PR E PA R I N G FO R T H E N E W N O R M A L I N B E AU T Y
Preparing and Scaling Digital
Customer Communications
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With much of the country under orders
to shelter in place, the coronavirus has
caused social and economic disruption
on a scale unlike any seen in our lifetimes.
Among businesses, retailers have been hit
particularly hard. While some designated
essential businesses struggle to keep
their employees and customers safe,
most beauty brands now have many
fewer opportunities to get their products
and services in front of customers.
Of course, in today’s omnichannel world, a physical
storefront or display shelf, while important, has
not been a beauty brand’s only means of creating
a connection with customers. With customers
increasingly relying upon digital and mobile
channels for both communications and purchases,
many beauty brands are already using digital
technology to connect with, support, and convert
customers.
PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
Preparing and Scaling Digital
Customer Communications
These brands are discovering that as customers
continue to stay at home, digital communications
can help keep brand loyalty and affinity strong.
Research from the Relevancy Group and
Liveclicker shows that retailers that employ
advanced personalization earn $20 ROI. While
email, social media, and mobile apps may not bring
in the revenue you need right away, a consistent
and personalized digital communications strategy
is vital to maintaining customer bonds and
ensuring that customers think of you first when
they’re ready to spend.
This guide will help you make the most of those
digital communications channels now, and prepare
you to personalize them effectively, at scale, when
both you and your customers are ready.
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Beauty stays home
Like so many others, stores such as Sephora, Glossier,
Ulta, The Body Shop and Sally Beauty locations are
temporarily closed1. In many cases, those closures
have been accompanied by layoffs or furloughs, and
ambitious expansion plans are on hold.
Despite this bleak-sounding landscape, some parts
of the beauty industry are thriving. With salons
temporarily closed, in-home beauty products are
selling quite well and could continue to do so.
While some shoppers miss their stylists and will be
rushing back to in-person appointments as soon as
they can, others may be happy with the low-cost
looks they’ve achieved on their own, and may not
be in a rush to spend more. Unable to bring models
and photographers together for photo shoots,
savvy beauty brands are turning to user-generated-
content, both capitalizing on and paying tribute to
their fans on Instagram and other social media.
Admittedly, no one knows what a new normal
will look like. But even in a time of uncertainty,
you can still start laying the foundation for a
better future. Be prepared to adapt your hard-
earned brand voice. Beauty products have long
enjoyed a status as a fun, accessible indulgence,
but even as commerce picks up, customers will
be watching their money much more closely.
Messaging that encourages a customer to
‘treat yourself,’ may come off as tone-deaf.
We’ve had the time to acclimate to the
new normal, which means it is time to start
thinking about the rest of the year, and what
a more vibrant second half might look like.
PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
PREPARING AND SCALING DIGITAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
1. Tracking retail’s response to the coronavirus, Retail Dive
https://www.retaildive.com/news/tracking-retails-response-to-the-coronavirus/574216/
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Building trust and momentum
Beauty brands should start planning their
communications using these general parameters:
Q2
While many brands will want to move
out inventory during this time, customers
will still be worried about safety. Some
customers will have taken massive financial
hits, and many will be working out a new
or greatly altered employment situation. In
light of this new economic reality, offering
promotions or discounts is fine and potentially
welcome. Appearing opportunistic is not.
Your customers may be most
interested in hearing about:
• How you are keeping your stores safe. You
can share your cleaning schedule or even
video of your stores being cleaned. You’ll
want to explain any new rules about how
many people are allowed into your store,
and your policies for monitoring any lines.
• Curbside pickup, delivery, and other
low- or no-contact options.
• Expected delivery dates and any changes
to your return policies. Customers
may need extra assurance that
returned items are safe for resale.
PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
PREPARING AND SCALING DIGITAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
Q3
Historically, this has been a quiet quarter, as
brands prepare for the all-important fourth
quarter. This year, beauty brands, like other
brands, may have an unusual amount of excess
inventory to clear out. Unlike other years,
however, you’ll need to be careful to modulate
the tone used to promote that inventory.
Instead, focus on:
• Value, special offers, and low prices.
• Reassuring your customers that your
service is top-notch. Focusing on service
is one way to add a more human element
to a digital communication that risks
sounding too transactional at this time.
• Support and understanding for
ongoing economic hardship.
• Reminding shoppers that they have
the option to shop where they like: in-
store, online, in app, or by phone.
• Building relationships with your existing
customers. Remind her it’s time to restock
on her favorite products, or show her new
products from her favorite brands.
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PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
PREPARING AND SCALING DIGITAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
Q4
As in other years, we expect that Q4 will be game
time. By strengthening customer relationships
with appropriate messaging earlier in the year,
both brands and customers will be ready to go
when the holiday shopping season comes. That
doesn’t mean this holiday season will look like
that of 2019, although we expect home beauty
products to be big hits. But retailers shouldn’t
be surprised if customers are still reluctant to
shop in brick-and-mortar stores. Brands need
to be able to show how they’re supporting
social distancing should that be necessary.
• While online and mobile shopping has been
growing steadily each year, digital channels
will be even more dominant at year-end 2020.
• Customers will want the entire range
of fulfillment options: traditional
delivery, curbside pickup, and buy
online, purchase in store.
• Show up-to-date shipping status on your
shipping confirmation emails, each time it’s
opened, which can help with cost savings to
customer service operating expenses. By the
fourth quarter, customers will be expecting
to be able to count on delivery in time for the
holidays. Brands want to keep close tabs on
any backlogs in fulfillment and make sure that
their messaging sets the right expectations.
• Be ready to adapt should additional or
safety measures, or renewed/enhanced
social distancing, be required.
• Consider special holiday discounts for
essential workers as a thank you for their
efforts during stay-at-home orders.
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PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
PREPARING AND SCALING DIGITAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
Communicating with confidence
The best brands know their customers pretty well:
from typical interests to income to living situation.
Accept that in the past few months, much of that
may have changed drastically. Your customer’s top
interest, for now, may simply be her health and
that of her loved ones. She may be in one of the
few professions suddenly slammed with work, or
she may be suddenly unemployed. She may have
chosen to quarantine with her parents, make a
second home a full-time residence, or actually be
yearning for a little more isolation as she tries to
manage work and online learning for her kids. It
goes without saying that healthcare professionals
are in a class by themselves. Make sure to follow
search and shopping data as the fourth quarter
approaches.
The takeaway: Assume nothing. Simply show that
you care, and that you understand that health and
safety are still top priority.
These are considered new best practices:
Show that you care about your employees.
After months of drastically reduced purchases,
customers are going to be much more aware of
how they spend their money. They understand
that with each purchase, they can help make the
world a better place by spending that dollar with a
company that does business in a responsible way.
Communications should emphasize the ways in
which your employees are treated well, work in a
safe environment, and have access to the benefits
and support they need.
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PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
PREPARING AND SCALING DIGITAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
Show that you care about what really matters:
Many customers will be grieving the loss of people
who are close to them. Others will be dealing
with their own health problems. Record numbers
will have sustained a job loss or are experiencing
an unprecedented level of job insecurity. It’s
reasonable to expect a renewed focus on family
and other loved ones and control of one’s own
time. More visible signs of success may be less
attractive. If you’re able to show how you’re
giving back, or supporting your community or the
environment, now’s the time to do it.
Plan for, and embrace, lasting change: Customers
who once enjoyed dramatic makeup might decide
to put that effort into skincare instead. Your urban
hipster customers might find that actually, they
really enjoy puzzles and making their own bread.
Maybe your customers will become more or less
socially or environmentally conscious. The new
normal will reveal itself unevenly, in surprising
ways. In the short term, “WFH comfort” messaging
works well. Comb through your automated lifecycle
emails to make sure the tone and mindset of
working-from-home are fully conveyed. Frequent
testing of your communications can help you
discover which messages may be unexpectedly
resonating –or not– with your customer base.
Remind customers of new options. Retailers
and brands have scrambled to change the way
they do business. But even after things return to
a semblance of normal, customers might actually
prefer the new ways you’ve been able to service
them. It’s reasonable to think some customers will
still find curbside pickup to be a great convenience
long into the future, for example. If you’ve invested
in virtual try-on technology, or offer color matching
via an app, make sure to promote it.
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PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
PREPARING AND SCALING DIGITAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
Preparing to scale with personalized email
We expect customers to move gingerly into a
new normal – and faceless, impersonal brands will
be less welcome than ever. Personalization is an
important vehicle to help brands communicate
authenticity and empathy. These personalization
tactics that can help you save time, build scale, and
maintain strong customer connections:
Leverage content that will update after you
send. If a store unexpectedly opens or closes, or
if a particular item comes in and out of stock, the
email will have the most up-to-date information no
matter when it is opened.
Use time-based targeting to smooth operations:
Time-based targeting can be a great way to
manage your workload. By sending email that
can automatically update depending on when it’s
opened, you can offer your customers delivery
windows that best match your workflow. Or you
can direct customers to contact your call center
during lulls rather than during peak hours.
Use automatically-updating content to show the
shipping status of orders at the moment of open.
With the proper technology in place, customers
can see exactly where their package is even if the
email isn’t opened until long after it’s sent. It’s also
easy to add real-time information about shipping
delays or changes. Figure 1
Offer real-time product recommendations.
Supply chain disruptions and abrupt changes in
consumer purchasing patterns can make it difficult
to predict inventory levels, and therefore tricky to
make recommendations with confidence. Adaptive
product recommendations will change to reflect
inventory data at the moment of open. Figure 2
Figure 1
Figure 2
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PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL IN BEAUTY
PREPARING AND SCALING DIGITAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
Incorporate video messaging. Video in email is a
great way to make an impression with customers.
You can use it to add a personal touch to important
updates, but video is also a great way to offer
tutorials in makeup, haircare, and wellness. Figure 3
Get the most from transactional emails.
Transactional emails have great engagement
rates, so take advantage of that. Account welcome,
order confirmation, and abandoned cart emails
can all include personalized recommendations
based on browsing history, live tracking data, and
personalized coupons.
Leverage your social media messaging. Display
the latest and greatest content on your social
media channels, including Instagram, Facebook,
LinkedIn, Pinterest, Spotify, Twitter, and YouTube.
There’s no doubt that brands are in for some tricky
times ahead, as supply chains are disrupted and
rebuilt, customer preferences shift, and commerce
picks up at different rates and in different
modalities across the world. By making sure
communications are personalized and ready to
scale, and by continuing to test relentlessly, brands
will have a much better ability to stick close to
their customers as we all navigate these changes.
And they’ll be putting the foundation in place for
increased customer engagement, loyalty, and
conversion over the long-term.
Figure 3
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