Today it seems like beauty and skincare brands are popping up every which way. Which makes skincare marketing a fun and creative challenge – though difficult doesn’t even begin to cover it. So what can you do to make your brand stand out amongst a sea of competitors? Easy: start a blog.
Consider this: today, we skip commercials. We ignore advertising. We despise banners and buttons. And we even get freaked out when we get targeted with a product we were only thinking about. But what we do is research. We look up things. And we do that mainly in Google. This is where content marketing comes in. And where you can take advantage of people looking for your products, brand or even information you will be able to provide.
Every reader is a potential customer. So if you can manage to address issues that concern them, answer important questions or even inspire change through facts and evidence, you’re on the other side of the wall. The winning side, that is.
But why should I start a blog?
There are plenty of reasons. Here are a few of them:
- It helps drive FREE traffic
- It increases your E.A.T.
- It has countless SEO benefits
- It’s cost-effective
- It creates a meaningful relationship with your customers
- It’s a cross-selling opportunity
1. It helps drive FREE traffic.
This is one of the most important reasons. Writing about interesting (and trending) topics will undoubtedly lead people to your site. Just imagine – countless curious people visiting your site organically, for the sole reason of wanting to know more about what you wrote down.
Also, building a blog will help increase your website’s ranking, which means showing up in relevant Google searches for potential customers who may be looking for you. These visitors become potential customers you wouldn’t get otherwise.
I like comparing content marketing to putting extra fishing poles in the ocean. The more content that’s being indexed in Google for terms related to your business, the more traffic you’ll receive, which you can steer towards your products to improve sales.
2. It increases your E.A.T.
Expertise. Authority. Trust. When you know what you’re talking about and can provide the information people need, they’ll turn to you without question. Your recommendations, reviews and infographics will be trusted, making you a downright authority in your field.
When you build on this expertise, you’re also showcasing your authority within the business environment, as well as building trust. It basically meant that you’re the expert and you know what you’re talking about, so people should (and will) trust you. Your word, recommendations and opinions become gold.
3. It has countless SEO benefits
When you’re creating content, writing articles and creating videos you’re showing one thing: expertise. Google appreciates expertise. Aside from that, a skincare online store has a “limited” number pages, like your Homepage, your collection pages and your product pages. This leaves little to no room to navigate around keywords. Which is where a blog comes in. With each new post, you get a new URL with all its metadata and keyword possibilities.
It will also help improve your Domain Authority, which Google appreciates fully. Useful backlinks and mentions will increase your E.A.T., making consumers trust you all the more.
And like we mentioned before, a blog also helps increase your website’s ranking. It’s a definite win-win.
4. It’s cost-effective
Skincare consumers love to understand their skin products. What’s in them, the potential of each ingredient, the results it yields, the type of skin it’s made for, the concern it targets.
Formulations, ingredients, natural, organic, vegan, chemical, physical – potential customers gain all this information by researching online. And they make curated decisions based on these investigations. Decisions your content can leverage to your advantage. So give the people what they want!
5. It creates a meaningful relationship with your customers
Before writing a piece, consider “how the audience will be able to fit the piece into their own life story and how it will change how they think about their own life and your products.
If you’ve heard of The Klog or The Beauty Effect, then you know what we’re talking about. Content creates a connection unlike any other. This is why fully content-based sites like BuzzFeed are so successful: they connect with people on a personal level that no other site can match. This could be you, too.
Also, don’t forget that whoever lands on your blog is already looking for information (and most likely a new serum or cream related to that investigation). If you offer both information and the product, you’re on the road to success.
6. It’s a cross-selling opportunity
Pretty self-explanatory. Creating a blog post about a specific product, trend or ingredient has one purpose in mind: converting to sales. The more quality content you have, the more you can convince people to shop in your store.
What kind of content should I create for my skincare company?
So now that you know WHY you need a blog, it’s time to see what type of content you should be creating to drive converting traffic.
In a nutshell, all kinds. You need reviews, tutorials, trends, news, interviews, infographics and new ideas (like horoscopes, quizzes, tests & personality-based information).
As we already mentioned in this article, content is king. It is an essential part of the communication you establish with your customers, as well as being able to provide a key resource for their decision-making process. The fun (and challenging) part about skincare content marketing are all the options available.
To start off, we recommend including on your site:
- Reviews. Your new BEST friend. Even though they are biased (after all, it IS the writer’s opinion about a certain product), these can help convince people to buy or stay away from a product. A key part here is the relatability – if someone with similar skin type or concerns tried and tested a product, a new customer may be keen to give a go as well. They’re your modern testimonial for product testing.
- New Trends & News. If a well-known brand changes its image or all of its product formulations, you need to write about it. Or if you see an increase in products that contain niacinamide, write it down. Or perhaps you see a new Instagram trend that you know will destroy people’s skin – INFORM them.
- Brand & Product Introductions. Skincare brands have beautiful missions based on improving people’s skin, confidence and self-esteem. they revolve around feeling beautiful and taking care of yourself. If you’re introducing a new brand to your store, make sure you tell everyone what they’re about and why they NEED to try these new products.
- Ingredient/Formula Information. A fun and easy part of skincare content. You already have a major source to build information: the product’s ingredients or formula. Something like “7 reasons why tea tree will repair & calm reddened skin” or “This product’s soothing formula is fantastic for sensitive skin” would be a great way to relate to people’s skin concerns and inform them… while cross-selling!
- Product & theme-based content. Removing makeup for Halloween? The best skincare routine to glow on Valentine’s Day. 11 green tea products that go amazing with a relaxing cup of tea. Pick a theme or a line of products with similar characteristics and build from there!
- Infographics. These work twofold: aside from providing useful information in a creative manner that’s easier to understand, images help you rank higher as they are indexed by search engines. This makes it easier for consumers to find you. And they’re particularly helpful for social media and other networks since they are more eye-catching and easy to share! So easy, pretty, shareable content that improves your SEO. Nothing wrong there.
- Fun & new things! In a world filled with duplicated content, be original. Try your hand at quizzes or personality-based tests that relate directly to your users’ lives. Create horoscopes that link to a specific product (Virgo: to de-stress and relax, try this calming ampoule). Recommend products based on common personality types and watch the magic happen.
Just bear in mind that whatever you decide to create, it needs to do two things: answer important questions & include important keywords. Be sure to target keywords with commercial intent with compelling content that informs and converts. This is a sure, low-effort and cost-effective way to gain new customers.
I’ve adapted my strategy to make every post I publish as high effort and detailed as possible, so that when I look back at them in a few years, I’m still proud of them. We check three things before writing an article: that it will yield relevant visitors that are potentially interested in my business or services, that it has some decent search volume, and that it isn’t too high competition so that I can reasonably compete in organic search.
Content marketing is an art. It’s a combination of valuable information sprinkled with a tiny bit of sales purposes without being too sales-y. And when you consider that an online consumer has a million options to choose from, it makes standing out from the rest even more important. To do this, remember three words when crafting your content: inform, educate and inspire.
This is the winning formula that’ll conquer people’s hearts and convince them to shop in your store.
Before writing a piece, I consider the tone in which the brand represents. The audience must be able to look at the content or read the content and associate it with my brand. The label or logo shouldn’t be the only distinction between my brand and the next brand. Good content can make your audience invest in the experience, and not solely the product. It almost becomes a luxury.
So if you’re just starting out, we recommend focusing mostly on SEO content writing and a little on social media. This will help build your EAT (Expert-Authority-Trust). Later on, you can move on to more visual content, like YouTube (the second largest search engine in the world!) and Instagram. This will help enhance your brand’s image in an industry that is 100% visual.
Whatever you decide to do, you can be sure of one thing: your audience always wants to know MORE. Give it to them.
And if you want, we can help you build amazing content for your skincare brand! Top tier SEO content writing that will improve your site’s traffic, ranking, authority, and sales. Check out our services here.
