclusive array of skin tones, as well as joining fun viral challenges such as the #simbachallenge and #sostunna.

e.l.f. Cosmetics

A featured case study in Influencer Intelligence’s whitepaper, e.l.f. Cosmetics has fully embraced TikTok as part of its youth marketing strategy. According to Kory Marchisotto, CMO e.l.f. Beauty: “The explosive rise of TikTok has given marketers the ability to reach Gen-Z in previously unimaginable ways. In October 2019 we launched our ground-breaking Eyes. Lips. Face. TikTok hashtag challenge which started with an original music track and quickly became the most viral campaign in TikTok US history with over 6.3 billion views and 4.5 million user generated videos to date. To further amplify our presence, we launched the @elfyeah channel, a destination for Gen Z. @elfyeah delivers customized daily content featuring personalities, products and premium entertainment designed to engage TikTok’s rapidly growing audience.” e.l.f. Cosmetics is also a perfect example of a beauty brand pushing the envelope on the platform creating beauty ‘first’ moments. Patrick O’Keefe, VP, Integrated Marketing Communications explains: “We recently launched TikTok’s first-ever reality show called “Eyes. Lips. Famous.”, where three lucky winners will win a $5,000 contract to become a TikTok ambassador for e.l.f. Cosmetics, as well as a year’s worth of e.l.f. products! The “Eyes. Lips. Famous.” reality show is set to air on TikTok in late September and will feature weekly challenges with three participants who were handpicked by three notable beauty influencers.”

NYX Professional Makeup

NYX was another brand to catch on to the TikTok train quickly. A high priority for the digital native brand, it ran a six-day campaign in March featuring the #ButterGlossPop challenge using TikTok stars Avani, MohoganyLOX, Brent Rivera, Louie Castro and Tanisha Coetzee, a competition element and an original song. Despite only having 31.3K followers on the platform, the hashtag has earned a staggering 11 billion views. The campaign also saw over 2m user-generated videos of TikTokers taking part. NYX commissioned a mobile survey via Kantar and found it experienced a 42% increase in brand awareness based on a sample size of 10,000 people. During lockdown, NYX and its parent company, L’Oréal took part in a social gifting campaign called ‘small gestures’ through the platform. In June, NYX found success with its #BrowFitness challenge using influencers, which garnered 705m views of the hashtag driving awareness.

Too Faced

Too Faced Cosmetics Lip Injection Extreme plumping lip gloss suddenly began selling out, six years after its 2013 release, thanks to TikTok. The product had inspired a viral challenge, with users sharing before and after pout videos. The brand jumped on the momentum and engaged a group of influencers on TikTok for their next product launch, a mascara, encouraging users to show off their lashes before and after applying the product. The strategy worked, generating 821 million views on the campaign’s hashtag #TFDamnGirl. Now, Too Faced’s own TikTok account has 172,300 fans and 1.5m likes. TikTok star Kristen Hancher partnered with the brand for the Damn Girl mascara campaign, marking the first beauty brand paid campaign on the platform.

Download the full report, here

To find out how Fashion & Beauty Monitor can benefit your business, or for full access to our contacts database, get in touch.

 @fashionandbeautymonitor

@fashion_monitor

@fashionmonusa