Copywriting Tips for Beauty Brands

Whether your product creates the most beautiful glow, reduces signs of ageing or gives hair a much-needed boost of moisture, without a clear and cohesive brand ‘voice’ you’re unlikely to get a rush of customers and sales.

Think about the most successful beauty brands in the world right now. What most of them have in common is that they’re either created or endorsed by social media influencers.

What makes them so dominant in the beauty industry?

They speak to their customers like they would to a friend.

Ten years ago the beauty industry was a largely elitist club dominated by multi-million pound companies and A-list Hollywood stars. But the unprecedented explosion of blogging, vlogging and social media means that this is no longer the case. The beauty world has become a community that welcomes all genders, races and religions, and your copy needs to reflect that.

As the beauty industry becomes more accessible it’s also grown at an exponential rate, which means that brands must work harder to stand out and keep their customer’s attention.

One way to achieve this is by focusing more closely on your content marketing strategy.

Of course that’s easier said than done! Simply uploading a ton of evergreen blog posts like ‘How to Get Glowing Skin’ is not going to help your brand. You need to be more inventive if you want to stand out in the sea of endless beauty brands out there.

Here are some ways to make your copy stand out and convert those clicks into sales:

Ditch the jargon

Beauty buyers are savvier than ever before. They’ve done their research, Googled the swatches and read the reviews, so a webpage or blog littered with technical terms and doctor-style language is unlikely to convert them into paying customers. If you want the sales avoid complicated jargon or you’ll risk alienating your customers.

Yes, there’s a place for long, complex explanations (usually in a dusty textbook), but if you can get your message across as concisely as possible, without over-complicating it, you’ll be more likely to get sales.

Customers don’t have the time or attention span to dedicate reading about the origins of your product, how the ingredients were used centuries ago, or the 100+ benefits of them. They want to know all this as succinctly as possible. Preferably in a few sentences or bullet points.

The best way to simplify your copy is to strip it back. For instance, argan oil has many benefits, but if it’s being used in a hair product, your customer won’t care that it can moisturise the skin and keep nails healthy. Stick to the need-to-knows rather than the nice-to-knows.

Befriend your customer

Remember what I said about social media influencers dominating the beauty industry? That’s because they have something that no amount of money a big cosmetic corporation can buy - relatability.

That doesn’t mean you need to become an influencer to sell your product, you just need to adopt some of their practices, including how they write. Although most influencers aren’t trained copywriters with years of experience, they’re still able to write in a conversational style that’s more relatable and easier to read.

Keep your tone conversational in order to break the barrier between customer and brand. This means avoiding terms and sentences that you wouldn’t use in real life like in ‘tresses’ or ‘mane’ - just say hair!

Use ‘power words’ in your copy

Although it’s important to be relatable, you must remember that the end goal is sales and you can only get this by making your customers ‘want’ your product.

A good way to do this, without appearing too pushy and salesy, is by using ‘power words’ across your copy that compel the reader to buy.

Power words appeal to the customer’s emotions and allow them to get a ‘feel’ what the product does. This is a no-brainer for beauty brands because using a beauty product is akin to treating yourself, and so the copy you use to describe it should make the customer excited to get their hands on it.

Don’t skimp on your power words as they’ll sell your product for you. For example, rather than describing the effects of a hair mask as leaving hair ‘nice and soft’, try saying it will be ‘impossibly glossy’ - which one would you prefer?

Ask yourself what you want the customer to know about your product. Is the texture smooth? You could describe it as ‘buttery soft’ to give your customer a clearer more descriptive idea of it’s consistency. This is a powerful way to hook your customer in if the product isn’t in front of them as they can get a feel for what it does, looks like, feels like and how it smells.

Avoid clichés

It’s important to be relatable in your copy but don’t overdo it. That means easing up on the exclamation marks, limiting the amount of slang in your copy and avoiding cliches at all costs.

Even if your target market are tweens or younger, don’t patronise them by dumbing down your language. Assume that the buyer is intelligent and confident enough to make purchasing decisions without being talked down to.

The bottom line?

There was a time when writing content for beauty brands was simple: telling customers that a product could ‘tame your tresses’ was enough.

But now you need to make your copy work harder to capture the customer’s attention in what many consider an oversaturated market.

The good news is that the beauty industry now puts a higher worth on brands and individuals who embrace their uniqueness and differences, so don’t shy away from highlighting your brand’s USP and enjoy the process of discovering your ‘voice’.