“A 24/7 Job”: Glow Recipe, Le Mini Macaron And Fazit On What It Takes To Achieve Social Media Success

TikTok virality lasts days or possibly weeks if a brand is lucky, but achieving long-term success on social media requires deep commitment well beyond that.

“We’re a content factory,” said Christina Kao, founder of nail product brand Le Mini Macaron, during a recent Beauty Independent In Conversation webinar. “When I think of my team, they are the heart of the brand. They are super digitally native. They are deep on trends. It is a 24/7 job. They are in their beds at night on TikTok, checking what’s happening.”

For the webinar, Kao was joined by Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, co-founders of skincare brand Glow Recipe, and Aliett Buttelman, co-founder of patch skincare brand Fazit. They discussed the power of virality, if virality translates to sales, and the importance of building community on social media.

Lessons in Virality

Launched in 2022, Fazit started posting short-form videos to TikTok in advance of its website launching. “We knew we wanted to build a community of skin positivity before even launching the product hard to the market,” said Buttelman. “Fazit was ultra bootstrapped, so all we could use were the free resources at our disposal. At the time it happened when TikTok was hot.”

Several of Fazit’s TikTok’s videos went viral in its initial year on the market, and the brand drew some 100 million views. Overall, it exceeded 200 million TikTok views without advertising. Virality doesn’t always equate to conversions, though. Fazit’s first viral video, which reached 30 million views on TikTok, resulted in just five sales on its site. Buttelman says that the brand’s return on investment is growing on the platform now as it experiments with TikTok Shop.

Gearing up for its entrance into Target in late 2021, Le Mini Macaron tapped 11 Target-focused content creators to generate buzz on TikTok for its portable manicure kit. A video showing an influencer buying and using the kit in the color Cherry Red hit 5 million views after Target reposted it on its TikTok account. According to Kao, it became the most viral TikTok video ever for Target’s TikTok account, and Le Mini Macaron’s Cherry Red Gel Manicure Kit saw a 6X sales spike at Target and sold out in two days. 

Le Mini Macaron experienced further success with other Target-focused TikTok campaigns. A video featuring a content creator giving herself a manicure in her car with Le Mini Macaron’s gel kit garnered 24 million views on the platform.

“What do people want to see on TikTok? It’s what’s weird, what’s odd, what’s unexpected and what’s gross that will really get them to stop scrolling and watch your video,” said Kao. “Our little device for the LED lamp is very unusual. A finger in the lamp is the key visual that we have everywhere because that’s what grabs their attention.”

Le Mini Macaron tried replicating the TikTok strategy that worked for Target when it launched in Ulta Beauty stores last August, but discovered the formula for virality had shifted. Kao said, “We still need the weird thing, we need a trending color, plus we need to take a wider view on what’s happening on TikTok in terms of the video formats people are starting to make.”

SCroll-Stopping Content 

Established as an e-commerce destination for K-Beauty products in 2014 before it pivoted to becoming a skincare brand three years later, Glow Recipe’s social media presence and online community are at the heart of its business. It’s a heart that’s beating loudly. At the moment, the brand has been going viral for a supposed leak of the tinted version of its Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops Serum slated for a Feb. 23 release. As the publication Glossy chronicled, influencer Aysha Harun posted about the product on Jan. 16 in a TikTok video that’s garnered millions of views.

Chang said, “If we’re not doing well on social then that is a true barometer that we’re not doing our job.” 

The brand, which amassed a waitlist of 8,000 people after its Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask sold out in 2017, leverages fun and colorful packaging as well as what Chang refers to as “scroll-stopping” content to connect and educate customers online. It heavily invests across its content, marketing, creative and customer care teams to keep its social media channels active. Currently at 66 employees, Glow Recipe has crossed $300 million in global sales. 

Chang said, “If we are doing the right thing in terms of content, education and making skincare feel fun, then social media and all of that engagement should follow.”

As a young brand with limited resources, Fazit takes an organic approach to its TikTok and Instagram content. It relies on a small team of four in-house content creators and seeding products to influencers to drive awareness on social media. Buttelman pointed out that paid ads can feel incongruous to the brand’s ethos of authenticity. 

So far, Fazit has found the most resonance its own small team of content creators who are knowledgeable about the brand and trends on TikTok. Buttelman said, “That’s where not only we found the most viral moments, but also it’s the most organic brand education we can offer to other followers.” 

Social Media Strategies For New Brands 

Brands looking to enter the market should start nurturing their online communities very early, suggested Chang. “They can be your tester panels, and you’ll have that closed feedback loop when it comes to the product brand fit,” she said. “That would be incredible if we were doing it over again to be able to do that in a more intentional way. A lot of that happened a little more organically for us.”

Kao recommended that young brands focus on one social media platform to begin and work on securing retail partnerships that will support their bottom lines. She said, “Having those POs from retailers helps us afford all the Facebook ads that we continue to have to run, and it allows us to do the influencer stuff, which is time and resource and budget intensive.”