TikTok continues to be a major source of traffic and revenue for the beauty industry. Staying on top of the fast-moving trends that define the platform is proving to be the biggest concern that brands in the space have.
Florence by Mills, the direct-to-consumer beauty brand founded by actress Millie Bobby Brown in 2019, is one of the brands that has made analyzing TikTok trends and creating TikTok content a major part of its marketing strategy.
According to the brand, TikTok is the No. 1 traffic source for its DTC online store. The brand works with the social media management platform Dash Hudson to collect and analyze data about what content is working best on the platform, then it partners with creative agencies The Edit and Power Digital to act on those insights.
“We look at Dash Hudson’s competitive insights before any photoshoot to see what our competitors are doing and what has worked for the industry,” said Samantha Fiock, vp of marketing for Florence by Mills.
Analysis from Dash Hudson, which earned Florence by Mills as a client in 2022, found that lo-fi, behind-the-scenes content was driving the most engagement from the brand’s followers. That’s consistent with what many other brands have said about the TikTok user’s desire for authenticity over the highly polished content more popular on Instagram.
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Florence by Mills has teamed with The Edited and Power Digital to create content accordingly. The majority of the brand’s TikTok content is made up of behind-the-scenes footage of photoshoots, Q&As with Brown, tutorial videos and clips of Brown with influencers like Kayla Malecc.
The positive results of the content pivot quickly became apparent. In the second half of 2022, Florence by Mills was able to drive more than 100% year-over-year sales growth through its TikTok content, with most customers coming to the brand’s store through the link in its TikTok account bio. The brand also saw an almost 800% increase in TikTok views in the second half of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021. The boost put its average engagement rate at 242% higher than the rest of the beauty sector’s.
“We are always analyzing what works for us and jumping on emerging trends. Our strategy involves monitoring trends, staying ahead of sounds and listening to what our community wants,” said Weston O’Connor, product marketing manager at Florence by Mills. “We have such a good community. I’ve never seen anything like it on TikTok. They are very supportive of our content.”
