How does a beauty and fashion information brand connect with their followers and stay timely? It’s about meeting the customer where they are. Keeping stories short and to the point. Leaning into pop culture. And use outside experts. To hear the entire conversation check out So Much More Ep. 68: Glossy Brands Finding Inspiration in Beauty and Fashion.
[00:00:00] You guys do such a great job having the timeliness of your content and really connecting with your customer. And I think it's interesting because you really hit that millennial and Gen Z demo really well. It's that 20 to 40 year old group and maybe some of the retail girlies we hear them being called. So what is it that Glossy does to resonate with that audience so well?
[00:00:20] Oh my gosh. I think that it's just being aware. In our world, we are pitched stories left and right every day and I'm always like, don't write about that. We're a subscription based business. We need differentiated content or what if they'll hit a paywall and go somewhere else. We need it to be valuable and worth people's time, people's money. We also, speaking of time, we'll keep our stories to 600 words. We know people are busy. We care very much about what we're writing, but the reader might not care about it.
[00:00:50] We care as much as we do. It'll be the headline, maybe the first paragraph. And if it's that interesting and that it's going to play a part in their job, they'll keep going. But it's few and far between usually. I would just say staying aware. It's not a distraction if we're on TikTok. We must stay on the up and up in terms of what's happening in the industry, what's happening in pop culture, and finding, I guess, a balance in terms of our expertise and what
[00:01:20] industry insider reader wants to know about. So we wouldn't just say, Skims launched a new campaign and roll it out there like a press release. We could say, what Skims campaigned with the Mahomes family says about pop culture's power over the shopper or something like that. Always two sources. Always. Usually it's a source from the brand that we're talking about, Skims.
[00:01:47] And then an outside expert. We like to take a critical point of view. We're not just taking a brand's word for it or the source's word for it. Like talking to maybe an analyst or a strategist and saying, you know, is pop culture, is a celebrity in a campaign still relevant?
[00:02:05] Does the audience still respond to that? Is everyone doing it? As everyone's doing it, is it becoming, you know, stale or starting to like one of those tactics where people start to gloss over?
[00:02:15] So we always source our stories and we always go for what's differentiated and what's new, I would say.
[00:02:23] I was going to say, I really love how you guys showcase your content, not only on your website, but then also how you showcase it on social too.
[00:02:29] So I feel like as a millennial, I love, I was just scrolling through and you guys have little quotes or you have big moments where all of a sudden I'm like, that's interesting.
[00:02:36] I should learn a little bit more.
[00:02:38] So I appreciate who grabbed the audience based on what platform they're on to get a little bit more.
[00:02:42] And again, 600 words is great.
[00:02:44] I know that I don't have capacity for more than that.
[00:02:46] So you're really appealing to me.
[00:02:48] It's wonderful.
[00:02:49] So I really love how you guys are doing it across the board in different channels.
[00:02:52] It's wonderful.
[00:02:53] Thank you.
[00:02:54] Yeah, that's a challenge.
[00:02:55] Like I would say is keeping up with social media trends and where the industry is going.
[00:03:00] There are a lot of trends that are being impacted in our world by social.
[00:03:04] And so like we're challenging ourselves, which, you know, as a 44 year old woman, maybe I don't feel comfortable with going on my phone and talking to it about our stories.
[00:03:13] And yet we've had to start doing that.
[00:03:16] So we are more video.
[00:03:18] Video has become a greater priority.
[00:03:20] And you see the rise of competing platforms like Substack, like a lot of fashion and beauty fans are getting their information on the industry from Substack, which has a personality behind them.
[00:03:30] So we're having conversations like that all the time.
[00:03:33] Like, should we put our face next to our byline?
[00:03:36] Should we speak in first person?
[00:03:38] Because that's what's catching on.
[00:03:40] So it's just kind of staying.
[00:03:42] Yeah.
[00:03:42] Keeping up with the trends, not only from what's happening within the fashion and beauty industries, but also within media and publishing.