While editorial content has always played a huge role in the beauty industry, for some retailers such as Violet Grey, Net-a Porter and Goop, this content is the key to success when it comes to e-commerce.
Think Q&As, tutorials and first-person essays – the kind of content that has attracted audiences of all ages for many years. In fact, it’s working so well that these retailers are coming up with content-first strategies to help them evolve and grow financially.
Since it was founded in 2008 by Gwyneth Paltrow, Goop has grown into a fully-fledged media empire that earns $250 million in annual revenue through e-commerce and its own wellness summits.
“At the core, we are a media company and editorial site,” Goop SVP of beauty, Erin Cotter, told Glossy. “Our roots are in editorial, and the e-commerce aspect is just an outgrowth of that, but they are connected.”
Changes are afoot in the editorial and e-commerce space as well: It has been reported that Porter is rethinking its approach to content and publishing following the departure of editor-in-chief, Lucy Yeomans, and since last summer. Meanwhile, Violet Grey is looking for a director of media and partnership sales to sell cross-channel content activations, brand collaborations and corporate sponsorships between brands and The Violet Files.
Violet Grey is also revamping its own magazine-style editorial content from The Violet Files. According to Grey, the biggest focus of the evolving content strategy is actioning a consistent publishing schedule by the second quarter, including implementing a dedicated content series to help strengthen Violet Grey’s uniqueness as a retailer.
As it establishes a regular publishing rhythm, the retailer plans for its curation method to take centre stage. The Curation, known as the “The Violet Code”, is where products are approved and tested by Hollywood’s leading makeup artists, hair artists, stars and experts. Additionally, it plans to bring its content and curation strategy into more stores, rather than just online.
