In the month following my father’s funeral, a great opportunity presented itself. A chance to lead a soft marketing launch for my cousin’s skincare e-commerce platform, Bracketts Beauty. This passion project turned into a successful experience, sparking the idea for this blog post. My goal is to share insights and tips that can inspire and guide small businesses on a budget looking to host an influencer event to boost brand awareness. Read on to learn more. There are a few... The post 7 Budget-Friendly Tips to Execute a Fab Beauty Influencer Event first appeared on MyFashionS/ashLife - Fashion & Lifestyle Blog by Biki John. The post 7 Budget-Friendly Tips to Execute a Fab Beauty Influencer Event appeared first on MyFashionS/ashLife - Fashion & Lifestyle Blog by Biki John.
In the month following my father’s funeral, a great opportunity presented itself. A chance to lead a soft marketing launch for my cousin’s skincare e-commerce platform, Bracketts Beauty. This passion project turned into a successful experience, sparking the idea for this blog post. My goal is to share insights and tips that can inspire and guide small businesses on a budget looking to host an influencer event to boost brand awareness. Read on to learn more.
There are a few reasons why I advocated for a soft launch targeting beauty influencers.
- In a saturated market, it was a great way to humanise Bracketts Beauty and build a personality for the e-commerce platform.
- Press events are a good way to grow trust, loyalty and credibility within a target audience.
- Speaking of which, the event would allow us to target our audience and increase our reach.
- Also, forming alliances with influencers would facilitate more creative ways to show the benefits of Bracketts Beauty’s products
- I envision community-building to be one of Bracketts Beaut’s superpowers. An event targeting beauty fans was a good first step to building such a community.
- The event would allow us to understand our target market’s needs and pain points more accurately.
Despite these reasons, I faced some key challenges when putting together the soft influencer launch for Bracketts Beauty
- Unfamiliar territory: I was in Lagos and did not know the lay-of-the-influencer-land in any shape or form.
- Time constraints: There was a small window to have the event due to my return trip to Berlin.
- Financial limitations: Bracketts Beauty is a startup in its infancy, so the marketing budget was tighter the foreheads of all The Realy Housewives combined.
- Manpower: Like in most startup scenarios, due to lack of manpower, I would have to throw on my multi-hyphenate cloak and become a copywriter, event coordinator, researcher, social media enthusiast, data analyst et al.
Looking back at the event and reflecting on the good, the bad, and the ugly, I’ve outlined some essential tips to increase the chances of hosting a successful soft launch for a beauty or skincare brand.
Tip 1: Set Clear Goals and Budget from the Start
Begin by setting clear goals (KPIs) and establishing a budget using a centralized platform like Google Drive. This will serve as your guide and motivator, keeping you on track from the start to the finish of your event planning. These touchpoints will vary depending on your company’s nature, budget, and objectives.
For Bracketts Beauty, I set SMART goals to boost website traffic, Instagram followers, and sales. Since the event was funded solely by the founder, we had to be mindful of our spending. Everything—from the number of attendees to the location, food, drinks, entertainment, goody bags, and creative attractions—had to align with our budget.
Tip 2: Create a Unique, Fun and Engaging Event
We wanted our soft launch to be luxurious, entertaining, and memorable for our guests. Having attended numerous press launches, I knew the importance of designing activities that would encourage influencers to connect organically, learn about our beauty products, and, most importantly, have fun! I believed that if we could achieve this, the social media content would flow naturally, increasing audience engagement—one of our primary goals.
When planning an event on a budget, leverage your network for support. For example, I was able to secure a photographer and a female singer through my contacts.
Ultimately, we decided on activities like a beauty quiz, live music from an emerging artist, and a delightful array of assorted canapés.
Tip 3: Choose a Fabulous Location
The location sets the tone and atmosphere for your event. It can also be a deciding factor for influencers when considering whether to attend.
After deciding to host the event at a restaurant, the founder and I spent hours searching for the perfect spot online. I also made several visits to potential venues, asking countless questions and assessing key details like Instagrammable spots, outdoor seating areas, and restroom quality.
Tip 4: Use Instagram to Curate Your Guest List
One of our biggest challenges was finding beauty influencers in Lagos, as we didn’t know any personally and lacked access to an online resource. Instagram turned out to be a lifesaver. By using relevant keywords in its search engine, we were able to identify influencers—our target audience.
Since Bracketts Beauty is a small and relatively unknown brand, I recommended targeting micro-influencers (10,000 to 100,000 followers) and nano-influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers), while forgoing macro-influencers (100,000 to 1 million followers).
Tip 5: Send a Personalised, Professional and Informative Invitation
Crafting an invitation email with the right tone and information is crucial to setting the right impression and encouraging attendance.
Include background information about the brand (e.g., attach a brief one-pager) and an event itinerary designed to motivate influencers to attend. Avoid common mistakes like misspelling names, poor punctuation, or a robotic or overly eager tone.
Remember to make your emails personalised. Avoid spammy greetings like ‘Hello!’ or ‘Hi There’! Take the time to find out the names of the people you plan to invite. That may mean you having to do some ‘Inspector Gadget-type’ work, if they use nicknames on social media.
It’s also a good idea to set an RSVP deadline, so you have an idea of numbers and can plan accordingly.
Tip 6: Prepare Thoughtful Goody Bags
Goody bags—especially well-curated ones—are a fantastic branding tool. They give attendees a memorable token of your brand and increase the likelihood of them using your products and sharing their experiences on social media.
Tip 7: Hire a Photographer and Videographer
Capturing the event is essential. The content can be repurposed in numerous ways. Given our budget, we opted for a photographer, but if you can afford both, that’s the way to go.
Side Note
One key learning from the event was the importance of designating someone to host. Juggling tasks like ensuring talent and their crews are comfortable, managing refreshments, and coordinating with the photographer/videographer can stretch your capacity, making it difficult to oversee the event and ensure everything runs smoothly.
To Sum Up
The tips I’ve shared are not exhaustive and are specific to Bracketts Beauty. When planning your influencer event, I recommend conducting thorough research to find an approach that suits your brand and aligns with your goals. Good luck!
The post 7 Budget-Friendly Tips to Execute a Fab Beauty Influencer Event first appeared on MyFashionS/ashLife - Fashion & Lifestyle Blog by Biki John.
The post 7 Budget-Friendly Tips to Execute a Fab Beauty Influencer Event appeared first on MyFashionS/ashLife - Fashion & Lifestyle Blog by Biki John.
