How Douyin is propelling beauty brand success in 2024

Douyin’s beauty segment has maintained double-digit growth this year. According to Feigua Data, Douyin’s beauty category sales reached $13.6 billion (97.7 billion RMB) in the first half of the year, up 28% YoY. Based on this trend, Douyin’s beauty GMV could surpass $27.8 billion (200 billion RMB) in 2024, potentially rivaling Taobao’s beauty segment. Domestic brands dominated Douyin’s beauty sales in the first half of the year, with Kans (韩束) leading and Proya (珀莱雅) securing the second spot. Additionally, Guyu (谷雨) broke into the top eight. After a recent market shakeup, emerging beauty brands are seizing new growth opportunities on interest-based e-commerce platforms like Douyin. What can global brands learn from Chinese beauty brands’ strategies? During this year’s 618 shopping festival, while cosmetics sales declined broadly, Douyin’s beauty product sales grew by 107% YoY. This underscores Douyin’s role not only as a major marketing hub, but also as a key growth driver for beauty brands. Targeting consumer pain points Funny Elves (方里), one of the fastest-growing makeup brands in recent years, attributes its success to understanding the nuances of interest-based e-commerce. Funny Elves’ sales director, Jiang Shen, noted that unlike traditional “shelf e-commerce” where consumers search for products with clear intent, “interest e-commerce” on platforms like Douyin allows consumers to discover products through engaging content. This model benefits new brands by quickly exposing their products to many more potential customers. Starting in 2022, Funny Elves collaborated with mid-level influencers on Douyin to promote its “soft-focus powder” that promises to beautify and minimize imperfections, boosting monthly sales from $278,963 (2 million RMB) in January 2022 to nearly $3.48 million (25 million RMB) by the end of the year, achieving over tenfold growth. By 2024, this product had become the top-selling powder on Douyin. To ensure product exposure, Funny Elves’ strategy involved targeting consumer pain points and presenting scenarios that pique consumer interest. Videos showcasing the powder’s effectiveness in diverse settings like outdoor activities, gyms, and swimming pools highlighted its value, driving consumer interest and facilitating quick search and purchase through comments. For global beauty labels looking to make inroads, taking on this strategy and responding directly to local pain points would quickly capture consumers’ attention. Product virality Judydoll (橘朵), a domestic makeup brand established in 2017, quickly recognized Douyin’s potential as an interest-based e-commerce platform and was among the first to invest in e-commerce development on the platform. Judydoll’s e-commerce director, Dong Chunyan, highlighted the brand’s early collaboration with influencers on Douyin in 2020, leveraging the platform’s content ecosystem to drive growth. An example is Judydoll’s ultra-thin eyeliner, which stood out in a saturated market by focusing on the niche demand for precise lower lash lines, leading to viral discussions and rapid sales conversions. Judydoll’s innovative marketing strategies, such as partnering with celebrities and creating buzz around its products, significantly boosted sales. For instance, a Mother’s Day campaign featuring actress Zhang Yuxi garnered nearly 250,000 likes and widespread attention. Funny Elves further amplified the product’s reach by a livestreaming the event with Zhang and her mother. Topics relating to Judydoll’s cushion foundation topped 110 million views, propelling brand exposure. Celebrities, festivals and tapping trending topics are key to achieving Douyin virality, and a fast moving local marketing team for global brands could be key to identifying these moments. How new beauty players can stand out on Douyin For Joyruqo (娇润泉), a skincare upstart launched in 2022, entering the interest-based e-commerce space meant facing intense competition – a red ocean. Despite this, Joyruqo focused on gaining exposure through Douyin. According to Joyruqo’s general manager Wang Zhong, a new brand’s foremost need is exposure. “A good product that remains unknown to the public has no brand value,” Wang says. Public data shows that Douyin’s daily active users exceeded 800 million. To tap into this vast user base, Joyruqo took a straightforward approach — partnering with top influencers. Starting in May 2023, the brand grew explosively on Douyin, ranking as one of the platform’s top five beauty brands for four consecutive months from July. Early on, Joyruqo leveraged influencer accounts by using livestream clips and embedding product links in short videos to drive sales. Livestream clip marketing involves editing key moments from live broadcasts into short videos, each focusing on promoting one, or a few products. These are then redistributed to drive traffic and sales. Wang Zhong noted that this clip marketing strategy enabled Joyruqo’s products to be widely promoted, leading to a significant sales breakthrough. Similar stories continue to unfold in 2024. Douyin’s vast content innovation space and high user engagement make it a fertile ground for emerging beauty brands. The synergy between content and commerce on Douyin enhances brand visibility and sales. However, after achieving explosive growth, C-beauty brands need to map out their strategy for long-term expansion. Lately, local names have been spending huge amounts on marketing, especially influencer marketing to quickly snap up market share. However, in the long term, reducing marketing costs and boosting consumers’ loyalty and repeat purchasing behavior is the key to profitability and sustainability.

How Douyin is propelling beauty brand success in 2024

On this page

Published August 05, 2024

Sectors

Insights

Company

How Douyin is propelling beauty brand success in 2024