Beauty brand Glossier surprised email subscribers this morning with a “super secret.”
The mysterious email claimed “there’s something waiting for you in our Snapchat story.” Using the Snapcode provided in the message, users were guided to Glossier’s Snapchat story to get an exclusive first look at three new lip balm products and a shopping code to purchase the items before the official launch on May 9.
Sarah Hudson, public relations manager at Glossier, said within one hour the Snapchat story had garnered 600 screenshots and more than 1,000 sales orders for the new lip balms, which include rose, cherry and mint.
“For us it’s about engagement,” Hudson said. “Thankfully our community is really active on a variety of different platforms. We really play around to see which ones perform the best, and that strategy changes from launch to launch.”
Glossier, which was founded by Emily Weiss following the success of her beauty blog Into the Gloss, relies heavily on social media to grow its audience base and gather product feedback. In January, Glossier launched its Milky Jelly Cleanser following a year of online market research conducted on Instagram and on the Into the Gloss blog.
Weiss and her team utilized the hundreds of comments they received in response to the question “What would your dream cleanser look like?” to develop the facewash, including suggestions on texture and ability to remove makeup. Glossier has cultivated a robust following on social media almost exclusively via word-of-mouth, starting with 20,000 followers on Instagram before the site launched and rising now to 193,000 followers
Though Weiss told Digiday in January that “Instagram will always be our core community” its push toward Snapchat engagement reflects an industrywide trend, Spring CEO Alan Tisch said in the Glossy Podcast.
“Now everyone’s moving to Snapchat because it’s the most authentic platform,” Tisch said. “It’s unedited live video in the moment and I think what it’s proven is that the more the internet proliferates through America, the more authentic connection that people want with their friends or with brands.”
Glossier has also dabbled in Facebook Live videos, and plans to use the platform for an upcoming product launch in June.
