The beauty world may be a bit tentative when it comes to utilising Snapchat’s marketing potential, but it seems that’s all about to change. Urban Decay and Benefit are some of the first cosmetics brands to trial the social media platform, with both brands impressed with the immediate results.
The two beauty companies created 24-hour sponsored overlays for the app, promoting their respective products Vice Lipstick and Brow Collection. Both Urban Decay and found involvement drove interest in products, lifted sales and helped to encourage brand awareness and engagement across all social media channels.
Benefit vice president of brand and digital marketing Nicole Frusci tells WWD: “Everyone is incredibly happy with what it’s done for the brand as well as for the launch day. We noticed there was a huge amount of usage from consumers to beauty influencers to other partners of ours. We saw a huge spike in the cross-sharing on other channels that was greater than we expected.”
Urban Decay Cosmetics AVP social media and content marketing Tina Pozzi agrees, commenting: “This was really a test. Snapchat is a little bit of uncharted territory still. For our spend, we were promised a certain amount of impressions, which we know we exceeded, although we are not sure by how much yet. Our goal was to raise awareness and build a new audience. We really think it was a success.”
Lenses at present are rumoured to cost between $US450,000 to $US750,000 but are believed to have access to audiences 100 million strong. Both brands have been adamant that for Snapchat and business, the time to strike is now. Reveals Pozzi: “We are at a very precious time where Snapchat isn’t overwhelmed by advertisers, and that is what is really engaging users. Eventually it will be like Facebook and Instagram, where they will figure out a way to monetise more advertising and it may change as it becomes oversaturated.”
