The Future

Hello everyone! So, for the past 10-12 weeks I have been posting on different brands and their social media efforts. I started this blog for my social media marketing class, and I really enjoyed posting to this blog.  I never intended to continue with it, but I think I will. Posts might not be as frequent as they have been, but I definitely want to keep it going. 

Makeup is very interesting to me, and social media marketing, well, it's what I'm interested in as well and I want to make a career of it.  So, since I no longer have assignments, I will probably add in a few product reviews here and there. However, I still want to focus on brands and products and the social media campaigns associated with them.

So, please continue to check back and see what I have. Or let me know what you'd like to see. I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks lovelies.

--Paige

Confession #12: Flower Beauty

Drew Barrymore was originally a CoverGirl spokeswoman.  Then she decided to launch her own line, called Flower Beauty.  This line is sold excusively at Walmart and Walmart.com. This line of cosmetics will conclude my brand analysis of their respective social media accounts...for now.

So, one thing I initially noticed about Flower Beauty when researching their website is that they have their "philosophy" plain and simple before they even show you the products.  Talk about wanting to set a tone right from the start.  Drew's line claims that you can now have "quality cosmetics" without the hefty pricetag...and then explains how she does it.  Here's the kicker...she does not pay for advertising. Wait....what?! Not paying for advertising would usually be seen as a killer, but in the day and age of social media, is it entirely necessary? And Drew, if you don't pay for advertisements, then how do you make sure that your content is seen? This cosmetics line might be the company that needs to be most dependent upon social media than any of the others we have looked at so far. So does Flower Beauty really hold up on social media, a more "free" way of advertising?

At a first glance, I noticed that only Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram were listed in the top right corner of their website.  Videos are integrated into the Tutoritals tab of the website, but they are not integrated from YouTube, even though there is a channel for the brand.  There have been no videos posted to the YouTube channel in at least a year, so as far as using it to socially engage customers, that is no longer an ongoing thing. It's a shame, because I really think "Drew's Tip Tuesday" could have been a wonderful series.  
The Facebook is mostly a repost of their Instagram photos, but I do enjoy when there are posts other than those seen on their Instagram.  Like other cosmetic companies, their Instagram is a strong presence. Another strong outlet for Flower is their Twitter.  I really like that their Twitter account is not a copy/paste of their Instagram or Facebook feeds. Almost nothing is directly duplicated, but still let's Flower be cohesive with their other accounts.  Since Drew relies on her stardom to carry her promotions, I really like that for the Twitter account, many, many other beauty gurus and bloggers, and regular customers are RT and mentioned in order to show that other people are talking about their brand. 

Flower Beauty boasts relatively high numbers for Facebook and Twitter, at 137,000+ and 19,000+ respectively, but their Pinterest account has only just over 4,000 followers.Despite these large followings on Facebook and Twitter, it seems as if they are not carrying on much of a conversation with customers.  Facebook and Twitter have made it incredibly difficult for companies or other organizations with "Like" pages to reach all, or even half, of their followers organically.  And since Flower does not pay, their followers are not seeing their content.  Many of their posts on Facebook don under 100 likes, almost no comments or shares...all because they do not spend money to promote their items.  

So I think that this should be a lesson learned for other makeup brands, and even other brands in general. Money spent on advertisements, whether via social media or more traditional avenues, is usually worth the price.  Flower Beauty seems to be doing okay so far because the products are sold exclusively at Walmart, one of the largest retailers in the United States, but once the shiny newness wears off from the brand, what will keep it going if they cannot reach their audience via the "free" social media outlets. 

Products I own by Flower Beauty 

(prices based on Walmart.com):

Kiss Me Twice Lip & Cheek Chubby, $9.98
Lip Service Lip Butter, $6.98
Win Some, Rouge Some Creme Blush, $7.98
Shadow Play Eyeshadow Quad, $9.98
Eyes on the Prize Eyeshadow Chubby, $7.98

Website: http://flowerbeauty.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealFlowerBeauty?_rdr
Instagram: https://instagram.com/flowerbeauty/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flowerbeauty
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FLOWERBeautyVideo
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/flowerbydrew/

Confessions #10 & #11: Tarte and Too Faced

Today is going to be slightly different. If you have read my original post in the series, as I said, I am a college student that is still definitely on a tight budget.  For this reason, I have pretty much exhausted my list of high end companies that I purchase (somewhat) frequently from and frequently research.  Two companies that I have some interest in, but have little experience with are Tarte and Too Faced. I have only purchased two items from Too Faced organically, and none from Tarte.  The items I have received from Tarte have been from a beauty subscription service called Boxycharm, which gives you 4-5 full sized items each month for $21 each, making it a huge steal in hopes that you will purchase from these companies in the future.  

So for today Tarte vs. Too Faced

Tarte has a created a community of followers by calling them "Tartelettes."  By tying this into their products they released a new Tartelette palette, which helps aid in the sense of community if you purchase one or more of these palettes.  For Spring 2015, they tied the new Tartelette palette into social media by creating a video of the photo shoot that they had with some famous beauty YouTuber's and vloggers.  By using socially influential women while still carrying the same messages that the Tartelette palettes have had in the past, Tarte has built an even stronger connection between themselves and those who like to include themselves as Tartelettes.

Too Faced has recently come out with a product based upon the culture of sharing pictures via social media.  This product is called "Selfie Powders" and is a palette contaning 3 colored powders: a golden-yellow called "Sunrise," a bronze labeled as "Totally Toasted," and a light lilac called "Moon River." Too Faced now has an easy way to tie this product in to social media, encouraging engagement by their followers to post selfies using their powders and encouraging #nofilter because the powders are "real life filters." Personally I think the product is kind of gimmicky and I would not purchase it since I have to be careful of overdoing color correcting on my fair skin, but I think it is a neat concept.  Too Faced has bridged the gap between social media and branding/products in a way that I have not seen any other cosmetics company do. 

Products I own by Tarte Cosmetics
 (prices based on Ulta.com):
Maracuja Bronzing Serum, $47.00
LipSurgence Lip Tint, $24.00 

Products I own by Too Faced Cosmetics 

(prices based on Ulta.com):

Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick, $21.00
Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush, $30.00

Tarte
Website: http://tartecosmetics.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tartecosmetics
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tartecosmetics/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tartecosmetics
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/tartecosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tartecosmetics/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/103695503093959855799/post

Too Faced
Website: https://www.toofaced.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toofaced
Instagram: https://instagram.com/toofaced/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/toofaced
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/toofacedcosmetics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TooFaced/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+toofaced/posts
Snapchat username: toofacedsnaps