The Secret to Glossier Is Still Thinking Like A Publisher
As Emily Weiss has said “Glossier is not just a beauty company, it is a content company.”
Glossier has made headlines everywhere due to its fast success. And while its performance has been attribute to many things including its Instagram, conversational style, and Emily herself, all these assets boil down to one thing: content.
As a company that started as a blog, it is no surprise that content is such a huge part of its business. Into The Gloss gained tracking by having very consistent columns that were written as a conversation between two besties. It talked to you, not at you. The start of the blog itself was strategic, with Weiss establishing a content calendar and determining topic names to almost “brand” the editorial calendar.
Today, Glossier still focus on curating a content that is relatable, more than just aspirational. As a beauty company, Glossier flip the traditional script by inspiring consumers to be a better version of themselves, rather than becoming a whole new version (one that is often unattainable).
But beyond that, they create a sense of community and coolness, without it being snobby or exclusive. This allows Glossier to directly connect with customers and gain feedback far more valuable than any typical focus group. It is raw, it is highly motivated and it is real. The takeaway here: if you want to get ahead, leverage that “feedback loop” that social media offers and actually listen to your customers rather than focusing on collecting likes and followers.
“One of the most beautiful things about Into the Gloss and about Glossier is that it all has always been collaboration. It’s never been about me. It’s been myself as a filter, perhaps, for information or a conduit for story telling, but I think what is the special sauce of our entire company is that it is a sounding board and a collective.”, says Emily.
Below are our four key takeaways from Glossier strategy.
1- Fostering world of mouth rather than attempting to create demand through advertising (truth is, advertising doesn’t create demand, it only captures an existing one). For your brand, try to demonstrate how it can be part of your consumer’s existing reality, creating content that engages with what they are already doing. Pushing product will only work after they have already connected with your brand.
2- Create its own feedback loops, probing questions and asking customers to share (& be rewarded for) their thoughts. This doesn’t mean attempting to talk to everyone. Identify your most engage customers and platforms and ask them directly for feedback, either openly in a post, or privately through the channel they most visit.
3- Own the whole funnel. As a Direct To Consumer brand, Glossier controls the whole experience, not just the top of the funnel. If you rely on retail partners to distribute your product, attempt to work with them when it comes to what message they push out. If you manage your own store, make sure the online and offline plans are aligned.
4- Use promoted content as conversation starters, not sales pitches. To purchase a product, consumers need to go through a whole journey of connecting with your brand. Promo content that function as traditional advertising doesn’t work well anymore. Think as a publisher and see what kind of valuable information can be interesting to your audience to attract them to your larger, broader brand message, instead. Then, promote that.
