With less than 100 days until Christmas, it’s officially crunch time for brands unveiling their holiday marketing strategies. The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for brands, with consumers shopping more between October and December than any other time of year. Beauty sales slowed in 2024, which makes this holiday season all the more important for brands looking to hit revenue goals before the end of the year.
With concern regarding inflation and the rising cost of living, consumers are entering the holiday season with a level of caution that the industry hasn’t seen in a number of years. Brands will have to bring their best offers if they want to remain competitive in the marketplace. At a minimum, customers expect deals, but today’s savvy consumers also anticipate more from the brands they’ve built relationships with. In past years, many beauty brands have attempted to win over holiday shoppers with exclusive products, bundles, and perks to make their holiday shopping easier, but these initiatives often come with logistical challenges, especially at scale.
So, what are brands doing now to prepare for the fast-approaching holiday rush? BeautyMatter spoke with several brands to find out how they plan to stand out this season. Here are some of the most effective holiday marketing strategies that brands plan to utilize this year:
Reassess Your Hero SKUs
Every brand has its hero products, but did you know that every hero product has a sidekick? The holiday season is a great opportunity to spotlight products that are rising stars in your lineup and attract customers with a product they might not be familiar with. IMAGE Skincare saw high performance in Meta prospecting campaigns throughout the year around two particular product SKUs. The reviews, testimonials, and content supporting these two products led to new customer acquisition and interest. Taking these key learnings, IMAGE bundled these two products into a holiday offering set, with the goal of driving new customers during this otherwise saturated and busy time.
Repackage Existing Kits
While many brands invest in advent calendars and limited-edition packaging, not all brands want or have the ability to develop and manufacture holiday-specific products. IMAGE Skincare took pre-existing kits and “reskinned” them for the holiday festivities. Repurposing the kits is a cost-effective and sustainable approach to bundling. Anything that doesn’t sell can be reskinned for the next campaign. Let this be a reminder to brands that you don't have to reinvent the wheel every holiday season.
Partner with Like-Minded Brands
Media buying is often more expensive during the holidays due to increased competition for ad space. To prevent their brand from being buried in the digital shuffle, some brands are supplementing their paid campaigns with brand partnerships. IMAGE Skincare is launching a holiday-focused partnership with Travelpro to give away a carry-on and tote bag loaded with a few of the brand’s best sellers. The post appears on both brands’ feeds, and this cross-pollination of audiences leads to increased brand visibility, awareness, and growth. Similarly, Touchland is also planning to launch a collaboration with a like-minded brand to offer an exclusive, limited-edition collection.
Start Holiday Deals Early
Due to economic uncertainty, holiday shopping season is expected to start even sooner than in previous years. Multiple brands mentioned pushing their Black Friday and holiday campaigns up to ensure that they have ample time to promote these initiatives, capture early-bird shoppers, and build buzz. Hair and bodycare brand Rahua plans to accommodate early shoppers by launching a "build-your-own bundle" in mid-October and rolling out care-specific bundles in early November.
“We plan to launch our holiday campaigns the second week of November, which gives us more time to do some storytelling around our gift giving before we start promoting Black Friday deals in the weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday,” says Barrière founder, Cleo Davis-Urman. “I feel customers appreciate being able to shop earlier and check more things off their lists so they can enjoy their holiday weekend.”
Maintain an Agile Supply Chain
While the overall consumer outlook for this holiday season remains cautious, it’s also the most active and dynamic time of the year for brands, retailers, and manufacturers. In today’s TikTok-driven world, all it takes is one viral video to send your carefully planned forecasts awry. Brands should work closely with their factory and warehouse partners on supply chain optimization to meet customer demand during this busy time. Barrière says it has been able to shorten the lead times in its factory significantly (as little as one week), which allows the brand to be more reactive. This year, the brand produced a large amount of vitamin patch stock for Q4 but left some of its patches unprinted and unpackaged in cold storage to restock inventory based on demand and sell-through and reduce excess stock. “Our wholesale partners also love being able to chase inventory of something they are low on mid-holiday season,” adds Davis-Urman.
Launch Exclusive Products
Many brands opt to soft-launch new products during the holiday season to gauge the market reaction. Skincare brand Allies of Skin has made it a Black Friday tradition to release a special launch preview, and this year, founder Nicolas Travis is diving into his “vault” to reveal a formula that they believe will become the brand’s next cult favorite. “While I can’t reveal too much, I can say the initial efficacy trial results—and feedback from testers—have been jaw-dropping,” says Ayal Pascal, Vice President of Marketing at Allies of Skin.
The brand also offers exclusive kits with mini versions of its hero products for retail partners. “It’s the perfect way for consumers to indulge in their favorites while discovering something new, with an extra touch of generosity from us through accessible pricing and a special gift-with-purchase to sweeten the deal,” says Pascal.
Barrière will also be releasing two limited-edition holiday gift sets with special products and packaging developed specifically for this time period and unveiling an exciting artist collaboration to mark the occasion.
Create Content That’s Just ss Valuable as the Product
Consumers are doing more than just shopping during the holiday season. They research and compare products across various brands and price points to help them make these important purchasing decisions. Brands can stand out and stop the scroll by providing valuable content related to their niche, which increases their credibility and engages their community. As an example, Allies of Skin is launching a new content initiative where the brand will be testing real-time skin results with its lab partners in scenarios that resonate with its consumers. The brand will explore topics like how your skin reacts after a full night of raving with our products or how it responds after a glass (or two) of champagne.
Prioritize Inventory Planning
A carefully planned inventory position is the key to a successful holiday marketing season. Review and update forecasts regularly to stay on top of your inventory. “If you aren’t properly sourced, you won’t be successful—either you’ll leave money on the table by selling out too quickly, or you’ll be overstocked and stuck with your holiday collection into Q1 of 2025,” says Sara Mitzner, Vice President of Brand Marketing at AS Beauty, which operates a portfolio of brands including Laura Geller Beauty, Bliss, Cover FX, Mally Beauty, and Julep Beauty.
Invest in Digital
An overwhelming number of consumers will do most of their holiday shopping online. Crafting an effective digital strategy is an absolute must for beauty brands during Black Friday, especially digital-first companies that see most of their revenue from DTC, Amazon, and social commerce.
“Online shopping has become the primary channel for consumers, with brands using influencers and social media to drive brand awareness and sales,” says Mitzner. “While in-store experiences still matter, digital strategies offer greater reach, making them essential for maximizing Black Friday sales.”
Reward Your VIPs with the Best Deals
The holidays are the perfect occasion to show loyal customers that you see and appreciate them. Laura Geller plans to offer exclusive discounts for its email database, Instagram broadcast channel, TikTok Shop, and website customers. These promotions won’t be available to the masses, making customers feel more valued and inspiring greater brand loyalty.
“Our Geller Gal loves a deal, [especially] when it's special just for them,” says Mitzner. “People love a discount, so sharing that the more you buy, the more you save will resonate strongly with shoppers. Also, giving early access to sales for loyalty members or personalized offers based on previous purchases will motivate consumers to shop at your brand.”
Go Beyond Discounts
Consumers will be flooded with brands presenting their steepest discounts of the year, generally 15-50% off. If you don’t want to compete on price, you have to compete in terms of value—while still turning a profit. “All brands will be offering discounts, so it is important to think outside the box here,” says Mitzner. “Unique promotions like exclusive bundles, limited-edition holiday collections, or free gifts with purchase is a way to go against the norm. We specifically planned certain margins knowing we are going to discount for the holiday.”
Embrace Live Shopping
AS Beauty’s portfolio of brands is leaning heavily into TikTok Shopping and TikTok Lives this holiday season, but it’s important to remember that it’s not the only live-streaming platform consumers are shopping on. “We have a strong Amazon business, so we are increasing our Amazon Live cadence to reach those consumers as well,” says Mitzner. “We’ve also launched our YouTube shop and have been creating custom content for YouTube to engage the community that loves educational content.”
Encourage Subscriptions
Canopy, a home device brand, is making increasing its subscription numbers its primary goal this holiday season. To drive this messaging home, the brand plans to stock up its favorite influencers with the subscription items that they need to keep their Canopy devices running well, encouraging them to post their "restocks" and educate about the benefits of Canopy subscriptions. The brand hopes its influencer marketing campaign (combined with holiday value bundles and promotions) will help encourage customers to start a long-term relationship with Canopy,
Tap Your Customers for Referrals
Rahua plans to amplify word-of-mouth efforts through a referral program. “With 30% of our customers being repeat purchasers, many of whom have stayed loyal to Rahua for years, we’re introducing incentives to celebrate and reward their ongoing support,” says CEO Farah Azmi. “This initiative encourages our most loyal customers to share their love for Rahua, helping us grow our community while giving back to those who help spread the word.”
Redefine Black Friday Shopping as a Force for Good
Typology celebrates Black Friday a little differently than other brands. The brand rebrands Black Friday with its Black For Good movement, aligning consumer desires for deals with a mission to promote responsible consumption. Led by Typology founder Ning Li, Black For Good is back for the fifth consecutive year, turning Black Friday into an opportunity for education around cosmetic waste and sustainability.
The campaign has brought together over 150 brands to either allocate a significant portion of profits or make a substantial donation to their chosen charity during Black Friday. From November 24 to the 27, Typology will be giving a portion of its profits to Wings of the Ocean, an organization working toward ocean conservation by combatting litter and plastic pollution. This year, Typology also aims to further expand its impact by raising awareness beyond the French market, inviting the global community to join in this important mission.
